Hello Swamp Monster...

 January means...bloody hot!  And those are the times we have LOVED LOVED LOVED having our little
 escape in the backyard.  We got a lot of use out of our pool this summer.  We had some intense family basketball games, volleyball games and marco polo sessions!  And after Parker and Lex would come home from a jog, or doing an Insanity exercise video, they'd just run and dive into the pool for a good rinse!

 In fact, sometimes it was just so hot that the kids didn't have time to put their togs on.  It was all they could do to just strip their clothes off and dive in in their undies before they melted!  We couldn't stop Oaks diving in no matter what she was wearing, so we started feeling pretty good when she'd at least leave her clothes on the side before taking the plunge.  Park taught the girls swimming lessons and he did an awesome job.  Oaklee is our fish.  She loves swimming the length of the pool, diving to the bottom to collect dive toys, working on her backstroke and practicing her kicking on the boogie boards.

 Birdy loves using the boogie boards, even if she doesn't manage to stay on them.

But while lots of heat means lots of pool time...lots of pool time means lots of chlorine!  And our poor little blondie turned into a bit of a greenie.  Her locks took on such a green hue, we thought she'd been turned into a swamp monster!

We tried lots of things to get the green out and this little google trick seemed to work.  Although it looks like a scene from a Steven King movie-- it's just a good old fashioned tomato paste conditioner.  She got to sit with this goop on her hair for 30 minutes.  And yes, it seemed to get most of the green out-- but Syd's not felt the same toward spaghetti ever since :)


The Joys of Summer!

First Day of School in 2014!

 It is so weird to start the school year in January, just after the Christmas holidays.  So my kids went to half of year 2 and 4 and in January started years 3 and 5.  When we move back to the states they will start years 3 and 5 again on the same schedule as the states.  Weird!  But aside from that little hiccup, we have loved this school.  Yeronga State School has been a great place for us!

 Here they are ready to start the new school year in their spiffy uniforms.

 Don't forget your wide-brimmed hat!  You can't play outside without it, the sun is too intense.  Especially in this January heat!!!!  And no air conditioning in the classrooms.  Thank heavens they are raised and built on stilts like true Queenslander homes, so they get better air flow.  But still...not enough!  Hot, hot, hot!

Yeronga does a lot of really great things in their school and curriculum.  My kids have loved sporting teams, swim lessons during school PE time, choir, band, German class and computer programming clubs.  One of the cool events observed in Australia is a holiday called ANZAC Day.  Similar to Veterans Day in the states.  Our school makes a really big deal of it, and it was an awesome ceremony.   All the kids bring flowers and attend an outdoor assembly.

 They honor serviceman and tell the account of Australia and the wars she has faced.  They raise the flag, sing the national anthem and invite honored guests from the community to present flowers at the school ANZAC memorial.  At the end, the crowd rises again and sings the New Zealand anthem.  Really cool.

Across the road from the school is a park called Memorial Park and it is lined with trees that servicemen's families have purchased in memory of fallen soldiers.  Each tree was planted by that soldier's family and has a plaque by it stating his or her name and lifespan.  Each class is assigned a tree.  They surround the tree while the national anthem is played and sit in silence offering thanks for the sacrifices of the veterans.

 Then as the song ends, each student places flowers at the trees base in memory of those past.

It was such a neat way to help the students connect to those people that have sacrificed so much for the blessings we all enjoy today.  I'm glad our school goes to such lengths to support that.  I love that in Australia.  Holidays are celebrated full on.  No one is ashamed to sing the anthem, wave the flag or show their pride in being Australian.  Being a part of the celebration, made me proud of those American soldiers and their families that sacrifice so much...even their lives so that I can live free in America, and enjoy all the freedoms we have been blessed with.  While I really like listening to all those voices singing the Australian anthem, I am still thinking of the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air and our American flag still waving above it all--inspiring us to keep moving forward and fighting for those freedoms that our so dear.

This is Syd's second grade class, but I thought it was really cute with all the uniforms and I love how it shows the stairs leading up to the classrooms.  Under the classrooms where the stilts are holding up the structure, is the eating area with sinks, fountains and benches for the kids to sit and enjoy morning and afternoon tea!
We love Yeronga State School!

No Guts No Glory, Baby! It's the Spartan Race!

We love trying new things and having a go at some adventure!  There are lots of races here that are obstacle course, mud-run type events.  Most are for adults but we came across one that was listed for kids ages 5 to 13.  The kiddos wanted to give it a go!  And we decided little Oaks would be 5 for the day and honestly...couldn't have been talked out of it anyway! :)

We got to the race about a half hour early so we could find the beginning line and check out the course.  The kids got their numbers and we were set to rock.

The older kids ran the course first ages 10 to 13.  It wasn't so much as a race as just an obstacle course to finish because some of the obstacles required you waiting in line for your turn, ie; carrying 10 pound bags of sand up the hill etc.  Park took off and began his course.

The girls were in the younger division.  We were told we could run with Oaklee if we thought she needed it.  She assured us she did not!

Here comes Park toward the finish line!

And here's Birdy!  Finishing toward the top of her division.

Oaks did awesome.  She was so proud to run that last stretch.  She seemed to get faster the closer she got!  Spurred on by the attention, I'm sure!

Once they crossed, all the contestants got Spartan medals of completion.  It was a really fun day and a cool experience for the kids.  It was tough and they just pushed through.

Park enjoyed it so much, he ran the course again and then again.  He found Oaks along the way finishing her second trip around.  He was a great coach!

Over the hurdles and through the tunnels....

Go Birdy!
You got this Oakers

The last bit of the course was through a muddy sprinkler area.  It was a nice way to finish.  Feeling strong and mighty!  I am so proud of my kids for doing this.  It makes me happy that they like to challenge themselves and work hard and sweat to accomplish things.  I was excited to see them take off on the course and so proud to see them finish.  I hope they never lose that kind of drive.  It's one of the things I love about our family.  They never give up!

Park ended up running the course 4 times and Syd 3 and Oaks twice.

Proud of our medals!

Sydney came in 2nd in her age group.  Not bad against a bunch of crazy boys!  No one was actually keeping track except Birdy herself, of course :)







So pumped for all 3 of my Spartans!

On the way home we had to pause and snap a picture of a very common sign in Brissy, but one we will miss when we leave.  Watch out for koalas crossing!  They won't stop, even for a Spartan!

Vaca to Hippyville or Byron Bay as Some Call It :)

We took a weekend trip to a little place called Byron Bay!  It was highly recommended by some of our friends here and let me just say...it deserved it's high accolades. We had a blast at Byron.


This place is my kinda weekend getaway!  It's a TOTAL HIPPY TOWN.  This is the sign that greets all the cars coming into town.  Chill out...peace baby.

The town has tons of little shops and cafes, bakeries, and awesome beaches.

You get really sucked into the hippy vibe with all the shops selling incense, auro beads and rainbow...everything.


We saw lots of rainbow painted vans.  My kids kept noticing that people were actually LIVING in the vans.  They were carpeted inside and equipped with a little kitchenette.  Yah, they were living in their tie-dyed rainbow vans....ah, the life of the flower children.

There are sooo many dreadlocks in Byron Bay that you almost feel like you simply don't fit in without them.  I love visiting a place where hair washing is completely optional.  I didn't feel the least bit funny about my long lapses of time between hair washes.  I guess I'm a bit of a hippy at heart and hair!

We loved listening to and watching all the street acts along the roads.  Everyone was looking to make a buck (some gold coin donations) for their spot of talent.  A lot of Simon and Garfunkle drifting on the breezes.  It was awesome.

This guy was a bit of a jack of all trades.  He kept pulling new tricks out of his rainbow van hoping to keep a captive audience.  Here he is balancing a spoon on his nose.  He wowed us with this after he fell off his unicycle....awk-ward!  I thought his outfit alone was a spot of talent.  Who can get away with pants like that?  It takes some talent folks!

They have tons of really fun little shops with great toys and kid furniture that people hand craft.  The girls wanted to take home this fancy table and chairs.  Just right for a spot of tea!

We stayed in a hotel while in Byron, but man there is a lot of "camping out".  I loved this sign.  If you could visit Byron Bay, you would concur with the city council that a sign like this is necessary.  Sometimes people just need to be reminded to find a camp site or at least curl up together with your comune in a field somewhere, but move off the streets please :)

We found an awesome park that hosted an Artisan Market.  The trees were so much fun to play in, but the booths at the market were even better.  They ranged everywhere from "Removal of cellular waves from your mobile phones that are damaging your bio-auro" to crystals of all shapes and sizes...to some seriously awesome wood working booths, beautiful jewlery and of course...incredible food!!

One of the exciting places we visited at Byron Bay was the lighthouse.  We hiked up a fun little trail, saw sea turtles, whales and dolphins along the way and loved our tour of the lighthouse.

They have the area set up so that tourists can walk through the old, original lighthouse keeper home and see how lighthouses used to function before electricity etc.  It was so awesome.

The view was amazing.  The bay was full of dolphins.  It was so fun watching them.

We took a tour of the lighthouse (yes, once again, I'm nerdy...and I make my children take tours and force them to do "boring" educational things even while on a vacation).  And...I LOVED IT.  It was so interesting learning about lighthouses.  How they work now and how they used to work.  We got to climb the winding staircase all the way up to the top.

And look at this tour guide???  Who wouldn't want a tour of a light house with him?  Just one look and I was completely convinced that everything he said was absolute lighthouse gospel.  He looks exactly like what I'd picture a lighthouse worker to look.  His face was sun and wind tanned, his chin a little whiskery with white and grey stubble and his smile was beaming with the pride of his profession.  He loved this lighthouse.  It was fun listening to him rattle off facts.  I kept asking questions, just because I could tell he loved answering them.  So cute!

When we left the lighthouse we walked down to this lookout and as the sign indicates, it was the most easterly point of the Aussie mainland.  Look at that ocean....it goes on forever!

We had some really yummy food at Byron.  Crazy Aussie burgers, with fried egg, beetroot, and pineapple.  Burgers you can't even fit in your mouth!  We also ate some awesome fish and some incredible Indian food at the market. The Samosa was fabu!  Oh how I love me some good fair food!

One of the booths we passed was just a "Snuggle with the bunnies for a Gold Coin"  A "gold coin" in Aussie is a 1 or 2 dollar coin.  It's such a small little round disk, you end up tossing them around like pennies.  And when Oaklee looks for "pennies" in the grocery store parking lot, she'll often find a $2 coin...not bad for a lucky find.  Once again, you'll notice Oaks...laying on an animal.  This girl!  What am I going to do with her?  No fear.  She just snuggles them nearly to death.  Love her.

This was our hotel/apartment.  The view off the patio was beautiful.  It's hard to see in the pic but the ocean was right across the street.

In the hotel room!

We loved the beaches at Byron.  I wanted to snap this one with the lighthouse behind her.  Also...her swimsuit that has completely lost it's elasticity.  Thanks Old Navy...we got some good use out of your $10 suit.

These are the moments I will miss the very most when we leave Australia.  I love sitting on the beach watching my kids play together.  They have gotten really close over here.  I hope so much that they never lose that friendship.  It is so fun watching them on the beach.  The beach is the perfect day of fun for everyone.  No one gets bored, there's always something to do.  Whether it's in the water or in the sand!

These 2 are besties. I will often find them sitting like this, arms around each other.  They look out for each other so much.  And together they pretty much worship their older brother.  I can't help myself, I love them to pieces.  So I get a little camera happy seeing them.  Can you blame me?  Look at those beauties!

Sandy toes...happy hearts!  Notice my toe nails...lots of different colors.  I visit "The Shiny Spa" here.  It's a little spa run by Birdy and Oaks.  They do everything from nails to massages and always include a little tea time.  My toes always come out in a variety of colors and patterns.  MMMmmmmm I love a good trip to the Shiny Spa!

The girlies!

Ok, Oaks just LOVES the beach.  She goes out to jump waves with Park or Daddy, and boogie boards with mom and dad riding with her, but what she loves the most is the sand.  She builds, digs, digs some more, makes sand angels and then just does lots of this...lounging out. Getting sand out of her hair the next day or week...is quite a chore.  But it's worth it!  Look at that tan little beach baby!

"Did you see me ride that last wave all the way in?  No wave too big, no jellyfish sting too small!"  Park is becoming our boogie boarding master!

Park and Syd set up a perfect lounge area with boogie board shade.

Lex enjoying the beach tent.

We went on an awesome hike in the mountains around Byron.  On the way we passed over Parker's Bridge.  Having a bridge built for you is sometimes overrated...but it's worth a picture on the blog, I suppose :)

We saw some cool animals on the hike.  Here's an enormous frog.  We also saw a huge python crossing the road in front of our car.

I missed some of the front of him trying to get my camera out and snapping.  But yah...it was big!

This hike was along a creek.  The goal was a great big waterfall.  It was really pretty along the creek beds.  But we did end up with a couple water leaches.  Yummy.

The view at the end was spectacular.  Although the waterfall was nearly dried up, the cliffs were incredible.

Oh...please never let it get old to take your 2 little sisters by the hand and show them a huge ocean freighter!!!  Parker is a pretty awesome big brother.  Love that kid so much!

Syd has created a "family sign" for us.  She came up with this, by accident.  She was trying to sign I love You as she was quickly waving to me at school drop off but couldn't get her other finger to bend down.  This was the result.  She decided it means, "It's great to be an Allen!"  I kinda loved it, so we went with it.  Now we have to make both signs at drop off and apparently at other picture moments as well :)

Go Birdy...and yes, she cleared it!  (Seriously those leg muscles? She kills me.  I swear I've never had muscles like that!)

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...Oi, Oi, Oi!


Love these 3 kiddos!  And I love how they love each other. We had such a blast on our trip to Byron Bay!
We definitely CHEERED UP, SLOWED DOWN AND CHILLED OUT!