Daggy Date Night

Matt found a colleague who has a 16 year old daughter who was excited to babysit the kids. We decided to do something new and touristy that we would not do with the kids. We went on a 2 hour Segway Tour all through Brisbane at night. It was very fun to see the city at night all lit up and see parts of the city we had never seen. Plus, riding the segways was pretty fun. We were teased about it from friends at Matt's work saying it was "daggy." We had to look up that word because we were unfamiliar with it, but it means cheesy. Yes, it was cheesy, but who cares we are tourists and where else would we ride a segway!!

 cool art we found when exploring the Botanic Gardens

Driving in Australia

Matt's colleague, Paul, lent our family his car for the entire time we are in Brisbane. It is extremely nice of him and has allowed our family to go on many adventures. For the most part we walk or bike or take the train everywhere, but it has been so nice to have the freedom and option to take the car. After watching Matt drive many times, I have decided to drive as well. I gained the courage to dive from thinking about my good friend Janet Palmer. She came to Phoenix, AZ from New Zealand and started driving so she could get around. Thinking about her and how she just did it, gave me the courage to just do it! I am so proud of myself for driving on the wrong side of the road. ;)

I even watched Genevieve's kids along with Derek and Rylie and drove all 4 of them to meet up with Matt and Gen. 

 Also Australians call shopping carts Trolleys and parking lots are called car parks.

 Here are two book series that Derek has been reading since arriving in Australia. Ironically Janet and Jack Palmer suggested them to Derek a year ago, but he wasn't ready for them and now he is. Its been so awesome to check them out of the library and watch him devour both series.

North Stradbroke Island (Straddie)

Genevieve invited us to spend the day with Bronte and Zach at Stradbroke Island. It is a large sand island that is just a ferry ride from Brisbane. We caught an early ferry out and then a late ferry back and had the most wonderful day filled with amazing memories!

We started off at the Gorge Walk. It is a walk along the ocean with these amazing cliffs and a gorge that was carved out by the ocean. The water color was a turquoise. We spotted a sea turtle in the water and a couple kangaroos along the footpath.

Derek and Rylie walking the Gorge Walk with Bronte and Zack

This friendship was a blessing that I was not expecting. 

Its been so fun to watch the kiddos play together.

The kangaroo on the right is a Mama and she has a joey in her pouch! 

I got this picture just before she hopped off into the bush.

Exploring the rocks along the water

After exploring the rocks the kids climbed up and ran down a huge sand dune. We got some great videos of them running with all their might...Here is Derek after he took a couple tumbles (on purpose) as he was running down. They loved it and did it 3 times.

We played in the surf at Cylinder Beach. To get to the beach you had to wade across a huge lagoon filled with water. It was pretty neat. The waves were very big and we had to hold onto the kids. The water was crystal clear and with their goggles on the kids could see under the water. It was so much fun to play in the surf. Derek and Rylie are getting pretty good at knowing how to surf the waves.

After swimming in Cylinder Beach for quite some time we headed to lunch at the nearby pub. 

Not a bad view for lunch, hey?!

Near the beach entrance was a huge group of trees the kids called "the bird's nest." 

Climbing this tree was super fun.

After a fun day of swimming in the ocean, playing on the beach, running down the sand dunes, climbing the rocks by Deadman's beach we took the ferry home.

Noosa National Park

Genevieve and her family invited us to spend the weekend at their beach house in Mudjimba on the Sunshine Coast (1.5 hrs north of Brisbane). On the way there we stopped at Noosa (a cool beach town) to do a hike and explore the coast. It was gorgeous! We did part of the Coastal Walk to a point called Dolphin Point and stopped for lunch. It was amazing!

We ate sushi for lunch at Dolphin Point.

There were lots of surfers who took their mopeds to park and surf. 

This was a cool surf board holder on the moped.

Rylie Girl Age 6

There have been many things that I want to remember about Rylie at age 3,4,& 5. I haven't written them all down like I had wanted to so I thought I'd take a minute to write them down.

Rylie you are incredibly creative. You are always making up games and using your imagination to play. You can make a game out of anything. You love to use your stuffed animals or Lego mini-figures or other objects you find to play with you.

Rylie you love to hold my hand while we walk and I LOVE it. I treasure the moments when you slip your hand in mine. It feel so good to hold your hand. You have been holding my hand as we explore Australia, walking through the streets of new cities, hiking new mountains, and jumping in the surf. I want to remember your little hand in mine.

Rylie you love to sit on our laps and give/get hugs. You love to grab our faces and put your face into our face.

Rylie you are determined. You like to do things on your own and do things your way. In school you like to get it right and do it on your own. You like to choose your own clothes and choose how you do things. You don't always like to take suggestions from me (I was just like this so I guess I am getting a little bit of how I treated my mom).

Rylie you are competitive. You like to keep up, challenge yourself and do what your brother is doing. You like to lead when we are biking, you like to climb the rock wall until you get to the top and read just like your brother. We are grateful that he is a great example for you too!

Rylie you love to dance! You love to put on a dress or a leotard and dance to music, make up gymnastics routines. You love to sing to music and listen to music.

Rylie you love to dress up and be fancy, but yet you are very sporty. You are the perfect mix of both.

Rylie you are confident and make friends with others easily.

Rylie you love your Gracies. Your favorite is still Purple Gracie, but you like sleeping with both Purple and New Gracie.

Rylie you make lots of great facial expressions. You have an electric smile and you love to make other silly faces too.

Rylie you love Star Wars and its awesome to watch you talk Star Wars with others.

We are so proud of you Rylie and love being your parents. You are a special girl and have grown up in so many ways, especially here in Australia. We love you! Happy 6th Birthday.
Love, Mommy and Daddy.