Random in Brisbane

Last weekend Amy, Clo, and I took a photography course. I really enjoyed it and plan to take the follow up course in July. I'm no expert but at least I now know what aperture and shutter speed means!!! I was hoping to get out lots this week to put my knowledge to the test but the weather wasn't great at the beginning of the week and I was also putting in many hours at work. So, I just have a few random shots.

I'm reading my camera manual (well, actually Mariana's manual because we left ours in Canada!) and I'm slowing feeling comfortable with our big camera. It only took 1.5years!

This one reminded me of Halifax. We don't see fog in Brisbane very often so I was happy to get a picture of it. On my way to work. :) Happy Day.

I'm sure everyone has seen lots of pictures of the Story Bridge with the city in the background. But, I don't get bored of it. Brisbane is truly a beautiful city.

I was very pleased to see the bumblebee stay for a pic.

One picture of the city on my way to work. And one on my way home.

This was just this afternoon. Breagha, Shamus and I went for a little walk. We were lying underneath a tree - relaxing.

And then the kids decided to start collecting sticks. Not sure why but we brought them all home!

Hmmmm, and that's it!! Like I mentioned, I had a really busy week at work. I was very happy when Friday arrived!! Darryl and I went out together Friday night, we had swimming on Saturday morning (the kids are doing super well. Breagha didn't even get upset when I passed her over to her instructor), and today we went to the movies with Rej and Clo! We went to see

Ice Age 3 - 3D.

We really enjoyed it.

It's Sunday evening already and I don't want to go to work tomorrow!! The weekends just go by too darn quickly! Shouldn't we have a 4 day work week? Or even better, a 3 day work week! Ah, that would be great!

Enjoy your week!

Some Family Fun

Globe Trotters anyone?

This is a great game. We bought it for the kids for Christmas and have had lots of fun with it. It's bascially the game "Twister" but you play on the globe instead. The twister part is lots of fun but the kids learn some geography as well! And there are little pictures in each continent...Great Wall of China, Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower....so we learn along the way!

Breagha tends to do her own thing sometimes but it's quite funny to watch!

Dad and I are not as flexible as the kids. :) Shamus is surprisingly good at the game. He understands how to play and it very flexible!

Ah, that was fun. Can we play again!!!?!!

Someone is enjoying his swimming class!!

So, we've had the kids in swimming class for a couple of weeks now. The kids are enjoying it. Even Breagha had a great time this week! She likes her instructor and seemed to be really happy yesterday. Shamus has moved up a level and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face! Really cute although I was worried he may swallow alot of water because he didn't stop smiling! There are only 2-3 kids in each group so the kids get great 1-on-1 with the instructor.

With that, Shamus is very much in "swimming mode". He has been wearing his swimming cap and goggles since yesterday!

I took Breagha and Shamus downtown this morning to do a few errands and Shamus wore the cap and goggles! We had some funny looks and giggles...Shamus didn't even think twice!

Me and the kiddes getting ready to head out this morning. It was raining so we had on our rubber boats, unbrellas, swimming caps, and goggles. Yep.

After we did our errands we headed home to pick up Dad. I was taking my photography course in the afternoon so they were dropping me off at Dan and Any's. At this time the kids were still wearing their swimming caps and Shamus still had on the goggles!

Amy had a chance to see it first hand. I think she had a good laugh. Poor Shamus but he really does look funny!

What? What's so funny dude?

Oh, Good times!!

Ok, first I need to tell you what Shamus said tonight. It was really too funny. Sorry...I try not to write too much in my posts. I think of Jolyne in Montreal and how she hated trying to read through so much writing! But, this was quite funny.

We were having dinner tonight. Sitting at the table with the kids. And we were telling the kids that we got tickets to "Ice Age 3" and we were going with Rej and Clo next Saturday. (building up the excitement!) And telling the kids how thankful they should be that "mom and dad have money to buy them things and bring them to the movies....". All that good stuff. Trying to teach them to appreciate the value of things! :) So, then Darryl was picking on Shamus that when he got older he would have to pay for us. So, Shamus replied with, "When I get older I'll buy you a new cool mop Mom! Then you can clean Everything!!"

Lucky me! He really believed he was being thoughtful with his money!

Ok, that's all. :)

Back to the post. We took the kids to swimming lessons on Saturday and B went in the water! We were veeeeeery happy! And she did well. Got nervous a couple of times but overall... pretty good. And Shamus is moving up next week as he needs to be challenged more.

Shamus is doing super well. I like to think that swimming lessons in Australia are really good...since Australia has a rep of producing top notch swimmers! Maybe Shamus will be in the Olympics some day! Oh, so proud!

Breagha happy - I'm doing it!

Breagha not so happy - I don't like this!

Oh yeah!! Hi 5 Katie!

We were very happy with the kids swimming.

After swimming - clean up, have lunch, and off to Rej and Clo's! Clo was very generous and gave me a wondeful birthday gift. Her time!! She and Rej offered to take the kids for the night so Darryl and I could get away! Our last night "away" was 2 years ago (almost to the day) when we went to NYC. I know, some parents never get a night away. We were very thankful!!!!!

Thanks guys!

Darryl and I headed to Byron Bay for the night!

We tried out the new camera a bit but forgot about it as we drank more beer and wine! That's Darryl reading over the manual at the bar/restaurant.

We had pre dinner drinks, during dinner drinks, post dinner drinks, and back to the hotel drinks.

Not sure why we weren't hungover on Sunday morning!! We took full advantage of no kiddies waking us up!

Ok, testing out the Self Portrail option! Honestly, this camera had tons of options. It even has a LED light for macro shots. We're really happy with it. But, can't remember all the options!

We went to a yummy Thai restaurant for dinner. Darryl being dorky while I'm trying to take some nice photos. :)

Ah, good wine. We treated ourselves to a nice bottle!

Main course was great.

Oh yes, the reason for the trip. Snorkeling in Byron Bay! I love going to Byron. It's a great little town.

Getting ready!

I was worried about the water being cold but was quite nice (still wore the wetsuit!)

Right now is shark season but you usually need to be diving to see them. Nurse Sharks so they won't eat you!!

Darryl is really good at diving down deep. I like to be safe and stay on the surface!

yellow tail king fish

Julian Rocks, Byron Bay. Where all the action is. It's not far off the main beach and has some of the best diving in Australia.

A wobbegong but it's hard to see. We saw a few of them. That's the only bummer of the pictures we took. We didn't zoom in. There are about 4 underwater settings and we used the wrong one and couldn't zoom. Oh well, we'll know for next time!

Me! Being safe. Up top!

Good times! I still didn't get to see a turtle though!! I've been snorkeling so many times now and no turtles! Most of the snorkeling was in the Carribean and Central America. A couple of times now in Australia. No turtles. I think it's a myth that they swim/live in the ocean.

Sorry the post was longer than planned! Thanks for checking it out!

Hmmm, I'm running out of "title" ideas!!

On Saturday we met up with Nick, Mariana, Dan, and Amy at the Botanical Gardens in

Mt Choo-tha. I didn't realize the gardens were so big and so nice! We hope to go back because there is a lot to do and see there (the Insectarium should be good for the kids). We had a nice stroll thru the gardens and had a chance to catch up with everyone!

Great suggestion Mariana!!

Mariana and Dan were trying out their new cameras. We are all part of the Canon family! And Amy, Clo, and I are taking a photography course the end of the month. Then Mariana takes a 4 day photography course in July!! We're all hoping to compete with Rej soon! :) Hmmm, I'll be happy to just figure out all my settings!

It was a relaxing afternoon in the gardens. We left and everyone headed over to Nick and Mariana's for a BBQ. Dan and Amy picked up Kate and Morgan along the way so it was great to catch up with them too!!!

A wonderful night - great company and great food! I really need to get the salad recipes!

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We have also been getting ourselves caught up with the NHL playoffs. Pittsburgh and Detroit are in the finals. And of course we are cheering for Sidney Crosby!! Hmmm, not sure how the playoffs will end but our fingers are crossed!

Go Pens Go!

The kids had to get into the spirit of the game last night...the jerseys and sticks came out.

Relaxing with Dad and with some popcorn (still Breagha's favourite snack).

Shamus is actually doing pretty good with his stick handling.

The cheering squad!

He Shoots He Scores!

It's Hump Day already and I don't know where the days go!!

Hope everyone at home is well and I'm sure that Jennifer is saying a prayer that the Penguins win the cup! :)

Swiming with a side of rolls

We finally placed the kids in a swimming class again. They haven't been in swimming class since back in Montreal. We thought that because we now live on an island we may as well have the kids learn some water skills ... they may come in handy. A couple of weeks ago we took them for an orientation class which seemed to go quite well. Breagha wasn't as keen as Shamus but she still seemed to do pretty well. Shamus was more comfortable in the water but that's to be expected because he was in swimming classes for a longer period in Montreal. To make a long story longer we enrolled them into Sam Riley's swim school. Yesterday was there first class. Breagha however sure knows how to throw a wrench in to the plans. She refused to go in the pool with the instructor. Man ... I don't know why Stacey made Breagha so stubborn. I should really talk to her about it one day. So we didn't want to push the subject too much with B so we swallowed our frustration and focused on Shamus. He did so well. We have been practicing his skills at home in the bathtub (especially having him put his face in the water) and I think it's paying off. Check out the video below!

Mommy has also been doing some baking lately. mmmmmm mmmmm. She is currently training the next generation. Shamus and B love to help mommy bake. Stace was making rolls the other day and of course the kids wanted to join in. It was pretty cute so I took a little video. Sorry for the quality. Next time the video will be better but for now it will have to do.

Hope everyone is well. Until next time...

A Pleasant Surprise

So, I worked until 6pm today.  Which means that Darryl went to pick up the kids from daycare (we rotate usually).  I got home around 630pm and as soon as I walked into the house I saw a bouquet of flowers on the dining table.  Shamus comes rushing to the door and tells me, "We bought you some flowers today Mom!"

What a wonderful surprise!  It was truely one of the sweetest things.  

How it came about - Darryl had to stop at the grocery store on the way home.  Shamus saw all the different flowers while they were there.  He asked Darryl if they could get me some flowers so he and B picked these out.....

I think they did a great job picking out the flowers and they smell wonderful!

It was such a surprise and it was really sweet that Shamus wanted to get them for me.  I hope he is that romantic when he is older!