Did you know...

That it's very friendly here! It's really quite impressive. Since we've been here we've had a few introductions to the fire department, police department, and the locals. And everyone is so nice and considerate. Now, I would expect this in the Maritimes because Maritimers are just damn nice!! :) But, most places at home are small towns so more laid back and friendly. Brisbane is about 1.5million in population so it's fairly big. I would then assume that it would be more like Montreal....not so friendly. Don't get me wrong! Montreal has some super, kind, friendly people!!! But, it's a big city so not as friendly as the smaller towns.

Brisbane people have impressed me. Of course there are rude mean people here too. Like everywhere. But, overall, very considerate. We've been to the park and 2 policemen arrived on their motorcycles and let all the kids climb on and get their pictures taken. Another time we were downtown and there was a firetruck parked on the side of the street with some firefighters on the sidewalk. A couple of them came over to talk to Shamus (who was in "awe") and gave him and Breagha some stickers. Again...in the grocery store parking lot...a police car pulled in. The cop came out and then went up to Shamus and asked if Shamus would like to see the flashing lights on the cop car. So, he went back and turned them on. Pretty nice I thought! The list goes on...... Locals seeing me with the kids and the stoller...a construction worker stop and came over to carry the stroller up 2 flights of stairs for me this week!

Hmmmmm, Brissie is very nice. Makes me feel like I'm Nova Scota. :)

Weekend in Noosa

We were very lucky with the weather. It couldn't of been better. Perfect blue skies...no rain or thunderstorms. So, we were pleasantly surprised!! And relieved!

We arrived in Noosa around 430pm and unloaded all our stuff at the hotel. It was great. Very big. A self contained apartment is what it is called here. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen/dining room, and living room. Pretty sweet.

We picked up a few things downtown for meals and then relaxed Friday night.
Up early on Saturday and at the beach by 10am.

I was quickly put on Bucket Duty. Filling up the buckets with water.

The kids are getting used to the big Aussie waves but they definitely enjoy playing in the sand more. And they're getting really good at entertaining themselves which means Darryl and I actually get to relax sometimes!!

Little game of soccer between the boys. Shamus is on a, "I want Dad to do it...." phase. So, I don't cut it. He's really looking up to Darryl right now.

We headed to the streets after the beach to do some touristy shopping. Always fun.

And Miss Princess Breagha. She purchased a new purse on Saturday and thought she was Very, Very special. Which of course she is!!!

After the beach we headed to a park nearby. It was by the water which had a couple of pelicans swimming around. Man, they are big!! It's crazy that they are even able to fly! They're really big.

Back to the hotel for supper. A nice BBQ by the pool. It was very relaxing.

They're pretty cute when they're nice to each other!!

Testing out the temperature in the pool. The beach is more fun!

The kids really enjoyed the lounge chairs...especially Breagha. She was totallly chillin'.

Sunday morning...up early again to get ready for another beach day. We didn't want to feel rushed during the weekend so decided that we were just going to relax on the beach or shopping around town. Good choice.

Breakfast outside is always a nice way to start the day I think.

The kids sporting new sun hats. They're nice and big. And we got Breagha another pair of sunglasses. She's lost 2 pairs since we got here.

Breagha - she may be a picky eater sometimes but if she does like something, don't take it from her!! We made popcorn on Saturday night (took advantage of having a microwave) so I decided to make another bag on Sunday for the beach. I swear, Breagha ate the whole bag!!! I got one handful. That was it!!! Shamus and Darryl didn't have any. She ate it all while she played in the sand! I'm sure she ate just as much sand as popcorn but she was very content!!

Sunshine Coast?

The Sunshine Coast is about 30minutes from Brisbane. Basically it is the coast from Brisbane to Cairns. It's called the Sunshine Coast....obviously because the weather is quite sunny all year round. Soooooo, we decide to do a trip up the coast to Noosa. A great little town for relaxing on the weekend. We've got a beautiful little apartment for Friday and Saturday. And I'm allowed to leave work at noon on Friday!! So, seemed like things were falling into place. BUT, now the weather looks horrible for the whole weekend! Totally sucks - suppose to have thunder storms on Saturday and Sunday. I'm crossing my fingers that the rain will hold off but it doesn't look good!! :(

Other news....Darryl took Breagha and Shamus to the doctor today. Shamus' right eye was quite red and we were worried it was the beginning of pink eye. It's not. Just an irritation from his cold...maybe busted a blood vessel from coughing. So, he's ok. Now Breagha - little Miss B may have a hernia. Yeah. I didn't even know kids could get hernia's. The doctor said it may be an Inguinal Hernia which is not uncommon in young children. Better known as a groin hernia. So, I wasn't too happy about that but what can you do? She is going to a pediatric surgeon next Thursday so we'll know for sure. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it but if it is a hernia she will have to have surgery. Don't like that at all. It can always be worse though so we'll see how the appointment goes.

Good news - my work has slowed down abit this week!! I'm on the early shift and have actually been able to leave on time! Like that!

That's my little news for now. We'll keep you posted on Miss B.

Everyday stuff

It's tough to post evvvvverything that we do. A lot of the pictures don't ever make it on our blog. But, we do take lots of pics of the everyday stuff. Like hanging by the water and playing at the park. So, I figured it's time to just post a few of those and show you the area where we live.

We live in a suburb called New Farm. It's about a 15minute walk to downtown (CBD) and it's close to the water, park, grocery store....all the handy things that you need when you don't own a car anymore!! (soon)

We usually go to the park every weekend. Bring food, relax, hang out...family time.

This pic is to just show you the tarp over the playground. It's very common here which I love. You don't have to worry so much about the sun because you know that the playground will either be covered, like this one, or it's well shaded with big trees.

This is just a small playground near our place but it's right on the river so we enjoy the walk too.

Now, here is some of our "at home everyday stuff". Things that go on at home but don't usually make the blog cut as there's too much to post!

Shamus loves Darryl's diving stuff. He loved watching the swimming events during the olympics so I really think we have to get him back into a swimming class.

Good day Mate!

....And Breagha's latest thing has been pulling out my high heels and purses (always the same ones) and going "shopping".

This is her getting ready to head out to the store. She actually goes outside and opens the front gate and starts out the driveway. Gotta keep a close eye on her! It's pretty cute.

Oh, she stirred things up when she pulled out the winter coat!!

And more everyday stuff. This is at the Powerhouse which is by NewFarm Park...and also along the river. The Powerhouse has everything - live concerts, theatre, comedy shows, weekend markets, restaurants....you get the picture!

I'm not even sure what this big blocks are but the kids enjoy climbing up them.

And jumping off them!!

Leaving the Powerhouse...Darryl decided to take Shamus' bike for a spin. Which Shamus thought was great!

Our usually stop along the river. This is by the Powerhouse, which is also part of New Farm Park. It's a great area.

...I thought this "notice" was pretty funny...

Aussies and their great humour!!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fu-uuun!!

This week was busy, just like the last few weeks. But, this week was more of a social event for me! Can't complain. I like to be social, I like to be busy, and it was a great fun all around!

Tuesday night I met up with Felicity for dinner/drinks at a wine bar across from Darryl's new office. It's a really nice area in Fortitude Valley (The Valley to the locals) and it was the first time the 2 of us got together without kids! So, very nice to catch up. Then Wednesday night was off to Kate and Morgan's for an amazing dinner!! Morgan works with Darryl at Pandemic. He actually worked in Montreal for a while but they moved back here last year. Kate is a superb cook and we all had a great time. Thanks guys!!!

Then Saturday night was Ladies Night. 8 of us went out for dinner and dancing downtown. I haven't gone out dancing in forever so it was wonderful! We went to a little restaurant called "Little Jumbo", then to the Casino for an "after dinner" drink. Then to the Valley for dancing.
A great time was had by all I believe!!!!

Felicity, Cari, and I.

Kylie and Mariana. Kylie is from Australia and her husband works at Pandemic (he's from Vancouver and is Darryl's boss!!)

Amy and her friend Meagan. Amy had some great dance moves at the bar!

.......
Annnnnd, thought this was the perfect time to post my dress again!! Oh yeah. I had lots of requests for a better picture of the dress so I think this should be fine. I still love it so don't mind wearing it for a pic!!
I had just as much fun shopping for the dress. Felicity was a great help. She also suggested the clutch...vintage Oroton bag. Not bad!!!

Picture post!

Hey everyone,

We are slacking a bit on the blog. Stacey gave you a "cole's notes" version of our last few weeks. This post will be the picture equivalent of that post ... with a few additions.

In case no one is aware, we moved into a new office for my job last week. Pretty frickin' sweet. I will post some pics this week (whether you want them or not... hehe). The new office looks like something out of a design magazine. Really nice. The reason I tell you this is that we were supposed to do the move a couple of weeks ago and the company was giving us a long weekend so they could organize it. Some of the flooring got held up in customs so the move was delayed but because my company is very cool they still gave us the long weekend and another one last weekend when the move finally took place. Pretty cool.

So to make a long story longer, a few of the guys from work decided to take advantage of that first long weekend and climb a mountain... literally. An Australian mountain that is. We're not taking the Alps here but it was still pretty awesome and demanding. It is called Mt. Tibrogargan. It is part of the Glass House Mountains just north of Brisbane. They are a range of volcanic plugs.

Also for my first Father's Day (different date here) in Australia I ran my first road race this morning. The Bridge to Brisbane is a 10km annual fun run that they have here in the city for charity. It is a huge race. This year they had about 36 000 entrants. You should have seen the starting line. I was very pleased with my time. I unofficially finished in 49:29. My goal was to finish it in about 50 mins. For my first race I am pretty happy. Stacey and the kids also suprised me yesterday with a new rash shirt for the beach and some running supplies. I'm a little tired now but it was a great fathers day weekend.

Ok so this is not really the "Picture post!" that I claimed it was. I can't beleive that I have written this much. Sorry you had to wade through all this dribble. I know you only come for the pretty pictures... so with out further a do ... I give you ....

THE PICTURES!!!

Guys climb up Mt. Tibrogargan








The intrepid voyagers at the summit. Morgan, Jeff, Me, Steve and Dan.

River Fire


Nick and Mariana were kind enough to get to the botanical gardens and save us some prime realestate for the fireworks. Nick works at Pandemic as well.





Steve and Cari's blog has some good shots of the fire works. We didn't get much worth posting so check out their blog :)

Family hike to Glass House Mountains








This little guy (about 3 feet long) is called a Gowana Lizard. They can grow pretty large and they are fast too. He went 12 feet up the tree in about 2.5 seconds.




Race Day



Me, Steve and Mike Yeomans (and Shamus ... of course). Mike works with Steve and I at Pandemic. Another Canadian. Steve finished first in just over 45 mins, Mike next at 48 mins followed by me at 49 mins.