Santa Monica

So christmas was finally over, mum had returned to Australia and my birthday had come and gone - it was time to go to LA and get the girl's first Aussie passports and renew Storm's. We thought that we'd combine a little business (the passports) with a little R&R in Santa Monica.

It was the first time that the girls had ever been in the car for any length of time so we were a little nervous. We timed it well with their fist nap and made it as far as Baker before they got unsettled. I spent most of the trip in the back seat entertaining them both. We arrived safe and sound though and the girls were both well behaved the majority of the time.

Now remember that Storm has been in Vegas since we arrived and apart from the business trips has not seen the Pacific since leaving Australia. So we were both anxious to get some sea air in our lungs on the pier at Santa Monica.

It's funny how photos can make you reevaluate things but this photo of me is yukko. I'm going to stick to my fluid retention story (but we all know the truth but trust me it's changing!). But I love the ocean and even the photo is less than flattering I will counter with that fact that I have twins and the time that I have to do exercise and eat well is somewhat limited. I am finding a balance though...

I love this pic of Storm - (sorry Galvins but I hate the T-shirt when it's worn in public!)

Storm and the view from the pier looking north towards Malibu.

Storm and the girls looking back towards the shore from the end of the pier. The pier was so-so. I expected more I suppose. The boardwalk was really cool though and people were just walking, skating and riding bikes all the time we were there. Very cool.

Storm and Sydney (who pretty much stayed awake but well behaved the whole day).

Kendall as per usual slept soundly. Such a good girl!

We went for a walk through the touristy sections of town. (I had to buy a new pair of pants and a cooler top because it was so muggy and I was hot!). Here's me with the girls looking down from the city level towards the pier.

As we were true tourists that day, we went to Bubba Gumps Shrimp Company and had prawns and crab. Yummo!

Sydney really does takes after her daddy!

A pic of my favourite people.

We managed to make it back to the htoel intime for nap and before the series of storm's hit California. We did get hit however on the way back going through El Cajon pass and with some traffic. The girls were so-so behaved especially when they were hungry and tired in the bathrooms at Primm. What a nightmare! But we got home safe and sound with only one passport application complete - Sydney's and Storm's both had something wrong with them and since then we've got Syd's back with Storm's at the consulate right now.

At last!!!!

Some of you may not know but my keys have been "lost" for the last two months. I put the word lost in "" as I know it's hard to believe...me misplacing something?..Storm maybe but definitely not me!

The last time that I remember having them was when Mum was here in early January. We had such a crazy start to the year and I knew that I just couldn't have lost them that I wasn't really stressed about not being able to find them (as I just knew that they were somewhere here in the house because I need the car keys to drive the car home don't I?). At first I thought they must be in a jacket pocket or pair of jeans that I'd put away but after checking all of those places they weren't there. My next thought was that they were in the garage somewhere - perhaps I'd put them down on a box and they'd fallen in etc? We haven't yet gone through the garage to look for them and to generally tidy up as it has been too cold plus we've actually had colds and been wrapping up the 2010 audio event (Yay!).

It kinda sucked as we've been using the one set of keys (because I wasn't paying about $300 to get a new set for the car nor paying the USPS to have another key cut for the P.O. Box) and it's always scary when Storm leaves the house as his reputation for losing things does preceed him! I've been waiting for the call - "Nik, I've lost my keys..." and we've got no spare!

So imagine my surprise when I was adjusting a whole bunch of pillows on the round couch (I have recently bought a whole bunch of new pillows at Target for $6 -bargain - and haven't thrown out all the old ones as yet so I have a surplus at the moment!) as they had all slipped down and were generally uncomfortable to lay on when I noticed something shiny at the back of the chair underneath all the pillows. I reached down and lo and behold...my keys!


I'm so happy that I had to blog about it. I can keep my unblemished record for not losing things (touch wood!)

Movie 6

Movie 5

movie 4

Movie 3

Winter olympics

So, we've been spending a bit of time watching the winter olympics. When we were in Vancouver for the six weeks we really enjoyed the city and all it had to offer. It's been fun watching it all unfold on the tv.

Anyway, it seems that land DOWN UNDER has scored a gold medal in women's snowboarding (who knew we had that much snow? Just kidding,, there's one whole mountain of it!) Yes, Torah Bright is our new icon of success. Congrats girl! Well done!


So Storm asked me what event I would be in if I was in the winter olympics. Without a doubt I said "Curling!".


It has been on every channel, every day and for some unknown reason we are mesmorized by it. We were both fans of lawn bowls at home (our going away party was held at a lawn bowls club) and can appreciate the talent/skill that goes into rolling an object slowly towards another. The fact that you don't have to have a body fat percentage of less than 10 and that you can drink whilst you play, holds a huge fascination for us. Finally, something I can do!