Monday, December 29, 2008

South Bank

Sunday we all headed to South Bank. We took Debra and Raul on the City Cat and took in the South Bank markets. Deb bought a couple of new dresses and some new hot sauces. Hope they're good!
There were also fireworks that night so we hung around for a nice dinner, drank some wine and beer and then enjoyed the fireworks. A great day.


Of course we had to have some entertainment for the kids...

Shamus found $2.00 on the ground so he splurged and treated himself and Breagha to a ride in the Candy Man car.

So, the boys found a pub while we were at the markets and needed to refresh themselves. This pub always has great music. Very similiar to Halifax - small acoustic bands singing songs that everyone knows.

Me and B getting ready for the fireworks. We had a great spot on the beach.

Ok, so Raul is still catching up on his sleep. Or he just can't keep up with the Canadians!!!

Rankinville Gals.

It was a nice way to end the day.



Shamus still covers his ears for fireworks. I don't think he will ever like how loud they are. He does enjoy them now though, so that's good!!


This is a huuuuge ferris wheel that has only been at South Bank for a couple of months now. I'll have to try it out soon!

Moreton Island



On Monday/Dec 22...the kids were back in daycare so Darryl and I could hang with Debra and Raul for the day. We decided to go snorkeling at the shipwrecks on Moreton Island. It's a beautiful island and a day was definitely not enough time there. I was hoping that we would get in some snorkeling and kayaking but the day went by much quicker than we thought so we only got to do the snorkeling. It was really nice and it was wonderful to just have the day with Debra and Raul and Darryl.

We don't any pics of the snorkeling because we forgot to pick up a waterproof bag for the camera. No biggie. We had a great time and that's the main thing. Always next time. :)

We had to catch the ferry over to the island. It's about a 20 minute drive from our place to the ferry. And then about 90 minutes on the ferry. Longer than I thought it would take. So, that ate up about 4hours of the day!!! The longest day in daycare for the kids yet - dropped off at 715am and not picked up until 545pm!!!! I had serious guilt! But, Monday was their last day until January 5 so that helped!

The ship wrecks were cool. The visibility wasn't great but we still managed to see lots of cool fish and I love watching Darryl snorkel because he's great at holding his breath and diving deep into the water. He went swimming thru parts of the shipwreck. :) Not me. I'm not that daring. And I don't like any sea creatures to get too close. Gross.

Ships Ahoy Matey!!!

People go sandboarding on this hill.

Ah, ain't they cute?!!

These are sand tractors. Pretty cool.

Ahhhh, and end the day with a yummy meal.

We've been eating very well over the holidays. Debra and Raul are great cooks so we've been enjoying some super BBQ's. Too much food and too much beer and wine!!! New Year's resolutions are going to have to happen!

Friday, December 26, 2008

They Arrived!!! Day 1...

So, Debra and Raul arrived on Dec 18....around 7am.
They were pretty exhausted after almost 10 hours of flying so we mostly relaxed for the day.
Deb was also trying to get over a stomach flu and they were both wiped out from work and school.
I had Dec 18 off so I hung out with them while Darryl worked and the kids were at daycare.

We're a bit behind with the posts but I'll try to do some catching up. We've been quite busy but also enjoying some down time. We had a really nice Christmas with Debra and Raul and will be sad when it's time for they to leave. It's always nice to be with family. I know my Mom's family is going thru a rough time right now and I wish I could be there with them. But my heart and thoughts are. Love you all and miss you lots.

Day 2 - Mt Coot-tha

Friday morning we sent the kiddies off to daycare so we could have the day with Debra and Raul. We headed out of the city to Mt Coot-tha. It's not very far and has a great view of Brisbane. It was quite warm that day but luckily there were lots of trees so we stayed in the shade easily.


And yes, I am my mothers daughter. :)

Nice bum Purdy Boy.

That is Raul's GPS in his hand. He's been tracking all our destinations in the GPS...a guy thing I think?



Debra and Darryl also enjoyed playing with Deb's new camera. They fiddled with it thru out the hike and then tried out her new tri-pod for this pic. Pretty handy I must say!


Almost at the top!!



Ahhhhh, and back to the restaurant to enjoy a cold beer!! Tasty!!

Day 3 - Byron Bay

On Saturday morning, we headed down the coast to Byron Bay. We love going there and wanted to make sure that Debra and Raul got there too. :)

First thing - Raul got some R and R. He was pretty beat and needed to catch up on sleep!! And the heat knocks you out!


Nick and Mariana met us at the beach and we all relaxed for a few hours. As normal, the kids enjoyed the sand and we just chilled out and enjoyed each others company. Some down time for everyone as the last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic.

And of course - anyone that goes to the beach with the MacPurdys will have to put in quality "sand castle building time" with the kiddies. Thanks ladies!

B had enough of the sun and needed to also catch up on her sleep.
Pretty cute.




It's a beautiful little town...



Girlie bonding!!


We did have some bad luck with the weather though. About 3pm - the sky opened up and it poured for about 20 minutes! Everything was soaked. Luckily we had a change of clothes so we got cleaned up and by then the rain had stopped so we continued on with our day. It was pretty funny to watch everyone running off the beach and running to cars.

Next stop - the shops. And ice cream.


I think the ice cream was Raul's favorite part of the day. He was pretty pleased.


Then we headed up to the lighthouse. It had a great view. So peaceful.




This is Julian Rocks. Darryl did a dive there last week with Dan and Steve (Dan and Amy also have a blog so check out their pics of the diving trip Dan and Amy)


It's nice to watch the sunset here.

And we've been pretty lucky - each time we go to the lighthouse we see dolphins. This time there were quite a few...just off the rocks. We figured there were at least 8 of them jumping around. Quite enjoyable to watch.


I wish we could of stayed the night but you need to book a hotel in June if you want something over the Christmas holidays. It's crazy! So, just a day trip. No biggie though...it was still a great day. And Debra and Raul rented a car for the day so Raul got to try out driving on the left side. He did quite well I think!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I'm officially on vacation! Oh yeah!
I go back to work on Dec 30 for a couple of days so I'm pretty happy with my time off. Can't believe it's here already. Debra and Raul fly in tomorrow morning! Very early - 620am. I haven't seen Debra since Breagha was born and I haven't seen Raul since Lewis' wedding. Crazy!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and

Happy New Year!

I'm not sure when I'll be on the computer over the next few days as we do have some things planned with Debra and Raul. So, sending off the Christmas wishes now!!

Hope Santa finds you!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Our House is ready for Christmas


Christmas means shopping, right? It's not all about shopping but there's a lot of shopping going on!! And where better to do my shopping than at Myer!! Myer is an Aussie department store that would be similiar to a small Macy's in the US. I've only been in a couple of Macy's but they were very nice. Myer's is very nice too. Great Aussie designers, really nice accessories (oh yeah!), and great for picking up things for the house. Some stuff is too expensive for me but I had lots of fun shopping there on the weekend. We bought plenty of stuff for the tree and for the kids. The kids also got to see Santa there...but Breagha wouldn't go near him and Shamus just wanted to go back to the toys department. Oh well!

When we got home I was very excited so I dug out our Canadian Christmas box!!! All our decorations/stockings from home. Ahhhh, felt good. :)

The kids had it in their heads that they needed to wear their stockings.


Then the tree...
My office gave me this tree as we were moving locations and they were getting rid of tons of stuff. I didn't realize until we tried to put it up that it had no stand.
Ahh, but I didn't only marry Darryl for his good looks and charm. Oh no, he's a bit of a MacGyver too!!
Plan 1 - use hangers to hold the tree up.

Ok, the hangers aren't strong enough and broke.
Plan 2 - a show box.

Shoe box worked like a charm and now it's all about the lights!!

Shamus - handsome little boy, isn't he?

Oh, and Breagha lent a helping hand.

Ok, she bores easily. Time to do some cutting.

That's as far as we got...time for bed so the decorating will have to be done on Monday night!

...here we go...

But, now the fun part has started - the ornaments!! We had lots of ornaments from home so I was really happy about that. Made the tree feel more homey.

Getting there. I got a really nice tree skirt and star from Myer. But, it's bizarre - you won't find a tree top ornament here that lights up. Nope. Doesn't seem to exist.

All done!! Great job guys! It was a lot of fun this year as the kids were really excited. Not sure if you can tell but most of the ornaments are on the buttom of the tree. That's all the kids could reach so that's where they went!!