Australia

I have had a goal to see 6 of the 7 continents by the time I was 35.  Well that day is quickly approaching and I was stuck at 4 for a long time and now Jon and I have gone to our 5th!!  My goal has been pushed back to just get to 6 by 40 now.   With the typhoon that came through we were both getting nervous that we would not be making it to this continent at all.  We took a leap of faith and went to the airport after calling and letting them know we were locked in our house but would come to the airport as we were allowed.  On one phone call Jon was told we would be put on standby for the latest flight and up until we had ticket in our hand we weren't sure if we would be leaving.  After getting on our first flight we noticed we only had a one hour layover before our next flight in Taipei.  We with delays and other factors we landed 5o minutes late - cutting our transfer time down to 10 minutes.  Once they opened the doors we sprinted through the airport - a little confusion and backtracking we made it to our flight with minutes to spare.  We made it to Australia and were greeted by a friendly face. 

What did we do while in Australia?? Well the real question is what did we not do in the Sydney area.  After doing some research on the internet, blogs and books we decided to just focus on the Sydney area and try and enjoy all we could there.  We did a tour of the Opera House, did a bridge climb, went to all the touristy things, and then went to the mountains a few hours away.   The Blue Mountains were probably one of our parts.  It was quiet, beautiful and did have a few fun things and the best food ever!! 

The only request Jon had was for us to visit the original Hillsong church.  We made it there and enjoyed worship with a lot of people to love Jesus!! 

 

Sydney Opera House

ANZAC memorial.
One of the best war memorials

Chinese Garden in downtown

Touring - see that bridge behind us?  We climbed it!

A chair someone famous sat on

On a tour to see Bondi Beach

The Beach!

Super cold water

Hillsong!!!!

At the zoo Steve Irwin used to work at

Pretty awesome view while walking around

The Blue Mountains

The famous rock formation is called 3 sisters

Looking at the 3 sisters

Hiking and having fun

Bike rental - next time go to with the hybrid (which means gears)
We walked them up a bunch of hills to see the top of the town

We were the only people with bike cruisers in the mountain area.
I think we should have stayed closer to the boardwalk - oh well. 

Getting our adult onesies on to climb the bridge!!

Australia was a convict nation to start out.
Here is where at least 50,000 of them slept as they came through

Oz Jet boating - did this because it was part of our package.
Riding a speed boat and getting soaking wet in the winter was not to smart!! 
One of us enjoyed it more than the other.

This was at the elevator - we saw it daily and it was so true.

Wax museum - again only did it b/c it was part of our tour package

12 hours in Taipei

went on the free tour that was offered by the airport

Street vendor food

its not winter anymore

Got a haircut at the airport.
Mainly so I could get my hair washed after 48 hours of traveling

Typhoon Neoguri

Between Disney and Australia we weathered a typhoon.  Most typhoons lock us down around 24 hours - this one was 48 hours.  We were not so sure Jon and I would be making our flight to Australia as we anxiously watched the timeline and noticed the Japanese were still flying while the good old US Govt would not allow us to leave our house.  Many hours of debating if we were going to go on the trip of a lifetime the best answer we could get from the travel agency is we could chance it and not go at all or cancel and get 1/2 our money back.  Being the risk takers we are we decided to go for it - between time off at work and arranging a nanny for the girls we knew things would probably never work out again for this trip.  We made it - more posts on that to follow.

What do 2 parents who really want to go on a crazy anniversary trip do while on lock down with a typhoon???  As many crazy things as we can to create memories with our kids.  We built stuff, colored things, played games, watched the storm and had slumber parties!

 

Stepping out one last time before being locked in the house for 2 days

Yes they all share a room but something about new things make life fun!

Drive in Movie

Tea Party 1 of 4

doesn't look too bad - hard to be locked in when looking out at this

Played yhatzee as a family

Here was our clean up efforts

We got tickets to leave the island!!!!!!!
Even after missing our flight and not being sure how nice the ticket people would be

Tokyo Disney

We had an amazing time as a family at Tokyo Disney!  It was a joy to see the girls faces when they saw the princesses or got to go on rides or play at the playgrounds or Molly as she was able to shop.  We landed Tuesday and after making it to our hotel we rode the monorail around the property to scope things out.  There is a place with tons of shops and restaurants much like downtown Disney at the Disney World Resort.  We dined at Rain Forest Café where Riley was concerned about the elephant drinking her water, Kelly didn't like the animals and Molly was mad that we hadn't let her shop yet.  While wondering around we found a Krispy Kreme - so for our last day we had donuts for breakfast!  The first night Jon contemplated buying tickets to go in one night early but the cheapskate in the family prevailed and we held out 12 more hours.

On Wednesday we got an early start!  I don't know who was more excited Jon and I or the girls.  We were up and ready to go to breakfast at 6:45am.  After breakfast we got on the monorail and headed to Disneyland.  After getting to the ticket line at 7:45 we found out the park didn't open until 9am not 8am like we thought.  It is only open 8am on Sat and Sun.  We joined about 20,000 of our closest friends and sat in line waiting to rush into the park.  In Okinawa we are used to our friends being very orderly and patient - throw some Disney at them and all hell breaks loose.  There were people cutting in line, cutting us off, sprinting to get their fast passes.  We made it through and got to ride Buzz Lightyear which reminded us of our honeymoon but with 3 kids.  However unlike on our honeymoon where I won - Jon managed to win both times we rode on this trip.  We then dragged the kids on some more rides while Molly kept asking when she was going to get to shop.  After going on 5 rides we took a shopping break and allowed Molly to have her moment of pure bliss.  She bought a key chain and notepad and convinced her sister Riley to buy a key chain also.  After that moment of happiness we took the girls on some more rides and then found a playground.  There could have been a few international incidents as Kelly pushed people and then her sisters can to finish off the attack but Jon and I were able to bring peace to all mankind with a smile and sorry.  We took about 20 snack breaks and each day enjoyed one meal at Disney.  I always wondered why my mom packed so much food and wouldn't let us buy things at parks and boy and I glad I followed her example - even though I think everyone was tired of peanut butter sandwiches.  After many rides and snacks Molly persuaded us to let her shop some more.  This time she would not walk away without this towel thing and got her sister to spend their money on it too.  It was a good thing the girls had their own money that was budgeted and saved by them otherwise I would not have let them buy those things. We pushed the girls hard and long and by the end of the first day they were all falling asleep on their feet.  My pedometer said we walked 5 miles that day.

Thursday was our day for Disney Sea.  We heard this park was not as big and we knew the open time so we let the girls sleep in and not rush things.  Umm yeah - the not big enough was a LIE!  Disney Sea is spread out more so we walked over 7.5 miles that day.  We rode the Toy Story Mania ride and Jon got a fast pass for later that night.  Again I was unable to beat Jon but we did enjoy ourselves.  We walked around and Molly made friends with lots of the characters - any that would give her just a minute of their time.  King Triton's Lagoon was AWESOME!!  Again there was a playground area for the girls just to run around and have fun and a few rides all in an air conditioned building.  Molly loved the Flounder's Roller Coaster and got to ride it a bunch as she would rotate between Jon and I while the little 2 played in the splash pad area.  Around 5pm the girls starting asking to go to hotel but we held them out until after 8:30 so we could see the laser show and ride a few more rides.  Fast Pass is the only way to do some rides with little kids.  Jon and I would take turns on some of the rides and the wait time was only 30 minutes total instead of 1.5 hours.  

 

The pictures are in no particular order - just the only way I could get them off my phone and on the computer.

 

Light show night one

Please let us nap

Roller Coasters!

Seriously falling asleep on their feet

Here are the shops I want to go to

How to save $200 on food - PB sandwiches and gorp

Look what I convinced everyone to buy

Is this really worth it?  YES IT IS

Working on their peace sign

Follow me

Ok you can have a picture with me:)

Jellyfish ride

Splash Pad

Disney is awesome - I love the play area.  Please no more roller coasters.
Oh yeah and I CALL STROLLER!!!!!!

Ariel showed us how to pose

Toy Story Mania !

Cheese!!

Night 2 only 2 more hours of Disney left

Molly admiring others in her towel thing

Why yes I would like a picture with you

A popsicle while daddy rode Space Mountain

Again leave me at the playgrounds please!!
Oh yeah and I CALL STROLLER!!!

Pooh's honeypot Ride

Look mom the princess!!

Ok dad I think we should get to Disney and have fun!

The lobby of our hotel!  Fun everywhere

Giving the girls their 100 yen goodies.
So glad I raided that store - saved us $40 at least

Jon and Kelly in the space ship

Molly driving her car

Scoping things out for the adventures.

Took Molly on a date Day 1 while her sisters napped

Teacups!!

I love waiting in lines

Aren't these are the coolest things ever?
Yeah!!

I love this hotel a fun thing to jump on right outside the elevator

Last day - waiting to get on the bus.
Riley is in her favorite place - THE STROLLER

The girls and I enjoying our last few minutes

Jon taking the girls on one last shopping trip

Molly sayings: I want to shop, Can I shop, When can I shop, Is this in my budget, I want to ride the roller coaster again.

Riley sayings:  I want the stroller, I call stroller, whine whine whine, I don't want to walk, I don't want to ride the ride, can I just play here please.

Kelly sayings:  Mouse, Mouse, Milk, Sisters, Shoe, NO, Minnie (her towel thing)