Missing: Stamp

I took Liam and Jonas to the library today for story time. While we were there they each got a stamp on their hand. Jonas was especially proud of his and made sure to show Nate when he got home from school. Tonight after their bath Jonas realized his stamp was gone. He got really upset and could hardly tell me what was wrong (Liam had to translate for me). I tried to comfort him and explain that it washed off in his bath. So a little while later when we were in the bathroom brushing teeth Jonas started looking in the bathtub and asked where the stamp was!

who needs sleep?

Ugh...ME!!

THURSDAY: The possums who decided to make our house theirs had a party on our roof. They were running back and forth, into the backyard, back up on the roof, fighting (or maybe mating?) and making way too much noise for us to get a good night sleep. You might be wondering why we haven't gotten rid of them yet but we have learned that it is very hard to buy weapons in this country. Even something like a sling shot or a pellet gun. Even if we managed to smuggle a sling shot into the country there are heavy fines for harming them. I think possums have more rights than humans.

FRIDAY: We went camping in a beach town called Batemans Bay. We were excited to get a powered camp site so we could watch movies on the laptop after dark. Turns out the powered sites are in a VERY well lit area. We had at least 6 street lights surrounding our tent. I woke up at about 1 am thinking it was almost time to wake up because the sun was coming up and couldn't fall back asleep. Great if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but not so great for sleeping.

SATURDAY: Still camping in Batemans Bay it got really windy that night. The rain flap being blow around was really loud which made it hard to fall asleep. Just when we would get to sleep the wind would pick up and wake us up. When the stakes started coming up and the walls started collapsing from the wind at around 1:30 am we decided we would have to move into the car if we were going to get any sleep. First we had to move everything from inside of the car into the tent so we could fit in the back of the station wagon. (we found the street lights very handy that night!) But let me just say that the back of a station wagon is not exactly a comfy fit for a family of 4.

Luckily we were home Sunday night. I don't think our bed has ever felt so comfortable! I got around 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Happy Easter!

Did you have chocolate for breakfast too?

From Sydney

After a long day of walking around we were really hungry. Our only criteria for dinner was that it couldn't be McDonalds. Nate remembered a little pizza place called the Wild Pizza Pit he went to with some friends from school in a little town called Mittagong. This is our pizza:

It was almost like an open faced deli sandwich. It had roast beef, tomato, avocado and those orange things on the top are fried sweet potatoes. The sauce was amazing! Sort of tangy and cheesy. We might have to make this an 'on the way home from Sydney' tradition.

Next door was an internet cafe. We thought the name was funny.

Overall it was a really nice trip.

In Sydney

We went to the temple in the morning - switching off kids with a couple from our ward. We actually got to go to the same session! After that we set out to see some of Sydney's touristy sites.

Anzac Bridge, Sydney

Driving on their CRAZY roads!!

Believe it or not these are Liam and Jonas's best faces in front of the Opera House.

Tons of Jelly Fish (and garbage)

It felt like we were back in San Francisco with all of the street performers! They even had one of the silver guys - you know, the kind that act like statues?! I wanted to take pictures of all of them but I think I was making Nate nervous. Or maybe he was just embarrassed that I was acting like such a tourist.

Harbour Bridge

Up close of the Opera House. We didn't walk up the stairs because we had a stroller and it would have been a pain.

To Sydney

After Liam's picnic on Thursday we drove to Sydney to go to the temple and see some of the sights.

Leaving Canberra (notice how brown it is)


Getting close to Sydney (notice how green it is)

You have to watch out for speed cameras. Last time we went to Sydney Nate got caught.


We splurged a little and went to Outback once we got there.

I was such a tourist all weekend! I took pictures of everything ! This is the sign outside of the ladies "toilets".

Of course I took a picture of the men's sign too.

After an emergency stop to the shops for cough drops, razors and dental floss we finally made it to our hotel right down the street from the temple.

Easter Bunny Picnic

It was the last day of Liam's first term of preschool on Thursday so they invited families to come have a picnic. The Easter Bunny came and handed out chocolate and the kids were all wearing the bunny ears they made. Liam insisted on wearing his upside down.