Stacey is in recipe withdrawl!!!

Hey everyone,

This will be a quick post. We had a scorcher of a weekend this week. It got up to 40 degrees celsius. Yes I said 40 (40.2 actually). That was not a miss print. So now we have lived in, both, a climate that reaches -40 and +40. Not bad. To beat the heat, we took the kids to the "man made" beach. It was really fun. Shamus found some little boys who were running to the end of the pool and jumping in so he had to join in. It was really cute. The boys were a little older than him, so they would run full speed and launch themselves into the water. Shamus would follow with a run and then he would check himself and drop off the end into the water. But he did it and kept doing it. A couple of times the ventured to do a bigger jump and almost lost his balance but caught himself. He is very comfortable in the water at this beach. He never wants to come out.

Breagha is starting to really enjoy the water as well. She is no longer content to sit and play on the edge. Anything "big brother" can do ... she can do. That goes for everything. Not just at the beach. She really does not seem afraid to try anything. When I was swinging her around in the water, I was showing her how to blow bubbles. She just threw her face down into the water and started blowing. She really seemed to enjoy it. It didn't seem to phase her, at all.

Anyways the reason for this post is to ask for recipes for Stace. Our boxes, with our recipe books, haven't arrived yet and Stace would love to have some decent recipes. So if anyone has some good suggestions please email them to stacey.macpurdy@hotmail.com

She'd love to have them.

Ciao all

An Aussie Update...

Hey All,

Just thought that maybe we should give a general update on things. It has been tough with the very limited internet...sorry if we haven't made many calls/emails...but, once we have our own place this will change.

We're all adjusting nicely. Darryl really likes the new company - Pandemic. And the kids and I are enjoying the warm weather. We had our first play date today. We went to South Bank with a little boy name Tyco and his Mom Felicity. We met them at the park last week and the boys hit it off. And luckily so did the Moms!! So, we really enjoyed the beach (in South Bank) as it was about 30degrees today. It's suppose to be 33 tomorrow and 36 on Saturday. So, I guess this is the Brisbane weather that everyone has been talking about!! Pretty hot so the beach is nice and refreshing. And there is a park beside it so it's perfect for the kids and I.

I also started looking into daycares. But, they are really pricey and have waitlists. So, it may be a while before we can get both kids in. Shamus seems to be easier as he is older. We'll see how it goes. I need to made some serious $ to cover the daycare costs!!!

And Darryl put the word out at work that we were looking to meet other families like us -with young kids but still like to get out and do things - so, we're suppose to go to the park this weekend with another family. But, if it's 36 degrees we may cancel and spend the day in the water. Not sure yet.

Overall we really like it. It's just tough to keep in touch with home so I hate that part. But, it's only for a few more weeks. We're getting used to the accents and the slang here. And everyone is really friendly. Super friendly.

And I was worried about the shopping...but seems good to me!!! I haven't seen all the shops yet but working on it. Some things are more pricey here, like some grocery stuff and makeup, but overall it's pretty good. The only thing that kind of bugs me is that everything is closed really early. Except the grocery stores. All clothing stores, hair salons, spas....that kind of stuff....closes at 6pm. Except on Friday. Even Walmart!!! (it's called Big W here) So, you really only have Friday night or the weekend to buy stuff. And we need everything so that's tricky!!

And that's it for now. Sorry if it's too long but we keep getting asked for updates so this is it!!!

Koalas are just about the cutest darn things...

Hey everyone, our limited internet access plagues us again so there won't be much explaining in this post. We went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on Saturday. It was pretty cool... the kids seemed to really like it. Check out the pics below. By the way there is one picture that is in here that is specifically for Gunka.

ENJOY!

Not a koala but still pretty cute

This one too... I think she's a keeper!

This Emu was a little intimidating... he wanted all your food and hissed when he approached. Shamus wasn't impressed.

The great thing about this pic is: If you look closely Shamus isn't looking at the kangaroo... he is keeping his eye on the emu.

This one's for you Gunka!

These are the little ones... only about 10feet at the biggest. The salt water ones can grow to 26feet.

Wambat

Punk Rock Chicken

Cassowary

Shamus loved this little guy

Is that sun I see...

Oh yeah!! The sun came out! The rain hasn't completely stopped...there's been some rain the last couple of days. But, we got out of the apartment so I'm very happy!

The kids and I went to the city beach on Wednesday. It's actually a man-made beach but it's really great. Surrounded by palm trees so you can't go wrong. Shamus didn't come out of the water!! We took the city cat (the ferry) to South Bank (where the beach is) and enjoyed the stroll thru the city. The hills are killing me though!! It's pretty exhausting! But, it's great to get out and see the city.

Again, we are very limited with the internet/email so bare with us until we get our own place.

Here are a couple of pics of the last couple of days....

The city....on the way to the city cat....

And here is the beach in South Bank. It was so perfect for the kids. I'll definitely been spending some days there...

The kids were pretty tired after the day in the sun.


And today we went to Bribie Island. It's about an hour north of Brisbane. We are lucky that Steve and Cari and Rej and Clo have cars....we hitched a ride with them!! Thanks guys!

And we all got to try the body boards. I didn't do too well but I finally got one good ride. I'll need some more practice!

Clo and Shamus taking a stroll.

This is a bit blurry but I liked it...a good shot of Cari and Jesse. Jesse didn't come out of the water all day.

Shamus needed a nap...he was cranky when we got there. But, the sleep helped alot and he ended up really liking the waves. Was nervous at first!! And then he and I got knocked over by one wave and I almost lost him!! No worries, we survived. : )

And B and I taking a stroll.

I like this one too. Steve chillin'. And Clo, Rej, and Cari enjoying the water.

And snack time!!

So, we're getting into the swing of things. Darryl really likes his new company and the kids and I are getting familiar with the city. I'm really glad that the rain has slowed down because it was tough for us to get out the first few days.

Tomorrow we may go to one of the city markets as I really need a sun hat. And I lost my sunglasses today....totally sucked. The water ate them up when Shamus and I got caught up in the wave. sniff...sniff. I least I didn't lose Shamus so we're good!!

Hope everyone is well and keep in touch!

Is anyone Out There? Hello?

I feel so out of touch.....

Hi All. Well, we moved into our apartment on Monday. Steve took Monday off work...thanks Steve!! And he took the kids and I to our new place, then he took us shopping for a few things. The only problem with our temporary apartment is that we have to pay for each hour that we use the internet and it's pretty expensive. Also, it is a crappy connection. We weren't able to open up our email earlier. And we just tried to do a new post 3 times and we lost the connection. So, this is my 4th time trying to post something....I'm now at Steve and Cari's because our internet sucks. And our phone is through the internet too so we don't have much contact with the outside world!! We're working on it but we won't be able to make any phone calls anytime soon. Sorry folks!!

Things are going well. Sorry Jo - no pics. We took pictures while we were in LA but that's it. And we haven't down loaded them yet. We suck...we haven't opened up the camera case since we got here. But, maybe it's because the weather has been really shitty. Well, Steve doesn't agree. Brisbane has been in need for lots of rain....well, they're getting it!! So Steve is happy to see all the rain but all the rain is making me shack happy! It's been tough for the kids and I to get out.

We did get to see some of the city on the weekend. It seems like a nice city. We had a BBQ on Sunday (at Steve and Cari's) and we got to meet a few people...and see Vic and Jeff again! But, it's been raining pretty much since Saturday/Sunday so it's been tough to get out.

Darryl really likes his new company. The kids and I went to the office yesterday and everyone seemed very friendly. And he's working on a cool project. So, he's pretty happy!

Thanks for all the comments on our last posts!! I wish we had our internet working but no luck. So, I don't think we'll have much access to email/blogging until we get our own place. Sorry Folks!

Hope everyone is well. The kids are adjusting from the jetlag and sleeping pretty good. But, they're a bit cranky at times so I hope it's just the adjusting period! And we're all up pretty early. I can't seem to stay awake past 9pm and we're up at 5-6am! Wide awake. It's bright very early and dark around 6ish.

Ok, that's it!! I better go since I'm "borrowing" from Steve and Cari!!! I hope everyone is great and we miss you lots!!!!!

We're here!!!

Good Morning!

So, we made it safe and sound. The flight from LA to Brisbane went quite well. It was getting long near the end but went well. The line up for Quantas was soooooo long. We waited 2.5 hours to get checked in and then still had security to go thru. We were at the airport about 4hours early....because we wanted to check out the duty free...but we barely got to the gate on time. The flight was already boarding by the time we got there.

The kids did really well on the flight. Breagha slept for about the first 6hours and Shamus slept for about 8hours. And they slept in the line while we were trying to get checked in. So, I think they did well. They had a couple of cranky moments, when they were waking up, but overall they were great. A big relief!!!!!

So, we got here on Friday morning and Steve met us at the airport. We had so much luggage!!! We had to get a Maxi Taxi...bigger than a van. We're staying at Steve and Cari's for the weekend and moving into our apartment tomorrow. Steve took us out to Redcliff on Friday afternoon and then we went to Darryl's office for pizza and beer that evening. They have beer/pizza once a month. So, it was a good way to meet some people from the company. Everyone seems really nice. We did quite well with the jetlag I think. The kids stayed up on Friday until 730ish. They're waking early - Breagha around 530am and Shamus around 630am. I hope it's just the jetlag!!

Yesterday we walked from Steve and Cari's to downtown. It was along a floating path on the Brisbane river. It was very nice. We spent the afternoon downtown, took a quick walk through the botanical gardens, where Shamus got to see some water dragons, had lunch, and then walked back to the Dickinson's. After a couple beers for the boys and a few glasses of wine for the girls we were all pretty pooped ... so off to bed.

As a side note we promise to add some pics of the last few weeks in future posts. Once we get a more stable set up we will post Shamus' bday pics and some pics from our travels.

Cheers to all