Harness Racing

There is a racetrack about 5 minutes from our house and it's free to enter, so we like to go there for a cheap Friday night out. We took the kids for the first time in December. We had a great time and picked some winners!!

Thanksgiving

My first Australian Thanksgiving!!! We had Chelsea over for dinner and made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Andrew was sick so he couldn't make it. I also got some Thanksgiving roses!!!

Williamstown

The weekend of November 21-22, we went for a drive around the city and ended up in Williamstown. We had ice cream and then played frisbee. The kid's and I took a walk out to see the water too!









There was a wedding going on at the gazebo.

It's Been A While

I haven't posted anything in a looooong time. I just forgot about it actually. I have finally put the most recent pictures on the computer and will start putting them on here today. Oh, and feel free to leave comments! I'd love to hear from everyone!

Djerriwarrh Festival

This past weekend was the 30th Djerriwarrh Festival in town. Paul's sister and her husband were also in town visiting. We got down to the parade a little late, but were still able to see the kid's schools float! We also went to the carnival where I won a giant stuffed Husky for the kids! I had never won anything that big before! The kid's named him Fred and he sits in the living room while creeping Paul out.

My First Melbourne Cup And It Was Shocking!

The first Tuesday of November is Melbourne Cup Day! It is considered a holiday so Paul and the kids had off of work and school. Who knew you could have the day off for horse races? Monday night Paul and I went to a TAB to put some bets on for the next day. He also put some money in his phone account so he could bet from home on the computer. Paul won some races early in the day. One particular race he backed a horse named Strawberry. If you've ever met Paul, you know how loud he can be. Well Strawberry was winning, so Paul was yelling out 'GO STRAWBERRY! GO STRAWBERRY!!' and so Andrew, who was in the other room and had no idea what was going on, starts yelling out in the other room 'GO STRAWBERRY!!!'. We had bought a party pack of meat pies and sausage rolls, as well as mini dim sims, money bags, and spring rolls. We had those for lunch and brownies for dessert that Chelsea and I made. The big race started at 3, so we all made sure we were paying attention. The horse that won was named Shocking and second place was Crime Scene. I had backed Crime Scene each way so I won a little bit a money because he placed! When I say a little bit of money, I mean a little bit of money. I won $15! All in all it was a good day. We made back our money that we spent on the bets and then some. I can't wait until next year!

Echuca

Paul and I went away by ourselves for the weekend! It's about time! On Friday after Paul got out of work, we packed our bag and headed off to Ballarat. We stopped for dinner at The Hog's Breath Cafe and drove around the city for a while. We didn't want to go to Sovereign Hill without the kids, so we decided to go back home. We got up early Saturday morning and went to Echuca. I had been there once before in February 2008 when I first came to meet Paul with my mom. We only spent a few hours there that time.

It took us a while to get there this time (4 1/2 hours) and was extremely hot (about 35 Celsius which equals 95 Fahrenheit). We stopped in Bendigo along the way, as well as Rochester. On the way there, we passed a farm where a Shetland Pony had gotten itself to the top of a dirt pile. He was just standing there, looking down as if he didn't know how to get himself back to the ground!



We passed this house with plastic animals all
over! There was also an orangutan hanging from
a tree, a rhino, and some cows!


Sunday morning we stopped for breakfast and
went to the river to eat it. This little guy wanted
some breakfast too!


Paul was kind and fed the duck.


The Murray River.










The bridge to Moama, New South Wales from
Victoria.




An American Hotel in Australia!







The Canberra.


Markers marking how high the water
level used to be.





Wine barrels.


The Log Buggy.




The blacksmith area after he moved out of the
way. It was cool to see him work.

The Great Ocean Road!

Every weekend we try to get out of the house. Especially when the kids are with us. We didn't have anywhere specific in mind (we usually don't!) and Chelsea suggested Geelong. On the way there, we pass signs for The Great Ocean Road. I have been wanting to go there again since I arrived in Australia. We've talked about going for a few days in January when the kids are on holiday, but I still keep trying to go earlier. Well, we went for a little while on Saturday! I was so excited because it is so beautiful along the coast. We stopped for lunch on the way down and ended up going to Lorne for about 1 1/2 hours.

Saturday was the Cox Plate, so while in Lorne Paul dropped the kids and I off at the beach and he went to the TAB on the corner to place some bets. I don't have any pictures of us there though because we went on the trampolines and I didn't want to leave my camera unattended. So anyway, Chelsea, Andrew, and I went on the trampolines first. I love trampolines! They were a pretty good deal too at $3 for 10 minutes. We had a nice view of the ocean while we were jumping. After that, the kids went on the playground for a few minutes. It wasn't that spectacular so we moved on down to the beach. Since we weren't planning on going down there, we weren't really dressed for the beach. The kids had fun anyway. They rolled up their jeans as far as possible, but still ended up a little wet. It was one of the best weekends we have had so far!



The view we had when we stopped for lunch.


Right after lunch. Some guy was trying to chat
me up while I was taking pictures.


Chelsea on the ride down.


Andrew wanted the hawk on his hat to be seen.


The Great Ocean Road!


There are a ton of curvy roads like this one.


This was our first stop.


The beautiful view!


Andrew saw a lizard and was trying to get it
out of the grass.






We drove down a little farther and parked
near the beach. Paul stayed in the car while
the kids and I went down to the water.




I loved the waves crashing on the rocks.










Some unusual sea growth.






On the way home, I heard a strange hissing noise.
It sounded like sprinklers were running so I didn't
think anything of it. A few minutes later we
discovered this:


That would be the hissing noise I heard.
Paul changed the tire and we were on our way
home. We were still 2 + hours from home
and in the middle of nowhere so we were a bit
nervous and hoping the tire would hold out.

It was a long day for the little man and he fell
asleep on the way home!