Happy 4th of July

Yesterday was the base's annual Fourth of July Festival. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the rain that. So, we a huge downpour just as we were driving up to the park. Instead, we decided a little trip to the Hard Rock Cafe would be a better option. What really spells Independence as much as a good burger, fries, apple cobbler with ice cream, and a brownie with chocolate sauce and ice cream . . . all in the company of Bruce Springsteen memorabilia?

Happy Fourth of July!

Cute Couple

From MSgt Wong's Retirement Ceremony

Marking the Time

During deployment, Courtney passed the time with the girls by commemorating each day with a loop in the chain. By the end, it was long enough to drape around the dining room and into the living room. As we prepare to leave Guam, we are cleaning house. So, we took the opportunity to get some good shots of the chain before saying goodbye to it!

Welcome Home / Housewarming Party

Last Friday, we headed to a co-worker's new house for a "Welcome Home" party, as well as a housewarming party. They have lived on Guam for a while, and they have built a beautiful home on top of a Guam hilltop. They can watch the sunset on one balcony, and watch the moon rise over the ocean from another. We had lots of good food and fun! The girls particularly enjoyed the hammock.

Father's Day

Mark awoke this morning to get his girls ready for church. Courtney headed to church early to prepare for singing. He found a nice card waiting for him from Courtney wishing him a Happy Father's Day. After church, we headed downtown to Ruby Tuesdays for a good lunch with friends. After lunch, we pawned Katelee off on our friends so she could return home for a good nap (thanks friends!!!). Then, Mark, Courtney, and Olivia headed to the movie theater to watch "UP." It was a great movie (and in 3D)! After the movie, we headed back toward the base. However, as we drove by the Micronesia Mall, a tractor beam pulled us into the parking lot, into the garage, and into Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream!!! Stupid tractor beam! After we broke free from its grip, we made it back home in time to head to a friend's house. We were able to do a fair Welcome Back to him from deployment. And now, the girls are in bed asleep, "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman is playing, and Mark is a happy father. What a day!

Ready?

The family is adjusting well to home life again, minus a few exceptions. Mark keeps waiting for someone to come in and change the sheets and provide fresh, clean towels. Courtney keeps waiting for someone to come in and vaccuum and wash the dishes. The girls keep waiting for a kangaroo to show up on the front lawn to pet and feed. Other than that, all is well.

Katelee may be ready for potty training. She grabbed her diaper tonight and said poo poo. She hadn't gone yet, so we presumed she meant she needed to go poo poo. So, Courtney took off her diaper and put her on the toilet. Nothing. This seems like a good time to put the diaper back on the kid who says poo poo while grabbing herself, but hindsight is a guru.

Shortly thereafter, Mark noticed what can only be described as "brownie mix" drifting down Katelee's leg. This would be the Hershey's brand with the chocolate added. We aren't quite sure how, but an entire trail managed to make it down Katelee's leg without making it to the floor. She was whisked away to the bathroom where we realized it was really much too late to put her on the toilet, not to mention the mess THAT would cause. So, in the tub she went for a good rinse. I'm not quite sure of the association we have created, but we acted really excited for her, repeated "goodbye poo poo" several times, and got her to clap at the end of it all.

Guess we will listen more closely the next few days for "poo poo" from Katelee. As a sidenote: one "brownie" was found on the kitchen floor after a retrace of steps.

Brownie Maker

Australia Vacation -- Day 14 -- The End

How do you create a recipe for a hard day of travel?
Start with an early morning wake up call in Sydney (3:45 a.m.).
Hop on a plane to Cairns, which arrives about 10:00.
Now, don't schedule the next flight out to Guam until midnight.

So, how do you spend from 10 until midnight? Petting more kangaroos! We decided to rent a car and drive back up to Kuranda for the day. We just took our time playing in the park, eating lunch, shopping, and petting the kangaroos. Then, after everything shut down around 4:00, we drove back into Cairns to play at Muddies some more. The girls played on the playground; we ate some dinner; and then we watched all the parrots return to roost (changing places with the bats). Then, we strolled through the night markets again, but we didn't buy anything.

It was a nice, relaxing day . . . until . . . about 6 or so, the girls were DONE. We still had about 3 hours to kills since Continental didn't open until 2 hours prior to flight departure. So, we just drove around the town. The girls fell asleep at times, but Olivia started complaining about feeling sick and her ear/throat hurting. We had some medicine, but we needed to find some more. Dad kept post in the car with the two screaming girls as Courtney hunted for pharmacies. Yikes!

The plane ride home was tough too. Any red-eye flight is hard, but with two little girls, just pour lemon juice in my paper cut! Olivia only had one meltdown. Katelee only had a couple. We came straight home, got in bed about 5:30 this morning, and we all slept until about 10:30.

So, today is about unpacking, re-settling, and getting the house back in order. Whew! What a fabulous vacation!!! It has been a blast. Although the girls won't remember most of it, we have pictures to show them how awesome of parents we were for them when they were little!

So, when they are 16 and want to take the car out, and we say no, we can tell them: "Listen, we took you to Australia; what more do you want?!!!" Will this plan work? Maybe not, but we'll stick with it for now.

Australia Vacation -- Day 13

Last night was a rough night for Katelee. She has had a strange digestive tract week -- pooping 5-6 times per day, sometimes some stuff only found in Alien movies! By last night, she was running a bit of a fever, tired, clingy, and grumpy! We put her in our bed for a bit, but she was just crying uncontrollably. So, we finally got her settled back down, put her back in her own bed, and she only woke up about once per hour. Needless to say, Katelee's parents were a bit tired in the morning! So, what do tired parents plan for their last day in Sydney?

How about another active outing? We got up and out the door around 10:00. We grabbed the Manly ferry and headed to Manly (of course). When we arrived, we found a restaurant on the seashore and enjoyed breakfast/lunch. After we ate, we headed to the bike rental place (a different one from Monday). We grabbed a couple bikes, and we hooked up a trailer to one. Who got the trailer today? Mark! After all the sympathy comments got from Courtney, Mark could not be outdone by his wife!

So, we headed out to a National Park where you can whale watch. Unfortunately, the guy who rented us the bikes did not tell us we would have to bike up a 90 degree vertical road to get to the Park! Once we got there though, it was a great view . . . and well worth it.

We did a bit of whale watching, but we didn't spot any. A guy up there said one had been spotted, but you had to have binoculars to see it. So, we just enjoyed the view of the ocean, waves, and the city. Afterward, we biked back down, passed by the seashore, and then returned our bikes. We grabbed some McDonald's (yes, they are even over here), and caught the ferry back home. The timing was great since we caught the sun setting on the harbor.

Tomorrow will be a true adventure as we wake up early, fly to Cairns, and then wait until midnight to catch our next flight back to Guam. We will get back in Guam around 4 in the morning. So, not much sleep will be had in the next 24 hours. Then, hopefully, we can recover from this wonderful vacation!!! Hope you enjoyed it! We did.

Australia Vacation -- Day 12

Today was a nice day of play. We headed out about 9:30 or so, hopped on the monorail, and made our way to the Powerhouse Museum. This is kind of like an science/activity museum, especially for kids. There were several parts that the girls loved.

The first was Zoe's House, which was a "builders" theme. They had "bricks," the frame of a house, a railroad and carts (see Katelee pushing a cart below), a crane, and other fun activities. The kids wore orange vests and hard hats (at least they were supposed to).

The next stop was lunch and a large playground with lots of climbing and spinning sets. Courtney may have had more fun than the girls spinning on the equipment. We ate a good lunch before heading back in to play a bit more in the Magic Garden -- an interactive, electronic playground. We also saw a space section, transportation section, smell section, electricity section, etc. Lots and lots to see!!!



After the museum, we headed for the Chinese Garden. It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful. This is a photographer's playground. Unfortunately, Courtney's camera's memory stick was left behind in the computer and Mark's batteries died! We were able to snap a couple good ones before they died.

The garden was very nice, but we had to cut it a bit short and head home though. Olivia managed to fall into the tranquil lake of the Chinese Garden by slipping off of some rocks. Honestly, Mark did not push her into the pond in an attempt to get the $6 dollar admission charge waived!!! There is a reason Olivia's middle name is Grace. So, we headed home to change clothes and rest.

The girls went to sleep in the afternoon, and Mark scouted out the nearby cupcake shop. We snagged half a dozen cupcakes, hot chocolate, and coffee to get us through the rest of the afternoon. Since we had bought monorail passes, we wanted to put them to good use. Thus, we ventured into dangerous territory -- taking the girls out at night.

We headed out about 6:00. Katelee really wasn't feeling that great, but we wrapped them all up well. We hopped on the monorail to just cruise around the city at night. We hopped off at Chinatown, ate some dinner, and then went down to the large Ferris Wheel. Olivia begged to ride it (yesterday, today, and tonight). So, we climbed aboard and enjoyed views from the top. Then, we climbed back on the monorail, circled the area a couple times, and headed for home. The girls were in bed about 8:30, and the parents are up WAY past THEIR bedtime.

Time for some sleep so we can enjoy our final day in Sydney! See you tomorrow.

Australia Vacation -- Day 11

Today was an action packed day. We have used Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com/) to help plan our vacation -- lodging, food, and activities. We found a place called Bonza Bike Tours on there, and we planned a day of biking Sydney on a 4 hour tour. We headed to the place a bit early and set up our bikes. We got a baby seat put on the back of one bike and a trailer put on the back of another. Katelee started out in the baby seat, but the girls switched half way through the tour. Then, unfortunately, Olivia actually fell off the back of the bike (seat and all) while riding by the harbor. This slightly mortified the bike guys, and we actually got the whole day for free. Tomorrow, we are pushing Katelee into the shark tank to see if the Aquarium fee will be scratched! (Kidding, of course).

All in all, we saw a lot of the city we had already seen, but we saw it from new perspectives. And, there were parts of the town we had not seen -- Chinatown, parts of Darling Harbor, the Opera House up close, riding on the Sydney Harbor bridge, Observatory Hill, and a nice pub.

Courtney was quite the super trooper today. After Olivia's spill (she was not injured, and she didn't even cry), she was a bit scared to ride on the seat again. So, Courtney ended up hauling both Katelee and Olivia around half the town. Needless to say, she was tired by the end of the day! We did manage to end the day at a nice Italian Restaurant -- pizza, spaghetti, wine. We will sleep well tonight. Tomorrow's activity will be much more low key!!!

Australia Vacation -- Day 10

Today was a "go at your own pace" day. We woke up around 7:30 this morning, ate some breakfast, and got out the door about 10:30. What was on today's tap? Parks. Our hotel sits right next to several parks -- Hyde Park, The Domain, and The Royal Botanic Gardens. We took our time walking through the parks, letting the girls run and play. The gardens were awesome, especially considering they are in the middle of a city with 4.5 million people. About halfway through, we stopped and had a picnic at Mrs. Macquaries Chair (a lookout point). Then, on the way back, we stepped into the Art Gallery of the NSW to expose the girls to a little art. I'm not sure they were very impressed. Olivia's favorite picture was of one with cows.

(Olivia took this picture)

When we returned home, we changed clothes, put on some bathing suits, hit the chilly pool, hopped in the hot tub, ran off the other guests, and played in it until time for dinner. We came back to the room, got the girls into the tub, fixed some Mac & Cheese for dinner, and got them in bed by 5:30 and 6:00. Then, Mark & Courtney were treated to a romantic scene of fireworks on the bay (a holiday this weekend -- Queen's Birthday).

Time for bed soon for us because tomorrow will be another packed day! See you then!

Australia Vacation -- Day 9

Ok, today was a bit of a bust from a kid's perspective. However, we were told this was one of the "must do" things while in Sydney -- the Blue Mountains. So, we slept in this morning a bit later than usual (7:45), had breakfast, and headed to the train station. We took one train to the Central Station, and then we started our trek. Before getting on the train though, we managed to load up on an assortment of Krispy Kreme doughnuts! (tip: load your kids up on sugar before starting in long trip -- ugh!) It began with a 2 hour train ride. The girls did well for the most part. When we reached Katoomba, we were freezing our Guam-boombas off! So, we headed to the nearest store to buy some gloves and hats for all.

Then, the next step was to find food! We had a great lunch of lasagna and fish & chips. This filled us up for our long walk to Echo Point.

However, on the way, we found the Blue Mountain Chocolates shop. AMAZING! We sampled a variety of their chocolates -- very sweet!!! dark chocolate mint frog, a teddy bear praline-chocolate, a white raspberry chocolate heart, and another piece of chocolate truffle. Next, came the deal-maker though -- REAL Chocolate Milk. They bring you a cup with a candle glowing in the bottom, a cup full of milk (and a refill cup too), a bowl full of chocolate discs, and straw/spoon for stirring and drinking. You drop the chocolate drops in the milk and stir it up as the candle warms it all together. Awesome!





We finally reached Echo Point and saw The Three Sisters. We did some sight-seeing for a bit, and then we headed back. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do the sky rail across the gorge, or the train ride down the mountain. This would have added to the day, which was getting long and cold for the girls (and momma) already.

The train ride home was much of the same (without Krispy Kreme doughnuts), and Katelee fell asleep about a 3/4 way through it. We made it home, put the girls to bed, and we are planning our next adventure for tomorrow. (no trains planned)

Pics are uploaded on Flickr. Enjoy! See you tomorrow.

Australia Vacation -- Day 8

This morning started with two girls getting a full night's sleep! Yeah!!! That is the way a day should start. So, we started with a good breakfast before hitting the pavement toward Circular Quay. We caught the ferry and had a great view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge on our way to the Taronga Zoo.



The zoo was great! It has separate sections -- Australian, African, and Asian, as well as a "backyard bush" critters (sheep, goats, turkey, pigs) -- and was laid out well. We saw elephants, giraffes, koalas, mountain goats, snakes, red pandas, a komoto dragon, and much more. Yet, what was Olivia's favorite thing? Feeding the sheep. Next year's vacation: a farm in the midwest!

Below is a shot from our apartment. The morning and sunset views are quite nice! The girls enjoy going out on the balcony and seeing the city. It has been a bit chilly (compared to Guam), but it isn't too bad.

Australia Vacation -- Day 7

Day 7 and where did we go today? The aquarium! It was nice, with lots of animals. It was a short walk from where we are staying. We came back early and tried to get some naps in, which were short. Then, we walked around some more (in hunting mode for Italian food). We finally found a food court, ate, grabbed some delicious dessert, and headed home. The girls turned in early, and we are ready for another day tomorrow!

All pictures are now uploaded to Flickr. Enjoy! See you tomorrow.

Australia Vacation -- Day 6

Back on the plane. The Qantas people were extremely nice and helpful in finding an extra seat for Katelee and giving Olivia a coloring/activity pack. The flight from Cairns to Sydney was about 3.5 hours. We arrived around 4:30 p.m., grabbed our bags, and hailed a taxi to take us to our next “home.” The apartments we are staying at in Sydney are very nice and right down town. We unpacked. Mark took a quick trip to the grocery store around the corner (and McDonald’s across the street). We ate. Then, the girls crashed – they shared a King-sized bed for the first time. How did it work? Well, Olivia cried at 11:30 with a nightmare. Katelee woke up about 2:00 crying, so we brought her into bed with us. Then, Mark switched beds at 5:00 due to Katelee kicking him and the need to keep Olivia in bed at the crack dawn. We've rented a crib for the rest of our stay! We grabbed a bunch of brochures to plan our days here, and we’ll head out tomorrow on our next adventure! See you then!

Since we don't have the picture of Katelee enjoying a fudge-cicle on the plane (all over her face), enjoy the prettier one of Courtney at Port Douglas from Day 5.

Australia Vacation -- Day 5

This was our final day in Cairns. We were pretty conflicted how to spend our final day. We rented a car for the short jaunt up the road to the zoo. Mark managed to get everyone there despite driving on the left hand side! At the zoo, we saw more kangaroos, some crocodiles, monkeys, wombats, a red panda, and more koalas.






Then, the moment of decision – turn right to Cairns or turn left to Port Douglas. Since we hadn’t seen Port Douglas, we headed left! The drive was great -- rain forest on the right of us and beach on the left! Port Douglas was a quaint, little town. It reminded of us of Eureka Springs, Arkansas – lots of little shops and restaurants along a main town road. There was a nice playground we found for the girls, and they played a while. Then, after lunch, we headed back to the apartment to pack for a flight the next morning.

Australia Vacation -- Day 4

What Australian visit would be complete without visiting the Great Barrier Reef? Of course, how do you accomplish this with two little girls in tow? Well, we had an excellent manager of the hotel serve as our tour guide/booking agent. She found an awesome deal through a company called Reef Magic that allowed the girls to come with us. They even threw in a helicopter ride for free! The day consisted of an early morning rise to catch our tour bus. They took us to the pier, where we hopped on a huge, two story catamaran ship. We took about a 45 minute ride out to the reef (quite choppy) to an anchored “dock” – Marine World.

Mark took the first plunge into diving while Courtney took the girls on a semi-submersible vessel around the reef. Mark managed to see 3 sharks, an eel, lots of fish, gorgeous coral cliffs, colorful sea squirts, bumpy sea cucumbers, star fish, giant clams, and a jellyfish (that he touched). The only thing missing was Courtney.

When Mark returned (and warmed up), we all headed over to a waiting helicopter. We hopped on the helicopter and did a quick (5 minute) tour around the reef. From the air, we caught a sight of sea turtles swimming, the reef itself, and Marine World. Afterward, we all enjoyed lunch on the boat.

Then, it was Courtney’s turn to dive while Mark took the girls on the submersible again. While Courtney missed any sharks, she saw some huge parrot fish, lots of coral, a sea anemone, and a sea pen (looked like an old quill pen). When she returned, it was time to head back to the pier and home. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t get to really play in the water or snorkel because it was so cold and choppy, but they still seemed to enjoy the boat ride. What a full day!!!