Surf Camp

During the last week of summer holidays, Avery, Carson, and Braden had a great time at Manly Surf Camp. Warning! This post has a ton of pictures! They all loved it and by the end of the week were catching waves on their own! They are begging for surfboards!

Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Wombats

One rainy, but hot and humid, day we ventured out west to Featherdale Wildlife Park. We had a great day getting up close and personal with some of Australia's favorite furry friends! The kids absolutely loved it!

Braden and Carson posing for a picture...it is almost next to impossible to get a "normal" picture these days!

Petting a wallaby...Davis wasn't so sure yet!

Petting the Koala...their fur feels very rough and stiff, not soft and cuddly like you would think.

Davis was a bit more brave with this one...

Avery loves all the colorful birds here...while she was getting her picture taken, this bird came down to nibble on her ear!

This is a wombat...not really sure what to say about this one...

Feeding the Kangaroo or it might have been a wallaby...not sure how to tell the difference yet!

This is a Cassowary...this animal is listed as the 6th deadliest animal in Australia because of its helmet head and speed...according to Braden.

These little penguins were just too cute...we have seen a few of these swimming in the ocean with us!

Braden tried to feed this kangaroo and he stole the cone right out of his hand!

Davis liked feeding the wallaby

Avery posing with the kangaroos...she was so excited for this day, but when it came right down to it, she was quite nervous around the animals! So funny!

Carson having an ice cream break

Don't look, Grandma Pool...its an olive python...

Avery and Mommy in front of Pedro the Koala!

In the words of Napoleon..."is Pedro there?"

OceanWorld Snorkel

During the summer school holiday OceanWorld in Manly has a snorkel adventure for kids, so we decided to check it out...here they are getting ready to "dive" in....

The snorkel guide had a underwater camera and we were excited to learn she was from California, a student at UC Santa Barbara.

They loved seeing a turtle up close....

Carson and Nemo

Avery and her pink snorkel mask!

Braden with the thumbs up!

New Years Eve

During the day, we hit Fairlight beach for some snorkeling and sun! How could we not?

And this is at the end of the day, after snorkeling...we call it snorkelface!

After the beach, we went to catch the bus down to Garrett's office to watch the New Years Harbour fireworks. Here are the kids waiting for the bus...

We met up with the Wixoms...our adventurous American sidekicks! BTW...they are newlyweds and are always up for hanging out with our large and loud family! We waited as patiently as we could in a tiny conference room on the 14th floor at the Cisco office for the firework show to begin. Davis was about done waiting! Garrett also had the zoom lens on and couldn't quite get Braden in the picture!

And here is the amazing view of the bridge just as the show started...

Definitely memorable to be in Sydney on New Years! After, we jumped on a bus and rode home...everyone fell asleep!

Bye, bye 2010! What will next year bring?

Taronga Zoo

Over the Christmas break, we headed to Tarongo Zoo. Thanks to a friend from church, we scored some free passes, so it was even better! It was a rainy day, but actually was a nice cool day. The zoo has some amazing views of the city and of course some amazing animals!

This was a great picture shot, until the water surprisingly spouted up from behind and soaked them all!

Giraffes...

This bird would not leave Braden alone...

The zoo has new baby elephants...super cute!

Carson with the lizard...

And finally, we went to a spider show and got to see a Sydney Funnel Web up close...highlight for Braden!

Christmas Day

After the presents were demolished, we headed to Clontarf Beach for breakfast with the Wixom's and the Stephen's. We ate yummy french toast casserole and some Australian eggs benedict. It was a beautiful day and we all came home with sunburns...definitely a first for Christmas day!

This is Presley...about the cutest little boy I have ever seen!

Aki conversing or patiently listening to Carson's story...

Spencer doing his cannon-ball off the shark net...Dale looking on in awe!

Chelsea...Spencer's proud wife!

Davis trying to get used the rather cold water

Carson playing in the sand

Avery getting ready to snorkel...

And Braden soaking up the beach!

Great day!