Pumpkin Patch

Every year we make several trips to the pumpkin patch. And it's still stinkin' hot! The girls love going though. Abby loves the bounce houses and slides they have set up and throwing hay. Kaitlyn loves to knock over pumpkins.

How do you get a 3 and 1 year old to look at you and smile at the same time for a picture? This is as good as it got.
HAY!

Pumpkin rolling! Kaitlyn kept trying to roll this pumpkin off the hay hill. She thought it was pretty funny watching mom try to catch it.

Weeeee!!!!

Girl's Weekend

The shopping damage

Leaving while the weather starts to get worse - driving through it wasn't fun.

Beautiful snow! I miss it!
Katie making teaching us how to make caramel and chocolate apples! Sugar overload!

This past weekend was a Girl's Weekend in Utah with some friends I meet while Todd was at Kellogg. It was so fun to get together! I am so blessed to know these amazing women who teach me so much and are such a joy to be around.

The weekend was spent with lots of late night talking, game playing, eating lots of yummy food (caramel apples that were so big we should have shared but didn't!) shopping (13 pairs of shoes between 5 of us), and lots of laughter. Thanks for such a great time ladies! Can't wait for the next get together. And thanks Todd for making it so I could go and holding down the fort while I was gone. The girls really enjoyed their time with Daddy.

Here's Your Sign

While in Australia we saw some unusual signs. Here are a few of my favorites.

This was across the street from where we stayed. It's a For Sale sign for an apartment that apparently needed a little work. This sign is about 8 feet tall - average size for a for sale sign. And it seems as if all homes sell during an auction.

This is called a "hook turn". You have to go over to the side of the road, next to traffic that is perpendicular from you, and wait until their light turns green. It's a little creepy sitting waiting for the light.

Todd said after 2 months they named a road after him. That's Melbourne in the background.
What if I wanted to buy a square or circle? OK, dumb joke. Ovals are used for cricket and just about every park has one for rent or as they say "hire".

Beachin' It

Abby and Kaitlyn loved playing in the ocean. Running into the waves and laughing every time they were hit. They also loved running along the sand. Too much fun!

A Week in Paradise

We left Melbourne early Monday morning to fly to Ayers Rock/Uluru. The big, red rock in the middle of Australia. We were only able to see it from the plane and the airport (too short of a lay-over and too hot to go outside to climb a sand dune). From what I can tell you, it was big and it was red. Just out in the middle of no where and then, bam! Big rock. The area reminded me a lot of St. George, Utah with the red sand and the heat. Maybe another trip we will be able to get a closer look at it.

The airport there is the smallest one I've ever been to. One gate, one baggage claim area and the runway is very short. No room for error. We had to have stairs brought to the plane to deplane. While we were there, we even saw a popular Australian TV star. Everyone started clapping and we just looked around until someone clued us in.

From Ayers Rock we flew into Cairns and then caught a bus to Port Douglas - towards the North Eastern tip of Australia. It was so beautiful. I didn't expect it. Mountains, tropical rainforest, blue, blue ocean, and warm weather. Paradise. We stayed at a resort that was right off the beach. The hotel was surrounded by acres of salt water lagoons that we played in all week.

View from our balcony into one of the lagoons. The ocean was right behind the trees.

Our first adventure there was a boat ride along the Daintree River and saw crocodiles. To get there we drove through the oldest rain forest, older than the Amazon according to our driver. Who knows how they tell these things. We drove past sugar cane and pineapple farms. I think I now need to go to Hawaii to compare. The girls enjoyed the boat ride and Abby got a kick seeing all the crocodiles.

Todd and I also were able to go diving on the Great Barrier Reef. I went one day, he went another. We both were able to do 3 dives each. Amazing! Time to get certified now.

Me with one of the reefs in the background.

The rest of our time was well spent between swimming at the hotel lagoons or down at the beach. It was seriously a fabulous vacation. Here are a few of our favorite pics.

We're Back!

One awful bus ride (two of us threw up on), 3 flights, one lost bag, and 30 hours later we are finally home! It was so nice to walk into our home yesterday. We are back! Our kids were amazing! I really can't begin to say how good they did. We didn't have good Internet access last week, so once I download my pictures I'll post about our awesome trip in Port Douglas -aka Paradise. Now we are just catching up on some much needed sleep.