Sydney Aquarium

We all had to go to Sydney recently to get Lilah's US passport and citizenship. While there we stopped in at the Sydney Aquarium. It was very impressive. Eliana ran from tank to tank saying "more fish!", "blue fish", "big fish!". She had a ball.

The Aquarium had an awesome walk through tank with huge sharks and sting rays surrounding you.

We went for a swim underwater too.

We also stopped in at one of Australia's icon's - Circular Quay. You can see Sydney's 'famous' Harbour Bridge and Opera House in the background.

There are more photos of our time in Aus here.

A day at Dubbo Zoo

I realised that it's been a long time since a blog update, so tonight I sighed to Nate, "Where do I start?" He simply answered "With today." Don't you love the uncomplicated male mind :)

So here it is. Today we visited the famous Dubbo Zoo - rumoured to be the largest free range zoo in the world.

Eliana loved the animals, once again, and made sure we knew which sound each animal makes. It's a bit hard to see in the below photo, but yesterday Eliana had a nasty fall from a chair - face first into the pavers. She got a huge, bloody fat lip. She is saying "cheese" and posing for the photo - a new thing for her.

Grandma joined us. It has been such a blessing to spend this time with my Mum and Dad.

Below is the best Daddy with his two girls. As you can see, Lilah enjoyed the zoo about as much as she enjoys her bassinet. Check out what everyone is wearing. Might I remind you that this is the middle of winter in Australia! Ahh, I love this sun burnt country!

It's a Girl!

Introducing Lilah Belle Schoen. She was born on the 28th of May at 7:49 pm. The labour was 3.5 hours and went so well that Nate thinks Lilah slept through the whole birth! She came out looking like a chunkier version of Eliana as a newborn. Lilah was 8lb 14 0z/4040 grams and 55cm long!

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day, Eliana and I went to Nowra Wildlife Park with my sister and her family. It was a small but beautiful park with a river on one side and rugged rocks and cliffs on the other. We got a good dose of some Aussie animals like koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and of course, crocodiles, snakes, goannas and lizards.

Eliana was more interested in climbing fences while the reptile show was on.

She loved feeding the animals!

The wonderful Lakelins - they are taking good care of Eliana and me while Nate is away.

Eliana is all smiles while eating some of Wooz's chocolate mother's day mud cake. She wasn't so happy once it was all gone! :)

We made it

Eliana and I made it to Australia a couple of weeks ago. The Lord was so good in caring for us over the long trip. He even gave us our own row of seats on all 3 flights!

After about a week of adjusting to the new time zone (14 hours in front!) we are loving being here. The only thing missing is Nate. Oh, how we miss him! Only 5 days to go until he arrives!

Milo

Some of the things on my list of top 10 things to do when I first return to Australia are...

1. Drink a Milo

2. Go to the beach

3. Sit in a coffee shop by the beach sipping a flat white.

4. Buy some authentic Aussie ugg boots (not the brand name type).

So how excited do you think I was when our friend returned from a trip to LA bearing this gift...

THANK YOU Chris! You made my week! :)

Less than 6 weeks until Eliana and I head to Australia! Nate and I are planning on doing our best to fill a whole suit case full of Milo for the return trip to Louisville.

You know you're not in Australia any more....

...when you put plastic on your windows to reduce your heating bill

...when you become familiar with a car ice scraper and no longer mistake it for a dust broom

...when you park next to a pile of snow taller than your car at the grocery store

...when you have to start your car 5 minutes before you go anywhere

...when your nose is red from the cold yet 4C and sunny is a beautiful day to you

...when the weather man predicting a week in the 50sF/10sC gets you excited.

I have been feeling elated because Eliana and I can go for long walks again, because buds are appearing on the trees, because the days are quickly getting longer and because magazines have bunches of tulips and Spring themes on their front covers. Today it is predicted to be 52F/11C and I am VERY thankful for this 'warmer' weather! :)