You can read part one here!
Ok, so after we surprised Jael, (1)which was absolutely worth every penny and hour spent getting to Australia, we ate lunch at the cafe.
The next week passed in a blur. Jael has a tiny house, but a (2) huge yard for the kids to play in! She has a very small car, so we could almost never go somewhere all at once. Because of that we ended up staying at her house or walking most places. Our favourites quickly became (3)drinking loads of tea, (4)waking up at 6am with Danica and Ryker and enjoying the quiet mornings, (5)sitting in the backyard watching the cockatoos fly overhead, (6)eating avocado and tomato sandwiches, and (7) hanging the laundry to dry in the sunny yard....there was MUCH laundry to do while we were there!
I started a week long tradition of (8)walking Alexa to school in the mornings....my favourite was the morning that we were walking, and we saw a "40" on the road to signify the school zone. Alexa saw it and informed me, "ok, we need to start walking a little faster here now because there is a 40 on the road" LOL.
Jael and I also loved (9) taking the babies for a walk. Thankfully, (10) Jael had an extra stroller, and Danica happened to love it, so we would strap them in and walk a couple Kms downhill. The best part was walking back UP. Haha. Actually, the BEST part is that there was a takeout place at the end of Jael's street, and they (11) served amazing fries with chicken salt. I had never heard of chicken salt before, and I'm still not sure what it is exactly, but YUM!
One night, we were invited to a party in a penthouse suite of a reaaaally tall hotel. (12)The view was absolutely incredible.
 |
| I know...amazing, right?
The rest of the trip passed quickly. (13)We shopped a little bit in a really great mall near Jael's house, (14)we enjoyed dinners out with their friends and (15)got to know so many new, great people! (16)We were even invited to barbecues and a surprise birthday breakfast!
At one of those dinners, Nathan's best friend realized that because of the lack of vehicles and the fact that Nathan had to be at work everyday (with Jael's surgery coming up he couldn't take time off), Buzz decided that we HAD to see some Australian animals, so (17)he took the next day off of work and drove us to Fetherdale Wildlife reserve. It was basically a small zoo/petting zoo, and it was one of the best days ever! I never realized how much I would enjoy (18)petting a Koala until I actually did it. It was so soft, I just wanted to cuddle him forever! Danica and I also had the privilege of (19)feeding Kangaroos and Emus :) Great, great day with my family!
Saying goodbye was hard. The only thing that made it easier for me was knowing that (20)my little sister is SO incredibly happy and well settled in Australia. She has the perfect cute little family, in an adorable house, and tons of great people around to support her through the things she's going through right now.
Even now, as I think about it, I can't believe that we actually did that. My grandma, Dakota, my toddler and I actually. went. to. Australia!
The trip of a lifetime....and it really was!
|
It was great to hear about your trip, Jade! I know what an endurance test long flights with little ones can be and it is just awesome that it worked out for you to do it with your grandma!
ReplyDeletewhat does "40" mean???
ReplyDeleteIt was like a school zone sign to tell you to slow down, except painted on the road....in Australia the school zone speed is 40KPH instead of the 30 that it is here :)
Delete