Biking Adventures

After school one afternoon we biked for 1.5 hours around the city. It is one of our favorite things to do in Brisbane. This time we biked the opposite direction as we usually do. 

It was neat to see the city from a different perspective.

William Jolly Bridge

Go Between Bridge and our building in the background!

Queensland Museum & Sushi Making

Making sushi for lunch before heading to the museum for the afternoon.

We went to the exhibit called Deception Perception. It was all about how you can deceive your mind to think a certain way based on different scientific principles.

Scary dinosaur in my picture and there is a T-Rex in the background. Ha! Silly Rylie

Sunrise over Brisbane

Every morning while drinking my coffee I get to watch the sun rise up over Brisbane. Some mornings, if I sleep in, the sun actually wakes me up as it shines on me. The view doesn't get old. I LOVE this balcony and the sites (both sunrise and lights at night) and sounds we hear from it. 

Its been a great experience to live in a city.

Sunrise

Another sunrise

Another sunrise

Barefoot Bowls in New Farm

We went to church at Hillsong in Brisbane CBD. We walked from our apartment. It was the best sermon and exactly the message God had planned for us that morning. After church we headed to Queen St. to pick up some sushi for lunch.

Beautiful butterflies on a building that Rylie loved!

In the afternoon we picked up Ing-Marie (Matt's colleague from Sweden) and headed to New Farm to experience Lawn Bowling. It was so much fun and a perfect way to hangout and chat while doing something relaxing. We all had to be barefoot on the lawn!! It is similar to Bocce, but the bowls (what they call the balls) are weighted so you have to be careful how you bowl them. We had 2 lanes one for the kids and one for the adults. Although half-way through Derek joined the adults' lane and showed everyone up with some amazing bowls!!! It was a great afternoon. I am so grateful for Matt's colleagues here in Brisbane and how they have welcomed us. It has been wonderful to hangout and get to know them and their families.

Lawn Bowling crew

Rylie found a flower from a Frangipani Tree for her hair.

Derek, Rylie, Zack and Bronte with the bowls

Derek laughing after he had a great bowl on the adult team!!

Biking around Brisbane

Saturday morning we woke up to this beautiful sunrise.

I also got a text from my sweet friends, Lisa and Christina. Lisa was visiting Phoenix and the 2 were catching up for coffee. I wish I was able to meet up with them, but they were so sweet and drove by my house and took a picture in front of it!

We prepared for a long bike ride around Brisbane. Matt and I rented bikes through City Cycle. We just had to make sure to switch them out every 30 minutes. We biked for over 3 hours all over the city. We biked passed the GOMA and South Bank and to lower section of Kangaroo Point. Then up to the top of Kangaroo Point and over Story bridge and through the financial district and botanic gardens where we stopped for a picnic lunch. For the way home we biked on the other side of the river (by the CBD) and over the GO-Between-Bridge back to our apartment. The weather was perfect as it was cloudy and raining for part of the day. When we got home we collapsed on the couch to watch some of the Commonwealth Games before going out to dinner and getting gelato.

Biking on Kangaroo Point

The kids took turns leading the bike ride. Both kids are excellent bikers!

 Biking over Story Bridge in the rain was exciting and quite an adventure!

Play Date in Brisbane

Gen, Matt's colleague in Brisbane, asked me to watch her kids (Bronte and Zack) one afternoon while she worked. I was thrilled to watch them since my kids LOVE playing with her kids. We started out with a sushi lunch. Then we headed to South Bank. Along the way we stopped to watch a little bit of the Commonwealth Games. Then we went to the playground. After a while the kids were super hot so we got a treat and watched a street performer. We made our way along South Bank to our apartment. Then we had a swim in the pool on our roof. It was a very fun and exhausting day! At the end of the day I drove all 4 kiddos to meet up with Matt and Gen. That evening I received a pretty cool compliment that I had graduated from tourist to hostess since I was babysitting kids and driving 

them around!!! That felt good!