Christmas Card 2014

Our Chrissy card this year. Wishing you all a happy, fun-filled, Christ-centered Christmas!

Other December Highlights

Decorating our gingerbread house (left) and our outback shack (right):

Emi & Mina's class were asked to help decorate some trees at the local library using only recycled materials (like old cereal boxes, popsicle sticks, scraps of fabric, etc)- the trees looked great!

This has happened numerous times over the last few weeks- it's driving me nuts- every time I'm out of the room she manages to get into the rice bin. She thinks it's quite fun though...

Last surf class of the term...girls can't wait until February when the next set of lessons begin!

Mina's class Christmas party- families were invited and they put on a mini-program of songs for us to enjoy- it was darling.

The Maze- about 40 min away but a fun day out with the kids...a wooden maze to navigate through...other fun play structures/mini putt-putt golf...and a splash pad/water slides:

If you ask Mei what happened she'll say "I was dancing...then I fall down and bonk my head." That's exactly what happened...she was twirling, got dizzy, and crash landed into the entertainment center. Luckily no stitches needed...just steri-strips and glue (and no getting it wet for at least a week). Pics are pre & post doctor visit.

Twilight sailing with our friends, the Osborns.

Apparently ice blocking is not a well known activity here...but after making numerous phone calls I found an ice company that sells blocks of ice. A bonus was that they sell blocks of ice specifically for ice blocking (wider surface and more flat like a sled w/a rope frozen into the ice). The downside was that they were heavy (20kg) and pricey ($15 per block). But the girls still had a lot of fun and it was great showing friends and strangers at the park what ice blocking is.

Wildlife Day

Our last day was spent at the Port Douglas Wildlife Park having breakfast with the birds:

Emiko got an extra souvenir- a stork bit her on the wrist and left a nice, red mark- Emi was NOT pleased.

After breakfast it was time to start heading back toward Cairns. Mina kept herself entertained by taking lots of selfies (out of focus too):

The drive is quite windy but very scenic and pretty- we had to stop at this lookout for a pic:

Hartley's Crocodile Farm (between Port Douglas and Cairns)...this place is pretty cool. Lots of crocs! This guy is feeding a 4.5 meter long croc- he's huge!

After watching the croc feeding show, we were able to feed the freshwater crocs (we fed them chicken heads)!

And that was our fun weekend away. Thanks to Brian for staying with Mei- he's an awesome hubby/father.

Great Barrier Reef

It's a 90 minute boat ride to the outer reef from Port Douglas. Our boat tour went to Opal Reef. I was worried b/c thunderstorms were in the forecast...but luckily we ended up w/perfect weather, good visibility, and a smooth boat ride. And sorry, I didn't take any photos/video of what we saw in the water...I could've brought Brian's goPro but I was worried I'd drop it or wouldn't be able to figure out how to work it, etc. But we saw lots of great stuff- coral, fish (duh), sea slugs, jelly fish, and even a shark (it was probably the size of Mina).

Our boat:

During the ride out to the reef:

Stinger season just started...so here we all are in our stinger suits...

Out of the 3 girls, Mina was always the last one out of the water.

All that swimming/snorkeling tuckered her out!

The Port Douglas marina

After we got back we went to 4 Mile Beach...which was pretty but full of mosquitos (probably b/c we were there at dusk)...we left with many, many bites.

Jungle Surfing

I took the 3 oldest girls on an extended weekend trip to visit the Great Barrier Reef- we flew to Cairns & drove 1 hr north to Port Douglas (where we stayed for the weekend). Our boat tour to the outer reef would be 1 day...so we had 2 more days to fit in as much sightseeing as we could. The first day we went to the Daintree Rainforest (oldest rainforest in the world) and went jungle surfing at Cape Tribulation. Basically, it's zip lining your way through the rainforest and at each landing the tour guide gives you info about the rainforest. It was really cool- the kids loved it.

I had to throw this pic in first- this is Emi on the plane to Cairns...she's upset that she had to sit by herself in this row...and she ended up falling asleep like this.

We arrived a bit early for our tour- to kill some time we were told about a nearby, crocodile safe, swimming hole- the girls had fun using the rope swing.

Tank girl, Madame Butterfly, & GI Jane all harnessed up and ready to jungle surf!

All 4 of us on one of the landings.

Proving once again that she can make friends wherever she goes...after trading jokes back and forth throughout the tour...the tour guide and Emi had to take a selfie together.

The view looking up.

The view looking out from one of the landings- we were about canopy level.

Sewing Class

During the past 2 terms Emiko has been taking a sewing class. She just finished making a doll...and last term made a skirt. She's very proud of her sewing accomplishments (we are too)...so proud though, that she's declared she doesn't need sewing class anymore. She's learned it all...so I guess we'll have to see what Emi decides to venture into next...!

Thanksgiving 2014

We road tripped ourselves down to Dunsborough for our annual turkey weekend getaway. While all of our friends/family were pigging out on turkey and pie...we stopped at Macca's for a quick bite to eat:

I always love this sign (at the entrance of the neighborhood of holiday homes we always stay at):

Straight away it was off to Simmo's for yummy ice cream...the emu is just another perk...

Easily one of my absolute favorite spots in Western Australia- Canal Rocks! It's so beautiful and climbing the rocks keeps the entire family entertained for a long time! (Emi was avoiding the camera so there aren't any pics of her...)

Finally sitting down to eat- food was yummy as always!

Busselton Jetty- the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere (about 2 km). We rode the train to the end of the jetty and went through the underwater observatory...then we decided to walk back.

Best find of the weekend goes to our friends, the Bexfields. They stopped at a market in Bunbury and found orange cheddar cheese (first time I've seen orange cheese since moving here)- and it tasted just like it too! So on our way back home we stopped and grabbed some cheese of our own.

Thanks to the Bexfields, Stokers, and Walkers for a fun weekend away!