Snorkelling Boys

Little Beach

We had Nathan and Will write letters to Santa this year.  As usual, they were very cute - even though they put three different gaming systems on them!  One of the big things they both wanted was snorkel equipment so they would be confident when we go to the Great Barrier Reef.  Since I was concerned with room in my bags, I suggested to Brian's family that they get us a gift card to a local sports store in Australia and we would pick up the snorkels here.  Everyone was amenable, so the plan commenced.

We told the boys we were headed into Newcastle to do some shopping and they immediately began to whinge.  Shopping's boring to little boys, I suppose.  However, when as soon as we walked into Rebel Sports, they began talking about how they really wanted snorkel gear.  When we let them know that was why we were there they suddenly loved shopping!

We found a sales person and began to fit them.  We wanted to make sure they had quality equipment, because if there were leaking issues there was no way Nathan would keep trying.  Lucky for us, the good stuff was on a decent sale!  We talked about how to breathe and walk, but Will immediately freaked out.  As a claustrophobic person myself, I understand that feeling.  We were able to talk him down and explain that practice would help that feeling would go away.

We wrapped up the shopping trip with afternoon tea at Max Brenner's, a chocolate place, for a fun treat.  The boys ordered their snacks and were later surprised when a worker brought them an extra pot of melted chocolate because they weren't sure who ordered it!  We had wound up children on the drive home, to say the least.

Brian and I decided to have them practice breathing in the bathtub.  While this was hilarious, pictures were inappropriate for the internet, so you'll have to imagine for yourself!  Will was happy to try, but became very frustrated when his mask kept leaking.  We finally figured out the problem - his massive smile!  The kid very rarely isn't smiling, and when he does the skin crinkles underneath his mask, letting water inside.  Nothing like telling your kid to quit smiling so much!

See the crinkles on the side of the mask?

After a few practices, we were off to try snorkeling in the bay.  We decided to head to Little Beach, which is very calm and has crystal clear water.  The kids were very keen and it was a very successful trip.  We started out having them stick their heads in the water while standing.  Nathan was quickly over that and ready to swim.  I swear, now that he can breathe under water, we will never get his head back up!  The boys snorkeled until they were shivering, and still we had to pull them out of the water.

The boys bought me snorkel gear for my Christmas present.  Now we need to get Brian some and we'll be ready to go out to Fly Point.  It's still in the bay, and is supposed to have incredible marine life there. We have heard many sightings of sea turtles, beautiful fish, and other things we won't mention so my mom won't worry about us!

Enjoy the pictures of their first snorkeling adventure!

It's fun to watch someone walk in flippers!

He's not amused with the laughter.

Success!

This is the kids who wouldn't swim in salt water a few weeks ago!

Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere...

is frankly more to my taste than the Northern Hemisphere!  Obviously, this is not including spending time with family.  I'm not a snow person, so despite the Christmas season feeling a bit odd, I loved it!

We started out having Christmas Eve dinner with friends on the beach.  The kids ran around and swam while the adults watched and chatted.  Dinner was excellent - pork stuffed with figs, roasted sweet potatoes and leek, strawberry and mandarin salad, coleslaw, and Christmas pudding for dessert.  All of this was capped off with two of the local dolphins swimming incredibly close to the shore.  No big deal, just another day in paradise!

In the US, the trend seems to be going to church on Christmas Eve.  Here in Oz, everyone goes to church on Christmas morning.  So, we let the boys open their stockings and one present from my parents, handing them the ones that I knew had nice new polo shirts to wear to church.  They looked quite handsome, if I do say so myself!  Although keen to open the rest of the presents, they were also excited to head to church and see lots of their friends for Christmas.  It was a lovely service and we were wished a Happy Christmas more often then a Merry one!

Bri and I also opened our presents from the kids, but alas no pictures were taken.  The boys got Bri propeller cuff links that actually spin.  I got snorkeling gear as well, which I'll explain in another post.  Will was still working on a present for me, which we'll get to later.

Santa put harmonicas in the stockings.  Possibly not the smartest thing he's ever done, but they have had so much fun that it's worth it!

The boys also received UK shirts, because even though Santa wears red, we all know his favorite colors are blue and white, baby!

Front

and back

After we got back from church I pulled out the tripod and made everyone pose for a family picture in front of the tree.  Here is the first take:

What do you mean I have to wait to open more presents?

The next one was much better!

I will keep taking picture until everyone smiles!

And then it was on to prezzies!

The kids big present from us was a Wii.  It was quite an ordeal buying this.  I went back to the US about a month ago and knew I would be bringing presents back from our family.  Bri and I finally decided to buy a Wii from the US and use our US tv and stepdown boxes to make it work.  While this will be a bit of a pain buying new games (their regionally coded), at least we will be able to use it in the US as well.  So I got to lug back a Wii system from the US.  I had enough stuff, plus added weight, that I had to borrow another suitcase from my parents.  Luckily I was upgraded from plain old Skymile status to silver on my way to the US, so the extra bag was free.  Everything was well worth it, as you can see from their reaction!  What we do for our children.    Also, Christmas day was rainy, so we spent lots of time trying out our new games from family members.  At least those were easy (and light) presents to bring back!

Thanks, Aunt Elaine!

This is actually his concentrating face.

Bowling

Will playing Just Dance

This is the first year we had the kids "buy" presents for each other.  The both actually put a lot of thought into the selection - Bri and I were very pleased with both of them.  Will received Trash Packs and Nathan got a Nerf gun.  Here is another perfectly captured moment:

They really do love each other

I won't bore you with a ton more pictures of presents, I'll put those on my Facebook so they can be looked through without being forced.

*Total side note - Brian just remeasured the boys height.  In the past 3 weeks, Will grew 1/2cm and Nath grew 1cm.  Slow down, boys!*

We ended our day with a yummy dinner.  Plans were originally to barbecue, but the weather prevented that from happening.  We adapted, and cooked our Jerk Chicken on the stove instead.  It was a nice dinner, but the topper was my Pavlova - yummo!  

A Pavlova is a traditional Australian Christmas dessert named after the ballerina Anna Pavlova.  Their is a bit of disagreement on whether it was created in Australia or New Zealand, but we'll go with creation in Australia.  It's a bit like a meringue, with the addition of Corn Starch.  Apparently that gives it a crunchier texture on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside, but also makes it more finicky to make.  It was very clearly stated to let it cool inside the oven, which I did.  You serve it with whipped cream on top and garnish with whatever fruit you want - but they usually have passion fruit as one of the toppings.  The boys have decided that they want Pavlova for all special occasions now.  I wish I would've taken a picture of mine, but it was eaten fairly quickly.

We all crashed into bed later in the evening.  Today has been fairly lazy, since it's Boxing Day and we don't have to do anything.  I did make the mistake of going to the shops for a few things - big mistake!  I'd say it's the equivalent to Black Friday in the US, lots of sales plus rain equals a crowded shopping centre!  We spent the rest of the day playing on the Wii and other Christmas presents.  

Will finished up my Christmas present, proving once again how sweet of a boy he is:

Seal Rocks Sunset

My sweet boy painted a beautiful picture of our family at a beach nearby Port Stephens.  He knows one of my favourite things is sunset at the beach.  He painted us each in our favourite colours.  He even mixed colours to make sure they were exactly what he wanted.  I especially love the two dolphins in the background.  I'm currenty looking for a frame, but it will be going up in our house soon!

Jazz in the Vines

Knowing that our family enjoyed music, our friends Emi and Gavin invited us to join them for Jazz in the Vines last weekend.  On Friday we drove to the Hunter Valley and stayed in a family cabin in Pokolbin, picking up Thai food on the way in and enjoying our combined four children chasing a herd of kangaroos (what do you call a group of kangaroos?).  We put the kiddos to bed and sat around chatting and enjoying a peaceful desert before we were off the next morning.



Jazz in the Vines is an annual event held at Tyrell Winery in the Hunter Valley.  It is a day long concert, with musical acts varying from a Dixieland group from England - which amused me to no end, although Woody Allen enjoys them - to a swing band, the man from Snowy River, and the runner-up on Australia's The Voice.  There are several local wineries and restaurants represented, although you are encouraged to bring your own picnic lunch, which we did.  Now, my idea of a picnic meal is a cheese plate, sandwiches, chips, and a fair amount of fruit.  I have to say, Emi put me to shame with her Egg & Bacon pie and Barbecue Chicken.  At least our kids can be bought with ice cream!

We weren't entirely sure how the kidlets would do, but having four children the same age makes a parent's life easier.  We made sure to bring books, a footy, and - most importantly - we had phones and iPads on which to play games!  What did we do before technology?

We were able to stay the entire length of the day - 7 hours in total - with no real issues from the kids.  Even better, the adults were able to relax and spend "adult" time just being together.  I had no idea we'd be in for such a relaxing time!  We even went down to the stage with the kids and danced together, and Nathan didn't even cover up his ears!  He does have one particular spin he likes, so I can usually bribe him with that.

Peeping around the umbrella

Keira is much cuter under her parasol!

Emi and Keira

Nath doing what he does best

Will making a mess with his Wizz Fizz

Anique and Nath reading

What can I say - my boys like Aussie girls!

We headed back to the cabin and collapsed.  It's amazing what a day out in the hot sun doing nothing but listening to music and hanging out with friends can take out of you!  We bathed the kids, barbecued, and put the kids to bed.  Sadly, we weren't that far behind them!

Possible even better then the concert was the next morning - the kids actually slept in for a bit!  We had a late breakfast that Brian made, consisting of bacon and French Toast with fruit.  Yum!

Nobody had anything pressing, so we wandered around the Hunter Valley.  Here is what happens when the kids (and boys) get tired of waiting for the coffee to arrive:

Don't worry, Gavin doesn't hit my son with his daughter!

Possibly my favourite picture of Will ever!

Luckily for everyone involved, a helicopter landed in the open field where they were playing.  This pulled the kids through until the coffees and hot chocolates arrived.

I really love this picture of the dads with their kids.  Two pretty good fathers, I believe!

And here's what happens when Gavin catches you trying to take pictures of the group stealthily:

I love that Nath is completely oblivious

We also were able to have a lovely long, late lunch.  We ate outside, basically in a courtyard, so the kids once again had green space.  They also had their parent's iPads...

Thank you, Mr. Jobs

And just so there are no complaints that I'm not in any pictures -

Hi there!

The food was good - nothing fancy, but nicer then just boring food.  For example, Emi and Gav had a Pork Belly pizza that was heavenly!  Nathan also enjoyed his salad, but only because it had Vinaigrette dressing!

He had no idea why we were all laughing

And not to be outdone...

It's a good thing he's cute

When we went into the weekend, we weren't entirely sure how it was going to be.  I mean, we enjoy music and love the DeVries, but honestly, with kids anything can - and usually does - happen.  We were all pleasantly surprised with how amazing the all of the kids were the entire weekend and came home completely relaxed.  We look forward to making this an annual event.  Will even cried on the way home because he wanted to spend more time with Anique and Keira, which is silly since we see them several times a week, but at the same time very sweet.  Thanks for inviting us, Emi and Gav!

Trick? I Think a Treat, Mostly

Halloween is not a big deal here in Australia, especially in comparison to the US.  That said, it would be difficult for two American boys to not do trick or treating, so we decided to go out with another family like last year.  Nathan's friend Claire had lived in the US and was keen to go out as well, so her mother asked if we would like to go with them.  We met them in their neighbourhood, where notes and streamers had been placed into mail boxes.  If a house was choosing to pass out candy, they simply tied the streamers to their mailbox.  That way we didn't bother anyone who had no interest.  There were several more houses participating this year, so the boys ended up with plenty of candy.  Once again, not nearly as much as they would've gotten in Kentucky, but that is certainly ok!

Now that the boring part of the post is out of the way, on to the more interesting - costuming.  I was hoping that they would wear the costumes that they wore for their book parade at school.  Nathan was Peter from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Will was Willy Wonka from, well, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Alas, they had no interest in making my life easy!  But Nathan likes to dream big...

Nath liked the idea of The Chronicles of Narnia, so he decided to be Aslan.  Thanks kid, that's an easy costume!  Not to mention it's way to hot to wear a full body suit, so we decided to go simple.  I had him wear a pair of brown pants, a yellow-orange shirt with a "tummy patch" (patented term), and I made him a mane and tail.  I also bought face paint.  For those of you familiar with my abilities, I'm only good with simple makeup on my own face and certainly do not have any drawing abilities!  So I looked up some pictures on Google - where else - and found something I thought I could replicate.  I'm not saying that we're winning any contests, but in my opinion it worked pretty well!  And again, dear American readers, this is about as good as costumes get here, so no judging!

So it's not The Lion King quality....

Nathan clearly had a theme, and I was able to convince Will to be Peter.  At least that costume was mostly made, although the original Aslan on the tunic had come off and I had to redo that.  Also, the boys couldn't remember what they had done with the original sword made, so I Alfoiled a sword we had  on hand.

Pretty cute little guy

And for whatever reason, Nathan decided that I should dress up as well.  It's been a long time since I've dressed up, like since university long - Em, if you have evidence, feel free to keep it to yourself!  But Nath was really keen on the idea.  So, who did he want me to be - Susan, Lucy, Mrs. Badger...

Nope, I got to battle it out with Aslan as Jadis, the White Witch.  I guess I know what my kidlets think of me!  Oh well, it's always fun to play a character your nothing like, right?  And for authenticity...

...would you like a Turkish Delight?

It paid off, Nathan told me I was prettier than the witch in the movie.  Take that, Tilda Swinton!

Having a Ball in Brisbane

After a terrible move - blog to come - I was happy to get away to Brisbane for a 24 hour vacation with no children.  As I said in the previous blog, we had been invited to the Defence Charity Ball.  Proceeds benefitLegacy, an organization that provides support to families of military personnel that have been wounded or killed in action - quite a worthy cause.  This is an annual ball that is put on by a high ranking member of one of the branches of the armed forces and sponsored by several groups, including one business that Brian works with on a daily basis.  We were looking forward not only to supporting the organization, but just having a fun night dressed to the nines.

Saturday morning I dropped the boys off with our friends and headed out to the airport to catch my flight.  It felt very odd flying by myself.  I always at the very least have the kids with me.  After a little over an hour flight, we landed, albeit rockily, in Brisbane.  Brian met me at the exit and we were off to check into our hotel and have a quick bite for a late lunch on the river.

After lunch I headed out to get my hair fixed.  My hair has gotten significantly longer since we moved here, but not quite long enough for me to put up easily by myself.  I had my hairdresser recommend somewhere close to my hotel, so I only had to walk for about five minutes.  I explained what my dress and jewelry looked like to the stylist, and off she went.  When she finished, it took me a few minutes to decide if I liked it or not.  It was fairly curly and for some reason I was assuming it would be straighter.  Since there wasn't much I could do about it, I decided to just go with it and it grew on me.  I felt like it was big (it was) and possibly 80's-ish (yes, but not in a bad way), but I decided to just rock it.  Here are some pictures from the side and the back -

This view shows off my earrings as well

We had more time to kill then I thought, since my hair only took about 30 minutes.  We decided to order a cheese plate from room service since we were unsure of when dinner was going to be served, but assumed it might be later.  That ended up being an excellent choice since our main was served a bit after 9:00.  Afterwards, I started getting ready.  I haven't fixed myself up that much for awhile, and it was fun to do again.  I think the end result was pretty decent!



In the hotel room

At the convention center

 We quickly found our group and were seated.  It wasn't too much later and the night was underway.  There was an Aussie comedian emceeing, and while I don't remember his name, he did an excellent job.  There were many ways you could donate to the cause, including a silent and live auction with some serious items being auctioned off.  There was artwork from Australian artists, a guitar signed by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, very cute puppies, and a signed shoe worn by Usain Bolt. 

Since those were worth more than we were able to spend, we chose to participate in the "raffle" to win a gorgeous tennis bracelet.  There was a dive tank with one of the Navy divers in it.  You could buy submarines that were numbered and toss them in the tank and at the end of the night he would put a blacked out mask on and chose one submarine.  Sadly, I do not own 30 more carats of diamonds.  Happily, a servicewoman won the bracelet and looked like she could have been knocked over with a feather.

Hey Suz, how's my form?

There was lots of entertainment as well.  We were able to walk a red carpet and have our pictures taken.  You could also chose to have your picture taken in front of a helicopter or Navy speedboat.  There were other props to play with as well.

Even dressed up, I'm still more of a tomboy

I'm still convinced I could've gotten up in heels, but I'm nothing if not obedient -
at least when a man in uniform is talking to me!

View from the Light Armored Vehicle, not Tank!

We had a great time and even stayed out past midnight!  There was music provided by the Army and Navy bands, a casino and "funny money" provided, tap dancers, and a quick change act that had been on Australia's Got Talent.  We walked back to the hotel tired, but having had lots of fun.

The next morning we were met by one of Brian's coworkers and his wife for a quick tour of Brisbane before our afternoon flight back home.  They picked us up in their convertible and we were off for a lovely time.  We headed up to Mt. Coot-tha for a lovely look at the city.  That's is where the first picture in this post is from.  It is in a lovely national park and the weather was perfect.  The sky was a bit hazy as they are having controlled burns to hopefully prevent, or at least limit, bush fires.  You could see the Brisbane River curving around and we were given a good explanation of where and why the floods happened recently.  They were devastating to the food supply because the floods wiped out the storage for the produce.  That explains why bananas were $13.99 a kilo (about $7.00 a pound) when we first arrived!  That said, they still average around $4.00 a kilo!

After some time up on Mt. Coot-tha we headed down to Queensland University and onto a Rivercat to head into the CBD.  I love being on the water and enjoyed our time on the boat.  The sun was shining and the air was warm, which helped with the cool breeze!

Bri thought the white bridge was unfinished the first time he
saw it.  I'll let you decide what it looks like!

Lots of bridges together

We hopped off and walked for a few kilometres, along the river, through the Botanical Gardens, over a bridge, and down the South Bank.  The South Bank has lovely weekend markets, a beautiful arbor, lots of good looking restaurants, and either a beach or a lagoon, depending upon who you talk to about it!

After a quick bite at a Souvlaki stand, we were off to the airport.  Our mini-vacation was drawing to a close as we boarded the plane back to Newcastle.

Once we landed, we picked up the kids from our friends house.  Incidentally, they are the parents of Nath's best mate here.  They've actually decided they are brothers!  The boys had just as much fun as we did and were worn out when we picked them up - good job Amy and Wayne!  We feel incredibly blessed to have made lovely friends here - not just Amy and Wayne, but others as well.  It was so nice to know that the kids were well looked after and having a great time - we didn't worry a bit about them.  Next it's our time to watch your children guys!

I probably should have put this first, but Brian went to the Bronco's footy game on Friday evening, and apparently had great seats.  The group was 6 rows behind Kevin Rudd- the Prime Minister previous to the current PM Julia Gilard.  He had a great time and even made a few appearances on tv!  All in all, a great weekend by any account!