Triathlon

Earlier this year I had planned to do a Triathlon over the summer. As the summer drew nearer it didn't look as though any of the Triathlons I had in mind were going to work out due to me being out of town or Jeramy being out of town. However, in July I realized that one of the triathlons I had wanted to do was on a different date than I originally was told. So, even though I really hadn't trained, three days before the race I decided to go for it and registered.

It ended up going great! I was pretty happy with my times and I honestly really enjoyed myself! I'm thinking next summer I might try and step it up and do an Olympic size Triathlon - which is about 2X longer than the one I did. I did a Sprint and the distances are about a 750m swim (1/2 mile), 20k bike (12.4 miles) and 5k run (3.1 miles). ( The one I did was a bit shorter on the swim.) An Olympic size is 1 mile swim, 40k bike, 10k run. It would definitely require some training!

The best part of the day was having my own little cheering section of 3. Last year none of them were there, so I was so happy that they made it. Poor Jeramy wasn't too familiar with my camera so wasn't able to get the shot of me crossing the finish line, but he was able to get a few pictures to help me remember the day.

Right after I finished the race. Hanging with my cheering section!
Leaving the transition area

I had to show off my favorite part -
my age sharpied on my calf! I know it's
hard to see but in case you are wondering,
it says 25!

Canada

This summer we made our annual trip to Canada to spend time with our families. We try and make it up there every summer for July 1st, Canada Day, and also the birthday of my hometown Raymond which is a REALLY big deal!!! July 1st has always been a big gathering event - everyone who has moved away returns to enjoy a few days or weeks with the family and friends that are still there. It is so much fun to see my little hometown of about 3,000 double in size for a few days. There is so much excitement and business in the otherwise sleepy little town. It is fun to go to the grocery store and run into old teachers, school mates or an old neighbor that you had nearly forgotten about.

I don't think I could live in Raymond again - once you leave and become accustomed to a big city and the amenities that it offers, it would be hard to go back -- but I absolutely love to go visit. The minute we drive into town I am nearly flooded with fond memories and warm feelings. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be raised there. Especially now that I have children, going back home is all the more important. I want them to experience some of the same things and traditions that I did when I was their age. I want them to gather candy at the parade and cheer for floats entitled "I Am a Child of God" and know most everybody in the parade. I want them to have a love of Waterton, rent the surreys and ride around town, then stop at Big Scoop on main street for ice cream. I want them to appreciate their many relatives they don't get to see too often and be able to spend an afternoon visiting and playing with them. When they are a little older I want them to stay up until 2am playing cards and games - claiming "THIS is the last game" for at least six games. These are the things I love and I hope to instill a love for in my children.

This year's trip was tons of fun and as usual went far too quickly! Here are some pictures of some of the highlights:

Fun at Waterton National Park:

Always our first stop as soon as we get to Waterton - the beautiful Cameron Falls.

We rented this crazy little bike, called a surrey, and rode all around the town. This is something I always did as a little girl and we hadn't done it for years - so this was top on my list of things to do in Waterton. You can tell Ella is not too happy when this picture was taken. She was really disappointed she had to sit in the front and didn't get to pedal. A few minutes into her ride, after we were sure Finn wasn't going to dive out the front, we let her sit in the middle with us. Finn had the best time of anybody - he just sat in the front by himself, giggling, waving and saying "hi" to everybody we saw.

Beautiful Cameron Lake. It is always breathtaking!

We always have to stop at "our rock" on our way back down from Cameron Lake. Jeramy and I had our picture taken on this rock when we were dating and ended up using it for our wedding announcement. Every year, we stop and take a picture.

A better picture of the view from our rock.

Ridge Park with Grandpa Leavitt:

It looks like Ella is having a miserable time :) (with uncle Jami and Skyla)

She had so much fun! I couldn't stop laughing just watching her. Finn was not about to let Ella have all the fun! Maybe it's more fun on the tube than in the water. Grandpa Leavitt to the rescue!

Afternoon in Lethbridge:

Ella with Grandpa Gary at his restaurant, Chopstix. Grandpa
affectionately refers to her as his best orange chicken customer.
I don't think he's exaggerating.

Apparantly the Asian-themed atmosphere inspired
Ella to bust out a few kung-fu moves.

Finn goofing around with Grandpa & Grandma Nelson

July 1st:

Sadly, I really didn't get too many pictures on the first. I was too busy catching up with everybody and kind of forget to take pictures.

O Canada! Ready for the parade.

I thought this float epitomized the Raymond Parade.
Notice the back of the float "advertising" Moroni's Quest (like youth Trek).
Pinata time! He could have cared less that there
was candy in there - he was just super excited that
someone gave him a stick that he was actually
supposed to be swinging recklessly around.

No help, please, Grandma!

Ella taking her turn at the Pinata (while my sister, Kim watches)

She's a little miffed she didn't break it open!

All the hard work on the pinata had a big payoff!

Busy Bloggers!

I'm still working on getting my blog caught-up but have been having too much fun catching up on everyone's posts. Originally I thought I had about 80 posts to catch up on, per my RSS reader. It was wrong - it must only be able to keep track of so many new posts then start dropping them off as ones I have read. My amazing friend Courtney, who has five young children including a set of triplets and did a cross-country move this summer, had about 40 posts alone. You amaze me, Courtney!

So thanks to everyone for having such a great, fun, summer and posting so many cute pictures and entries on your blogs. I'm having a great time living your fun moments with you and will get mine caught up soon enough!

Cover Baby

This summer Finn became a cover baby! He was on the May/June cover of Simple Scrapbooks. Rebecca Cooper, who took our family pictures last summer, is also a talented scrapbooker and is a contributer to the magazine. So she submitted the picture then let us know a few months back that he was going to be on the cover of the magazine. They use the name "Max" on the cover for layout purposes -- well, that or they think his name sucks --but it is our little Finn, with Jeramy's hands playing a supporting role :). I can't believe he ever used to be that little.

Still Kicking

It's official! My hiatus from the blog world is over - for now, anyway. I'm not really sure why I've been so removed from my blog and everyone else's. I haven't been extraordinarily busy but I finally found the motivation to get a few projects done around the house - painting the kitchen, making new curtains, filling up all the empty frames around my house with actual pictures, organizing, cleaning the garage. I'll blame it on Spring Fever and then over the summer we have been gone a lot (which I will post about soon). But I'm back and look forward to catching up on everyone else's blogs over the next few days. I just checked my RSS reader and I have 87 posts that I have not read! Yikes! Sorry I've been so out of touch.

We have had such a great summer and I have tons to post about. The kids are growing up way too fast. Last year Ella was big into imaginary friends and boyfriends. She had an imaginary friend "Lizabell" that was her sister and a boyfriend "Eric" (probably inspired from her short obsession with "The Little Mermaid.") So a few nights ago Jeramy was asking Ella where Lizabell was. Without thinking too much about it, she quickly responded "She grew up." Then Jeramy asked what happened to Eric and Ella promptly replied "he broke up with me." It was so funny but a little sad to see how my little girl is vanishing before my eyes. She's had some big milestones this summer, which I will elaborate on in a later post.

As for Finn, he is 18 months and has turned into a wild little creature. He is trouble with a capital T, but so darn cute, sweet, and funny (clearly, I'm not very objective! :)) that it's easy to overlook his naughtiness! He is into everything, climbs on everything and has started throwing some good tantrums!

Well, we had a fantastic summer and I have tons to post about - trips to Canada, family reunion in Aspen Grove, getaway to Hawaii, triathlon, learning to ride a two-wheeler, our cover baby, and Ella's first day of Kindergarten -- so stay tuned.

Flying Solo

So, right now Jeramy is in Europe for business - London, Paris, Bordeaux, Zurich. This is his longest trip he's taken - 13 days. We only have five left. Actually, what I really mean is - there are still five whole days left.

When he leaves on the longer trips I kind of feel as though I unravel a little. If my life were a book during those times, it would definitely be "She's Come Undone" (which, btw, I have never read but heard is great.) It's not that I completely fall apart - that sounds so big and dramatic. I feel more like a sweater with a loose thread that is slowly being pulled. Day by day life goes on and I hardly notice that my sweater has a hole in it. Then one day I look down and realize there is a huge hole and my sweater is ceasing to exist and that's when I switch into what I call "survival mode." This whole analogy is really silly but it's my best attempt to explain how I feel.

I'm learning that with these multi-week trips it's almost always the weekend that is my trigger into survival mode - which, basically, is me just trying to take care of the basics and survive. Nothing more. The house tends to get a little dirtier, my patience seems to fall a little short and I start to feel a little less like myself. Getting by is not a way to live life and I don't like living there - even just a few days at a time. My kids are bathed, fed, entertained and put to bed with hugs and kisses (okay, a few nights there have been some frustrated threats and a few tears - all of ours - mingled in with the hugs and kisses) but I feel like I get a little lost in the process. I've finally realized that it's not because it's so emotionally and physically exhausting to be the sole caregiver to two energetic, vivacious little ones. It's because I miss my husband. Simple as that. I can do thirteen straight bedtimes by myself and have my kids needing me from the crack of dawn until the sun goes down and do better than survive. But I cannot go thirteen days without a real conversation or an embrace from Jeramy and not feel like a part of me and my life has gone missing.

And even though I vowed I would not be living in survival mode this time around and worked very hard to try and prevent it - hard workouts, healthy eating, early bedtimes (ok, not tonight), some house projects to serve as distraction, diligent scripture study and sincere daily prayers - (always pleading for an extra dose of patience) a few babysitters lined up - in the end it doesn't matter. Because here I am in the place I tried so desperately to avoid. And it's occurred to me that it's okay to be here - of course this is where I am. I'm here because I have an amazing husband who is a big part of me and I miss him. This destination is inevitable. So, I will go on surviving for five more days until Jeramy comes home and will then turn my back on merely surviving and look forward to thriving once again.

Well Finn is awake crying (again) so I will end this post. Poor little guy is cutting five teeth right now - four are part way through and one is right there. He's been miserable and, well, let's just say it hasn't helped my cause this week. He's been such a trooper. Time for more Motrin and snuggles!

More Tooth Troubles

So, a month ago Jeramy had to have his front tooth pulled to get an implant. He'll get the permanent tooth in another 5 or 6 months and in the meantime has a temporary. For the whole story, check out A Real Tooth.

From the get-go, he has been having a few problems with the temporary tooth. First, he went in for a check-up on the tooth and they found it was completely loose. So they shaved it down a bit shorter and a lot thinner so he wouldn't use it to bite anything with. Then, Sunday night a piece of the temporary tooth fell off. He was just beside himself, since this whole thing is a 20 year nightmare being brought to reality. Luckily the dentist was able to fit him in yesterday afternoon. Not so lucky, I guess there are pretty significant problems with the temporary and it needs to be replaced. So, they had to take the temporary out because with the way it broke it could cause the screw (in his mouth, in the bone) to become misaligned and cause problems so it won't fuse to the bone and the unbelievable part is they aren't able to get him a new one for a few days!!! Jeramy is completely fired up about the whole thing (an understatement) He won't talk and keeps his hand over his mouth when he does. Luckily he is just working from home for the next few days and doesn't have to go anywhere before Thursday.

Even though he is so upset and grumpy about the whole thing, I decided to press my luck and beg for a picture - so me and so many others were so disappointed about not having one the first go round. So, here it is.

What a good sport, he even managed to
smile and goof around about it!

Oh, there's one more thing I forgot to mention about this whole tooth thing......






APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!

OK, the real story is that this is a prank we did for Jeramy's boss and co-workers. He was just out in Chicago last week and when he came home he was telling me about some of the pranks and goofy things they did while he was out there. I told him he had to come up with some kind of April Fool's Day prank to pull on them. Then, Sunday night when the piece of his tooth fell off, I thought it would be hilarious to pretend his tooth fell out. They all know about the whole tooth thing since it's been so traumatic for Jeramy. Since his tooth isn't "real" we didn't dare use shoe polish or eye-liner to black it out for fear it would stay black forever, so we used a sticker cut in the shape of his tooth. He was going to call them on Skype, using the camera on his computer - especially since the picture quality isn't great, we thought we could pull it off. I also wanted to take a picture for my blog but when we put the sticker on it looked ridiculously fake. So I edited the picture using Photoshop (don't know what I'm doing!) and he still used Skype and his boss fell for it! I'm not even going to flatter myself into thinking that anyone fell for the joke based on the picture I edited - it looks a little fake. For the sake of the blog, I made up the story about having to remove the temporary (the rest is true) and hoped by posting the story first, it would seem more believable. So, for those of you who noticed that the picture looked completely doctored - the joke's on us! And for anyone else - if you're out there - Happy April Fool's Day!

Easter

We had a really great Easter this year. It started out a little rough but ended up being a wonderful day.

Since we had just returned from Sydney a few days earlier, the kids were still not adjusted to Denver time and were up half the night, very awake and alert. Jeramy and I - very tired and grumpy! Finally at about 4 or 5 am everyone fell asleep. Thankfully the Easter bunny was kind enough to not come in the morning , allowing all of us to get a little extra, much needed, sleep.

Since having children of my own, I have decided that it is really fun to coordinate our family's outfits for Christmas and Easter. It is completely cheesy and something I used to roll my eyes at, but I've decided I love doing it, even if it is a bit cheesy! And Jeramy, who won't admit it, but I know doesn't like it, is a really good sport about it! He only complained about his tie a few times. :) So, we all donned our black, white and yellow outfits, and headed off to church looking like "bumblebees", according to Jeramy.

The full view of the bumblees!
Despite my friend Erin taking about
30 family pictures, there wasn't a
single one where we were all looking
with eyes open, etc. We are a
sad, pathetic group of subjects!

Church was wonderful and was nice to be able spend some time reflecting on our Savior and the true purpose and meaning of Easter. It was a good calming influence on our family and helped replace the chaos and grumpiness with feelings of love and peace.

After church we were invited by our friends, Sverre & Erin, to go to their parents house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. Sverre's mom really goes all out for the easter egg hunt and creates several eggs that have a slip of paper with what the real prize is - such as silly putty, crayons, a bunny, baby duck.... Yup, that's right - a few lucky kids (and even luckier parents!) get to walk away with some real, live animals. It was so cute to see all the kids going full force ahead, seeking out eggs and excitedly prying them open to see what was inside. It was also great to see the look of panic on the parents faces when it was a slip of paper inside. You know everyone was fervently wishing - "please don't be an animal, please don't be an animal..." At least that's what I was thinking. So, I was pretty happy when Ella's slip of paper said "silly putty!"

Ella trying to figure out what her
paper says. Three cheers for silly putty!
Cute Tait and Sierra delving into their eggs.

Ella with one of the baby ducks.

Finn with one of the bunnies. They were
pretty cute and even came with cages!

After leaving the Jensens, we came home to find that the Easter bunny had visited our house. Despite being completely exhausted, the kids perked up a little for the little scavenger hunt that the Easter bunny always does. Right after the scavenger hunt the kids just crashed. Ella didn't even want to eat any of her candy because she said she was too tired. We all fell into bed exhausted and happy after a wonderful, uplifting and enjoyable day!

Blogger's Best Friend

Most of you blogger pals are more savvy than me, so probably already have an RSS reader, but those who don't - must get one! I can't even tell you how much time mine saves me! I've talked to a few friends recently who weren't aware these existed, so I thought I would do a quick post to spread the good word.

I use Google Reader. What it is, is a central location you can go to check for new updates on websites and blogs. You enter in all the blog and website addresses (eg. favorite authors, newspapers, etc.) that you want to keep track of then you simply have to go to one place and it immediately tell you who has new posts since you last checked. That way you don't have to go to every single person's blog to check for updates. It's nice because it allows you to organize things in folder - so I keep all my blogs in one, other websites together and I subscribe to some quotes of the day that I keep together. It also has cool little stats and trends it tracks for you. It is so great that more and more people are doing blogs, but it does make it more difficult to keep up with everyone. Using a reader sames soooo much time and makes it a snap to stay on top of dozens of blogs. I feel like I don't miss new posts, and that it allows me post a lot more comments.

I started with NetNewsWire (for Macs) which was a program that downloaded posts to my computer. I didn't like that I wouldn't be able to check updates on a different computer than my own. So I switched to Google Reader because it is web-based and allows me to check for new posts from any computer. Love it! Check it out if you don't already have an RSS reader! Just go to reader.google.com.

Australia

Well, we just made it back from our trip to Sydney. Most of you know that Jeramy has business that takes him there a few times a year and sometimes we get to tag along. We had a wonderful time! I was nervous about the traveling part of the trip - mostly about Finn - but it wasn't too bad. I would absolutely do it again - not next month, but sometime in the near future.

So instead of recording a play by play of our trip, I thought I would document it using random and crazy facts about our trip.

• Hours of travel to and from Sydney - 48.
  
• 24 hours each way! 34 hours on airplanes, 11 hours in airports, and 3 hours to and from airports. What a long, crazy 24 hours -times 2! Not quite up to Jack Bauer's standard of a crazy day (24), but getting pretty close. I mean, no one tried to kill us, but based on a few of the looks we got on the airplane, I'm sure a few people would have liked to!

• Number of hours of sleep the kids got during our travels - 8.
  
• They slept about 4 hours each way - leaving about 26 hours of awake time on the plane. Ella is really good at entertaining herself, but entertaining a 13 mo. old in about 5 square feet of space for 26 hours - most of it while he was buckled in - was quite a challenge. I don't recommend it.

• Number of books I read on our trip - 4.2.
  
• I hardly had anytime to read while we traveled since I was busy serving as the airplane entertainment, but Finn was the best napper ever while in Sydney, so I had a lot of downtime every single day. I would put a movie on for Ella and make her have some quiet time for a while and I would read or nap or a little or both and then me and Ella would move the chairs out onto the balcony and enjoy the gorgeous weather. Then in the evenings, we would have the kids in bed before 8 and since Finn was sleeping in the living area, we were banished to our room for the evening. More time to read. Aussie tv is horrible!

Ella chilling in our little balcony lounge
we would set up in the afternoons during
Finn's nap time.

• Amount of money spent at Subway while in Sydney - $139.05
• Out of the 10 days (8 full, 2 partial) we were there, we ate NINE of our lunches at Subway. Food was so expensive there! Even Subway, although cheaper than most, was darn expensive. Every single day, Ella begged to have Subway for lunch. Since it was convenient, healthy, fast and not too expensive, I couldn't provide a good argument for not eating there. Don't count on seeing me at Subway anytime soon.

• Number of pictures I took at Bondi Beach - 76

• Bondi Beach (pronounced BOND-eye) is one of our favorite places to go while in Sydney. It is a gorgeous, well-know beach that you've probably seen in magazine or in movies. It is without doubt Ella's absolute favorite place in Sydney - possibly the world - and the minute we stepped foot out of the plane, that was what Ella wanted to know - "when are we going to Bondi Beach?" Despite her begging every single day, we waited and went on the weekend so that Jeramy could come with us. We all had a great time! Jeramy dug a big hole in the sand near the water so that when the waves would come in, a little water would seep into the hole. He called it a bathtub and it was the perfect place to stick Finn to play. Finn had a great time crawling in and out of the "bathtub", when he wasn't eating the sand. Ella had a ball running out into the waves and letting them chase her back in. Jeramy was fantastic entertainment for the kids and my favorite thing was to take pictures of the huge smiles on the faces of the three people I love most!

Possibly my favorite picture from our trip. This
captures so many things I love about Ella - her
spunk, playfulness, sense of humor and zest for life!

Finn's first time at the beach.

Jeramy and the kids working on the "bathtub"

She had a smile on her face all day!
Busted! Didn't taste as yummy as it looked.
Caught in the act - again!

I completely buried Ella in the sand. I was so shocked
by how still she held. Didn't know she had it in her.
My two stunning boys!

• Number of times mobbed by Japanese tourists wanting to take pictures of the kids - 4
• These "mobbings" all happened at Bondi Beach - a big tourist attraction. You could tell these people had just arrived from Japan and the novelty of seeing people with light hair and eyes, well, they simply could not contain themselves. It was amusing to watch them survey the beach and stalk poor, unsuspecting, fair-haired victims! While at Bondi, we had four different groups of people come and ask to pose with and/or hold my kids for their pictures. It was pretty darn hilarious. Some of the groups had, like, 8 people and every single person had a camera and every single person wanted their own photos - note the plural on photos, one picture per person just wouldn't do! It kind of reminded me of my annual girl trips I go on - 8 girls, 8 cameras. Wow, we're really annoying! Nearly everyone wanted to hold Finn - probably because he wouldn't sit still - so I passed him over, laughing to myself as I handed my baby over to total strangers as it occurred to me that I would NEVER hand my purse over to a stranger - but, my baby? Of course - help yourself! A few times Finn got upset and started crying so I had to rescue him from the photo session, but that did not deter the determined photographers. Oh no, they would simply just include me in the photo. I guess they can just Photoshop me a blonde, too. Ella was in her element - all smiles and sass, loving every minute of the photo shoots. As we were leaving the beach, Ella asked why every time we go to that beach people want to take her picture? (Last trip it was the same story) I think after I explained, she was a little crushed that it wasn't because she was some kind of celebrity like Hannah Montana. In her mind it's more like - well, not yet....
  

• Number of hours Jeramy had to work to pay for us to go to the Sydney Zoo - 100?

• OK, a slight exaggeration, but it is very pricey. However, it is equally amazing! I am not an animal person but I love this zoo. You are able to get so close to the animals and it is such a beautiful environment with a spectacular view of the Sydney Harbour, Harbour Bridge and Opera House. They also have some animals that we don't get to see in Denver. My favorites, hands down, are the Koalas. You can get to within feet of them and they are so darn cute, especially if you can catch them awake - which is tricky because they sleep about 20 hours a day (what a life!). We all had such a great time at the zoo! Definitely worth the ridiculous price tag.
  

Wow, if you ask me - Ella looks pretty darn scary!
She looks as though she could swallow anyone whole.

When Finn saw me and Ella posing, he couldn't

stop giggling. What a cute little lion!

Finn's laughing because he though it was
hysterical to pound on Jeramy's head and
pull his hair. Let's just say the ride on
dad's shoulders didn't last too long.

A few pictures of the view from the zoo. Unfortunately,
the place in the zoo with the most amazing view of
the opera house, bridge, and harbour was blocked
off for a private function. It is still beautiful of the
of the harbour and bridge. Much more so in person.


These are some of our favorite animals we
saw at the zoo:

• Number of turkeys that Finn terrorized - at least 4 or 5
• At the zoo, they had a gated area you could go in that had some animals just running around free, some of which were turkeys. Jeramy and I were cracking up because Finn was a maniac. He was going full speed ahead, arms outstretched trying to catch himself a turkey. If I hadn't been worried about him getting pecked to death, I would have loved to let him loose to see how long it would have taken him to at least get a fistful of feathers.

As we were leaving, Ella was washing her hands
when a turkey snuck up behind her. She was a bit
worried, but her little brother came to the rescue!

Saving his big sister by chasing the turkey away!

• Number of birds that terrorized Ella (in her mind anyway) - 30
• We spent a lot of time at Darling Harbour on our trip. Our apt. was right next to it and Darling Harbour is where the Wildlife World, Aquarium, and park were located. There were also a bunch of shops and restaurants and in order to get to downtown or meet Jeramy we had to go through Darling Harbour. Anyway, because it is such a popular, busy place it is overrun with aggressive birds waiting for someone's crumbs to become their next meal. One day we picked up, what else, but Subway for lunch and took it to the park. We were immediately swarmed with birds wanting to share lunch with us. Ella was completely traumatized and sobbing and decided that the birds were all out to get her. So after we picked a new location for lunch - sans birds - she was constantly looking over her shoulder for the birds and would freak out if any birds came near.
  

The expression on her face kills me! She would
hardly stand there so I could get a picture of
Darling Harbour. She was so certain some birds
were going to swoop in and get her!

A magnificent fountain at Darling Harbour. Watch out for the birds, Ella!

• Number of times nearly eaten by a shark - 2
• The "shark encounters" occured at the Sydney Aquarium (see the pictures below for the full story! :) We always go to the Aquarium, at least once, when in Sydney. It was right next to our apartment and it is so fantastic! There are two things I particularly look forward to at the aquarium. The first are the sharks. To view the sharks you get to walk through these clear, underwater acrylic glass tunnels and literally feel surrounded by sharks - above you and beside you. It is a little chilling to see a huge mouth full of razor-sharp teeth right beside you! There is even a different place where you walk across a clear acrylic floor and sharks are swimming right at your feet. The second thing I love at the aquarium, actually my favorite, is the Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium. They have these HUGE tanks filled with all sorts of tropical fish (including those from Finding Nemo, which is always exciting for the kids) and live coral. The highlight for me is at the very end of the Oceanarium. There is a tank whose window is as big as a wall. There are steps in front and peaceful music playing and it is so beautiful and serene to sit and watch the exotic fish, eels and rays swim around. I almost feel as though there's no window there and I'm scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, well until my children start screaming and running around.......but at least for a few seconds I feel transported to the Great Barrier Reef.

Shark encounter #1! There goes Finn's fingers.

Shark encounter #2. Completely embarassing, cheesy picture, but it was fun!

Good info on distinguishing crocs and alligators.
It's all about how their teeth look outside their mouths.
Crocs - you can see top and bottom, alligators - only top.

Yikes! Check out those chompers.

Some kind of ray swimming overhead.
Brave sea turtle hangin' with the sharks.

Finn just hanging out (and drooling) at the Aquarium.

Finn trying to either eat or kiss the
fish in the Oceanarium.

My favorite place in the whole aquarium -
the Great Barrier Reef Oceanarium. It is magical!

• Number of new food names I was able to translate this trip - 4
• So I've figured out in the past that "rocket" is lettuce and "tomato sauce" is ketchup and "bangers' are sausages...but this time I learned that "capsicum" is a bell pepper, "coriander" is ciliantro, "rock melon" is cantaloupe and "sultanas" are raisins. Good to know!

• Number of days of perfect weather - 10 out of 1o
• Gorgeous and sunny every, single day there! The weather was the exact same every day we were there - sunny and low 80s. With the humidity it felt more like 90 degrees to me - which was perfect for the beach and pool. Because the weather was so great we tried to spend a lot of time outside - the park, the pool, just walking around, and when stuck at the apartment for Finn's naps - on the balcony.

The kids having fun at the park near our apartment.

Umm -gross! Can't imagine how
he keeps getting sick!

My little poser.
The bridge at gorgeous Darling Harbour.
My darling Ella looking gorgeous! :)

Hanging out at the pool one night.

• Number of separate items to send through the airport security conveyor belt - 25

• This included 8 shoes, one bottle of medicine, a sippy cup, a quart size ziploc bag of liquid items, DVD player, laptop, stroller - which came apart in 3 pieces b/c of the double seat and the storage bag, carseat, my purse, Jeramy's laptop bag, carry-on suitcase (sidenote: the first time we went to Sydney, our luggage showed up a day and a half later and if you add the 24 hours of travel - it was 2.5 days in the same clothes & underwear. Never again! I will always carry and extra change of clothes on long trips even if it makes for one more bag.), carry on bag for kids stuff, my bracelet (which set off the security sensor the first time around), Jeramy's watch and keys, Ella's jacket. We were quite the spectacle!

• Number of times we had to go through airport security - 4
• Oh brother!

• Minutes spent waiting for our luggage at the end of our trip in Denver - 50
• It was killing me! I just wanted to get home and brush my teeth.

• Number of times I said "I'm so happy to be home!" upon our return - probably 100
• I love to travel and our trip to Sydney was unforgettable! But when it's all said and done, you can't compare anything to the coziness and familiarity of your own home. I think after such an incredibly long day of traveling and battling children, it was just that much more wonderful to be home. By the time I'm all caught up on our laundry, I'm sure I'll be dreaming about our next getaway...