Christmas came early

Jamie wrote a letter (drew pictures) to Santa asking for a new red bike, a purple dump truck and a red excavator.  Since Santa has so much on his plate trying to get ready for Christmas, he asked Gran and Grump to help out.

Today when Jamie woke up from his nap there was a shiny red bike waiting outside his door.  He was so excited!

I think his brothers were having just as much fun watching and playing outside...

Halloween 2011

Once again, my amazing friend Jane, created these spectacular costumes for my boys.  We were able to go to the JDFPG Halloween Party on Saturday.  Unfortunately Ian was TDY, so I wasn't able to get too many pictures.  I'll try and get some from other folks who were there, but it was still a great time.

Halloween was a crazy day that included a drive out to Ayers Rock to pick up Ian from the airport there due to the Qantas shutdown.  However, our good friends made sure we were all fed and kids dressed up, so we were able to start handing out candy right away.  (Excuse me, lollies.)  Unfortunately, it was POURING down rain and I couldn't convince ANYONE to go trick or treating.  Instead, they all hung out in the garage with me and passed out candy.  They were still super cute!

New Zealand

During the first week of August, the last week of Jennifer's visit, we left the kids with Ian and flew off to Auckland, North Island, New Zealand.  It was a whirlwind tour, but we had an amazing time.  We arrived late at night, so we headed out first thing in the morning to drive to our first "destination" Rotorua.    We took the "scenic" route (in quotes, because I'm sure everything there would've been scenic) and really just followed signs and used a map and didn't have a set plan.

Along the way, one of the first places we saw was Karangahake.

The views here were positively breathtaking.  Unfortunately, it was getting late, so we couldn't do as long a walk as we would've liked.  We had a Maori experience to get to ...  For dinner, we went to a Maori village that has a replica of how early Maori tribes would've lived.  We got to walk through and ask questions, watch dancing and have a traditional meal, a Hangi.  

The traditional greeting at the entry to the village.

Bringing the Hangi out of the ground.

Traditional dancing.

Part of a Haka - the intimidating face.

On our way to our next destination (Lake Taupo), we detoured to Orakei Korako.  http://www.orakeikorako.co.nz/

Lake Ohakuri

Rainbow Terrace

 I thought the ferns mixed in with the pine trees, the hot springs and the cold temperatures was such a juxtaposition.  You can really see them in the picture of Jennifer.

Jennifer

Rainbow Valley

 At the Huka Falls, the Waikato River which is normally 100m wide, is squeezed through a 20 metre wide gorge and over a 20m drop. Every second up to 220,000 litres of water gushes through the gorge and shoots out over 8 metres beyond to create a beautiful blue/green pool.

The name Huka is the Maori word for 'foam', which is appropriate as the falling water and rapids certainly resembles foam, especially under flooding conditions.

Huka Falls

Craters of the Moon ('karapiti') is an active geothermal field. The terrain is filled with exposed steam vents and is constantly shifting, collapsing and reforming, giving an uninhabited appearance. Thermal mud pools bubble away and plants not normally native to the area thrive in this hot and partly noxious environment.

Craters of the Moon

Lake Taupo with Tongariro and Ngauruhoe Mountains in the background.

Our B&B - note the last statement :)

The B&B was gorgeous and it was at the highest point in Waitomo.  Hence the steep driveway.  We had one of our best meals at restaurant called HuHu, if you're ever in Waitomo do the caves and have dinner at HuHu and sleep at Abseil Inn. 

We spent our last full day in Auckland doing some Genealogy on Bidlakes and sightseeing with my friend, Ed.  (Another American living over on this side of the world for a few years.)  

Looking down into Mt. Eden (old volcano)  

 View of Auckland from the top of Mt Eden.

Henley on Todd Regatta

Held in the centre of Australia in Alice Springs, this event can motivate the most mature, conservative business people into the roles of "Vikings" and "Pirates" crewing battle boats bristling with mortars and high pressure water cannons.

In 1962, Reg Smith and his compatriots at the Alice Springs Meteorological Bureau proposed they hold an actual regatta along the lines of the famous Henley-on-Thames, a race between Cambridge and Oxford Universities. The idea was taken up by the Rotary club of Alice Springs and the fact that the town was 1,500 km from the nearest large body of water was never seen as a problem.

Watching seemingly sane people race in bottomless "eights", "oxford tubs", "bath tubs" and yachts through the deep coarse sand of the Todd River provides a unique spectacle amongst world sporting events. The multi-event program attracts many local and international participants from the audience who often finish up on world TV news, paddling canoes with sand shovels and in "land lubber" events like filling empty 44 gallon drums with sand. This year's Henley-on-Todd Regatta was the 50th running, which is pretty remarkable considering it is an entirely volunteer run fundraising event.  Somehow, Ian got commandeered into racing in the Australian Cup, which is an invitational race between the site Americans and Australians.  It is purely for bragging rights which have been held by the Australians for the last few years.  However, it was the last race of the day, so in the meantime, Ian got to run in a 4 man "kayak" race, an 8 man "Maxi Yacht" race, a tug o war all this before the Cup.

Some other events included 2 man "cycling" - think a man in a giant gerbil wheel on the sand.  They run to one end, switch off runners and run back; "rowing" - using a shovel to propel themselves along a track in the sand on a dolly; and "skiing".

Enjoy a few pictures from the day. 

The Parade

The team with the boat

Just a little humor referencing the myths about site

The Events

4-man sand "skiing"

Got a medal for winning this one!

Tug o war (didn't win)

Catching up - gonna win!

Falling - gonna lose. :(

The Australian Cup

The Start

After the turn

Coming to the finish line

The Winners - Go USA!!

Jamie is so proud of his Daddy!

The Battle of the Boats

The end of the Regatta is noted by the Battle of the Boats.  Each of the three Rotary Clubs in the area (Alice Springs, Stuart and Tennant Creek) that join together to host this event, stage a mock battle at the end.  Water guns, flour cannons and 12 man boats on ATV make for a hilarious end to the day.  Especially, when one of the drivers runs over the fence...

Hair Raising...

Braden

 OK, not really.  Aunt Jen came to visit, so we got to do lots of fun things.  This was Braden bouncing on the trampoline at Amie's house.

Red Centre

 One evening, some folks from site arranged a sunset picnic/bonfire.  The vista are spectacular and we got treated an unparalleled view of the Milky Way. 

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The little boys holding hands on the way home.  Braden is actually laughing, even though it doesn't quite look like it. 

Dingo (yes really)

Lake Amadeus (large salt pan)

Aunt Jen @ The Olgas (Kata Tjuta)

Braden and the Wallaby

I'll let Aunt Jen explain the cast...