:: las vegas, nevada ::

At the m&m store - 4 storeys of m&m's!

I was not sure what to expect of Las Vegas... Danny had visited many times before but this was mine & the boys first trip. It was big, loud, bright & busy - and being a city girl by nature, I loved it! It didn't seem too sleazy & 2 nights was just the right amount of time. 

Heres what we got up to...

The famous painted ceiling in The Venetian. It was overwhelming but as you can see the boys were not as taken with it as me. I had to run to catch up with them...

The gorgeous sky & canal complete with gondela rides in The Venetian. We would have gone for a boat ride but the wait was hours long. With 2 boys under 3? Ah, no thankyou!

Our cute Italian dinner place, complete with kisses from 1 of my loves.

Next we took in a Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere at Treasure Island. It was amazing. Jamin spent the show hiding behind the iPad but Kael loved it & didn't miss a second. Here's a naughty picture I took during the finale just for you. 

The view crossing the bridge back to our caravan at Circus Circus. We stayed at the KOA which brought a bit of normality for the boys & was a good way to stay grounded in the craziness that is Las Vegas.  

The next day we took a double decker bus ride along the strip & ended up having an early lunch at The Bellagio. It was a rather grand place.

The balloons were made out of glass. I want some!

The famous Statue of Liberty at New York, New York. It was really odd seeing all the sights that have been apart of movies & culture for so many years. 

That night Danny treated me to dinner at Mandalay Bay, then dropped me off at The Lion King, a show that I have wanted to see for years. It was AMAZING! I loved every minute of it - the songs, the costumes, the production was so wonderful I cannot wait for the next time I can go out to see a show. 

We may just be returning to Las Vegas sooner that I expected...

:: home at long last ::

We made it through the maze of airports & roads from America to Australia & arrived home to Toowoomba yesterday morning. The flights were about as hard as expected but I didn't reach breaking point, which is always a good thing. Kael is a bit sick with fevers & they split our seats up but if thats the worst thing that happens on a flight then I can survive. 

The best thing about coming home has been the reunion of the Moes girls - mother, daughters & sisters. It feels so wonderful to be home amongst the people I am closest to in my life, it just feels right & our hearts are so very happy. Danny & I have also gotten in two dates today which is unknown to us. 

This week brings moving back into our house, figuring out childcare & scheduling for our new jobs & lots of catching up with family & friends. Its going to be great!

:: the end ::

Just wanted to put up a quick post to tell you all that I might be a little more sporadic than usual here over the next few weeks. Our beloved iMac sold during the week & after some temperamental problems transferring data, is going to leave us for a new home today. So blogging may be a little bit more difficult. 

Thanks for all of your support on this blog as we shared the adventure over here in Utah. At times it was challenging beyond what I thought that I could cope with but I feel like a much richer & stronger person returning home to Australia. Danny summed it up well when he said that the highs were not quite as high as we hoped & the lows were much much lower. Still, I don't think it will be something we will ever regret.

Danny & I are both going home to start new jobs, which for me is very exciting as I have been out of the workforce for the 2 years since Kael has been born. I am going to be the Counsellor 2 days a week at My Midwives, a private midwifery practice in Toowoomba & Danny will start a new position as General Manager of a few departments at RME. Jamin is going to be starting pre-prep next year as well so there will be big changes for all of us. All we have to do is get through the flights from SLC to Brisbane & we will survived!

Talk to you all again soon, in the meantime, I will be packing...

:: yellowstone national park - part 2 ::

Our 2nd day at Yellowstone National Park was even more eventful than the 1st! As we were driving into the park I was telling Danny & the boys how much I wanted to see a bear. I had high hopes but you can't plan these things... 

Here's the map if you want to have a look at the upper loop that we followed. We went from Madison, up to Norris, over to Mammoth Falls, then on to Tower Falls, Canyon & back to Madison. It was a fantastic drive & here are the highlights. 

First off we stopped at Gibbon Falls...

...and the boys used up some energy climbing the rocks.

Then as we were driving onto Mammoth Falls we were held up by a "Wildlife Jam" (a technical term used for when all the tourists stop to look at an animal & create gridlock).

There was a bear just down the embankment from the road! So we got out, had an amazing close up view of a grizzly bear walking around down by the creek digging for food. It was AMAZING! He was totally uninterested by all the people standing there with cameras. Kael learned to say 'bear' & he kept on signing 'more, more'. After about 10 minutes we decided to move on & as we were driving away a ranger was coming down the road to create some order of the chaos.

A beautiful view as we were driving over the ranges. 

We came to Mammoth Hotspring Terraces & did a small drive through them while Kael had a short sleep. 

Then we drove on down to the town & spotted a family of deer. The fawns were so small & I loved their spots!

We went for a short hike up to the terraces.

They were spectacular & quite steamy too.

There was something beautiful about the formation & colours of them. 

After lunch we drove onto the Tower Falls & on the way were held up by another wildlife jam for 2 bears meandering along the river. The ranger here is trying to get the traffic flowing. 

Then we drove over Mount Washburn at 3122m & there was still a lot of snow beside the road.

On the road between Canyon & Norris we spotted a elk from the roadside. These people looked a bit too close & the boys were done for the day so we kept driving.

Nb: We recommend iPads for any parents driving long distances with children. They WILL save your sanity!

Another Bison spotting, this time meandering along the road. 

The next day we were packed up & ready to head off home through the South entrance of the park. Over the 3 days that we were in Yellowstone we had a great opportunity to see pretty much all of the park & its spectacular wildlife, scenery & natural wonders. It was such an amazing experience & worked so well for the stage our family is at. 

A beautiful early morning picture as the sun was rising in the sky over the river.

Another Bison! & this time he was just walking in the middle of the road, totally ignoring the traffic that was carefully driving alongside him. It was great to get such a close up view of one!

We drove home through the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It had a different feel & look to Yellowstone but the Teton Ranges were just spectacular. 

It was a long day in the car, starting at 7 o'clock & not getting home until 8 o'clock that night. But we had some fun stops along the way to break up the day. Check out our 4th July Festival in Jackson, Wyoming here. 

:: yellowstone national park - part 1 ::

This last weekend we made the grand trek to Yellowstone National Park. This iconic American park was everything & more than we could have imagined. I would have to rate it as one of my favourite parts of our time here. 

We drove all day Friday to reach our campground just 7 miles from the West Entrance to the park. From there we settled in the for the night & were raring to go Saturday morning. 

Heres a link to the main map of the park in case you want to follow along with the photos. We did the bottom loop on our first day, from Madison past the Lake & the canyon, then back to the West Entrance. The boys loved being able the get in & out of the car, spot the wildlife, look at interesting things & have a run, then another rest in the car. 

We stopped in at Madison first off because we thought there was a visitors centre. No centre but there was a huge Bison scratching himself on the picnic tables. I was blown away by the size of it. There is a video at the end to show you a closer look plus some amusing commentary. We were probably a bit close to him considering that they can be quite aggressive but he was very uninterested in the people around. 

We drove past some small geysers on the way to the famous 'Old Faithful' geyser.

The visitors centre had a great kids area explaining how a geyser works & lots of other interactive things.

The entrance to the world famous "Old Faithful". In true Danny & Al fashion we totally fluked being in time for the next eruption of the geyser & only had to wait 30 minutes. They can now predict the eruptions give or take 10 minutes & the occur every 90 minutes or so. 

The boys found their own front row seat.

Old Faithful shot water about 130 feet in the air - impressive! There's a video further down.

Next we headed over to Yellowstone Lake which was beautiful & blue. It also had a few steaming pools  from the active volcano that erupted 640 000 years ago.

Stopping to look at some rapids alongside the road. Kael wanted to go swimming. 

Jamin spotted a flower field so we stopped to let them have a run. It was gorgeous & a lot of fun.

This video makes me laugh.






We made our way past some more Bison.

Then on to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

On the way back out of the park we spotted some deer grazing next to a bridge so we got out to have closer look. They didn't take much notice of us.

Here's a video with a few highlights. The Mud Volcano's were very smelly from the sulphur but rather cool as well.




Check back here for Part 2 of our Yellowstone adventure tomorrow.

+ 4th july fun +

We returned late last night from a very big weekend visiting Yellowstone National Park. More on Yellowstone tomorrow but I thought that today I would share the great 4th of July festival we stumbled upon in Jackson, Wyoming. 

It was lunchtime & we were driving through town, looking for a park for the boys to play in when a bouncy castle was spotted, alongside lots of red, white & blue balloons. The local church was having a celebration for the 4th of July & we joined in. The perfect way to break up a long day of driving!

After the 1st stop at the "Bounce House" we moved onto face painting where balloons were the order of the day.

The boys both got (big) tshirts & joined in the kids games.

They ran their 1st ever 3 Legged Race together.






And Jamin joined in a Tug of War with Kael cheering him on.

Here's the video...





Then they went fishing while we waited for our hot dogs & lemonade. They caught bubbles on the end of their lines.

After an hour of this fun they were both happy to jump back into the truck for a few more hours driving. 4th of July is a lot of fun!

Here's what we did last year.