Scuba Diving

Cairns is up by the Great Barrier Reef. So while we were up there, we had to take advantage of being so close to one of the 7 natural wonders of the world! I spent one day diving on the reef while Chris watched the kids, and I did the same for him!

We did what was called an "instructional dive" which allows you to go scuba diving in a small group with an instructor. You go through an instructional time, and then have strict rules about where you can dive, and how deep you can go and how long you can be down there. But it gives you a chance to experience scuba diving if you're not already certified, or aren't sure if you want to be certified. Chris and I each did 3 dives.

First Chris went diving.












Meanwhile, the kids and I hung out back at the resort.


Played in the water after dad came home


Lovely dinner outside. It was so warm! Ethan was already asleep :(


2 days later it was my turn!






I spy Nemo and Marlin





Afterwards, we went to a park to play. You can tell mom wasn't around to do her hair in the morning! haha...but it still turned out cute :)


We highly recommend it if you're ever in the area :)

Australia - Beach and Cairns

Here's a few more Australia pics!

Our daily trips to the beach :).


Big piles of sand


Cleaning our feet after the beach trip :). Matching toenails!


Playin' in the pool with daddy


Waterpark fun!


Handsome boy in his hat!


Waterslides! I wish I could say she wanted to go on them the whole time we were at the waterpark - we couldn't get her on it again!


Taking the sky rail over the Kuranda Rainforest!




Cool rainforest!




Hanging from a vine!


Cool fig trees


Stopping by the beach on our car-tour of Port Douglas


Our resort in Cairns had a great water park area - but Emily was so scared of the giant bucket of water that would pour over the whole play area. We took Ethan down the slides to try to get Emily to go down.




But she was not convinced...she watched most of our play from back here


Finally we provided some extra motivation (in the form of a Sesame Street DVD) to get her to go down with me.


She was happy afterward!


But she was less than thrilled to go down in the next day :(.

Currumbin National Wildlife Sanctuary

We spent a day at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland. We had such a great time! Lots of Australian wildlife, a couple cultural shows, and most exciting of all - we got a family picture with a koala!



Ethan loved to grab their tail feathers :(. But they still came back!


This moment right here is when Emily fell in love with lizards (although this is a baby crocodile, not a lizard). She has a couple toy lizards that she carries very carefully in the palm of her hand and pets very gently with her other hand. It's pretty cute.


Poor baby crocodile.


Yes - she's smiling - she loves the snake! Whenever we see a snake on tv or in a book, she tells me about the snake that she had around her neck...


Took a ride on the choo choo train


Hanging out with the dancers from the aboriginal dance show


Watch out Kanga!


Chillin' with some roos!


Family photo with a koala!


Silly Emily


Playing at a park

Brisbane and Sea World

We spent one of our days on our vacation in Australia checking out Brisbane. We spent most of our time on the South Bank playing in a really awesome water playground.





Paradise!


The view from our hotel in the Gold Coast - 2 walls of windows overlooking the beach. Fantastic!


The next day we went to Sea World!

Petting the Rays


Chris and Em are in the back! This was the Australian Sea World version of Splash Mountain! Emily was barely tall enough to ride (by 1/2 a centimeter)


Watching the live sesame street show


She's got wheels! And a horn to honk


We love Cookie!


Cutest kids ever! Emily was so excited she was about to explode!


Petting sea stars


Water would spray up out of the ground and he LOVED it


Mom's turn!


Happy girl

Happy halloween

Our neighborhood is so much fun on Halloween. Everyone sits outside and drinks wine and chats and has a great time. Emily and I made pumpkin-shaped cookies for everyone. It's such a fun atmosphere!

The kiddos with daddy at the beginning of trick or treating


Ethan figures out this trick or treating thing


Daddy took her around the whole neighborhood - she ended up with quite the loot! We're enjoying the "mommy and daddy" tax :)


Family photo!