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Jetlagarama
Oct 11th
We made it back safely from Oz. The things we learnt are that the seating in a 747 is much closer then an A380. A two year old really doesn’t like a 13.5 hour flight and that kids take longer to get over jet lag, then adults do.
All of our flights went to plan, and our neighbor Jason was at the airport to pick us up. When we got home, Stephanie ran inside, put her hands in the air and yelled “Yay, we’re home!”.
The next 5 days were spent getting the kids over jet lag. After 3 days Daniel was over his, Stephanie on the other hand, kept waking up at 11:30pm for 5 days before she was finally on a regular schedule again. All of this of course added to the tiredness that Pen and I were feeling. Now it’s life as normal. 
We loved visiting, Oz and seeing our family and friends again, and can’t wait until we visit again (although that may be some time). However if you’re looking for a trip to the US, feel free to look us up in Atlanta.
Our trip is coming to an end
Oct 1st
Just a couple more days and then our trip to Oz is over. It’s been a wonderful time.
We spent the last couple of days at Inverloch, where we went to the Koala Conservation Center and to a Chocolate Factory. Needless to say the kids liked the Chocolate Factory much more then the Koalas. This was summed up by Daniel’s comment at the Koala Center.
Daniel – “Where is the baby Koala, Daddy?”
Me – “Up in the tree there, with it’s Mummy.”
Daniel – “What the ball thing?”
Me – “Yes, the ball thing.’
We are now back at my parents house in Warragul and will be going to Healesville Sanctuary today (more animals). Tomorrow Pen’s parents are coming to Warragul for the night and then Sunday we fly out.
It’s amazing how fast 18 days can go when you’re having fun.
Crazy Weekend
Sep 28th
Our crazy weekend is done. We traveled from Shepparton to Melbourne, stopping along the way to see Pen’s Gran and her best friend from High School, finishing up at a mates of mine for an Aussie Rules Grand Final Party. It was pretty cool to receive a text from Collin McMullen in the US telling me that he was watching the game on ESPN classic.
We left there to go to my parents place in Warragul where we spent the night.
The following day we went to my parents church in the morning and then headed off to Melbourne again to see my brother and his mate Courney for lunch. The kids loved hanging out with their Uncle Matt.
From there we caught up with our friends Matt and Jacqui Stanford at their church Riverside which is very much like C3 Church. After dinner with them, we were off again this time to Inverloch. 12:00am we rolled into bed for a rest.
Today we took the kids to the pool and to the beach. It’s waaaayyy too cold to swim at the beach so at least the kids got to swim at the heated pool. My Auntie Lorraine came to visit us today, which was fantastic. The kids loved it because they got even more presents.
Tomorrow we could be off to see the Fairy Penguins, which will be lots of fun.
Week one almost done :(
Sep 24th
Wow! It’s hard to believe that a week ago we landed in Melbourne. The time has absoluetely flown! In between us landing and today, Australia has had big dust storms in Sydney and Brisbane and Atlanta was flooded. Thanks to Jason and Julie for checking on our house to make sure everything was fine for us.
Back to our trip. Yesterday we went out to Kids Town. This is a great big playground that is maintained by donations of all the visitors. Daniel loved going down the great big slides, while Stephanie loved going on the train and the pony rides.
In the afternoon Pen and I went shopping while Gran and Grandad looked after the kids. While out we caught up with one of Pen’s friends for coffee and bought a bunch of stuff. That night we had Fish and Chips for dinner and played cards.
Today we are having a quieter day. A spa in the morning and Mini Golf (Putt, Putt Golf) in the afternoon.
Travel through the eyes of a 5 year old.
Sep 21st
Today I’m going to be lazy and just update based on all my twitters and Facebook updates over the past few days. Basically it’s snippets of our trip through Daniel’s eyes.
After landing in LAX and seeing a Qantas plane, Daniel states: “The kangaroo plane takes you to Australia the AA plane takes you to Africa because it starts with A!”
After going through a gate into a wild life sanctuary, Daniel states “It’s like going into Grouchland!”
A observation from Daniel: Everything is backwards here, when you turn on the hot water cold comes out, and its spring here not fall.
Apparently the name of “Big M” chocolate milk, is incredibly funny to someone from the USA. Daniel laughed his butt off about that one.
More info to come.
A 93rd Birthday Party
Sep 20th
Yesterday we celebrated Penni’s Grandmothers 93rd Birthday, at Mitchelton Winery. There is a bit of a story behind it all as Penni’s Grandmother owned the land before selling it to Mitchelton Wines 40 years ago. Stephanie got to meet Great Gran for the first time, and Daniel for the third time. It is amazing how well, and active Great Gran is, and how she knows the names of all of her children, grand children and great grand children.
It was a great day for Penni to catch up with rellies and have a nice meal doing so. Daniel and Stephanie had a fantastic time outside chasing each other around.
After the party we packed all the cars and headed off to Penni’s Parents house in Shepparton. They have done a fantastic job renovating the house since we were last here. The kids are absolutely loving being able to play with Gran and Grandad.
In the Land of Oz
Sep 18th
We are here! We made it! After following the yellow brick road to Oz, or in our case I-85 South to Atlanta Airport followed by two plane flights.
Overall the kids were great on the flights. Daniel amused himself by playing computer games and watching TV on the plane’s entertainment system. Stephanie did the best she could. There were times where she melted down and said she wanted to get off. But when you look at it as a whole she did really well. Heck she’s two, what can you expect.
We landed in Melbourne after our flights sleep deprived, but happy. Collected our luggage and were given the ok to go through the express exit instead of through the standard customs exit. This was cool because we then got to surprise the grandparents by sneaking up on them and having the kids run up and give them a hug.
After many hugs etc, we were whisked off to Penni’s Aunt Maz’s house, for all sorts of Australian treats that we cannot get in the US. As Ps Dean would say, “we fell off the wagon”. Oh well the whole trip is going to be one big episode of eating all sorts of stuff and “falling off the wagon”.
A few hours later we were at Mitchelton winery where we are staying for a few days in the house that Penni’s Mum grew up in. Piled into the house are Penni’s parents, the four of us, Penni’s brother and his daughter and Penni’s sister and her husband. This has created some interesting sleeping arrangements and one big happy family.
We did manage to get a decent amount of sleep last night 7:30pm in bed, but that meant we were awake around 4:00am. Tonight we hope to sleep right through.:)
The kids are loving playing with Gran and Grandad!
We're off to see the Wizard!
Sep 12th
It’s coming closer. Soon we will be off to Oz to catch up with family and friends. Hopefully while away I will get time to blog about our trip and what we have been up to.
The kids are very excited to see Nanny and Pop and Gran and Grandad again. Really, who wouldn’t be, when you know you are going to see a couple of people who’s whole goal in life is to play with you. Daniel has also said that he especially wants to see Uncle Matt again.
Unlike the Wiggles song “Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy” we are looking forward to many other foods, like “Meat Pie, Yummy, Yummy” and “Fish and Chips, Yummy, Yummy.”
It’s going to be great to see all our old friends again, but we will miss everyone over here while we are gone.
Just to make you wish you were there with us, here are some Australian Tourism commercials.
Various Ramblings
Aug 29th
Since I last wrote we have had the C3I (C3 Church International) conference here in Atlanta, where the speakers taught spoke to us on everything from the spiritual aspect of your life to the practical aspects of your life (ie nutrition and exercise). If you want to hear the sessions you can access them here.
Based on some of what was said we are now trying to get out and walk as a family around our subdivision each night. The Atlanta weather doesn’t always allow it, but we have been out more times then not. Daniel loves it because he gets to ride his bike. He is really starting to gain confidence when riding. The first time we went out he got to take his Kindergarten mascot “Froggy” on a ride as you can see in the picture below.
Daniel and Froggy
In other news we are counting down the days till our trip to Oz. There are a few things that we have already had to organise like a “Flat Iron” for Pen so she can do her hair in Oz. The one she uses here is only 110 volts, and from what we have heard and read, flat irons don’t do well when run through a converter. My brother Matt came to the rescue, and has got one for her from a friend of his that works as a hairdresser. Way to go Matt! Pen was really excited to get that news.
The other cool thing for us that has started to happen, is the kids are finally starting to play together more. Suddenly Pen and I have a bit more time on our hands to talk to each other. The playing mainly revolves around Daniel controlling the game and Stephanie joining in, but at least they are playing together. I can see it only getting better from here.
Fun in the Sun
Aug 17th
This weekend my work paid for the employees and their families to go to Lake Lanier Water Park. This was really cool for us as it gave us a fun family day, for no cost (would have been $100+ if we were paying).
They have a kiddie splashing pool, where there is literally water being shot out everywhere. Daniel thought it was great, Stephanie not so great.
They have water slides, which Daniel was just tall enough to go on, and they have a huge wave pool, where every 10-15min they generate waves. (This is what the kids loved the most)
Overall there were many hours of fun had by all of us. As an added bonus no one got burnt.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, on the right hand side of the site is a new section titled “Pen’s Latest”. Pen finds it very hard to get the time to sit down and blog, so we now have a feed of her Twitter updates on the right hand side of the blog. It’s just another way that you can keep up with what she has been doing.
