Quick Note

It's been a few weeks now since I last posted. Truth be told, I haven't much had the stomach for blogging.  I've been too busy, too stressed, or too tired. We are finally in our house and have gotten the good news that our shipment is at port and should be released later this week.  We are expecting delivery this Friday, July 2nd, with a chance that it will be over the weekend or at the latest Monday, July 5th.  What a day of independence for us! It is so very much time to stop living out of suitcases and go back to having things like cheese shredders, trash cans, hangers, extra blankets and familiar towels at our disposal.  It's been a solid two months now since we last saw most of our possessions and it's definitely been a lesson in patience.  It's also been eye opening about what we can really live without!

The kids have been troopers.  Considering everything we've been through to transition to this new adventurous life, they have come through with flying colors...and a couple of tantrums.  I think all three could have been handed an award for most creative, worst timing melt downs over the past few weeks, but generally speaking they have handled everything well.

Cory is enjoying his job and gearing up for the onslaught of work that is landing on his desk.  The company has been amazingly flexible in allowing him to focus on his personal business first and get his family settled, which has been a huge blessing.  That said, his purpose here is to work, and it's time to get geared up.

I promise to myself and anyone following that very soon there will be more to look at and hear about as we finish the last of our to-do list in getting settled: move belongings in, buy car, get kids in school.

Would You Cuddle a Koala?

Well...we did!  Last weekend we packed up the Heitzmann gang and went to check out the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It's a little zoo-type place right here in Brisbane, in an area called Fig Tree Pocket, where you can get up close and personal with the little critters and other native Australian wild life. We found it difficult to start a phrase with the word "lone" and not say "star" afterwards!  Anyway, we walked right in and spotted these guys right away.

The word koala is aboriginal for "no drink" because koalas hardly ever need to drink any water since their main diet of Eucalyptus leaves is 50% water already.  

They even had koala mommies and their babies.

Then we decided to join the ranks of Taylor Swift, Eric Clapton, The Queen of England, etc., and have our photo taken with a furry marsupial. Here we are giving "Bentley" a cuddle.  You can tell the kids weren't as interested in taking the photo as we thought they would be.

Even more fun than meeting Bentley, however, was the sanctuary's kangaroo reserve.  You walk through a gate to 5 acres of open fields and, yes, kangaroos. They have over 130 roos and wallabies just hanging out waiting to be fed and pet. It was an amazing experience and the kids had a blast.

  

They also had Tasmanian Devils, dingos, wombats, crocodiles, and lots more to look at.  I snapped these shots of some of the common birds here.  The Lorikeets are awesome - they are as prevalent here as Mockingbirds are in Texas.  I still get excited when I see one, which I'm sure is ridiculous to locals.  

I've only seen a couple of Kookaburras so far, but they have the wildest laugh.  It sounds a bit like a howler monkey, in case you've had the privilege of hearing them.  Loud and haunting. A fun little tidbit about Kookaburras is that they mate for life, so once they find "the one" the settle down and raise a family.  Reminds me of the Friends episode about Lobsters...I digress.

So that's our latest adventure.  I would highly recommend this stop to anyone new or visiting Australia.  You hear about the koalas and kangaroos as epic symbols of this country, so it's a must to experience them in such a personal setting.

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Cory celebrated his thirty-something birthday (yes I know which one it was) on May 27th.  We had already agreed that it wouldn't be a spectacular birthday in terms of "things", but special nonetheless. 

The kids and I went to a bakery nearby and picked out a birthday cake.  Marin, the big girl, carried it home all by herself.

Then they each worked on a birthday card for daddy during the afternoon.

 

We had everything set up for him when he got home from work.

The kids couldn't wait to give him their personalized cards...

...or to blow out the candles.  

And so our family's only spring birthday is over and we have to wait until September to eat more cake :(

A Surfer's Paradise

A few weekends ago we were dying to get out of town, so we headed in the obvious direction of a place on the Gold Coast called Surfer's Paradise.  And yes, it does look a bit like paradise, only with high rises.  We arrived in the middle of the day and were surprised how much it DIDN'T feel like winter when we got to the beach.  Unfortunately we came dressed like city folk and were not prepared at all for the kids to play on the beach.  Here are the few pics we got before Hallie was drenched in saltwater and covered in sand and we had to head out.  That said, we will definitely be back with our swimsuits and shovels!