Long Distance Family Love

I have been calling California home for the last 12 years but seriously when I am lucky enough to be with some of my family in the same country (whether it be me visiting Brisbane or my Aussie family here in Southern California) it's a treat! Don't get me started on the saying goodbye part .. well I'll write more on that later .. I don't like the goodbye part.

The last three weeks we were lucky enough to enjoy the company of my sister, her husband and my two handsome nephews.  Now that there are kids involved in the equation .. living apart from my family has its sad moments.  My older sister and I have two kids each (and she has a third baby on the way) and they are all very close in age.  The fact that these cousins don't get to grow up together ... *insert big big sad face here*.  It really does get me down sometimes .. however I have to look on the bright side like my kids having international pen pals. Hello?  Happy mail is amazing.  Not to mention we have to thank our lucky stars that we live in the world of skype! 

 It's hard to believe just how quickly those three weeks passed by.  As I very slowly get back into my own little life routine now that they are back home in Brisbane Australia, I reminisce on the awesome moments we shared.  We shopped, ate, explored a new city (Dallas) and somehow ended up spending a few extra days in Dallas because of some crazy freezing weather, we celebrated a certain little boy's third birthday,  spent a couple of days saying Hi to Mickey and friends, had a beach day, ate some more, cousins reunited and we watched as they played nicely (and not so nicely), there were a lot of hugs, kisses and more beach time to round it all off.

Dallas was a fun adventure in many ways .. we explored a few new cities that could possibly be home someday (?!?).    What a contrast to California living  .. a nice contrast if you ask me!

And how could we forget our unexpected extended stay in Texas after some crazy (freezing) weather caused our flight back to Orange County to be cancelled.   We went from a gorgeous and HOT Saturday to waking up to heavy cloud, COLD temperatures and Freezing rain on Sunday morning  ... they day of our original flight home. 

After six days in the lone star state it was back to enjoying the predictable California Sunshine (funnily enough while we were in Dallas,  Southern California experienced its one and only winter rain storm which we just happened to completely miss).

 From February 26th-March 13th our little house was full.  With four kids under five, our house was loud.   But you want to know my least favourite part about living so far from family?
The day after we say goodbye and go our seperate ways.  Of course it's more like 'see you later'.  However, that day after my family leaves or the day after we arrive back to the USA ... when that loud noise and chatter goes away is no fun.  Experiencing the void that is left behind kind of hurts my heart a little.   My husband is a smart guy (one of the many reasons I love him so) he told me something  many years ago,  when we had our own 'see you later' experiences in the early stages of our own long distance relationship and that is:  to enjoy that moment (no matter how sad you feel), to really feel it because you will never get that moment back.  So I try .. I really really do.  He does a good job of reminding me of this every so often.  And I'm Ok with that because I need that reminder that's for sure!

There is always pen and paper

Sometimes inspiration comes to you in the most awesome ways.  For me, this week it happened when I watched my girl be the awesome creative being that she is.
Our midweek adventure to our local zoo what the perfect way to spend a Tuesday morning with two of my favourite people in the world.
My four year old knows just as well as me that a camera is a definite essential to capture your favourite memories so she brought along her trusty pink V-tech camera along for the fun.

Well it's all fun and games until your press the shutter button and bam! You get the 'dead battery' message.  No time for sad faces though because I learnt that as long as you have a pen and paper .. the fun will most definitely continue.  Just ask this girl:

 

I sat back as she stood in front of the camel (which by they way is her favourite at this particualr zoo), one eye watching her putting that pencil to paper and the other eye on my two year old who wanted nothing more than to keeeeeep moving (or running in his case).
But the moment she brought that camel drawing to my attention I was speechless.  It wasn't so much about the artistic ability (of course I think she is the best .. ) but just the way she took it upon herself to make the most of the situation and do what she came to do and that is enjoy this zoo adventure in every possible way. 

Baby girl you  inspire me everyday but it's these kind of days that you put things, put life into perspective.

Australia . Part Two

The one thing I'm grateful about my husband's and baby boy's sickness  is that it happened when it did.  Because by the beginning of the second week we were ready to go on our first mini adventure and they were healthy again to really enjoy it.  I think it's safe to say we all really really enjoyed this little adventure!

About an hour and half drive from our Aussie home is Historic Cedar Glen Farm Stay.  An amazing location where we to got experience a little piece of rural Australia for a few days .. complete with animal feedings, horse riding and milking a cow!  The location was amazing .. it was peaceful, remote and the perfect place to relax while staring at the awesome views.
The accommodation we stayed in was a very spacious Queenslander style cottage built in 1901 (!!).
It was seriously a very special, memorable getaway! 

The house was even furnished with some amazing antiques, some of which have been in the homestead since it was built in back in 1901.

We spent a lot of time doing this :

Feeding the animals in the morning and evenings was a definite highlight .. just ask my three year old!

But really there are so many happy memories from the 2 nights and three days at Cedar Glen .....
*Oh 'Mr Brown' - the awesome stubborn brown Sheep that made us laugh every morning and evening
*I milked a cow for the first time!
*Standing on the balcony at night with absolutely no one around, whispering quietly and looking at the beautiful starry filled sky, Jason with his trusty iphone identifying each star.
*The yummy food complete with a picnic lunch that was always a few minutes away from the house
*Watching my mum take the kids for mini walks to see the animals

We even got to watch a group of wallabies do their thing out in the wild.

 

Thanks for the amazing memories Cedar Glen!

From left to right:
My big sister, my nephew, Me, Baby girl, My husband and my little sister.
:))

Australia . Part One

We recently returned from a much anticipated trip back to my hometown of Brisbane, Australia.
Why do vacations/holidays have to end so quickly .. especially ones that are far far away (that's how my cute little nephew explains where we live).  

 

I was quite prepared for a our 13 hour flight over.  I had snacks, two ipads with lots of apps and movies ready to watch, toys and other activities to keep our three year old and 18 month old happy.

I have done this flight many times now, many on my own, three times with our oldest but this was the first time with both kids.

The flights to that part of the world leave at midnight or pretty close so we were praying hard that the kids would be exhausted and that they would get a good sleep almost as soon as we got on.  Ha!

Baby boy and his non stop little brain and body had other ideas!  I have five words : I. have. the . best. husband.  Wow!  We went a few rounds of switching baby boy between eachother but my exhausted brain was obviously not helping me be patient and thus daddy saved the day.  The hardest part I think was during the long stretch where the plane lights are turned off so that everybody else can try to rest and here we are trying to wrangle a little monkey who refuses to sleep!  Argh!  Thank goodness for window seats so that he could entertain himself with opening and closing those blinds over and over and over again.  

Come to think of it there are actually two other things that I dread when flying with kids .. the takeoff and landing process simply because when you are concentrating on making sure your little ones stays seated with their seatbelt fastened but all they want to do is whine and squirm their way out of their restraints .... the time between when we need to be buckled and then be free again takes soooooo long.   Once the plain is in the air I stare up above and just wait until the seatbelt sign is turned off!

Baby boy did manage to take a little nap ... maybe 2/3 hours ( I don't even remember!)  but I hope by the time he is his sister's age he will travel as good as she did.

She was happy as could be watching the same Mickey Mouse Club House and Doc McStuffin episode on the the little television repeatedly.  I'm going to guess between both the flight over and the return flight she watched each episode about 25 or so times.   She wanted nothing to do with the movies on the ipad!  She is so funny!

It was a bit of a rollercoaster trip I must say though with our first week being filled with sickness for both daddy and baby boy.  Weird fever, ear ache, miserable kind of sickness!  That first week we found ourselves laying low while our boys rested.   

 

The upside was of course making the most of quality family time especially with my mum since that's where we stay when we go visit.  I love this time of year in Brisbane .. it's Autumn but still high temperatures and the humidity is bearable .. actually almost gone.  It was great to break out the shorts, sandals and short sleeve shirts.

By Sunday of our first week daddy and baby boy were finally healthy and feeling themselves again and it was perfect timing because not only was it Easter Sunday but also my baby nephew's baptism day at which I was honoured to be his Godmother. :)

 

So while it was a slower week than I anticipated I was so happy to be back in Brissie and so very grateful that our first week ended on a happy (and healthy) note.  

I plan to update the rest of our trip in a few upcoming posts.

Stay tuned .....

The Week That Was {2 Seasons in 2 Days}

We ventured out to the Mountains last Thursday (Big Bear to be exact) for a mini family adventure.
Just a one night thing.  It was short. It was sweet.  It was nice to be up in the mountains with the amazing scenery and snow all around.   There was even a visit to the local Big Bear zoo that we squeezed in before coming home on Friday. 

 In true Southern California style.. we left the mountains wearing jackets, long pants and the heater on in the car and two hours later arrive home,  step out of car and are greeted with 80F(?!!).  A hot summer's day in Winter!!  With that amazing weekend weather,  outside is where we needed to be! Let's take our bikes to the park!  Great idea .. kind of.  That plan didn't seem so fun  for baby boy.  He just wasn't having it riding in the trailer behind daddy's bike.  It was almost too hot for him.  Sigh! Kids! :) Ha!


In just two days Owen went from this:

to this:

I must say though I am looking forward to long term warmer weather.   Winter you were not so friendly (or healthy) this year ........  :)