Days 10-12

So we arrived at my Mum's a little worse for wear. The girls didn't really like the last hour of the road trip and the sound of both girls crying wasn't my most favourite thing especially in a car!

Now my Mum had broken her wrist the week before we arrived. She had to have surgery and several pins and a plate were provided to repair the damage that the poorly planned stunt fall off the verandah and roll across the pergola had caused. She is also deaf in one ear due to the severe whiplash injury that she received as well. (We'll see if it's a permanent thing or if it's like my gran's tinnitus - comes and goes when she needs it to...) Just joking mother!

So as a result of the break she was unable to give proper cuddles to her granddaughters nor able to hold them to carry them anywhere. But she did her best to enjoy them as best she could.

Mum and the girls.

Kendall posing with a very cute smile.

We thought the girls would miss their jumper so we bought this one that hangs from the door frame. Poor Syd looked like a puppet on a string (isn't that a song?)!

Thank god for travel cots! Best $90 I spent in a while.

My sister Lauren. She works shifts so the vacation for her was a sleepfest and the babies a wonderful but earpiercing distraction. As she was sleeping on the pull-out in the den she would have to go and sleep in our bed to get away from the girls' screaming/crying/laughing etc.

I love this photo of Kendall. Look at her eyes! If I could only get that thumb out of the mouth....

Both girls with their headbands. Storm hates those headbands...

All Storm wanted was seafood so one of his first stops in Laurieton was the co-op to get some prawns, bugs etc. He was as happy as a pig in poop!

A close up of a Morton Bay bug for those of you who don't know what he's talking about!

Day 9 - GG's

We stopped off on our way to Mum's in Laurieton at my Gran's in Casino (the town of my birth - yes it's the town's only claim to fame - what can I say??)

It was the first time that my Gran - the girl's GG had seen them. It was a special time as GG wasn't able to get to the wedding so it was the only time we could catch up with her.

Syd with her GG


GG with both girls



All we needed was Mum for the four generation photo - maybe I can photoshop it in later?


Kendall (my darling sleeper) couldn't help but fall asleep on the couch. Syd as per usual couldn't help but stay awake as she never likes to miss a thing!


It was sad to leave my second mother and the last hour of the trip to Laurieton proved how much we should have stayed that night with GG.

Day 5 - 8 on the GC at Mavis'

We woke every day to nice rounds of coffee, vegemite toast and morning TV. Now Storm and I were always channel 9 people in the morning (however we did make it onto channel 7 Sunrise when we arrived in Vegas for those of you who remember) but channel 9 had changed so we had to watch channel 7 each day for the morning news. No big drama but I didn't get to catch Neighbours or many Aussie shows that I thought I would except for the Footy Show. A real good laugh.

Storm and I did manage to walk down to the bakery and spend $27 on sausage rolls, meat pies, lamingtons, neinish tarts, butterfly cakes, apple slice, vanilla slice (gee and I wonder why I am so Michelin-mannish!!!!). The sausage rolls weren't as good as we remembered and in fact the only thing that was good was the lamington (with a nice cuppa tea..mmm...). I ended up throwing out the nienish tarts (yukko cream), the butterfly cake (too dry and yukko cream) and the vanilla slice (just too much). I actually only ate the sausage roll, a party pie and the lamington over a three day period. Still yummo.

Louise came around. It was so great to see her as it had been years since she and Steve were over with us in Vegas. They're up in Townsville but she still has family down on the coast (they actually live right where Storm's dad Henry walks the dog along the manmade lake). Now Lou and I have known eachother for nearly 20 years. Ever since I sat next to her at a friend's 21st birthday party (for some reason that friend's name is escaping me right now - great friend aren't I?). (I think that once I saw this pic - it was after we got home - I realized how much weight I have put on since the girls were born. I really must get my butt into gear).

Voila! - Louise and the Kulhans

(Told I looked like crapola! What a way to spoil a pic!)

The next couple of days sort of went pretty much the same way - we relaxed, went for walks and just chilled with Mavis. We caught up with Storm's friends at Aaron's place and then Karen popped over for a quick chat. Last time I saw her was the first year we were in Vegas when she came over to visit her brother, Marcus who lives here in town.


Found this cute pic of Kendall and Sydney. Look at Kendall's cheeks - beautiful!!!


On our last night on the GC we went to Burleigh Heads to have fish and chips by the beach. We actually ended up having burgers and yes they came with beetroot on them and rocked (as they should have they cost something like $9.00 each!) So tasty though...



Michelle (my friend) came down and joined us for a quick chat. It was great to catch up with her as I haven't seen her in 10 years or so, ever since her son Elijah was born almost. It was great to catch up.


It was a nice way to end up finishing our stay on the GC.

Day 4 - Mavis'

So, after Henry and Karen's we headed to Mavis' for some TV (yes Henry and Karen did not have a TV - how do they live and entertain themselves I hear you ask? All I can say is lucky I was jetlagged otherwise my TV craving may have interfered with my relaxing...)

So, I had bought some bath rings similar to the ones that I have here in the states and the girls enjoyed their first bath (unencumbered with mum or dad) and Nanny's company.

The girls and their Nanny.

Back in front of the TV (I know I feel really bad but they know what the remote does and actually enjoy the TV/DVD and what it brings to them - The Wiggles and their reading movies). Yes, it's true - they are like their parents and worship the idiot box.

Poor Kendall was still feeling the heat. Look at her face - poor child!

Day 3 - Henry's

So every morning Henry and Karen take Cheeky across the road to a newer development (well it's newer since Storm and I both left the coast). The development has a lovely walkway along a manmade lake (reclaimed land) that has a small beach that the girls were able to finally touch some Aussie sand.


and get their feet wet...

Meanwhile I was back at the house enjoying some quiet time sitting on the lounge on the patio with the birds that Karen and Henry always feed.
Meet the magpies... and yes, that's raw meat (can you tell I'm not a big fan of birds? But don't get me wrong they weren't aggressive or anything - far from it - it's that I just don't get birds - except pelicans - I love pelicans!)


We spent the afternoons in the front yard as the afternoon sun made the back patio a little warm for the girls and it was so much cooler out the front under the bamboo. We set the girls up and enjoyed just chillin' again. This is where I spent a bit of time with Kendall trying to get her cooled down a lot. She really liked the quietness out there.




It did get cooler on the back deck and we headed back there once the sun started to go down and enjoyed yet another round of yummy food and relaxing.

Day 2 - Henry and Karen's place

So, our first stop in Oz - Henry and Karen's home in Carrara on the Gold Coast.

It was so lovely to finally be there. The weather was balmy and humid with a slight breeze and so nice! Unfortunately, Kendall had a bit of a challenge with the humidity (and perhaps the time change?) so she was a little grumbly but Sydney jumped all in with meeting her grandpa.

Storm with Henry and Sydney out on the patio..

Karen feeding a sweaty Kendall (her hair went so curly in the humidity - so cute!) See her rosy cheeks? She really had trouble getting cool in the first few days.

They had the cutest dog - Cheeky is a 2-year old (I think..) poodle/jack russell mix. Such a sweety.

A view of their pool from their back door (just ignore the fat chick)

Henry and Storm had spoken (emailed) about the seafood that the Gold Coast offered so Henry was kind enough to get some very yummy prawns and crab. Storm hooked in like an addict on crack! Sydney enjoyed sitting in her daddy's lap until Storm broke the first of two chairs....

After a couple of drinks and some fresh yummy seafood it was lights out in a new bed for all of us...

Back at last!

I know it's been a while but I want you to know that I've been uber busy and have only recently got myself together to get things done.

The trip to Australia really impacted us more than we thought and it has taken me until now (we arrived back on (04/22/10) to write.

So, how did we go? Well I'll start at the beginning and finish at the end, ok?

Day 1 - The flight over...
We had fun leaving Las Vegas. Kerri drove us to the airport (which took a lot of stress off us right off the bat) and we had a dream trip to L.A. The wait in L.A. went really well. The girls were so happy playing in a quiet spot in the airport and slept on and off when they needed to.


The girls slept the majority of the way - Kendall in the bassinet and Sydney in my arms. We got swept through customs and immigration (thanks to some very helpful ground staff and no thanks to Qantas who made us put the stroller under the plane! That's another rant and a half!!!!)

Apart from Sydney getting restless in the last 15 minutes of the drive to Henry's place the girls and us handled the trip over fantastically!