A Night Away!

On Thursday night, R and I ran away for the night. We went down to Wollongong to visit family. Most importantly to visit her "friends", who are actually cousins-Ella and Cherish. R was in heaven. That night was filled with dress-ups, singing, and dancing. R LOVED every minute of it! The next day we went to Kiama. A cute little town with some great parks, and a blow hole. The weather was great, and the park was fun. It was right by the beach.

R, Ella, and Cherish at the park. You can see the ocean behind them!

More fun-

Then after the park, we walked over to the beach and the kids played. R got SOOOOO sandy.

I LOVE this girl!!!

Then after that park we went to go see the blow hole, which was really cool. All my pics of how big it would get sometime all turned out like crap, but imagine the wave twice the size of this one in height!!

Watching the water coming out of the blow hole! Very cool!

We ended up at another park for lunch.

It was a nice quick getaway. The train ride wasn't even that bad because R slept some of it, and it has beautiful ocean views! Thanks to Donna and her family for letting us crash their night and day! We had fun!

Giving in...

FINALLY..... We have had our eye on a certain bike at Big W (kind-of a Wal-Mart, but not a super wal-mart by all means) for R. She has got riding her trike down, and cruises ALL over Big W on the display bike we have been waiting to buy for her. Well after 3 weeks of waiting, and getting NO HELP from the employees(hence customer service in Australia is the lowest in the world), we gave in and bought one that is VERY similar to the one we wanted.

This is the BEFORE:

Pulling all the parts out, and unwrapping them. Showing off how big the tires are, and proud of it!

Showing R how she can drive crazy once its put together.......really I just had to put the picture on because its a funny picture of Jared and he has no say to this blog :) :)

Helping daddy put the tires on!

Putting the seat onto the rest of the bike.

Trying it out!

THE AFTER:

Things I already love about this bike(which was a must).

1.The parent's handle: R had a really hard time with any little incline on her trike, so I would have to carry the bike while she walked. Now I can just push it while she still rides it, which is really easy. Plus if she starts going down a hill, going to fast, or starts tipping over I can grab it!!

2.The parent's handle can be removed. Once she gets older and more confident we can take the handle off.

3. The training wheels are more wide than others, which also can be removed.

R wanted a picture off the bike with her dad, and she told him how to pose. Funny!!!

We are really excited about this purchase. Riding bikes is an every day adventure at our house, especially now that it is warming up. So to have a bike that fits her, and I can push instead of carry (now that I am waddling a lot more with my HUGE belly), I am VERY happy!!!

Improvising

Remember how I said that R was having withdrawals from ALL her friends in Utah. I feel like a bad mom, but her best friends are her teddies. They all have names, and her new thing is dressing them up.

This is Big Ted, who tends to get the most attention. She has figured out that he(yes I know, its a boy, wearing a dress) fits on her tricycle WITH her!! Again, Big Ted getting the love while watching some TV

Santa Bear, Playschool Ted, and Big Ted all warm watching TV. Really she doesn't watch TV ALL the time, but it makes for some cute pictures!!!

Not only is she improving on friends, but she is an undiscovered dancing queen. Grandma Trease sent her this dress. R put the dress on with tights, and shoes ALL BY HERSELF, and we had one of our many dancing parties. She keeps looking at the tv because she can see herself in it! Funny little one!!

Now that its warming up, there are starting to be more kids at the park. R is getting a lot braver going up to kids and asking them if they want to play!! Last time we went she stalked kids before asking them, it was SOOOOOO funny! We had a surprise visit from our friends from Blue Haven, and I thought R was going to have a heart attack when they left. She didn't want her friend to leave!!! She cried for awhile, until I bribed her with a cookie to stop crying!! I know, I know, bad mom but she wouldn't stop!!

Things are getting better with the warmth. I hope that it just keeps getting better!!!

Father's Day-Part 2

*If you haven't read "Happy Father's Day" post- READ IT FIRST!!!!!!!!!

As promised MORE pictures of Father's Day. I can't believe I have had so many Part 1 and Part 2 posts. Sorry, I will try to keep them shorter from now on!!

Anyways, we went into Sydney yesterday so Jared could use his Father's day voucher. We met up with Uncle Jim around 1pm. We went to the Jet Boats and one ride was getting ready to leave. So we hurried and paid for them, and they got their ponchos on and were the last to load the boat!!! Going over the safety procedures, looking VERY excited!!!

After they pulled away from the dock, R and I walked around to the Opera House and went to the harbour side of it to see if we could see them, but they were long gone. But R was certain she could spot them.

We sat on some chairs, took some pics and waited for the guys to get back.

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE this picture. She is so dang cute!

Some nice lady offered to take both our picture with the Harbour Bridge behind us. She was nice indeed, look you can't even see my HUGE belly!!!

After awhile we saw a red jet boat driving by, and started waving. Jared mentioned that he could see us, so the driver came over by the opera house for a few quick pics.

Taking off again.

They had SOOOOO much fun, even though it was a colder day. Uncle Jim even said he would suggest doing this over climbing the Harbour Bridge(plus TONS cheaper)!! They ended up not too wet either.....but the poor people in the back couldn't say the same thing. Even though they had ponchos on, they got SOAKED!! I saw 2 of the people from the back after and poor things were drenched!!! Jared said that the boat would speed up really fast then stop really fast, which would bring the water from the wake behind them up and over the back of the boat!

Because dad got to go on a boat R HAD to go on a boat ride. So we just went on a ferry ride. The ferry rides can get some of the best shots of the Opera House.

Waving bye to the land. Enjoying "HER boat ride"

We ended up getting off across the harbour from the Opera House for a little walk.

Instead of waiting for the ferry to come back, we decided to walk across the Harbour Bridge. Neither Jared or I had ever walked across it. It was a little windy, but still beautiful. It took us right to where we going to eat for dinner. Which was about 6:30ish.

We went to eat at Pancakes on The Rocks. For those non-Australians, The Rocks is a historical part of Sydney right by the Opera House. We had eaten here once before and loved it!

Uncle Jim enjoying his Iced Mocha. Yummy!!!!

Jared out front of the restaurant.

It was a GREAT day. We had so much fun, especially the guys! R didn't even take a nap and she did alright! It was a little struggle keeping her awake around 5, but she did great! Thanks Uncle Jim for taking 1/2 a day off to join us, and HUGE thanks for the McSweeneys who helped make this possible!!! It was AWESOME!!!

Happy Father's Day

In Australia Father's Day was on September 5th. Mother's Day is the same as America, but Father's Day is different! This year Jared's family decided to pitch in and so we could make his Father's Day a good one. He had a crappy birthday, and anniversary so I was really wanting to do something special.

Call me smart until a few days before Father's Day, that R has NEVER even touched scissors. Now call me crazy, but I decided to buy her some blunt end scissors and have her help me with the Father's Day surprise. The first project we did was "heart attack" Jared. So we had to cut out a TON of hearts. R LOVED working on this project. I had to teach her how to hold the scissors.Then teach her how to hold the paper and work the scissors. Her very first heart she cut out! Sorry she looks a little homeless, but she had just woke up!

Figuring it out all by herself!!!

She actually got really good at them! Even though Father's Day is over, she still wants to cut hearts out!!!

Next part of the projects: Father's Day card. Jared isn't one who cares for cards, but I decided to make one with R anyways.

Inking up the stamp(I don't have my clear blocks that the stamps go on, so that is why she is using a bowl :)

I think it turned out really cute, especially for not having hardly ANY of my scrap booking stuff. I was in charge of the front, and R was in charge of the inside. I traced R's hand, and made a pretend one for the nugget in my tummy

Stamp work, by R!! p.s. I love that she can write her own name!!

Then while R was sleeping, I made his actual present. I put it in a box and wrapped it with paper that R colored for me. This is what the front looked like.

The inside:

Sunday morning I woke R up early and she helped me hang up all the hearts. On about 15 of the hearts I asked R why she loved her dad and she would tell me reasons and I would write it down. She also had colored on the hearts earlier too!! You can see the blue one that says "I Love Dad because he is MY dad!"

The whole front room is COVERED in hearts! Then we had bought some chocolate hearts too.

We put some of the leftover hearts, the chocolate hearts, the present, and the Father's Day card together on the floor.

We didn't get any picture of Jared's reaction, because he didn't want pics in his P.J.s. He really enjoyed his surprise. He thought he would come out and see a banner, because he said he could just hear tape being riped for the 30 minutes!!! He is VERY excited about his present. The jet boats go, stop, and turn really fast on the harbour. I can't go because I am pregnant, so Jared is going to go with his Uncle Jim. He gets to go on Tuesday. I'm sure I will take more pictures!!! :)