Elusive smile

Bridget really is a happy baby, but every time I get out the camera she decides she's done smiling. Oh well. She's still super cute. She loves being on her tummy.











Here's sort of a smile...


Better than being on her tummy is being held.






Here's some fun with Mike's glasses and a sleeping baby.


Everybody else had to get in on the fun!








And here's some more disguises... With gummy snakes! Who are those kids?

Cute kids

Here are a few pictures of just everyday adventure at home. Bridget is trying out the Johnny Jumper for the first time. We'll give her a little more coordination time before we put her back in, but the kids loved watching her sit there.

Beach camping

Last weekend we went "beach camping" with some friends and their 6 kids. Now, to me, the worst thing about the beach is having sand everywhere. So the idea of camping there is like "why would anyone do that?" No running water, sand in my swim suit, sand all over my tent? Are you crazy? But it's very popular here in Australia, so I figured we ought to give it a go. Maybe it's not as bad as I expected.
We hopped on a ferry and took a 40 minute ride off the coast of a Australia to Stradbroke Island.


Well, it was just as bad as I expected. And it was hot! Somehow we managed to schedule our trip on the two hottest days Australia has had in the last 20 years. Ha! (Yes, I can laugh about this now as I sit on our back porch feeding Bridget, enjoying beautiful weather and the children are splashing in our sand free pool.) It was an extra challenge having a baby there. All these tiny, sand encrusted hands wanting to touch her. And I worried about her getting a mouthful of sand every time she nursed. And what about all the sun on her delicate skin? We were sunscreen dependent. Here's Evelyn doing her part.


And there were horseflies at camp. Big ones! And, we won't even talk about the composting toilets (that Evelyn was scared to use).
But it wasn't all bad. I was grateful for the trees for shade. And we had these awesome visitors at camp! Small dinosaurs, if you will. These goannas were about two to three feet long. Sweet!





And camping food is pretty good. Especially bacon and eggs in the morning! Well done, Love!


I have to admit the beaches were fantastic. The first one we stopped at was a nice calm one, almost like a large roped off swimming pool (and they had real toilets!).


Mike got to try his hand at kayaking.


And the kids really enjoyed using our friends' boogie boards.





Bridget was content in the shelter.


Then we did a little beach driving...


and found some incredible beaches! InCREDible!! This is called Deadman's Beach and it was glorious!






It was at this point that I turned to my friend, in sheer amazement, and said "this is like a tropical island." Then I realized "Oh, yeah! It IS!"


(Yes, parents, Bridget is wearing a hat. It's just pink. I did end up hanging out with her a lot in the tide under an umbrella.)


Unfortunately, I didn't bring the camera to the last beach we went to, but it was unreal. UnREAL! Southern Gorge is a narrow little beach tucked in between two cliffs. Like nothing I'd seen before! An extra bonus was getting to sit in the shade of the cliffs.
The beaches were absolutely to die for! Or in this case... to camp for. Maybe the misery at camp was worth it. That's debatable. I'd much rather have a real toilet and a shower. But, I did it! And we survived! With no major sunburns (thank goodness for swim shirts) or injuries and now that it's over we can chalk it up to one more Australian adventure!

Sydney, last installment: planes, trains, and ferry rides (and gondolas!)

On Boxing Day we went to Taronga Zoo, which is on the north side of the harbor. We got to take a ferry across and it was beautiful! There's that classic shot!




























People arriving at the zoo via ferry got to ride gondolas from the dock to the zoo entrance! Sweet! We got a sneak peek at the zoo as we passed over the top of it! But you have to be ferry riders, just in case you end up going to the Sydney zoo and want to ride the gondola.


























The zoo was lovely. They had the usuals, but we were really excited to see a seal show! That was a new experience for us!



























They also had lemurs, which was cool! This is a terrible picture.








Right next to the lemurs they had a big playground with lots of climbing. Wow, this is also a terrible picture.








But here's a great picture! I sported my new Australian pants to the zoo! These are very popular here, so I had to buy some for the novelty. They are loose cotton pants, usually in crazy prints, with elasticized ankles. Soooo comfortable!! Evelyn asked me why I was wearing pajamas. Ha!








Finished up a long day at the zoo with the gondola ride down, ferry ride and walk back through the city to the hotel. Long day! But a great day!
The very last day in our few hours before going to the airport we went to the Eye of Sydney, which is a really tall tower and looked at all the places we'd been. Here's the Queen Victoria Building.








And some cute girls!








And this is the highest working post box in the Southern Hemisphere. I guess I could have bought postcards from the gift shop, but the kids had just about had it.









On our way back to the hotel we said goodbye to our friend Speedy. She's a friendly rat who belongs to an old man who sits on that same city bench. She was a nice break for the kids on their long city walks. But I enjoyed her as much as the kids did. I could own a rat.








Then it was on the train to the airport!


What an adventure! But, boy, was it good to get home!