Happy Birthday Australia

Thanks for being such an awesome place to live!

Good Times with Monica and the Boys

After so many years of wishing it to happen, we were finally able to catch up with Monica and Daniel and all three of their boys all at once. It was a busy few days full of lots of good times.

We geocached . . . (and trespassed!)

We rode bikes on the beach . . .

. . . where we joined a drum circle . . .

. . . and had a nudie swim!

We posed for silly pictures.

And were treated to quite the breakfast spread prepared by the boys!

And we even had time for a few quiet moments too!

Thank you Monica, Daniel, Erik, Ian and Oliver for a wonderful visit. Next time, we'll see you in Perth!

La Brea Tar Pits

When I turn sixteen, I'm moving to California!

Y'see the day after Disneyland, Grumpy, Mom, Dad, Ollie and I went to this really amazing place called the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles. The place is so amazing because there have been thousands of ice age animals preserved here when they found themselves stuck in the natural tar pits that were all over the area (and still there today). There were mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers and dire wolves and ancient camels and all sorts of stuff.

My favourite part was watching the scientists in the lab sort through the matrix (that's the ground around the fossils) to look for tiny seeds, plant fossils and bones. Mom says that I stood and watched the scientists doing this for over an hour, but time just flew by. Later on, when we were on a tour of the tar pits, I learned that they really need volunteers to help sort through all the fossils that they are finding. The trouble is, you have to be sixteen. See you then! ~ Elliot

Thanks for coming to California with us, Grumpy

It sure was fun!

Blowhole

A funny little story starring Grumpy and our very classy son Oliver ~ 

Oliver (laying on Grumpy's hotel bed with his t-shirt pulled up showing off his tummy): Look at my big fat belly, Grumpy.

Grumpy: Wow! You look like an enormous beached whale, Oliver! And this is your blowhole! (leaning over and poking Ollie in the belly button)

Oliver: That's not my blowhole, Grumpy! (pulls his feet over his head and pointing to his bumhole) This is my blowhole!!

Boy oh boy! It sure is Ollie!

Disneyland

Next stop Disneyland!! It was a bit crazy battling rush hour traffic, but we made it to Downtown Disney just in time to watch the fireworks. After dinner in New Orleans (or a restaurant pretending to be in New Orleans) it was time for Lego's amazing Disney store! Then we scurried off to our Super 8 bed to catch some zzz's before one of the days we'd all been looking forward to most.

The day at Disneyland was truly magical. We didn't try to do it all, but just enjoyed the things we did get to do. And having Grumpy there with us made it all the more special!

First we posed with some of the characters.

And then as soon as the park opened, we hit the favourite rides. The boys were so brave riding all the big roller coasters and loving every minute of it. Ollie wasn't so happy about the scary yeti on the Matterhorn, but we all loved Big Thunder Mountain.

We watched both parades and rode so many fun rides. Of course, It's a Small World was a favourite attraction for all of us. Especially for Paul and Grumpy who did it together for some special memories.

All in all it was a magic day (despite Ollie's really tired face) that I'm so so grateful to have been able to share with my little guys!

Last days in Portland

After a wonderful visit, it was time to say good-bye to Ryan, Jen, Evan, Claire and Kathryn. Lucky for us we got to spend a couple of nights with them in Portland first. Jen guided us on a wonderful day in the city visiting Powell's Books, riding the Portland streetcars and the aerial tram, and eating yummy goodies from the famous Portland food trucks and from Voodoo Donuts. And of course, we relished our last couple of days just hanging out with the cousins all together.