Queensland and Crocs

Less than 24 hours after my parents arrived, we made them get back on a plane and headed to Cairns, Queensland. We rented a beach cottage in Clifton beach and spent the week exploring and seeing some of Australia's most amazing inhabitants and habitats!

First stop...Hartley's Crocodile Farm. What trip to Queensland would be complete without a visit to a croc farm? Here the kids were petting a baby crocodile with his mouth taped shut.

Grandma and Grandpa were armed with their cameras! There were about 50 crocs in the swamp below!

The highlight of the visit was the croc show where a guy tried to be the crocodile hunter...we miss you Steve Irwin!

We took a river boat cruise where Duncan, our boat captain, fed the croc off the side of the boat.

When their jaws snap together they making a loud popping sound...it is quite scary!

This croc's name was Betty.

Bye, bye crocs! I hope I never run into you in the wild!

First Visit

Our first official house guests arrived on April 6! We were so excited for Grandma and Grandpa Pool to visit! They brought an entire suitcase of American items we were missing here! It was like Christmas!

In front of the Harbour Bridge from Circular Quay

Aboard the Manly ferry heading to the city

Birthday #3

Luckily, birthday boy #3 didn't request a party but opted for his "favorite" breakfast! So, Garrett got busy cooking up some of his famous french crepes while we cut up fruit, whipped the cream and went to town! Later that night, he had a little chocolate cake and even got to blow out a candle! After birthday's #1 and #2, I was so glad for a low key day! We had a great time and I think all the birthdays were happy ones!

Birthday #2

I remember when I was pregnant with the Avery and Carson contemplating the possibility of "2" of everything...I never thought I would go there with 2 parties, but I did and I pulled it off in 1 day! So after the pink cupcake party we shifted gears to a "Movie Night" party for the boys. Avery's party only had 8 little girls, but Carson's had 15 boys! We watched the 3rd Narnia movie and provided popcorn and heaps of "lollies" and soda! I am sure the parents all loved getting their boys home at 9 PM full of sugar! It was a great night and Carson had a fabulous birthday!

Using a bit of Powerpoint and an idea I found online, I came up with this movie ticket invite.

Down with the pom poms and pink...up with the movie screen and red!

Popcorn cupcakes made with yellow and white marshmallos!

Serving up hot dogs, chips, and cupcakes and ice cream in little cups for 15 boys!

The treat table before it was attacked! Each boy had a popcorn box and lolly bag with their name on it so there was no confusion of who's was who's!

The boys loved the movie and were so good to sit and watch!

This is when the sugar started kicking in!

Movie almost over...

And if they hadn't had enough sugar...they got to fill up their goodie bags with more!

Clean up!

Birthday #1

For the last few years, Avery has been begging and pleading for a birthday party. We hadn't done one in a while. You see, it can be a bit of challenge for parties around birthday time because we have 3 birthdays within 2 days of each other. Not to mention, Brigette's birthday is 2 weeks before, Easter is after that, our anniversary, then Garrett's birthday at the end of April. It just ends up being a crazy time for us! The birthday month also usually falls around the time of spring break or school holidays, as it did this year, so we often take the opportunity to travel, hence no time for birthday bashes. But if I am being completely honest, I am not a fan of parties. Probably due to the fact that I like to to go all out. I figure if we are going to have a party, let's PARTY! Then after it is all said and done, I am usually exhausted, have spent way too much money, and have had to hear a whole lot of complaining from kids. But, this year we decided that it was Avery and Carson turn for a party. In their early years it was easy to get away with combining parties, but not this year...so here is party number 1!

Avery was very specific on what kind of party she wanted, so it made my job mostly easy. Avery helped me make the invitations for her Cupcake party and was so happy how they turned out!

She wanted to hang heaps of pom poms everywhere, but after spending a fair amount of time making them, she settled for 10!

Here is the set-up awaiting our party guests...

The 1st activity was making a cupcake cookbook...

All the party guests busy making their cookbooks!

Next, each guest got to decorate a cupcake. I am not sure how much actually went on the cupcake versus in their mouths!

For lunch we served chicken and egg salad sandwiches with fruit kabobs and raspberry lemonade spider floats.

Avery found a picture of these adorable bird nest cupcakes and knew she had to have them at her party.

The birthday girl thinking of her wish!

The party girls got to take home their cupcakes in these little boxes along with their cookbooks, aprons, little spatula and wisks.

And what party wouldn't be complete without a little wii Just Dance and some blue sparkley shorts!

Hiding

Unlike this not-so-small spider we discovered hiding under our deck stairs, I have not been hiding! We have been crazy busy the last few months with birthday parties, Grandma and Grandpa, new callings, and holidays! Boy do I have a whole lot to catch up on!

Swimming Carnival

The second of week of the new school year, Avery, Carson, and Braden got to experience their first Aussie Swimming Carnival! And for that matter, we all got to experience just how much the Aussie's love to swim! Each school hosts their carnival at the beginning of the year and then the top swimmers move on to compete in regional carnivals. They were a bit intimidated because they had never swam in a competition setting. And let's not forget that the boys weren't all that excited to put on a "speedo!" But, at the end of the day, they had all had a blast and were begging to join a swim team! I was so proud of all of them for swimming their absolute best and even walking away with a few ribbons!

Carson's 1st Cubing Competition

The boys headed down to Melbourne again for another Rubiks competition. This time Carson went along and competed in his first ever cubing competition. They had a great weekend together and here are some of the highlights...

Carson solving...Feliks Zemdegs (the WR holder) is solving in the background

This is the oldest person at the competition alongside the youngest!

Waking up and looking out the window in downtown Melbourne

Solving on the train on the way to the competition

Braden just finishing his solve

So here is the rundown...

Braden's best times

3x3 - 20.71

2x2 - 5.65

4x4 - 1:55

5x5 - 3:57

one-handed 3x3 - 1:03

pyraminx 14.55

Braden's official results and ranking can be found here at World Cube Association.

Carson's best times

3x3 - 39.84

2x2 - 13.27

Carson's official results and rankings can also be found here. Carson was especially excited because he had set a goal to have all his solves under 1 minute and he did just that!

Here is a video of Carson and Braden...

Here's another video of Braden at the Melbourne Summer Open...

Until yesterday, Braden's fastest time was 15.31, which can be seen here...

However, his new PB (personal best) is 12.81! It was approximately 1 year ago that Braden picked up Miles' (his friend from across the street that we miss so much!) Rubiks cube and learned to solve it by watching a tutorial online. It took him about 30 minutes. Then, I remember blogging about his first solve under 2 minutes last year! To think he can solve it in less then 15 seconds is crazy! And now, Carson has joined in and figured out how to solve it in less than a minute! I wake up every morning to the sound of cubes turning and slamming to the table!

Try-a-Dive

Braden has loved snorkeling around the beaches, which has peaked his interest in scuba diving. However, he is not quite old enough to get certified, something he reminds of his irritation often! I did some researching and found out that at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Center they offer a try-a-dive for kids ages 8-12. So we decided to give it a try! He thought it was pretty cool, but it didn't stop his complaining about the fact that he is not old enough to officially certify!