:: a penguin encounter ::

Danny's Mum gave us a family pass to a Penguin Encounter at The Living Planet Aquarium for Christmas. Jamin & I were very excited about going & seeing the penguins close, although I was a little worried about how Kael would go being confined on my lap with some cute animals just in front of him. He really loves animals! 

Jamin loved putting on a big coat & feeling like an animal rescuer, just like Diego!

The penguins stand at the entry door from their exhibit and are able to choose whether they want to come into the viewing room. One of the penguins was played door keeper & was quite possessive about which penguins could come in. 

The self appointed door keeper. A very serious & inquisitive penguin!

The guide was explaining to us that the penguins go through a ritual before mating season commences where they choose a mate by bowing to them. The encounter room is popular because they can 'bow' to each other in private without the rest of the penguins watching.

It was a wonderful opportunity to see some new & interesting creatures up close. Kael did really well although he did get quite vocal at one point. He is 1 after all!

We are looking forward to visiting the aquarium again now that we are back in Salt Lake City. Lots of fun & learning to be had. 

+ the glasses game +

After a number of slightly embarrassing episodes where I had no idea about what a sign said, I decided to do a quick visit to the optometrist before we left Australia. It was a difficult undertaking as I had two little boys with me, who thought sitting on my lap demanding an eye check was more fun than watching the dvd on the iPad that I had brought along for entertainment. We all survived, although I am not sure if the graduate optometrist quite knew what had hit her. The outcome of the eye test was that I no longer needed my old glasses (which I had stopped wearing months ago) but now need new ones for driving (boohoo).

What was I to do? My trusty glasses advisor, Linda, is an awfully long way away & I have no idea about where any glasses shops are in America, let alone how to order glasses with an Australian prescription. Then I remembered a web based company that my cousin was telling me about & that is where the magic started...

This company, Zenni Optical, allow you to view their frames online, upload your own photo& try on the frames that you like. Last night, while I skyping with Linda, we shared screen shots & she could see me trying different pairs of glasses on the photo I had uploaded. How cool is that?! She helped me choose glasses from the other side of the world. Linda even said that it was easier than going shopping together because we didn't have to coordinate schedules. She is in busy Easterfest planning time so I guess that is understandable. 

Here we are! Excuse the photo, let's just say that I am jetlagged & leave it at that...

Don't you just love the internet? I wouldn't have wanted to move overseas without it!

:: farm days ::

We spent some time at the farm with Danny's brother Scott, Ainsley & their 3 boys, Isaiah, Jairus & Eli while we were in Australia. 5 boys means that there is a lot of mediation & supervision needed but also a lot of rough & messy play. How wonderful!

Someone (not us) did some great planning in our family plan - giving us 4 months age difference between Isaiah & Jamin, 6 months between Jairus & Kael and 12 months between Kael & Eli. It is yet to be decided whether there will be a final addition to the clan. :)

Isaiah & Jamin washing the trucks one rainy morning in their 'work clothes'.

After the 'work clothes' got predictably wet, over they went to the swings.

Jai & Kael spent a lot of time playing in the paddle pool filled with beautiful, fresh rainwater. Eli is inside sleeping but I don't think a 4 month old would enjoy a swim anyway...

The sprinkler in the play fort means lots of muddy play & a great place for a drink.

We already miss the farm & our family there but are grateful to have lots of great memories to last us in the months to come. 

:: a home day ::

Our trip back to Australia flew by so very quickly. 7 weeks is a long time but we had a lot of family & friends to catch up with & a lot of different places to travel to. Toowoomba, Caloundra, Boonah, Brisbane, Melbourne, Bowenville just to name a few. 

But I must say that it has been just lovely to wake up this morning after spending more time in bed last night than out of it & know that I had a day at home just to do normal day to day things - washing, cooking & of course a whole lot of playing with my two busy boys. 

I am also grateful to have a chance to set some new routines in place. After talking to Jamin about his new job of setting the table before dinner we made these placemats to help him. He is very excited & is now practicing with it for his rest time by having a Dorothy the Dinosaurs Birthday Party. 

We all got a new placemat to make things easy for Jamin. I couldn't resist buying some happy Daffodils yesterday to brighten the house up. They do make me happy!

Thanks for visiting & have a wonderful day!

:: jetlag vs. snow ::

Amazingly, there has been a pretty equal pleasure to pain ratio in the last 24 hours. A horrible night of jetlag, with various participants from 10pm till 4am, compared to an absolutely stunning day up on the mountain skiing & snowboarding. 

This is what Danny found this morning when he went into Jamin's room at 9.30am. 

We made it up to the mountain about 11am & spent the rest of the day taking turns skiing the beginner slope with Jamin & having some serious runs on our own. The sun was shining, there was 200ml of fresh powder on the ground & incredibly not many people out. Kael even got to have his first turn on the ski lift when one of the kind operators felt sorry for him being stuck down the bottom. He loved it!

I am so thankful that we can experience another 6 months of this beautiful place & I do just think that our adventures will make the plane trip & jetlag worth it. 

:: home away from 'home' ::

We have survived two of the hardest parts of traveling across the world with little children - the flight & the 1st night back at home. They were both extremely hard & there were a lot of prayers going up for patience & love for me to pass on to my little ones. Neither Danny or I got any sleep on the plane & the boys only got a few hours themselves. A 'new' idea that I tried out was specially wrapped 'plane presents' for both of the boys & they worked amazingly well! They definately helped us get through the 24 hours of travel a little bit more easily.

My small hope for a good nights sleep was crushed after both the boys were up about 10:30pm. Kael lasted until 1am but Jamin pushed on through the night till 3:30am. It was a combination of extreme over tiredness & a broken body clock. Danny & I tag teamed through the night & I only dissolved into tears once which is not too bad considering. 

This morning we went out for a walk to take advantage of the sun (great for resetting body clocks, I hear). We rugged up for the 2'c weather but had to shed some layers as it really does feel like spring is in the air. Such a lovely time of year!

The spring season has begun for baseball which is another good sign that summer is coming!

Our local park with yesterdays layer of snow still hanging around. This snow was actually good enough to make some snowballs, much to the boys excitement.

After my long break from blogging while we were in Australia I am back to my beloved iMac & quick internet connection. I will be doing some features of our adventures in Australia so keep coming back to visit! 

:: lovin the beach! ::

We have spent the past week at the Sunshine Coast, loving the heat, the cool water & the sand, swimming everyday & enjoying some family time.

I am having internet withdrawals but it's probably as good as time as any to have a break from email, facebook & blogging. I will post some photos when I find a computer & internet connection...

Hope you are having a great week too!