HERVEY BAY AND BIRTHDAYS

YEAH!  I can now post a few updates!  Sorry for the delays!  We are still kicking along down under and time is flying by so quickly!  My parents came to visit last month and were here for E's birthday.  It was so great to have a piece of home here for a little while.  E turned 4 and she didn't want a birthday party this year because she said, "it's too loud when so many people are here!  I prefer to have sausage sizzles and a strawberry cake with ice cream."  So, it was sausage sizzles (hot dogs) and strawberry cake with ice cream.  We had been told that seeing the whales here is a once in a lifetime experience and it was every bit of that if not more!  We did see them breeching the first year we were here while camping but getting to see them up close left me speechless.  Words can not describe seeing such a large creature have such grace.  Absolutely beautiful!  Hervey bay is about 3 hours north of Brisbane and is noted as the whale watching capital of the world.  Every year the whales migrate from the cooler waters north of Australia down to the warmer waters around here to calve.  We were able to see quite a few mothers and calves playing around in the bay.  It was amazing to hear them slapping the water with their fins, breeching, and swimming in pods!  We were very blessed to see such an amazing display and as Dad said, "I'd never thought I'd be on the bottom of the world watching whales!"  Enjoy the snapshots!  Oh yeah, I turned 40 in July and my birthday present is the cute little fuzz ball we named Bribie-an Australian Shepherd who has fit right into our family!  (Bribie is the name of an Island about an hour from here that we make frequent visits to) God bless and love to all!

Yes-I'm 4! 

CRUISIN' THE WATERS OF HERVEY BAY

BRIBIE JANE

TO BE CONTINUED....

Hello everybody!  I felt the need to update those of you who follow the blog or just check in every now and again.  My apologies in the lack of updating.  It's not that I haven't tried or wanted to!  My computer has decided to only upload pictures to a certain day so for the time being, it is not uploading any new photos from my camera! I have tried on several occasions to assess the problem and figure it all out, but to my own dismay, it looks as though the Apple store will be checking things out for me.  As soon as the issue or issues are resolved, I'll be back to posting pics!  (hopefully it's the computer and NOT operator error!)

We have been busy to say the least!  We celebrated two birthdays in June, the BIG 4-0 for me in July, and are now in mode to celebrate a big 4 next month!  We had some of my very best friends and one of my own "adopted" moms come over for a visit last month, spent time in the rainforest with them during Queensland's coldest weather in 10 years, and just had fun catching up and spending time with a little piece of home.  The girls are thriving and growing like weeds.  E is now reading books!  A is excelling in school! She was recognized for placing in the top 11% out of all of Australia in her age group for Science testing!  She is still riding and jumping horses and E is still singing away and doing a little gymnastics class.

Again, my apologies for no pics, but promise to have them up as soon as I can!  God bless and love to all!

PORT DOUGLAS VACATION

Mossman Gorge

We finally made another trip here in Australia.  Over the 2 week break from school we traveled up to Northern Queensland to Port Douglas to visit what every local here says is a "must do", so we did!  Port Douglas is located a little north of Cairns (pronounced Cannes) and it is famed for "where the rainforest meets the sea".  It was beautiful!  We did a tour of the Daintree Rainforest learning about different plants and animals, the Skyrail and the Kuranda Scenic Railway over and through the rainforest, we took a river tour to see if we could spot some saltwater crocodiles, saw some beautiful countryside filled with sugarcane, visited Mossman Gorge to hear the tales of the Aboriginal people and see how they live/lived.  (I say lived as well,  because as most things, they are becoming a thing of the past, being forced from their heritage by none other than the government)  We all had a fantastic time seeing another part of Australia.  I think the most interesting part for me was listening to the tour given by a young man of Aboriginal decent.  Their people have made it a point to pass on as much of their heritage and culture as they can.  We witnessed children as young as 5-6 doing the dreamtime dances in the streets.  The dreamtime dances are stories that have been passed down from generation to generation telling of the great water snake (river) that moves throughout the land, stories of the emus being chased by the river snake, and so many more.  We even got to hear the famous didgeridoo (proper name is the Yikki Yikki), have traditional tea and damper (biscuits), and so much more!!  There is even a plant that grows in their forest that they gave to the enemies during the war to wipe with after using the toilet....I think it's comparable to our bull nettle in Texas!  And I know I wouldn't dare wipe with that!  HA!  The paints the aboriginal people use are natural bug repellents and made from clay that they just mix with water.  I could go on and on!  We even got to see the endangered Cassowary in the wild-I didn't get a picture because it was too fast!  We had plans to go out to the reef again, but decided a day by the pool would suffice since we did part of the reef last year!  Enjoy the pics and God bless!

Standing under the canopy of the rainforest next to the Giants of the Rainforest. (huge trees)

Family Photo (including Heart the Cat)

The 3 Things every Aboriginal takes with him.  A stone, boomerang, and shield.  We were told you are a skilled hunter if your boomerang doesn't come back! (I'll let you think about that one)

Our 4-Wheel Drive tour guide preparing the traditional billy tea.  He took the billy (bucket), put it over the fire to make the tea, then he swung it around in front of him like a windmill 4-5 times to move the tea leaves to the bottom of the billy.
Amazing....none of it spilled out!

 This plant is called the Wait-A-While.  (no joke)  If you look close enough it is covered with spines that grow facing upward.  So if you happen to be able to go up this plant, you will have to "wait-a-while" to get down because you will get caught on them.  The Aboriginal use these plants for hunting and fishing.

A sending out a distress call against a Red Cedar.  The tree is hollow so if you get into trouble you take your stone and hit it as hard as you can against the base so the sound resonates through the forest.  It's their nature made SOS!

Traditional Smoking Ceremony Fire-We all had to walk around this twice through the smoke to cleanse ourselves before we entered the rainforest which is sacred to the Aboriginal people.  Our guide had to introduce us to his ancestors before we could begin the walk.  (he had to let them know he was bringing in guests to tell us all about their heritage and hunting grounds)

Had to take a pic of this sign! 

The Kuranda Scenic Rail-train ride from the top of the rainforest town of Kuranda back down through the rainforest to Cairns.

The only croc we saw on the river tour.  He was about 1.5 meters, according to the guide, which is big enough! (he's a bit hard to spot...he's on the log hanging out)

SCHOOL EVENTS AND EASTER

It has been a couple of months and time is still flying by!  A's school had their swim carnival the end of March and she did awesome!  She got first in her heat for the backstroke and second in her heat for breast stroke!  Then in April, they had their annual cross country meet and she came in 13th place out of all of the Year 3 classes (approx. 112 kids) She ran so hard and kept up her pace the entire race around the course.  We celebrated Easter weekend at church beginning on Good Friday.  We were asked by Father to carry up the large cross for veneration as a family.  E was so proud!  She held on so tight to the cross!  We had some friends over for fajitas and all the trimmings, the girls built their annual Easter nests, hunted eggs, and enjoyed the day!  

SWIMMING SUCCESS

FOCUSED ON THE RACE

OUR EASTER BUNNIES

SILLY GIRLS AFTER A SWIM

UPDATES

Here we are, FEBRUARY, already!  How in the world did nearly 2 months of 2015 already go by?  After a nice visit back home to Texas for the holidays and a little stop off in sunny California for a break in flying back with a little cousin and sister time, we are now back in full swing here in the land of Oz.  A lot has happened since we've gotten back.  A has started Year 3, YES, YEAR 3!  3rd Grade!!!  She is still taking guitar lessons, swimming, started playing basketball on Saturday mornings, and of course horse riding. She got some very exciting news yesterday as she was nominated by her riding instructors for the "B Squad".  She gets to go for a 5 hour lesson every 6 weeks with the riding school's owner (who is a professional dressage rider) as well as with Queensland's top dressage instructor, lecture time on horse care, and as well as doing a bit of good honest stall cleaning! We were very happy and excited for her as they usually wait until the kids are 8 to move them up to the squads.  I just love watching her ride.  She is such a natural.  (seems to be anyhow....I know cows...not horses but am learning along with her!)
E was supposed to start at a little preschool, but after some deliberation, B and I just decided it would be too long of a day for her.  She is still doing her gymnastics, swimming  and music classes and the child still LOVES to sing!  She is also starting to read a few words on her own, can count to 100 with us, and enjoys being outside running!  As always, the both of them keep us busy!

1st Day of Year 3

Rainbows and Butterflies!  "Take my picture, Mom!"

Lost our first top front tooth

A Little Beach Time- "I'm sun baking!"