Camping Trip

 

We spent the weekend at Mission Beach camping with some good friends. We enjoyed swimming in the ocean, exploring the rainforests, visiting the most beautiful waterfalls, and braving the wind and rain storms. We finished off the day with an Easter egg hunt, it took the kids a minute to understand the concept, but they loved finding all the chocolates the Easter Bunny left behind. Ryder loved going camping, especially with his pal Ellie, and he was so devastated when we pulled into our driveway, we promised we would go again soon. We really are enjoying visiting all the places that are around, but there is so much more to see, we are trying to scope out the best places for when you all come for your Aussie adventure, but until then here is your glimpse at what we have to offer.

new house

 

Just a couple snap shots of the outside of our place.....this might be it for a while since Ryder got his little paws on our camera and it no longer works. We are loving all the room we have to move around in. It is pretty bare everywhere, but thanks to the generosity of good friends here we have been able to furnish it with most of the necessities....including a designer white plastic lawn table with metal chairs to top off the ensemble! I'm not proud. I have to learn that I can't have it all right now and it is ok if my house isn't cute....we will get there someday! Ryder loves the new house and tells everyone that it has a pool...which is a necessity here in my opinion. We think it will be great especially when the new baby comes and we won't be leaving the house for months, at least we can go for a swim. The weather is beautiful these days, it is cool in the morning and hot in the day and cools off some at night. We can't wait for everyone to come for a visit. We are planning all the places to visit when Bama and Bampa come in July, Ryder points at all the planes overhead and says "Bampa coming". We hope everyone is doing great. We love and miss you all.

A Home for Ollie

Calling out to all you animal lovers, our little Dog Ollie needs a new home. We left our Ollie with a family member in Utah and after a few months she has found out that she is allergic to him and that she is not really a "Dog Person". So we are looking for someone who would like to take care of him for possibly a year to 3 years or if you feel that it needs to be a permanent situation then maybe that could be arranged. Ollie needs lots of love, he loves to be played with and taken on walks, and he loves to sit on laps and snuggle. He is fabulous with kids, Ryder could bug him to death and he wouldn't do anything. He does have allergies so he has to have good food and be taken to the vet for regular check-ups. He would be a great addition to any family. We miss our little Ollie, but we want him to have a good home....so if this is for you, or someone you might know, let me know.

Nakey Bum Bum

So, I know some of you out there think that since we are in Australia we are out having an Aussie adventure everyday. Well the truth of the matter is that we have the same life just in a different part of the world, we have work, nap time, dinner time, and all those other times....
It has been raining non stop for what seems like months. There have been big floods and devastating fires surrounding us, but thankfully we have not been affected by mother nature destruction, despite a little sogginess outside. So we have to be creative and think of lots of indoor things to do. We visit the Library a lot, Ryder loves to color, paint, and watch movies. So on the really rainy days we build a fort and Ryder and Bear love to watch a good movie in there.....whatever works right.
Life is going for us, we are still adjusting to the ways of life over here, but we see a lot of potential....we just wish it would hurry a little faster.
So here are a few new pictures of Ryder, he is really a funny little thing, but doesn't really like the spotlight unless it is just mom and dad. If any of you have attended a party with us, you know that it isn't a party unless Ryder has stripped down to his birthday suit. As soon as we walk in the door these days the first thing he does is take off his clothes and say NAKEY BUM BUM! I spend the majority of my day dressing this kid....as you can see he would much rather dress himself to his own liking.

BILLABONG SANCTUARY

So today we spent our afternoon at the Billabong Sanctuary just a few miles away from where we live. It was a real Australian experience we held baby crocs, patted the Koala's, fed the Kangaroo's or as Ryder calls them "ROOS", and there was the hugest croc I have ever seen that they were feeding, his name just happened to be JAWS. We had to drag Ryder away he loved it so much! So here are a few pictures we thought we would share.

Just a few more pics

I need to do this more often so I don't have to add so many pictures at once....so here are a few more.

Aussie update

So I haven't really gotten into this whole blog thing....mainly because I haven't figured it out so I avoid it, but I am going to work on it a bit. We have had a few fun little excursions on Kyle's days off. Life is starting to pick up for us a bit, Kyle is bringing in lots of new patients and we are enjoying the tropical life. This week the weather has been crazy, windy and rainy and the waves at the beach are humongous. Some of the roads are flooded and one of our favorite swim spots is totally overflowing into the ocean. It is pretty amazing.

For those who don't know we are having a baby Mid-May and we just found out it is a little girl. We are so thrilled...I am excited that there are so many cute girl things to shop for, although this could pose a bit of a problem. We talk to Ryder about the baby all the time and he is so excited and even before we knew what she was he would talk about baby sister and being a big brother. I can't wait for him to have a little playmate.

So if you can believe it Ryder just keeps getting cuter.He is pretty animated and talkative....until anybody comes around and then he becomes a mute. My goal was to have him potty trained before the next baby came, so this last month we were really diligent about it, and without all that much grief Ryder is totally potty trained, it's heaven!! Ryder is pretty good at knowing all of his colors and even counting, he even walks around saying "1,2,3..time out mommy, daddy", apparently he gets it but thinks that we need to be disciplined too. We really can't get enough of him and we are so excited to add to our family.