Hot Air Balloon

How fun does this hot air balloon look? We spotted it this afternoon floating by. Looks like the perfect way to spend a summers afternoon.

Slipping n' sliding

Nothing like a slip n'slide...especially when its 95 degrees outside!

More Bravado

After a considerable amount of bravado, they are grateful that God, (and Dad driving the boat) have spared them.

Bravado

Isn't it funny how this can turn to....



This. In a matter of seconds.

More Bravado to come.

Now That Takes Me Back

It came just once a year.


As children we would wait for it....



plan for it.....



dream about it.


It was just one weekend in June.


The Queens birthday long weekend.


Apart from Christmas it was the most anticipated weekend in the entire year.
It was the ONLY weekend that we were legally allowed to buy and use fireworks.



I have so many wonderful memories from these weekends. It was such a social event...friends, neighbors, communities coming together around a bonfire to "oooohhh" and "aaahhhh" as we worked our way through fireworks gathered and gazed upon...( and in the case of my brothers and most boys their age "re-engineered") ..for weeks on end.
There were plenty of singed eyebrows and burnt fingers but there was also a lot of just plain, simple fun .




At some point, the powers that be deemed fireworks to be too dangerous for the public to have access to. Forget about personal responsibility ..(don't get me started!)...and so this wonderous and exciting institution came to an abrupt and sad end. No more fireworks...except if you want to go down to Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve with 4 million others to enjoy the choreographed display. Not that the Harbour fireworks aren't spectacular...they are. But they lack that personal touch



So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that the county where we own our cabin still allows, even encourages, the purchase and use of fireworks over the July 4th weekend. My husband was positively giddy.
We took the kids to buy some fireworks today in preparation for next weekend

Busy Doing Nothing

The weekend's over and I'm exhausted.
Exhausted from doing ...well...nothing.
Here's a smapshot of our weekend.



Up at the cabin we were treated to a spectacular water display put on by our local fire department. They were down at the lake testing all their hoses and equipment shooting these great plumes of water a couple of hundred feet up into the air. You can see my kids down on the dock...they said it felt like rain falling on them. I was quite impressed with the eco friendliness of these firemen...what a great idea to pull up at the local lake to do this testing rather than waste hundreds a gallons of water testing somewhere else. Good thinking guys.



After all that excitement we took the kids into town for an ice cream. There's this neat little icecream parlor that is essentially unchanged from the way it was 50 years ago. Owens in Newport. For $2.00 you can get an ice cream nearly as large as a child's head.



This picture was taken AFTER he was half way through.



After polishing off those mammoth ice creams a wander through the tiny little local pet store was in order. Ah yes, hamsters, kittens, a cute little bunny rabbit, a tiger, a puppy...
Hang on, back up there....a TIGER???????
True...this is Lilly. She lives at the pet store after being rescued from a group of animal smugglers. The pet store owners are in the process of trying to raise money to build Lilly an outdoor enclosure that seems far more suitable for such a beautiful creature like Lilly. I must say though my heart skipped a beat when I came face to face with her...she really is a massive animal. AND she was growling...which kind of made me go weak at the knees. I apologize for the quality of the picture but this is about as close as I was going to get to her.

VP

VP..(Visual Progress)...is the key to a happy wife. Whenever my wonderful husband starts a new project he knows that the number one way to keep me happy is to make sure there is VP. Well there certainly has been VP at our house this week. Here are some "before" and "now" pictures of our renovations. Gotta love VP!



....and I just wanted to share this one because it makes me happy.

Memorial Day

As anyone with children knows a vacation...even a weekend away...is like organizing a military maneuver. Over the Memorial day weekend we headed up to the cabin...we only stayed for 2 days but we looked as if we were going for 6 months. Here are some photos from our weekend....I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful spring weekend with your family and friends.

3 Boys.

3 boys....

1 hose...


Oh...yeah....summer's here.

Back to the Blog

So I've had a break from the blog and a lot has happened it seems in my absence. The bushfires in Australia have been devastating. Thank goodness none of my family were affected but my heart goes out to all the families that were. If you are crafty and want to help the victims, the Toy Society are collecting handmade toys for children affected by the fires. Other donations to help aid the victims can be made here.

A thank you also to Aimee Mobley for her lovely package of handmade gifts that arrived yesterday...just in time for Valentines Day. My kids will LOVE them.

I have to tell you I have had somewhat of an epiphany during my days of non blogging. I hadn't realised quite how much time my blogging was taking up so I am determined to try and limit my blog hopping. You know ...you read someone's blog and that has a link that you follow to someone else's blog and so on and so on. I really can get lost in the blogosphere for hours. So I am going to attempt "Responsible Blogging" ...we'll see how that goes. If you see my comments all over other people's blogs you know that I haven't been very successful!

Swimming Lessons

It was about 26 degrees F outside. Not really swimming weather...except if you have swim lessons at an indoor heated pool!
My son and his friend just love going to swim lessons together. The goggles are a must...neither boy will swim without them. Though from looking at Noah's....I'm not sure how effective they actually are at keeping the water out!


These boys have a LOT of energy, so they are always eager to supply me with plenty of practice taking action shots!



Having spent a lot of time over the holidays taking shots at the beach and the pool..(yes I am rubbing it in!)...I have really developed a love for taking "water" shots. I love the sculptural element of the water as its movement is fixed in time by the camera's lens.

No reason

Ok...so normally my pictures are somehow related to the subject I'm blogging about...but I'm going to be upfront with you....today's picture is really just me trying to hold on to summer in the midst of another chilly PNW day. I am missing being close to the ocean. Missing the sound of the waves and the soft sand between my toes. Being near the beach is great any time of the year..winter or summer...and being so far away from it would have to be one of the top 5 things that I miss about living in Sydney.

Having said that though, there is a bright spot in my otherwise chilly January weekend! Not too long ago I stumbled upon Jennifer's blog. It was witty and fun and has a lot of thought provoking themes and some great photos. Well she has given me the "Blogging Friends Award". I am blushing. How thoughtful. And the wonderful thing about this award is that you don't have to do anything except pass it on. Jennifer has eloquently listed the rules for the award here so I won't repeat them...but all I have to do is pass them onto 8 other bloggers who I count among my friends.
There are some new friends that I have met on this blogging adventure and some old ones from my pre blog days. So here goes....
With all the fanfare and drum rolls I can muster I officially pass this award along to....

1 - Michelle from Michelle Sidles Photography
2 - Sebrina from SunMamma
3 - Melissa from 365
4 - Liss from A Memory Forever
5 - Cheryl from Al Ain Notebook
6 - Victoria from 13Mimosa
7 - Toni from the Daily Vignette
8 - Shalet from Peculiar Momma

All of these women are talented, creative and fun and their blogs are always filled with cool ideas, great photographs and interesting stories. So if you get a free moment be sure to visit them for a bit of inspiration.

The Lighthouse

The most easterly point of Australia is Cape Byron which hovers above those beautiful beaches I shared with you in my last post. It has this wonderfully restored lighthouse that is perched on the very top of rugged, craggy cliffs



It is the most wonderful view from way up there. You can peer out into the vast pacific ocean and watch the freighters plow through the seas as they make their way up and down the coast.



The colors were just breathtaking. And once again I haven't touched these pictures up at all. SOC. The view was mesmerizing. I felt like I could just keep staring . We were peering down watching the waves crashing against the rocks and you could see fish and stingrays swimming below. So if you are a bit of a beach buff add Byron Bay to your list of places to visit. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Seeing Color

The colors of nature can be mind blowing at times...better than anything we can imagine or create. Sometimes when I take a photograph I am a little disappointed that the colors in the picture don't appear as vibrant ..( thank goodness for photoshop).



And then there are other times when the real life colors are so wonderful that you don't need to process the pictures at all. Here are some of those photos. These are all SOC...no touch ups, tweeks or fiddling whatsoever.



They were taken at one of my most favorite places. Its a little resort town on the border of New South Wales and Queensland on the Australian east coast called Byron Bay. Its an eclectic community filled with artists, hippies and beautiful people...and the beaches are just unbelieveably beautiful.




The water is so clear...that turquiose blue that you expect to see in the Caribbean. The sand is a fine, pure, white dust and the weather is warm...all the time. Ahhhh....my idea of heaven.

Its over....(sniff!)

Hmmm..I think she is thinking what I'm thinking.....

its over...I'm back home....

have been back for nearly 3 days....

going through the post vacation blues.

My lovely friend Michelle asked me when she can expect some sunny vacation pictures to appear on my blog! Well ..I have to say I am still in denial that my vacation is over.

I look back over the last 3 weeks and we really had such a fantastic time.

We caught up with our crazy family and friends




We ate all the food that we have not been able to get here in the States

My youngest son learned to swim

He lost his first tooth on Christmas day

My older son learned to surf.

I got tan....I even wore a bikini!

My daughter got to spend precious time with the cousins she calls her sisters

Even Paloma had an many exciting adventures that will be the subject of a future post.

...and I took over 1500 photos..(yikes...am seriously putting off going through them because it seems a little overwhelming at this point.) You will see them featured on the blog over the next few weeks.





It's sad that it has come to an end. We traveled over 19,000 miles and took 8 different flights...and here we are...back where we started.

....and this is what we have come back to. Record snowfalls for December..from one extreme to the other!





Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!