Happy Birthday Thomas!

Thomas turned 3 years old while we were in Melbourne!

He has been anticipating this birthday, as we have been singing the birthday song to him for over a week now. He is always the conductor and will dictate the volume with which he wants us to sing the birthday song. If we do it wrong he will yell "QUIET!!!"

We celebrated with pancakes and strawberries in the morning. Stan made them before he left for work. We spent the day at the aquarium--where he picked out a toy. In the evening Stan met us for dinner and a movie. We went to Kung-Fu Panda 2 and McDonalds! The evening was finished with cupcakes and another shot at blowing out the candle! Since his birthday was at the beginning of the holiday break and we were out of town for two weeks and had things planned the two weeks after, we decided we would just have a family party this year!

Singing along with the family--he loves the birthday song!

When we got home to Sydney he opened his cards & gifts from his grandparents--thanks everyone for remembering.

A BUZZ light year space ship! how did you know Granny Joanne?

Great Ocean Road!

The Great Ocean Road (151 miles) was built between 1919-1932 and marks the worlds largest war memorial! It was a great source of needed income for the returned soldiers through the great depression and has since become a major tourist destination. The road goes along the coast for hours.

In the spring, the blue whales can be seen migrating in pods, often with babies! In addition, The Great Whites are often migrating to Africa...Great whites prefer the colder water, hence Victoria being a great place for them (southern part of Australia). The waves here are a very famous place for professional surfers to practice. With the wrong conditions you would easily die! We came on a calm day and I was shocked with how big they were.

Taking a little Koala detour (this is in the WILD)--I spotted 5!

Some scenic shots along the road. The pictures do not do the swells justice, they were HUGE!

Making a stop over at the National Park for the tree top walk! The trees in the rain forest were GIANT and the ferns were about the size of a truck. We are hoisted about half way up the trees here

What we had hoped would be a day trip...ended up in being a weekend trip. We had an emergency bathroom break about every 20 minutes, Olivia vomited three times in the back of the rental car. It was the road trip I promised myself I would NEVER put my kids through (When we got to the 12 apostles it was dark. We stayed overnight and in the morning we had the worst weather ever! The winds were a grade 3 cyclone (without the cyclone). We saw the 12 apostles first thing in the morning and went straight home!

The 12 apostles, on the Great Ocean Road, in Victoria Australia!

Winter Holiday in Melbourne--week 1~

Recently Stan has been assigned to consult for a project in Melbourne for 4 months. He goes down Monday through Thursday and then fly's back to work in Sydney on Friday. We see him on the weekends and this break (we get two weeks off of school every ten weeks), we were able to fly down to Melbourne to spend the break with Stan in Melbourne. Unlike PwC, Bain flew the whole family down and then put us all up in some serviced apartments so we could cook and have more flexibility than a regular hotel room. Our apartment was right in the heart of the city. And we were one block away from the city circle (tourist tram) which would take us around the city for free! We visited everything you could think of... Here are a few pictures--about 300+ are on Facebook if you want more!

Reading the in-flight emergency procedures! Go Thomas!

The tram/ City Circle!

Thomas loving the tram!

Saint Patrick's Cathedral below!

reminded me of England just a bit!

After I took this picture the kids were mobbed by a Chinese tourist group who did a 5- 10 minute photo session--Seriously, see pictures below!

Touring the parliament building

Flinders station!

Federation square playground, by the Yarra River and the circus behind us!

Melbourne Aquarium

Saint Paul's Cathedral

A really amazing wood carving

Olivia wanted to light a candle. I told her that she had to donate money and think of someone who needed help. I said maybe she could think of herself so she could start growing and she said, "no--I want to light a candle for Millie." Millie is her friend from Oxford who has cancer.

China Town!

The AFL (Rugby) stadium

Federation square

Old treasury building

Melbourne Museum!

Olivia has been talking about seeing King Tut for MONTHS!

Street performers

On our way to the police museum in the world trade center (melbourne)

A petting zoo in the docklands!f

A playground with snow--laughing at the sand toys thrown in ...how does snow come out of a water pitcher?

Complete with a snow machine