TBA

FYI - we're currently in New Zealand for Holdiay!

Brandy and Bailey (and Nuki, Josh, Alex, and Shanny)

Obviously we miss Brandy and Bailey, but as you can see they are spoiled rotten at Sherry's house, and they've made themselves right at home! Who would have thought that Sherry would have allowed the dogs on the furniture!


Brandy still likes to "sun" herself.

Alex and Bailey nap together and Brandy sleeps in bed with whoever will let her in. Kurt finally started shutting his door.

Christmas picture? Josh, Shanny and Alex all have their smiles on! I'm not sure about the dogs?

Brandy only does this to people she REALLY likes. Shanny should feel privileged!

Some things never change.

Wow, I hope they want to come home again!

Easter Program at School

Since they teach religion in the schools here, there was an Easter program at Riley's school for the kids Prep Year through Year Two. They all made their own "Easter bonnets" and paraded through the school. After that they sang songs for the audience. It was alot of fun!

As you can see, I was having some problems with the camera.

Mail Delivery

We have been waiting forever to "catch" the mail man delivering our mail. He doesn't come at a consistent time every day, but we finally got him. This is one of those things we giggle about every time we see it. They actually deliver mail on these little motorcycles! They just drive them right down the sidewalk.

2007 FINA World Swimming Championships

This year Melbourne was the host for the 12th annual FINA World Swimming Championships. I'm not sure why Pat (six-time All American swimmer in college) didn't want to attend any events? We did however attend the "festival" downtown that was centered around the event. There was music, street performances, and children's activities. They even had synchronized swinging! Yes swinging, not swimming.

This group of tribal dancers/singers were from the Solomon islands. We weren't sure what they had to do with swimming, but they were fun to watch anyway.

Didgeridoo

Yes, didgeridoo is a word......

Apparently, a didgeridoo is the oldest wind instrument in the world. The Aboriginal people believe it is the second oldest sound, the first being the voice and the second the didgeridoo. The traditional purpose for the didgeridoo was for playing during a corroboree. A corroberee is an Aboriginal dance ceremony performed to help bring water to the land. The longer the didgeridoo the deeper the sound. You can see that ours is about the same height as Brody.

McDonald's Happy Meal?

They have most of the same Happy Meals here as we have at home, with the exception of getting "only" 3 McNuggets. I personally like the smaller portion sizes! They also have a "Pasta" Happy Meal. You get cheese-filled ravioli's that you eat with plastic thongs, and dip in a marinara sauce. It comes with milk, and your choice of a "chocolate" straw, or a "strawberry" straw. There are little flavor "things" in the straw and as you drink your milk through the straw, the flavor of the milk changes.
They also have deli-type sandwiches on baguettes. Some of the McDonald's have a McCafe'. There is one counter for the typical McDonald's food, and another counter where you can order gourmet sandwiches, coffees, and desserts. It's kind of fun.

Melbourne Grand Prix

We all attended the Melbourne Grand Prix! WOW! I've never been to anything like this before, but I'm glad we brought ear plugs. Even I can attest to some sort of rush as the cars come screaming around the course. However, to give the event justice, Pat should really be writing this post.

This is Riley in the pits, where a car was getting new tires.

Here is a car coming around a corner.

There were even some air shows.

Fundraiser

Taylor and Riley's school - Greythorn Primary - has one fund-raiser every year. It's called the Greythorn Grape and Grill. It reminded us of St. Jude's Cornfest. The parents paid for a seat at a table and had a "catered" meal , while the kids had "sausages" and pop. The kids had wristbands so they had unlimited access to the rides. The catered meal also included wine tasting. Pat and I each got our own wine glass to use for tasting that was ours to keep - complete with the school insignia on it. There were even bottles of wine for sale at the event! I wonder how this would go over in the Mahtomedi?

Labour Day

Monday March 12 was Labour Day here in Australia. The kids didn't have school, and Pat didn't have to go to work so we took a day trip. We drove to a place called Hanging Rock. The rock itself is a steep-sided volcano, known as a mamelon that was formed over 6 million years ago. It is also the setting for a novel written by Joan Lindsay called "Picnic at Hanging Rock". They even made a movie out of the book.

Here's Taylor, Riley, and Brody at the summit.
These are some of the many very interesting rock formations along the hike to the top.

You can do a lot of rock "scrambling" at the top. All three kids really had fun doing that.

After Hanging Rock, we went to Trentham Falls. This is the longest drop waterfall in Victoria. We have a very pretty picture of it in the brochure. However, in real-life it is bone dry - indicative of the draught.

Then we made our way to Mt. Macedon National Park, and stooped to look at a memorial for the "Southern Cross".

Moomba Waterfest 2007

The Moomba Waterfest is basically a water sport spectacular. Competitors come from all over the world to compete in ski jumping and wakeboarding. There are also many water ski shows to watch that are full of all kinds of tricks. They even have a "carnival" so that the kids have plenty of opportunity to be entertained. This all takes place right downtown on the Yarra River. We took the train into Melbourne to join in the fun.

If you look closely, you can see a guy going off the jump - with Melbourne in the background. The form of these guys is exactly like ski jumping in the snow.
The skis they wear are also huge - just like for snow ski jumping.

The kids tried "bungee" jumping.

Taylor and Riley tried rock climbing.

Beckett Park

Today we went to St. Kilda beach which is a fun beach town on the ocean about 45 minutes from our house. There's shopping, restaurants, and a long pier to walk out. At the end of the pier there is a cafe'. Also out on the pier there was a lone penquin resting in some rocks.

After dinner we all walked up to Beckett Park. Here's Grandpa and Greg. You can barely see what a nice view we have from this park.....

Puffing Billy

Puffing Billy is a famous steam engine train that goes through the Dandenong Mountain Range. It's a very pretty ride.

Brody got to "drive" the train.

And so did Grandpa!

After Puffing Billy, Grandpa, Greg and I went shopping on "Maling Road". This is a famous shopping area of up-scale stores and antique shops - very similar to Grand Avenue. That evening Pat, Grandpa, and Greg went to the Casino Royale in Melbourne to play some craps!

Ballarat - Wildlife Park

We also visisted a wildlife park in Ballarat. There were lots of opportunities to see and touch many of the Australian animals!

Riley, Taylor, and Grandpa got to pet a Koala Bear.

Riley had fun "cuddling" with this Kangaroo.

This Wombat was trying to rest.

Grandpa, Taylor, and Brody had fun getting close and personal with these Kangaroos.

This is a Tasmanian Devil. He was being hand-fed a mouse. Apparently these devils have the same crushing power as an alligator.