Where has the time gone

This was written a week ago...apparently I forgot to hit 'post'.

There is alot on my mind as I ponder the upcoming 11 weeks.
This morning my littlest rode his bike to school. He recently turned 4 and I found myself following along behind him and his big sister as they rode along the footpath together. Up to a week ago he wouldn't have been caught dead riding it. He hates manual labor and struggles a bit with his motor skills so when he asked to ride his bike a few days ago I jumped at letting him. The days are getting cooler making an afternoon walk or bike ride a bit more tolerable. He jumped on and rode around the block. I was FLOORED. Jerrod and I couldn't get over this giant leap from not being able to get his legs to go around in one complete circle to riding around the block with minimal help. Where did my little 2 year old go?
We showed up in Australia with a newly 2 year old strapped to my back on my ergo and a spunky ready to explore 4 year old running ahead. The time has flown by. My children have grown in leaps and bounds. I have found myself even reflecting on the person I have become over the past 2 years. I have changed so much as a friend, mother, a wife, and above all a woman.

I am finding it hard to put into words the mixed emotions I am going through. My heart is truly broken or is it torn? We have made a life here...a home.. We knew this would not last, We knew we had a deadline and for the 1st time knowing these things I threw caution to the wind and wound up finding a family away from family. You know the song Accidentally In Love by the counting crows...ya that happened! I have fallen head over heels for this town, for these people for everything about this place. It will truly break my heart to leave; but I also know we will be back...someday...and until then we will carry with us everything  and everyone that  has transformed us and made us who we are going forth.

Road Trip Days 5&6

Yesterday we woke up cold...very very cold and packed up our very wet tent from a night in cold rain. We didn't sleep well as we ended up with an extra munchkin curled up between Jerrod and I on the queen size air mattress. Luckily we didn't get any rain while packing and we were able to get everything sorted easily and quickly. We loaded up and headed right for the Busselton Jetty not even 12 minutes down the road from us. We parked and enjoyed a gorgeous coffee on the water front admiring whales right off the shore line and basked in some warm sunshine before heading out onto the pier for the  very long 1.81 K walk. We hung out at the end for a bit then caught the mini train for a 20 minute ride back to shore which beat the walk especially since as soon as we boarded it started raining which eventually turned into quite the down pour!

We arrived at Taunton Family Holiday Park in Margaret River by the early afternoon and moved into our cabin unit for the next 4 nights. We stayed here last year and absolutely loved it and have been dying to get back ever since. They have dinner feedings for the animals on the farm at 5 every day and the children couldn't wait to feed them again!  

Today we all slept in (that's a first!) And had our first hot breakfast in a week of eggs and bacon so yummy! Then we hit the road... We were told all about Caves Road and how it was a must to drive on, so we did! It wasn't a disappointment, so gorgeous...the trees were massive and breath taking and we even decided to stop at Jewel Cave and discover it on a tour. It was an hour long and surprisingly the kids loved it! Once again I was blown away with the beauty of this natural wonder... This specific one is the largest Cave on the west coast that you can go into.

We finished the day off with a relaxing walk around the farm and dinner out at a family friendly (as most winery/brewery locations are here) brewery called Brew House. Jerrod and I shared a flight of crafted beers and split the beef cheek soft tacos and a signature burger while the kids had bacon pizza, however they were way too busy playing with the other kids on the playground and running around crazy like than to be bothered with eating dinner.

Road Trip Day 3&4

It is so much easier to catch up every other day than to try and remember every evening... We are currently in Busselton. Let me catch you up.
Yesterday we spent most of the day driving and got into Cervantes (the most westward you can go in Australia!)  Around 4:30 so we headed to the shops and grabbed some sausages, corn on the cob and some green beans to throw on the grille for a good old fashioned Aussie sausage sizzle. By the time we got our tent up (we have it down to 10 minutes flat!) Cooked dinner and done the dishes it was getting dusk and quite chilly. We threw on our hoodies And I insisted on a walk on the beach since I knew our time was limited the next morning. I am so glad we did! The sunset line was dotted with dozens of lobster boats and the kids ran along the packed sand in the pink and orange light chasing each other. By the time we got back and put the kids to bed they were passed out cold.

 This morning we woke up and packed up in record time as rain threatened us and we didn't want the tent and awning to get soaked before folding it up for the day. Then we headed out to the Pinnacles... Pretty much the thing Cervantes is known for, they are giant limestone pillars that have come and formed up and out of the ground! They had a drive around trail so we opted for that and so glad we did. The sky was slightly overcast still from the morning showers and made the lighting perfect for pictures and exploring a bit.

We drove through Perth in mostly rain this afternoon and got in to Busselton to the RAC campsite around 330. Once again I am floored by these sites! We have an Ensuit again at our site (thank you hallelujah)  and this campground has a free mini golf course, a pillow bounce, 2 large playgrounds, a cricket pitch, rugby field, footy goals, BMX course and so much more. There is a family of ducks that visit us frequently now too... That may or may not have to do with the bread we have been feeding them...oops!

Road Trip! Day 1&2

Yep. I have failed tremendously at keeping up with this and that makes me so sad!
Instead of detailing everything that I have not written about in 9 months let's just jump into  the most important things.
1. We found out we will be moving to South Dakota in July
2. I almost died on a tragic SUP adventure that went horribly wrong with my girl T and yes that included many many tiger and bull sharks. ...let's not talk about it.
3.my daughter now snorkels like a champ
 Which somehow brings us to 4. Our current adventure.
We are driving and camping our way down the western coast of Australia for 2 weeks!

We just cuncluded our second day. Yesterday we drove 6ish hours to Denham/Monkey Mia and visited Shell beach, a beach made entirely of small white shells as far as the eye can see! Gorgeous but hurts the feet! The kids jumped in the water with just underwear on and had a blast. Why wait to get your suits out when half of the suits here either go way far up the rear or don't cover near enough to leave you guessing anyways.
Today we visited with local dolphins at the beach in Monkey Mia and we swam
in the much colder than Exmouth water. Brrr....
We walked around town for several hours taking in the scenery and letting the kids play on a playground that I have no doubt would NOT be allowed in any town in America for safety reasons and over protective adults and politics (my 5year old was terrified to go down the slide but little Aussie 2 year olds were throwing themselves down it!) This playground was by far the coolest thing ever and I think they p

layed for over 2 hours straight! After grabbing wood fired pizzas we headed back to out camp site to eat and start pack up. We head out in the morning for another big day on the road towards our next land mark😁

We have talked about doing this for so long I am thrilled it is now a reality and we are actually DOING IT!

Monkey Mia Residents

Shell Beach

Our Campsite for 2 Nights

Shell Beach Underwear Swim

July 4th in Oz

Another bench mark holiday has come and gone...July 4th, Americas celebration of Independence....something so many people forget about much too often. You know the part where we are supposed to be able to have free speech without being torn apart because we may not believe in the same thing...or just having the freedom of being yourself without being judged... I am in no way a political person, so I will leave it at that before someone attacks me on just that little blurb of MY words and thoughts.

This year we celebrated in Australia with our hodge-podge adopted family. We are made up of Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and even the Dutch...and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I love learning about the cultures from around the world and have even failed miserably at trying to learn some Dutch phrases, and on the flip side I love sharing our holidays and such with all of them!
As per the usual we had way too much food.... jalapeno poppers, cob loaf (warm dip in a bread loaf), an american flag taco salad, empanadas, 3.3 kg smoked pork shoulder, smoked corn silver side, sausages, 2 home made bbq sauces my hubby made for the meat, broiled green beans, brownie tart-lets with white chocolate cream cheese filling, red white and blue trifle, blueberry cobbler, potato salad, cole slaw and of course festive wine spritzers!!! We finished the stuffing ourselves holiday with sparklers thought I found at the IGA for like $2 which the kids went crazy for! This was the first year my kids both really used them and got excited which was very entertaining to watch. Holidays are always made so much better with family and i'm super thankful that we have a family here in Exmouth that love us as much as we love them.

homesickness is so real

For no reason at all today I feel homesick. I find myself drifting off in thought about every family gathering I can remember. I am eating home made french onion soup for lunch and I started to think about a lunch my mother threw together for my family right before Jerrod deployed and my aunts made amazing soups (random I know but if you have not realized it yet, I am a very random person) This past year has flown by here in Exmouth, I mean we have almost been here for half of our tour! But the reality of another full year for some reason hit me hard today. I started thinking about our annual lobster bake with the extended family, something I look forward to every august and perhaps have only missed two or three in all my years. Maybe it's the talk of Christmas in July but it has me yearning for our crazy family Christmas party and all of the hectic chaos that comes with it that I secretly love. As I literally started to feel tears well up in my eyes over lunch with the kids the song Eye Of The Storm. came on and I was border line breakdown/relief...possibly the hardest mixed emotions I have ever felt. Now, if you know the song please be aware that my children are doing fine and we are not flat broke or losing our house  but the under lying message that I am not the one in control of my life and that someone else much greater is making my plans for me and will take care of me is what I am referring to. Some days are just harder than others. I want to hug my mom and dad. I want to have my nieces and nephews over for camp outs and I want to go bowling and have pizza with all of siblings. Soon enough. For now I will settle for as much facetime as I can. Now I am going to enjoy this yummy soup and try not to cry my eyes out as I know it will pass as it usually does....eventually....I think...kinda.

Whale Shark Festival Recap

the local whale shark car

 It has been exactly a week since our first whale shark festival. I meant to update all week, but once again time got away from me. The weekend started off with a fancy dress (costume) fun run early Saturday morning where a small group of the hash house harriers running club got together and dressed toga style. after the run we headed to our town oval (the footie field) for a day full of food trucks-can you say AMAZING BBQ PRAWNS (shrimp) ON THE BARBIE!!!, craft vendors, baby roos, conservation tents, bouncy houses, arts and crafts, live music and performances all day long and so much more! When we felt like our legs just couldn't walk anymore we loaded the kids up in the wagon and head the short distance home. That arvo we held our first official big BBQ at our house fit for 12 adults and 10 kids. I am loving my new and improved private backyard and I am so happy we pushed for the fence as now we actually spend time back there and not feel out in the open to all of town. Then it was time for mums night out where us ladies took to Cadillac's the local honky tonk  ( my first time at this establishment) for a live rock band concert and drinks.  Always a good night out with the girls and even better because the whole town came together for the festival. Sunday Jerrod worked leaving me and the kiddos to recoup from a morning to night day before. Tonya picked us 3 up around 4 and we headed to the yacht club for the closing of the whale shark festival weekend with live chill music on the beach and hot chips covered in gravy. Perfect end to a perfect weekend. I can't get over how small and tight this town is. It really is a home for us, which I'm thankful for as it could have been the opposite and we could be miserable, but we are not. We have found our little slice of heaven.

 











Also, can I take a moment and show off my sons newest treasure. This is his new froggy urinal! It came in the mail today and he is so flipping excited. It was a crazy impulse purchase on amazon for a mere $12. No more pee on the floor! He was just a little too short for the big potty and too tall for his kids potty causing pee all over my floor since he will only stand now since he learned how camping a few weeks ago.