Keeping Cool

Ugh...it is HOT! Apparently it's the hottest summer Perth's had in years- lucky us. Plus, it's been really humid here (it's normally dry heat)! I feel like we're back in Houston. At least we have the beach so close by- it's really the only thing you can do right now to keep cool.

I wanted to try out a different beach- Waterman's Bay- it's about a 10-15 min. drive north of our home. There's this nice little cove there with rocks on both sides so it keeps the water pretty calm.

My 2 water babes looking tough & cool (well, as tough & cool as you can look while carrying Dora boogie boards) headed out to find some waves...


Kaiya showing off her mad skills in a non-existent wave.

Mina chillin' in our Aussie camping chairs.

Um, Emiko's still working on her form. Sorry my facial expressions are a bit weird but I was trying to avoid getting kung-fu'd by Emi's legs.


Finally, Emi caught a good wave. Mina came to the water to cheer her on. Emi expressed her deep felt thanks by knocking Mina over with the boogie board. Whoops- we still need more work on her form. (These pics were taken right before Mina got plowed into.)

Road Trip

After being home for only one full day from Bali, we loaded up the car for another trip. This time we drove to the Busselton/Dunsborough area (about 2-3 hrs south of Perth). It's along the beautiful coastline of Geographe Bay. There is so much great stuff to see & do here...even though it was a whirlwind weekend it was tons of fun!

The Busselton Jetty finally re-opened after a major renovation. The jetty is the longest, at 2 km, in the southern hemisphere. We walked the full 2 km to the end of the jetty where the Underwater Observatory is. The observatory descends 8 meters below the water so you can see the fish/coral without having to get wet! Now that's my kind of scuba diving...

The pictures taken through the glass aren't the greatest but the coral/plant life was really pretty. Did you know it took over 70 years for the coral to colonize on the jetty? (There's your bit of useless trivia for the day.)

Someone didn't want to get her picture taken...I took it anyway...b/c I'm mean like that.

At the end of the jetty looking back towards the shore. I'm proud to say that I carried Mina the entire 2 km walk back b/c she refused to walk. My arms got pretty sore though...

Quick snack break before the long walk back to shore.

Grandpa and Kaiya balancing on the train tracks. These tracks spanned the entire length of the jetty. I was hoping a train would come along so we could avoid the walk but no such luck!

Of course we went to the beach. This particular one is Meelup Beach. Who's that hot guy in a skin-tight rash guard???

Emi had to assume a sumo squat position for this picture...she is 1/4 Japanese so I guess it makes sense.

One of my fave pics of Brian and Emi in the water.

So we also visited the famous Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse in Augusta.

Um, not sure exactly why this was at the lighthouse- but the girls sure enjoyed playing with the cow while waiting for the lighthouse tour to start.

Me & Mina in front of the lighthouse.

Emiko's unsuccessful attempt to position her hand in a way that makes it look like she's holding the lighthouse. Oh well. Can you tell it was really windy out there?!

The lighthouse is also the place where the Southern Ocean and Indian Ocean meet...how cool is that?!

When I look at this picture of Kaiya I think wow, that girl has some buff arms...wish my arms were that defined...

The view from the top of the lighthouse- the buildings below were the cottages the keeper's and their families lived in.

Another view from the lighthouse...poor Emi's hair was all over the place with all the wind!

Descending the stairs of the lighthouse.

Finally, the view of the lighthouse from a distance.

So that was our fun weekend down south. The girls also went with grandma and grandpa to Ngilgi Cave in Yallingup but since I stayed behind with Mina so she could nap I didn't get any pictures. The girls loved the cave and all of the "crystals" inside it. I'm just amazed at how beautiful this country is- we are so lucky to be Australia experiencing it all!

Bali

I have been chastized (or is it chastised...I'm getting my s and z's mixed up now that I live in Australia) by my mother via my father for not updating the blog. In my defense, I was home from Bali one day before leaving on a 4 day roadtrip south (blog post to follow sometime soon)...then this week has been crazy with trying to get caught up on life, sewing projects, church calling duties, and preparing for a meat canning class I taught this week for church. So I've been kind of lazy with the blogging.

No more excuses. Bali was beautiful! Even though it's rainy season it only rained once in the middle of the night. We loved spending time with our best friends from Houston, Joe & Nannette. Here's some highlights (with pictures):

Our resort in Nusa Dua:


The flesh-eating fish foot massage (quite pleasant actually):


Dining at Jimbaron Bay, right on the beach:

Shopping:

Ubud Monkey Forest:



Hindu Temples:




Rice Terrace Fields (aren't they amazing?):


An evening with sumatran elephants:




Traditional Balinese Dance/Dinner Show:


Random pics:
At the "gas station"...gas is called petrol here.

Scooter...the family car- interesting that the kids didn't need helmets but the parents always wore one.

So that's Bali in a nutshell. I can't wait to go back and take the kids next time! In fact I found cheap tickets there for next month & almost bought them...but then decided not to since we've already booked a trip to Brisbane over the Easter break. Plus, we've been meaning to visit Rottnest Island (an island 45 minute ferry ride away)- so we're headed there the end of March for 2 nights. Fun stuff, eh?!

Mina Girl

Oh man oh man, I love this girl. She leaves me exhausted every night but I love this stage- she's like a sponge just soaking everything up! I'm amazed at how fast kids learn. She can count to 14 now (um, except she routinely forgets 7), knows several colors/shapes, and can tell the difference between a horse & a pony (I know this b/c she corrected me the other day).

I've gone a little camera crazy with her the last couple of days b/c I've been experimenting with knit fabrics & trying to make some play dresses...of course since I'm so proud that the dresses actually fit I have to take pictures for proof. Anywho, here's a couple of my faves. I should mention that Mina's shoe obsessed. She prefers the too-big-mismatched-pair look. I'm not kidding, the first thing Mina does every morning is run to the shoe closet to find some of Kaiya/Emi/my shoes to wear. I'm just impressed that she can walk without tripping over herself...Emiko does that all the time & her shoes fit! And look, Mina can even jump on the trampoline no problems!



I took these pics last week. I thought she looked so grown up with her hair pulled up. We put a bandaid on her face b/c she's been picking at a scab there for weeks! We're still trying to get it to heal, as you can see by the above pics.