Linley Park - April 2009

Feeding the baby cow

This cockatoo was pretty friendly, until you put your fingers near the cage. Will learned the hard way that cockatoos like to bite, and bite hard. Maeby was really interested in the bird but Will had to constantly keep her fingers away or it might have nipped off the tips.

Maeby was loving all the animals, especially the "my little pony"

Melanie loves her horses

Maeby found a wagon to haul around her water bottle.

Spencer holding the little wombat

How cute

Maeby playing "this little piggy" with the wombat

feeding the little emu looking thing

For those of you who think kangaroos are cute cuddling little guys, check out what they are really packing.

Feeding the kangaroos.

You tawkinna me? eh?

 Oh look, I found Bambi

Liam tried to feed this deer, and it snagged his little food can and took off. Liam was chasing it around yelling "Hey! Give that back!" It was freaking hilarious.

Spencer and Liam were feeding guinea pigs, Maeby lost interest the second the one she was holding started to move, it freaked her out.

First day of school in Australia April 27th 2009

This is the kids first day of school at Yarrawonga Primary School. Notice they have school uniforms... Melanie wasn't too excited about that. We didn't think that Spencer was going to be able to start until next January when the school year begins, but it just so happens that the cut off date is at the end of March. He was so excited that he was going to school with the big kids.

The first day I found out that they don't do school lunches the same as back home. We have to pay per item that they buy and put the exact amount of change in a brown bag for that days lunch. When I looked at how expensive it was, we decided that they are taking lunches to school everyday. Just for one sandwich it costs $3 to $4.

One day I gave a dollar coin to Spencer to buy some snacks, when I picked him up from school he said hold on, I have to go get my dollar. He then ran over to the sand box and stared digging. Turns out he buried it at lunch time and forgot about it. But he couldn't find it. Then next day he found a dollar in the sand box. What a nut. He found about $5 that week. Someone told me that on the weekends the old people come with their metal detectors and search the playground.

Sydney Day 8 - Last Day

Family Photo on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We asked someone to take a picture of us with the Opera House in the background, but he zoomed in and cut it out of the picture.

Maeby scaring the day lights out of me. I couldn't get her to stop climbing up the guard rail, luckily there was no place she could squeeze through.

This is when we were packing up the hotel to leave. Maeby was checking herself out with her new backpack and Kangaroo.

Sydney Day 7

Spencer at Bondi Beach. The early part of the day was warm and sunny, but it took us till around 2:00pm to get to the beach to swim. Not 10 minutes after we started to play in the water, the sun ducked behind some clouds and refused to come out and play.

Mel was a bit cold, but after an hour or so she shed the coat and started playing in the water with the rest of us.

Will and Maeby would walk out in the surf, and when the waves came rolling in they would run back as fast as Maeby's little legs would take her. She had so much fun, even though she turned purple and began shivering. We had to take her out and go warm her up, she looked like she was getting hypothermia but she would not leave the beach without a fight.

Melanie was collecting little colorful sea shells. She collected a whole cup and was so proud of herself, then when she went to wash the sand out of them, the waves came in larger than she expected and swept her collection away. She was pretty unhappy.

Spencer loved the waves

Liam collecting sundry colorful items

Liam was the sand man. This was Will's big idea...a dream he had long wanted to fulfill. Only he chose to bury his kid rather than himself. Liam was a good sport. Will had him looking like a mermaid at first, but Maeby kept taking the "shells" so we made him back into a man.

Ahhhh, I only have one arm!

One of the best burgers in the world, from Hurricanes Express.

Sea Gull Party!