January 13 - And more beer . . .

It finally cooled off! And it rained. I think this was a rather rainy day, not pleasant but it was more misty than downfall and Victoria could always use the rain.

So we loaded up the car and took off for the next brewery. We headed to Bright to a pretty cool brewery. We had a sampler and I would have to ask my brother for all the different beers we tried. After we let the kids have a little run on a slippery wooden play structure we headed off to lunch. I don't remember the name of it but I thought it was the best place ever because it had a large play area for the kids with a big cubby house. It was great for Lilly and we even got the twins to play in there for a bit. At the end of the meal there were kids sitting on top of the cubby house and we had to make a quick escape before Lilly decided she wanted to try that as well.



On to the next brewery which was Boynton. This was another Winery/Brewery and they only had 2 beers on tap. Or maybe it was one. Either way, it wasn't very exciting and we really didn't stick around too long.



The last place was Bridge Road Brewery. I liked this one. We were able to get a sampler and tried a bunch. Unfortunately the place was about to close for the day so we didn't get to have seconds on anything we liked. The kids were able to dance around a bit and for some reason, they all decided this was going to be the place they would fall and skin their knees. Jenna just did some falling, James had a small scratch and Lilly left part of her knee at the place.




We loaded back into the car and headed home for the night. Once there, everyone just went to bed. At least it was cooler in our place!

January 10 - Lilly Caught Dancing

I was just listening to some good rock and roll music while in the kitchen when I heard Lilly singing to "Rockin' In The Free World" by Neil Young. I about keeled over. I wasn't fast enough with the camcorder to get her on video singing (though she asks me to play the song and sing it with her now).

Anyway, I did manage to get her dancing to Dido's "This Land is Mine". So enjoy. You can hear her ask me to stop filming her at the end, she gets self conscious like that sometimes, even if we aren't even videoing her!

Seth

January 12 - Let's Get Beer

We loaded up early in the Territory and wedged ourselves in our seats. It was a tight fit and not very comfortable. Seth ended up driving the entire way with Jaime or Michelle beside him. I was wedged between two child seats in the middle row. Made for happy traveling. At least I had the air conditioner blowing on my legs. I may not have mentioned, it was still hot. I'm talking 109 degrees hot. It was not pleasant.



Our goal for the next two days was to check out some Breweries in Victoria.

First stop, Buffalo Brewery near Wangaratta - we had a booking for 1:00 lunch. We got there a bit early but come to find out we were the only ones at the restaurant. We tried a couple of their beers (although James took it upon himself to dispose of Michelle's by kicking it over) and went ahead and purchased a six pack of mixed beverages for later. Jaime later said he was going to talk to the bartender about the beers but couldn't understand most of what he was saying.



Next stop was Bintara (which was actually part of Vintara the Winery, see what they did there? V and B? Mighty clever) near Rutherglen. It was here that the hostess told us it was awfully hot to have three young children out and about. I just smiled and didn't mention that our house was about 10 degrees warmer than the outside temperature and with 7 people, it would have been a bit tense. Anyway, I wasn't too impressed and we didn't stay long.



Next stop was our hotel. We found a 3 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen. It worked out well as we were able to make dinner and just relax. The advertised air conditioning was exactly air conditioning but if you could find a seat under a fan, you were good.

Seth and I ran into Wangaratta to pick up some groceries and then we hung out eating and playing with the kids. We only brought five books and I think each of the adults may have read each book twice (those books were all hidden once we arrived home). There was a pool but we hadn't even thought about bringing swimming suits. And no one wanted to move once they gained control of a spot under the fans.



Our idea was to drink our six pack after the kids all went to bed and watch a movie. We did watch a movie but Michelle fell asleep with the kids. The six pack was mostly ok but I did have the worst beer I have ever had and Jaime agreed that it was terrible. Seth wouldn't even try it after Jaime gave it a thumbs down. I still can't believe I drank the entire thing.

January 11 - The arrival

Ok, so here is my attempt to re-cap about three weeks of family filled fun.

On Monday the 11th I drove to the airport to pick up the family. Keep in mind that when they left it was below freezing in Columbus and when they were to get off the plane it was already in the 90's. Lilly and I had to wait awhile and it turns out that Jaime and family got stopped by a banana sniffing dog. Really it was for fruit but because there had been a banana in one of their bags at some point the dog sat down on their luggage and all the luggage was searched. **Note - Don't bring bananas or throw them in your bag at any point.**



I told Jaime when they come through the security doors, go right. No matter what anyone else does, turn right. There was a bit of confusion but they finally were able to turn and eventually realized that we were standing where we said we were going to. **Note - If you ever come for a visit and go through the international terminal, turn right, it's just less crowded and that is where we will be.**



The next step was to wait for Seth. We needed another car to fit everyone and all the luggage. Even with a Territory we could have fit all the people, but not the luggage. Meanwhile we packed the car with all the luggage and the second car seat. All this time everyone seemed to be enjoying the heat although we stayed in the shade where we could find a breeze. In the 20 minutes it took for Seth to get there, I don't think the heat was as pleasant (especially for Michelle who was still wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt).

We got back to our house and let the kids unwind with a little play-doh. Apparently this was a first for James and Jenna who both discovered that it doesn't taste very well. Seth and I ran to drop our car off (so we could borrow someone else's larger vehicle) and let everyone get cleaned up.



Lilly really enjoyed having the kids around and we set up the water table so they could cool themselves off a bit. They thought it was hysterical to squirt each other and get squirted. It also caused for a slippery floor so lots of falling.

In the end, we didn't go anywhere. While it was amazingly hot in our house, we just couldn't bring ourselves to move much more. We let our guests sleep downstairs even though it would be very crowded just so it would be a little cooler. This was one of those nights where it just never cooled off.

Visitors

If you came to check out how our visit is going, sorry, you aren't going to get much. We have been VERY busy. This is the first time I've gotten on here since they arrived last week. There will be lots of pictures to enjoy of all the kids. I just have to get all the pictures and figure out where all we have been. Hopefully I can do some updates once our guests have taken off for a few days (they will be heading to Sydney for several days at the end of the week). In the meantime, I'll let you know that the weather was 109 F on their first day and now it's only 70 F. Although it's a rainy day, it is much more tolerable.

Lilly's Ballet Video

Well we finally got Lilly's video back from her ballet recital on Dec 6th. So here she is as a creampuff. Sorry it is really short, be thankful you didn't have to sit through 3 hours just to see this like I did.

She is the 3rd one on the right (the shortest one) during the opening portion.

Seth

It's Not my Fault!

Lilly has wanted to cut her hair forever!! I'm surprised she didn't think of taking a pair of scissors to them. I convinced her to wait until after her ballet recital but after that, she asked about everyday to get her hair cut. She wanted it short like Seth's. I couldn't go that far. But, yesterday we did the deed.

Sitting and waiting for our turn:




She looks very grown up:



And finally:



Who are you?

Three more days!

We have this wonderful countdown for our next visitors. Lilly is obsessed with it and asks me first thing in the morning how many more days. Although I have told her that after her uncle and aunt come, it will be her birthday. I think she thinks her birthday must be on Tuesday since by brother and sister-in-law arrive on Monday. She's going to be sad.

Our days have been spent preparing the apartment for their arrival. Just cleaning and hiding toys with little parts. Making sure I'm ahead of the game.

Just to break up my boring cleaning stories:

Seth got me a cookie gun for the holidays. I filled up a small bin for us and had Seth take the rest to work. Apparently they were good, he said they were all gone at the end of the day. Maybe I should charge a small fee next time?

This is one of the craft stores. However, it's more of Bed, Bath and Beyond meets JoAnn. There are lots of pillows and shower curtains. About two short rows of scrapbooking stuff. I went in today to get some stuff for Lilly's party invitations and couldn't find black paper fasteners. I had to get black hearts. What does one do with a bunch of black hearts?

And a congrats to Seth's sister on the birth of a baby boy!

Might be Too Much Information but I think it's funny

We are getting our paperwork together to become permanent residents. All this means is that we will be able to get government health care and a few more benefits. Not too exciting.

One thing we had to do was get a health exam. Easy enough. Did it today. Seth and I had to pee in a cup. The funny part - it was just a plain styrofoam cup with our initials penned by the nurse who showed us to the bathroom. Nothing sterile about it.

Oh, and in the waiting room outside the bathroom (for when the line was long) there was a jug of water for those that were having trouble filling their cup. Next to it were a stack of more styrofoam cups.

Sorry, no pictures of the cups.

What do I write about now?

Seriously, we haven't done anything in three days. We had three days of mostly pajama days. Lilly hasn't been feeling all that great so we haven't left the house much. In fact, Seth went to the grocery store and I took Lilly to the park yesterday. That was it since the first.

But, I still have some fun pictures to share.

We were able to watch the Rose Bowl on Saturday morning. We do it through the computer (and don't ask me how we do it) and I'm sure it's perfectly legal. We don't have too much of a television but we hook up Seth's laptop to our monitor downstairs. We did have a cable running from downstairs to the upstairs computer to insure our internet connection.


Way to go Buckeyes! It was a great game. Lilly was disappointed they never showed Brutus. Was he even there?

Let's throw some pictures of Lilly in here. We got her some paints for the holidays and she really wanted to paint.

We told her we were taking her picture.

She doesn't mind her picture being taken.

But she kept putting her hands in the air.

Seth finally took a picture without her looking.

We have her mat still on the floor and she was sad this morning that I hadn't picked it up and put it back on her table. "But mom, how am I supposed to do my crafts?"