May Recap

Mei discovers the iPad...

The fashionista in skinny jeans.

She likes to give her stuffed animals a cuddle before nap time...so cute.

Mother's Day Tea at the girl's school.

Celebrating Mother's Day with friends at Cottesloe Beach.

I don't even know what to say about this photo but she's definitely flexible.

Brian took the girls horseback riding in the Perth Hills. Surprisingly, the girls all rode their own horse with no assistance (even Mina, despite never being on a horse before).

Mina's class hosted an afternoon tea to show appreciation for all of the mom's that helped in the class during the school year. Mina said I looked good with tiger ears.

I turned 35!

Funnies

Mina: Mom, can I play with this bubble wrap?
Me: Why...are you going to be naughty?
Mina: Yeah!

*****

Mina: Mom, your hair looks like poop today.

*****

Mina's former primary teacher is in the US Army & recently left on a tour in Afghanistan. She mailed him a letter asking him if he was staying in a hotel...and to make sure he didn't forget his guns and clothes. He sent us an email response last week. After Brian read her the email. Her response: "So...I guess that means he's still alive then?!"

*****

Mei can rhyme:
Me: Mei, are you crazy?
Mei: Crazy Mei-zee!

Emiko's Baptism

Photos from Emiko's baptism on May 3rd! What an amazing girl...we love Emiko!

Whale Sharks

Whale sharks can be found in Exmouth between March-June. B/c it's one of the only places in the world you can go and swim with them...well, we knew this was on our must-do list for Exmouth. It's an all-day boat tour...most charters don't allow young kids but we found a company willing to accommodate our young family. I'm so proud that our kids were so well behaved for the entire day...and it was an amazing experience!

We saw dolphins on our way out to the whale sharks.

Mei on the boat.

Mina ready to snorkel.

Mina and Emi conked out after a full morning of snorkeling and swimming with whale sharks.

Mei, normally struggling to nap anywhere but in her crib, slept for an hour alternating between my arms and Brian's arms. She must've been one tired girl.

Couple photo.

Family photo...Emi's not thrilled to have her pic taken.

Mina and mommy selfie.

The girls hanging out on the back of the boat...getting ready to swim out to the whale shark.

Whale sharks- the largest fish in the world...the one's we saw were between teenagers- about 6-7 meters long (they can grow up to 18 meters long)!

A shot of Brian (with his GoPro taking video).

A couple photos of me & the girls.

A group photo at the conclusion of the day (we are pretending to be whale sharks, of course):

I'm so glad we got to have this one-in-a-lifetime experience- and even more proud of my girls for being good troopers and snorkeling with the whale sharks just as well as the adults on the boat!

Exmouth

Over the Easter holidays we flew to Exmouth (2 hr flight- 1270 km north of Perth- still in Western Australia). It is a tiny beach town...and the gateway to Ningaloo Reef. Many people claim Ningaloo to be equal to (if not better) than the Great Barrier Reef! It was a weekend of snorkeling and bouncing from one beach to another. The highlight of the trip was swimming with whale sharks (I will do a separate post for that).

You will now be bombarded with lots of photos...

1st stop: Turquoise Bay- a popular drift snorkel spot. We were advised by the doctor not to let Mei's arm get wet for an entire week (she told us to wrap her arm in saran wrap...didn't work). We quickly realized it would be impossible to keep Mei from playing in the ocean. Oh well- we figure the salt water would help keep the wound "clean."

Kids jumping around Turquoise Bay after snorkeling.

Easter sunrise from our accommodations in Exmouth.

Oyster Stacks: While there's really no "beach"- it's mostly just rocks...it's a great snorkeling location! And the kids actually had lots of fun exploring the rocks and looking for crabs.

Kaiya and Brian about to drop into the water to snorkel (at Oyster Stacks).

Waiting for daddy to get back from snorkeling!

Mei's first selfie!

At Lakeside- yet another great place to snorkel (especially good for kids)- the water was so pretty here.

A cute emu family.

A termite mound taller than Brian!

There's a lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula and it has some great views:

Welcome to Exmouth sign! (Taken on our way back to the airport to return home.)

Dog Bite

The Thursday before Easter weekend Mei fell victim to a dog bite. We were at an outdoor cafe getting breakfast and a black lab broke off his leash and lunged after Mei. It was totally unprovoked- Mei wasn't even standing near the dog. It nipped her on the arm and she ended up with a nice, little puncture wound. We ended up spending the rest of the morning at the doctor getting the wound cleaned and bandaged...and the chemist for an antibiotic to prevent infection. Mei was a bit sad but such a trooper!

It's been over 2 weeks now- while her arm is mostly healed you can still see bite marks and her arm is still a bit swollen. She likes showing everyone her "owie."