Geelong

On Sunday, Paul, the kids, and I took a drive to Geelong. I love going to the water! We had a great day, walking along the beach and letting the kids play on the playground. It was very windy, but fun!




I saw my first jellyfish!

And then tons more all along the beach!








It was windy.


Very windy!




The beautiful water in Geelong!


Andrew acting like Andrew!


Posing on the way to the playground.


We got Andrew to stop running around long
enough to get a picture!

And I found this!!!:

I don't care that it cost $3 and was a tiny can, I bought it anyway!

My first footy game!

Friday, July 10, Paul, the kids and I, along with BIL, SIL and our nephews, went to the Western Bulldogs vs. Collingwood Magpies AFL game. I didn't really know much about the game, but was excited to go! It was a fun night out, even though I still don't know much about it! The Bulldogs lost by one point - 111 to 110! Chelsea was extremely happy since she is a Collingwood fan and was rubbing it in our faces that we were going to lose!

Paul and Andrew



If you look closely, you can see the yellow footy
going through the posts as the Bulldogs score!

I also made my first loaf of bread on my new bread maker!!

It was sooo good!

Mini-Vacation

Paul had off on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so we took a mini-vacation! We left around noon on Wednesday and just drove around. We went to the Mornington Peninsula and then ended up staying on Philip Island. On Thursday, we went to see some animals. We were able to feed and pet some of them. We loved it! We also went to the Nobbies. We've tried to go there twice before, but it was always too late when we got there so it was closed. We didn't get to see any seals, but the view was beautiful! On the way back home we stopped at a chocolate factory. We didn't take the tour, but did get some nice chocolate to bring home. I was able to take a ton of pictures!



The Nobbies






Tasmanian Devil!

Family





Look at the joey!

He kept popping out for a look!

Wombat

They were very active at this point!

A younger joey


We had some pelicans in the background.

This little guy kept following us around for food!

The best I could get while riding in the car.

Happy 4th of July!

I found an American food store that is located in Melbourne that I really wanted to go to! It took an hour to get there but it was worth it! Everything was so expensive, which I expected. I got a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper for $20 Australian. I also got some mayo, a couple Butterfingers and Capt'n Crunch. I would have gotten more, but it was so crowded we could hardly move, let alone browse for things.

We also bought this:


We pulled into a parking lot to look at a map and try to find the road for the food store. We just happened to pull in front of a Clive Peeters and Sleep City. We of course had to go in! We ended up getting a crockpot, mini mixer, and a breadmaker at Clive Peeters. We had been looking for a bedroom set all week, but everything was so expensive. Sleep City had a 30% off sale so we decided to look there. Right away we found this Tokyo set and we both loved it. The price was perfect so we couldn't say no. We also got a mattress that we desperately needed! They will hold on to it until we move and just deliver it to the new house.

Two Days

I have been in Australia two days and have already purchased a microwave, front-load washing machine and a refridgerator. It feels so weird being an adult! We spent all day Sunday going from store to store looking and price comparing until we finally found what we wanted at a great price. They won't be delivered until we move into our new house. I will post pictures though when we get them!
I am spending today going through my suit cases and the boxes that I've sent down. I need to get out what were going to be using now and keep packed away that stuff that we don't need until we've moved. With how much stuff there is, I'm going to be doing this for a couple days!

Leaving

I leave tomorrow. I am so excited to finally go, and sad to leave everyone at the same time. I can't wait start my new adventure! I hope everyone will keep in touch through facebook and this blog. Feel free to leave comments! And I want to see lots of pictures of everything that is going on back home! It's been nice being able to hang out with people the past couple days that I don't normally see. For my final night here in the states, I am going out to dinner with my family and then my sister and I are going to see "Walking with Dinosaurs." Hopefully I'll be able to get some nice pictures to put up on here! Next time I post, I will be in Australia. See you then!

Visa Granted!!!!

I finally got my visa! On Tuesday, May 26, I e-mailed my case officer to see how things were going since it had been over 8 weeks. She replied the next day saying that she was in the middle of it and would be contacting me very soon. Sooner than I thought! She e-mailed me Thursday night saying she would call me Friday morning for a phone interview at 9 am. Of course I could hardly sleep that night! I was so nervous waiting for the call. She asked some questions about Paul and I and our relationship. She then said everything looked good and she was going to e-mail me the grant letter so we can get on with our lives!