Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Post-Christmas-Perth

There was lots to see and do once Christmas was over!  Boxing Day people came over to Nina's house for dinner.  We got to meet a lot of relatives and we were very spoiled with yummy food and presents! The rest of that week was filled with a trip to Kings Park (Charlie got lost and it was the scariest time of my life!), Mandurah to visit Aunt Gloria and Uncle Rex and go on a dolphin adventure, took the train to downtown Perth, the coolest park ever (Bibra Lake?), Andrew and I's 7th wedding anniversary and New Years Eve!
(Pictures out of order - and a BIG thanks to Nina who took most of these pictures!  I was super slack with taking pictures this trip)

Nina and Charlie
This cute smile kills me!!!  The kids just love Nina!

Andrew's cousin Deb and her daughter Bec
We were fed very well!

DNA tower at Kings Park

Family!
The kids would have lived in the pool if we had let them!
Aunty Gloria
Elly loved the dogs, Luna and Oscar (well she liked them at first from a distance, scared if they came close! Then they were scared of Elly, then they all liked each other)
Kings Park
Kings Park lookout (right after Charlie got lost)
On the dolphin watching boat

Mandurah
Coolest park ever!  Elly would stay in the swing forever if we'd let her!
Glass bridge at Kings Park
Dolphin boat with Nana, Papa and Aunt Gloria
There were so many dolphins! And so close!
Charlie kept calling them whales
Train ride
Not only did they have this train, but also construction vehicles  fixing things right close - Charlie was in heaven 
Train into the city
Sunset picnic to celebrate our 7th anniversary!
No aussie picnic would be complete without a delicious cream and jam lamington!  After the sunset we went and saw Star Wars in Fremantle - which was the most expensive theatre!  $21 for a regular ticket, the theatre wasn't even fancy and we had to pay for parking.... Luckily the guy at the ticket counter gave us the student pricing when Andrew said he was a student... even though he accidentally showed the guy his drivers licence instead of his student ID! 
Favourite spot at the coolest park ever!

Ferry across the river
New Years Even consisted of a lot of food, swimming, family, friends and packing!  (We left New Years Day in the morning)
We loved our time in Perth!  We were so well taken care of and made to feel very welcome - the children were especially spoiled with all the attention!  Also the cooler temps were a huge bonus!  It was good to meet the Aussie side of the family - Thanks for having us!

Christmas in Perth

The flight over to Perth was delightful compared to the flight to Tassie!  We connected in Melbourne, got the kids all ready for bed, then caught our flight out.  It was a big plane 3-4-3 seating and I was all smart and booked us (in the middle section) aisle - middle - left it open - aisle, in hopes that no one would want to book a single middle seat and we were lucky - we ended up having the row to ourselves so Charlie and Elly both had room to sleep.  It was so nice to not have to try and keep them entertained!  Andrew's cousin Nina picked us up at the airport and we managed to squeeze all of us and our stuff into her minivan, and it wasn't even very squishy!  I love vans.  Since it was only a couple of days until Christmas, we spent time visiting, getting things ready and swimming in the pool!  I believe we even made it down to the beach... all the days blur together for me when we're on holidays!  Charlie was pretty excited for Christmas, we made sure to set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  This was my first Christmas away from my family (and without snow!) so it really didn't feel like Christmas to me - which I guess is a good things since I wasn't really sad then... After opening presents Andrew and I went to church (which was like a date! no kids!) then we came home and had a late brunch.  The kids napped then we headed down to the beach - we couldn't spend Christmas in Australia and not go to the beach!!!  
Pre-Christmas beach trip


Milk and cookies for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer!
Charlie got snow in his stocking! Kaylee was pretty excited about it too 


Christmas day at the beach!




Christmas Day sunset 

Oh I love this kid!
Merry Christmas 2016!