Just when we thought. . .

     The drama with the house was over, the next installment begins!  We got a new airconditioning unit installed the Friday before Christmas!  Hooray!  Fortunately the weather continues to be a bit cooler and drier than typical for here.  Thanks above for that!  So, to continue the drama, the gray water tank behind the house burst a pipe with water gushing and spraying everywhere!  Good thing we were home when it kicked over, between Lyle and the neighbor, they got it shut down and I got to call the emergency number for the unit.  It connected with the lady who has been overseeing the aircon drama and we both got a case of stress giggles out of it.  What do you do?  The plumber is here today to see what he can do and in the meantime, I had switched the laundry over to main lines and he showed us where the toilet tank valve switch was too.  It was a pain flushing by bucket!
     Christmas was a success here all around.  We always get the kids new pj's for Santa.  This was the first time they were NOT flannel!  Summer shorts and tanks for the kids, maybe the warmer stuff for July and "winter" in Queensland.  Mom and Dad sent a small Christmas box and Alex, Lyle, and I have matching Vandal t-shirts with the fight song on them-awesome!  Ian has a dinosaur sun shirt that makes a huge toothy mouth when the arms are held to the shoulders and elbows together.  He LOVES it.  Annika got a button clutch purse that she puts in the handbag Santa brought her.  What a little lady!  Ian also got a large box of regulation size Lego blocks.  Great fun building things around here this week!  Alex is in heaven-Santa brought her a Kindle, so she has been in book heaven and is amazed at the battery life.  Mom had to give her an IOU for a case for it as the store's inventory has been out since the middle of November.  Aunt Megan sent the kids each a movie, which we have all enjoyed.  We had Christmas dinner with a lovely family whose daughter was in the same class as Annika.  They have 4 kids, and with our 3 it was a lively time.  Holiday meals here tend to be pretty light and avoid using the oven whenever possible, which is a nice change.  We enjoyed a breezy evening laughing at the kids play Harry Potter outside.  Every time someone was hit with expelliarmous the "wands" went flying!
     Lyle will be on vacation until Jan 4.  The Aussie basic vacation allotment starts at 4 weeks and goes up from there.  Most places accrue an extra week per year for about 10 years, then you can use the 10 weeks all in a block!  They are not available until all 10 have been accrued though.  Still, rough!
     Notes on my new favorite desserts-Australia has a yummy confection called a Pavlova.  It was apparently named for Anna Pavlova, a Russian ballerina who did a series of performances early last century.  It is a merengue base topped with a light layer of vanilla custard and then topped with fresh fruit.  Soo Yummy!  I mad a lemon custard from a recipe I got from a college friend.  It was also yummy and will be added to my list to make again, and soon.  I have ingredients for another 2 batches in the fridge already . . .  If you want the recipe, email me, I'm happy to share!
     We're taking off for a trip up to Bundaberg and I'll write when we get back, and hope to put up a few pictures as well.  Have a great week, and Happy New Year to everyone!  Lyle turns 42 this week, and claims he is feeling every year now.  Creaky old man!

Crazy!

     Oh my gosh!  I can't believe the week is getting away from me.  So much for the Tuesday blog this week.
     So, last weekend we were busy!  We went to a Christmas lunch hosted by Lyle's boss.  They have an AMAZING Queenslander style home just outside the CBD with a nice yard/garden and pool.  I won't even speculate what it would cost as the home is huge and remodeled, very traditional and stylish, and has actual yard around it.  Priceless in this metro area.  The kids got to use the pool and the food was great.  Everyone had a good time.  Ian was exhausted and fell asleep on my lap, very unusual for him!  I suspect he wasn't feeling very well as he didn't eat much and slept for nearly 2 hours.
     On Sunday we headed down to Movie World.  Their new ride, the Green Lantern, is supposed to open any time, but it wasn't on Sunday.  Believe it or not, we are actually getting bored with this park, so thinking as the weather warms up we will be going to Wet and Wild more.  Hanging out in the pools and doing water slides is tons of fun!  Ian even is enjoying the wave pool and the kiddie section now that he just doesn't like water instead of despising it.  HA!
     Lyle went for a run last weekend in the park, and believe it or not, we met a lady who lives just down the street from us!  She has a daughter Alex's age and a son close to Ian's age.  We've spent the last week trading the girls and getting to know each other.  Very nice family and the girls hit it off right away.  It's nice for Alex to have a neighbor girl to buddy up with.  Ian likes having a boy to play with too.  Annika plays with either set, so is pleased as well.
     I have not even started wrapping Christmas gifts yet.  I hope we get to that tonight, as time is running out too fast!  We decided to buy an inexpensive DVD player that is multi-region so we can rent Aussie region 2 disks to watch.  They also have a streaming video and mail DVD service similar to Netflix, so the family gift is a player and subscription to streaming video!  The only problem is it will not stream through the Wii, so we'll have to hook up the laptop whenever we want to stream the movies.  We'll let you know what Santa brings in the next installment!  Ian has been playing Santa, hauling his pillow and case around filled with assorted toys and blocks.  He fell asleep on it on the couch the other day.  Super cute!  Of course, I did not get a picture. . . but here is a family picture taken a couple of months ago at a wedding reception for one of Lyle's workmates!

     We're going up to Bundaberg after Christmas to do some turtle watching and take an excursion to Lady Musgrave Island to snorkel and look over Great Barrier Reef life.  We are so excited!  And we have tickets home for June 2-15 next year.  The tentative plan is to get to Boise, recover for a few days, go to Oregon for a few days, then back to Boise area for the remainder.  No plans to go to Wenatchee, sorry!

     I'll most likely write on time this next week, seeing as everyone will be home and relaxing, hopefully!  With the weather so warm this time of year, Christmas and Boxing day are for outdoor things like Cricket, Footy, BBQ, and relaxing at a park.  I could get used to this, but miss the snow, at least a bit.

     Love you all-

School's out for Summer!

     Friday was the last day of school for the kiddos until January 23 of next year.  Now, what to do?  I found a great site on Facebook called BrisbaneKids that lets you know pretty much anything around the metro area that is kid friendly, so I will be referring to it a LOT!
     Sunday was the Rio Tinto holiday family picnic in Brisbane.  We took the train into town, the kids love riding the train!  It followed true Queenslander form, complete with a torrential downpour.  The nice thing is, the rain is MUCH warmer here than at home!  The kids enjoyed the activities there.  Alex and Annika loved the climbing wall and Ian bounced in the bouncy castle as many times as he could get into line.  He was tired when we got back!  Santa even showed up, and the kids all loved that.
     Alex swam her last race of this year, doing the 50m backstroke for the first time.  She almost made it for the 50m freestyle, but was just 1 second too slow.  Training resumes 3 weeks before the start of school with the first club night the first Friday back.  Go Alex!
     We had an enjoyable Monday evening last night as well.  Lyle got home from work and wanted to go for a run, so we headed over to the reserve and turned him loose.  I was visiting with a lady who had her 3 year old son there to play as well.  Turns out she lives just down the street from us, and has a girl who is nearly 11 as well!  We've made plans to meet up today at the little park down the street.  We also had a good play with the neighbors niece and nephew in the driveway until quite late last night.  Ian took a short bath and passed out in less than a minute, Annika wasn't far behind!  They both made it past 6 am today, which is a rarity.
     And continuing the mundane fun, I sprayed for ants and spiders today.  What fun!  I keep finding them in the bathroom trash cans eating the used kleenex.  EEEWWWW!!!  So, all the windows, doors, and garage filmed with the barrier spray.  Hope it works more than a month this time. . . I don't like the little visitors we keep getting.
     Have a great week everyone-miss you tons.  Looking at getting tickets home for May or June, hope to get those done this coming weekend.  Cheapest months to go to the USA, but definitely not cheap.  We hope to spend about 2-3 weeks total, with a week in Oregon and a week in Idaho.  We also may leave the kids for a few nights for Camp Grandma and spend a few nights by ourselves, but that will have to await everyone's schedules.  Love you!

Last week of School!

     Well, summer break is just around the corner here!  The girls are super excited (me not so much-we already HAD summer break) and are planning all sorts of local outings, movies, and playdays with friends.  Last day of school is Friday and we won't be going back until the last week of January.
     It was a big week for us last week.  Alex had applied for a scholarship sponsored by the Lions Club International, submitted an essay and had an interview.  We were notified this week she earned 3rd place and a $150 grant to her school account to be used for field trips (parents pay for trips and transportation here) and year 7 camp.  This is nice as the year 7 camp is the big trip-the class flies to Canberra for a few days touring the National Capitol District and stay in hotels in the city.  The big deal for many is that since this camp is in July, shortly after their winter break, they may see SNOW!  Queensland kids don't have a clue what the white fluffy stuff is!  Alex also had a big week in swimming-she finally broke 25 seconds in her 25 meter backstroke and will be doing the 50 meter race from now on.  She looked so strong doing the race!  She is going to go for the under 24 seconds to get her freestyle to 50 meters, hopefully this week!
     We had planned a beach day this weekend, but the weather was just too windy.  So, we went to Movie World instead!  They are getting ready to open the Green Lantern coaster ride in a couple of weeks.  They were doing empty test runs on it-looks like it will be a rockin ride!  Alex and Lyle will love it.  The crowds are still pretty slim since schools are still in session, so the fun is to do ride after rider after ride.  Annika did a kiddie coaster 6 times, 1 of them she was the only passenger.  She loved it!  Ian loves the bumper cars and the electric car driving track.  Loves those cars, doesn't he.
     We got the Christmas tree up this weekend as well.  Nice to see the familiar decorations again!  I've nearly finished the shopping for the kids-but won't put up here what they are getting!  Alex subscribes to the blog update.  So, neener, neener, neener kiddo!