More views from the hammock.
These cute girls (and their dad) put together a song to try out for the school talent show.
Our little preschool/playgroup went to visit the fire station. As always, Milo was chock full of questions, which they seemed happy to answer.
Sadly, our little buddy "Roy" (the stray dog who adopted the dogs next door, and has been around here as long as we have) got turned into animal control. He avoided it for quite awhile, but when it looked inevitable that he'd be caught, I made sure to get pictures with all the kids. Carli, especially, had worked hard to earn the dog's trust. Milo often went out to hang out with him. And our neighbor, John, gave the kids a box of dog treats to help with the process. We were all sad to see him go.
Our move here was quite stressful (along with the years and months leading up to it). I started dreaming of ways to take a break and decompress. My first thought was to visit Callie in Sydney, Australia. It was such a fun thing to make it a reality and take this trip with Kera. Once in a lifetime, for sure!
Kera and I met up in LA. We both had extra long layovers there, so we did a little shopping and met up with one of Kera's optometrist friends before flying out late that night. Man, it's a long flight! Here we are sporting a flower during our layover in Fiji.
The view of beautiful Fiji from the airplane.
And the view from Callie's beautiful house when we finally arrived (looking a little like something the cat dragged in...).
Seeing these wonderful people was definitely the best part of the trip!
Callie took us on a hike down to the beach from her house. She had an amazing set up to be so close to the ocean. It was a perfect vacation for me, but what a cool experience for her family to live there!
Sitting in Callie's kitchen I heard this sound for the first time in so many years! There were so many times during this trip that the memories of living in Australia came rushing back. The sound of kookaburras is especially memorable for me, as it was the sound I woke up to the first day we lived there. So cool.
And to see some up close was fun too. These guys were just hanging out at this fish and chips place, waiting for a generous soul to share - or at least to be distracted for a minute.
While I was gone, Logan took over, and he did a great job. He even joined playgroup that week, brave soul. :) Look at all those kids!
One thing we were excited to do was to remake some of the pictures we have from our time in Australia as teenagers. It was so fun to reenact these and be in the same places. We spent a day around Sydney harbor.
It was the best spending time with these two! And of course, I had to take a picture of Cowan station.
Our next picture reenactment was the classic koala cuddle.
Unfortunately, it's illegal to hold them in NSW, but we still got a picture with the little guy.
And a picture with that big dude in the background.
And, of course, had to get a video as proof to Logan that all zookeepers in Australia have a death wish.
It was quite an adventure feeding the kangaroos too.
Echidna
Tazmanian Devil
Lorikeets are some of my favorite birds. They were ALL over the place.
This mama was missing her babies on Mothers Day. But it sure was fun to help my niece and nephews make it a nice day for their mom.
More exploring the beaches near Callie's house.
We ate some yummy food together too!
I sure loved being with these kiddos for a week. I'd love to spend more time with them.
Hard to believe this is the view from their primary school!
Happy to be home snuggles!
Had to have some fun with the matching shirts we got on our girls' trip last month. :)
The girls have done so well in piano this year. I'm really proud of them and happy to have a wonderful teacher just up the road.
Carli's recital pieces
Janie’s recital pieces
End of the year means parties and awards, and these girls of ours are pretty great. They both got several academic awards, but I'm most proud of the friends and good workers that they are. Carli got Miss Congeniality in her class, and Janie got Star Reader in hers.
Carli's cute friend Chloe. Such a sweetheart.
Carli loved her first season playing softball. She had a fun time with her team and they did really well. They were undefeated until the championship and came away with second place.
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