Beach holiday

Just returned from a 5 day stint at a south coast beach. Our annual family get together has grown with families returning from overseas. Having Jessica and Justin and their families here made it memorable! We had the luxury of the choice between the beach on one side and a lake on the other. On a few of the days the beach was too rough to swim at so we went over to the calm lake. It was ideal for fishing, swimming and Kayaking and for Haydn to paddle around.

Visit to the Aquarium

Vacation 2008

We just got back from a long weekend in the Blue Mountains!
We realized we weren't gonna get that beach weather we needed for our family holiday so in the eleventh hour scrambled for a lodge up there that could accommodate us all. It turned out to be winter like conditions so we had a toasty fire going the whole time, long, lazy mornings, a couple game nights and watched a few movies on the huge projector. It was mainly really nice to all be together like that.
The girls and Mum even got away twice to trawl some second hand shops and get a coffee and just roam around the very interesting little country town up there. The sun even poked out and we were literally a hop, skip and a jump from breathtaking views and managed a few hikes and bbq lunches. I'll be posting some pictures soon....I've just been literally run off my feet trying to catch up.

In the meantime I became an Aunty once again! My sister in law over in S.A gave birth to a boy, Bryan Keith on the 2nd of Feb. For some reason I can't post pictures so will have to do that tomorrow. Nighty night!

City trip

We finally made it down to the city. It was hard timing it with the unpredictable weather recently but we ended up with a pristine perfect day. We parked the car and caught a train down to Circular Quay. It was a little hot mid day but we managed to rest under some huge trees at the botanical gardens.
We ran into Steve and Terri who were on their way to meet Amber and Andy at Darling Harbour so we hooked up for the rest of the afternoon. The kids splashed in the fountains, we watched some street performers and even had a quick run through the Marine Museum which was closing in 20 min.
All the pictures are taken by Shane which is why he's not in any. Great pix though, hey?

Happy Australia Day!

Yep it's our nations birthday. So fun is going on all over Australia and we're going to join in for the free rides and food and fireworks later on tonight at our local show ground.

Here's some facts (for those who are interested) I didn't know some of this stuff when I was researching it for school. Jess, a good site with all sorts of history and activites is:
Australia Day 2008

You inspired me to get into it in the first place. Ha!

*Occupying an entire continent of some 7.6 million square kilometres, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world.

*Our ocean territory is the world’s third largest, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometres.

*Our country is one of the most urbanised and coast-dwelling populations in the world. More than 80 per cent of Australians live within 100 kilometres of the coast.

*The most commonly spoken languages (other than English) are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin.

*Australia's multicultural society includes its Indigenous peoples and migrants from some 200 countries.

*The Australian Flag was designed through a competition. There were five finalists with identical designs.

And I might add the national costume is singlet, shorts and thongs. Ha! click on the Aussie guy to enlarge and read some true blue slang.

My Dad sent me a link to a funny article. These were the best bits. (I'm only part Australian so I didn't "get" them all.)

You know you're Australian if …

You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.

When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.

You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.

You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".

You believe the "l" in the word "Australia" is optional.

You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."

You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.

You call your best friend "a total bastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bastard".

You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.

You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".

You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.

You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.

School holidays comes to an end.

School holidays has come to an end. We managed to get out of the house to go do some school holidays activities at the mall, eat out and the boys spent a lot of time just outside on our vast property and many hours on the trampoline. They just love it and it looks like a wonderful way to warm up! (I don't dare try it till I'm good and ready for this baby to come out!)
This winter weather is really hitting me hard! I really don't remember such coldness! And this is someone that spent 3 winters in Russia! I've been in 40 below zero in Khabarovsk!! I think I even went out tracting?! ha! Two words: Woollens & layers!
We did come from 18 months straight of summer though in East Africa! We were so spoiled.....but you gotta have some perks on those type of mission fields.

Well, we spent a good deal of these last 2 weeks house hunting as well .....and putting skin on reality as far as that all goes. Looks as if we'll have to wait a few more weeks to get a few more things in order and save a little more for general setting up of a house. Anaik and Mike got a car which was a huge hurdle!

Winter BBQ...brrrrr

Alan in his elementEnough photo's Honey!!

Marty and Ruth invited us over for a bit of school holiday fun. A backyard "barbie". I completely expected to stay snug inside sipping a wine with Ruth thinking how ludicrous it would be to stand outside on a winter night but was pleasantly surprised at the warmth of the fire and lured by the bbq spread prepared.
The cute couple

A couple days later we were over again to celebrate Marty's birthday with a few friends and snacks. Later on we enjoyed Mr Bean's "The Holiday" on their lovely 51 inch plasma TV.

Holiday at Kampala Serena Resort hotel

We've just spent 4 glorious days here! The Lord is so good to us!
We did children's entertainment over the Christmas season in exchange for full board....3 buffet meals a day, steam room, saunas, gym and obviously a luxurious pool complete with water fall. Dear Bachaan took our kids for us but as you can see we couldn't resist bringing them for a morning of swimming and lunch out.
Sadly we got a spot of food poisoning (..again) one night and had to take it easy the next day. We've still got a few days of vacation to go anyway.

Holiday fun!

Alan went bowling with his friends....and won!
And Jay as usual telling us what to do!