Australia Day Nine

I got another phone call from Emily this evening. She was on a long bus ride and got bored. She really had nothing to say but had to talk to everyone. :) I guess she has figured out how to use her phone by herself. She went to Gin Gin and had lunch made by the local citizens. The school in Gin Gin has been greatly assisted by hosting delegates from People to People and built a friendship pavilion. In the afternoon and evening they explored Brisbane going to Southbank, Queen Street Mall and Town Hall Square.

Phone Call!!! Wooooo-hooooo! :)

Emily called a little after 10PM tonight! :) It was tomorrow in Australia, so I had to ask her how the future was. :) She was lounging by the pool, a pool with a waterfall and a beach! She has been amazed at all the sea life she has seen. She really likes the turtles. She also mentioned a fish that swam right up to her and wanted to be pet like a dog. I think it might have been the Mola Mola or Sunfish after a little amatuer internet research that I should not have done. The diet of the Mola Mola is jellyfish, so where there is a Mola Mola there are probably lots of jellyfish, right? Emily did not get stung. I will sleep better tonight knowing that the Mola Mola did a good job of eating all the jellyfish that might have swam near Emily. :)

Australia Day Eight

Today Emily explored Olsen's Capricorn Caves. She met with local Aboriginal people and learned how to throw a boomerang and play a didgeridoo. Tonight she had a choice of crocodile or kangaroo meat for dinner. Hmmm...I wonder if she misses my cooking yet?!?

Australia Day Seven

Today Emily took a ferry back to the mainland. They traveled through Mackay, the heart of the sugar cane indusrty. In Yeppoon, they are staying at a resort with 20km of coral reef coastline. That must be pretty! Luke got stung by a bee today! :(

Australia Day Six

Emily snorkled in the Great Barrier Reef today! I hope she took lots of pictures with her underwater camera. She should have seen lots of tropical fish, giant clams and all different kinds of coral. After that adventure, they had the opportunity to ask a marine biologist ten million questions. Some of the other parents had phone calls from their kids at 5 AM! I still haven't heard from Emily, but I'm sure she realized it was 4 AM here and had the sense not to call. :) They didn't have access to phones in the outback and it's rare for them to have time to stop at pay phones. I went to a lovely baby shower today where I failed miserably at all the games. I couldn't even identify the peas and green beans! Maybe I need another baby, just kidding! :) I'm enjoying my biggest loser prize of Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares with rasperry filling. Yum! Thanks Elise! :) I'm just going to eat one a day and probably not share with anybody. Mom is rolling her eyes...

Australia Day Five

Today Emily visited more Australian cows. They went to Rockhampton on the Tropic of Capricorn, the beef capital of Australia. Later they met with a representative of O.U.C.H. (Order of Underwater Coral Heroes). I bet they have a badge they can flash at people. :) Then it was on to Shute Harbor where they took a ferry to Long Island. They might have heard the cry of the Curlew bird while traveling. I sent a fax to her Long Island hotel, but I still haven't heard anything from her. No news is good news! :)

Australia Day Three and Four

After visiting the Queensland Dairy Museum in Murgon, Emily was sent to Biloela to spend two nights with a family that runs a dairy farm. I hope they put her to work! She is going to go bushwalking, horse back riding and wildlife spotting, which sounds like fun and games to me. I hope they don't give her a bow and arrow or a gun, she's a sharp shooter after all that practice at camp. After passing a lovely smelling dairy farm in Artesia, NM the other day, I saw a billboard with a cow's nose way too close to the camera that must have taken the shot. The caption read: The sweet smell of success! Ugh!

Australia Day Two

Emily checked out the Australia Zoo, founded by Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. She also visited a wildlife sanctuary where she saw koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and wombats. She was able to take a picture while holding a koala today. She was looking forward to this, it was probably the highlight of her trip so far. I told her to get Uncle Jim a koala souvenir. :)

Australia Day One

Emily arrived in Brisbane today. They explored the Sunshine Coast. Since it's winter there, I hope she did get some sunshine! Brisbane is in Queensland. They saw lots of sea creatures at Underwater World. I'm having visions of the Arthur cartoon where the dad takes the kids to the beach and at the end of the day the kids realized that they didn't go to an amusement park. :)

Like Father, Like Daughter

Emily had lots of fun at camp last week. She spent four days surviving in the Sacramento Mountains. They paddled canoes, climbed a rock wall, hiked, slept on a piece of plywood, took one shower, shot a rifle, shotgun and bow and arrow, and sang songs around a "campfire" (everyone piled up their flashlights). They couldn't have a real fire due to the dry conditions. When I picked her up to take her to the airport, she was all clean and had her hair done by one of the leaders. She said she could have taken a shower on Thursday or Friday, so she saved it for Friday so she would be clean for her trip to Los Angeles International Airport. She's so smart. :) I put her on the plane to Australia on Friday and we are still waiting to hear if she made it there or not. :)

T-ball Finale

Today was the last game of Adrian's T-ball season. He did great. He's ready for coach pitch next season. I guess my camera troubles are not over. I kept taking pictures at every game for the last week or two, but I would come home and nothing would be on the camera! We took pictures of some crazy fish today, but the pictures dissappeared! I'll try again later...

The $45 Cake

I made this Strawberry Cheesecake Torte for the boy scout cake auction. This was my practice cake, but the real one was only twice this size. It sold for $45! Can you believe that? I sure was flattered. I never could get it to stand up straight, I guess the lean just added character. :)

Mmmm...Blue Coconut

It sure is hot. We took advantage of happy hour at Sonic today. I think my computer and camera trials are over. I even found a new camera that can go underwater, so Emily should bring back some amazing pictures from the Great Barrier Reef if she will just hold the camera steady. We are practicing. Well, we're off to watch T-ball and eat snow cones now.

Pajama Party

Well, this certainly wasn't today. It's been over 100 degrees almost everyday this week. But, I just found some pictures that I thought I had lost. Now I have to make more posts! :)

I am really trying...

Well, I've been bad about keeping this blog updated. My camera is doing funny things, I think it's been dropped one too many times. I also bought a new computer and I'm trying to transfer everything over and I uploaded all my photos to snapfish.com. I'm trying to make everything private after hearing horror stories about public blogs and such, so please bear with me. Emily leaves in a few weeks, so we are in the mad rush phase of getting her ready for the trip. I will try to post everyday to let you know how her trip is going and add pictures when she gets back. The kids all made honor roll and are moving on to 1st, 5th and 7th grade. Luke will start real (not mommy's homemade) preschool in August and Sariah will continue going to special needs preschool. So, I figure next year I'll have at least 7 hours a week to myself if their schedules overlap. :) Whatever will I do with myself?