Jacob's First Day at "School"

So this is not really a school, but he LOVES calling it that. He feels like a big boy.

It is an awesome toy store (Entropy) that also holds weekly classes where the kids (in a small group) are led by a teacher in a welcome activity, art/craft, mid-morning tea (snack) and free play. He has made some play dough and a mug for daddy (yes, Justin got to celebrate Father's Day twice!!).

I love it because aside from being an activity for him, they have a lounge for the moms where we can chat, relax and have all the coffee (mostly cappuccinos) and tea to our hearts content.

Another plus is that it is within walking distance from home, so on our way back, we call Justin and meet him outside his office to walk home with us for lunch!

I have met some really nice moms there, including this girl from Colorado with whom we have gone to a play date with.

Right now the class is on "spring break" and will resume in a week. We are both excited for "his school" to begin again.

Our new hometown

Here we are, almost a month since arriving in Townsville.

We took a flight from Fiji to Brisbane, and then to Townsville. The kids again did awesome, including our long stay at the Brisbane airport. But once we got to the Townsville airport, both kids lost it, especially Jacob who had a massive meltdown while we waited for a large cab that could fit our things. I was trying to keep my cool until this horrible man ran and took the next large cab that we got in line for. That is when I wanted to join the kids in crying. It was late and we had been on airports and planes all day long.

The following day we headed over to the apartment to get our key and check out our new home. It is a nice fully furnished apartment on the second floor of a relatively new building. The one bummer is that we do not have a bath tub (oh how we quickly take for granted the things we have in the US), so I let Jacob play in the duck that I had purchased for Camilla. He loves it! Cute thing is that I have pictures of when he was a baby in a similar duck.

Anyways, we are within walking distance of pretty much everything: grocery store, library, town mall and most important, Justin's work, only a block and a half away. We have him home for lunch everyday. We are also within a small drive to the beach "The Strand", that has parks for kids, the water park (similar to the kiddie section at Roaring Springs, but free), and holds the first Friday of the month evening market.

There is not much to the town, but the one thing that has surprised us quite a bit is the cost of things. 5 bananas come close to $5 dollars!!!! So pretty much, I have been trying to keep to the budget that his company is giving us for groceries. We had to purchase a car since they do not lease cars like in the US and gas is super expensive, good thing that I walk everywhere with the kids in the stroller and use the car about 2 times a week at the most.

People are nice and helpful. At our first visit to the park I met this nice lady that gave me her number so I could go to a playdate with her at a local church. Slowly but surely we are settling in, including relaxing with the way things are done here. The one thing that drove me insane the first two weeks was the pace that people do things here. If it is not an emergency, then be prepared to wait. Our internet connection took 2 weeks after several calls and few tears (I needed to keep in touch with all of you!), and after a week, I am still waiting for the "Final Approval" from the property management office to order my cable. Might as well relax and enjoy the ride.

We have been trying to keep busy doing something fun every other day: library story and craft time, an art class, playdates, and walking to the grocery store to do our weeks shopping, church on Sundays and exploring the town on Saturdays.

One thing we sure have learned is to never take for granted what we have back home. You learn a lot being away from the comfort of home.

Fiji

Before I move on to our arrival, I had to write a bit a bout Fiji.

The airport was "interesting" and very humid at 5 am. We found a cab that packed all our things (our bags got all messed up during the first two flights) and drove us to the hotel (Radisson- we totally loved it!) without any seat belts on! It was an interesting and bit scary experience since they also drive on the other side of the road and a few times we thought that we would hit a car coming on the "wrong side" of the road (at least to us). But of course Jacob thought it was fun.

That's were he learned how to say hello in Fijian "Bula!". He thought it was the coolest thing ever, so as soon as he would see someone he would greet them that way.

Once at the hotel, we could not get a room that early, so we went exploring the hotel grounds and to the restaurant to have some breakfast. It was really fun to see Jacob using his camera and taking pictures of everything and everyone in site.

It was interesting to see how friendly and kind the natives are. The waitresses would come up to us and take the baby to show off to other staff and people at the restaurant. This happened every day! Jacob loved the attention but was scarred that he would loose sister. He had a blast at the pool, playing in the sand, making new Aussie and Kiwi (New Zealanders) friends. We also took the little "Bula Bus" to the port and got to see fire dancers. He snapped away with his camera and loved it sooooo much that he asked if we could buy him a Sulu (male dress wrap). Justin though it would be cute, so we got him one. He even wore it to dinner with a dress shirt and looked very cute. Camilla got the cuttest little dress that momma accesorized with a flower behind the ear :O)

We totally recommend Fiji. Even though we didn't leave the resort but to the port, we loved it. We hope to fly through there and stay a few days on our way back to the states.

G'Day Mates!

Sorry it has taken me sooooo long to post something, but it took us 2 weeks to get internet! You would think we are living in a third world country with the pace that they do things here.
We had amazing flights all the way. We were blessed with being able to stop and see my family at LAX for an hour before our flight to Fiji. It was hard for me to say goodbye since I know that there is not a real possibility for any of them to visit while we are here. The kids (especially Jacob) got a ton of stuff from my family to play with on the plane, including his favorite movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (we have seen it one too many times already. It might be going into hidding pretty soon).
The flight there was good. I got the kids in their jammies before we boarded and placed Camilla in the bassinet. After dinner Jacob settled down for the night and did not wake up til the next morning close to landing.

Our stay in Fiji was awesome. We got to relax and spend time as a family. Jacob got pretty comfy with the people there and greeted everyone by saying "Bula!" (hello in Fijian). He even got us to buy him a Sulu (male wrap) and wore it to dinner one night. Camilla had her share of fun, as all the girls at the restaurant at the hotel would grab her as soon as they saw us coming and would pass her around. Aside from the beach and pool, I think Jacob also loved the Bula Bus, a small bus that would drive you to the port and shops. We would LOVE to go back there when we head back to the states.

After three fun days, we headed off to our new town. We flew from Fiji to Brisbane and from there to Townsville. We got in late and this is the one time that poor Jacob had a massive meltdown, other than that, the kids did awesome.

Well, I will be posting the next part of our arrival to Oz. We sure miss you all!
Please keep us in your prayers.

Ready, get set, GO!

OK, so I have finally joined the blogging family. I think this will be an awesome way to share our adventures with all of you. So here we go...

As you all know,we are leaving Boise on Monday, August 18 to live in Townsville, Australia for a year. So far we have already purchased our tickets: Boise to L.A., where we will have a couple of hours to see my family and have dinner with them at the airport. L.A. to Fiji (yes, aren't we blessed!) where we will spend three days enjoying the beach and relax a bit before settling down in Townsville. Then Fiji to Brisbane, Brisbane to Townsville!!!
We also have a fully furnished apartment waiting for us there, so all we need to bring (literally) are our clothes and our toiletries :O)

We will really miss all of you and even though we haven't left yet, we are really looking forward to coming back and settling down definitely (I hope!) in Boise.