Fiji

Bula Bula!

Greetings from Fiji.
Fun facts:
-there are 300 islands in Fiji
-Fiji is not a third world country but....pretty close
-Those who live there are either Fijian or Indian
and
the fruit is delicious.

Romney loves to sail!
He was so happy with the chance to sail on our
man made island; Denaru.

We could NOT get over how the water felt like warm bath water.

We took a charter boat out to one of the islands in Fiji;
Bounty Island.

On Bounty Island we....

...snorkeled,

and saw BLUE star fish
(awesomely clear water)

and fun colorful fish.

We had a blast kayaking,

they were glass bottom kayaks at that.

we ended up Scuba Diving there too but our under water camera battery died.
We were super bummed.

On our last day we went to the Hindu Temple.

And our taxi cab driver gave us a little tour and showed us around
and explained different things.
Kinda cool.

(We were not allowed to wear shoes)

Fiji was A W E S O M E!
The weather was F A N T A S T I C!
The water was G O R G E O U S!
and the people were L O V E L Y!

til we meet again Fiji,
til we meet again!

Cairns, Australia

It's pronounced CANS.
Cairns is kind of like our Hawaii.
The scene was fantastic
and their accent
is fun!

One day we walked through the ManGroves.
We were the only ones there and we could hear the mud bubbles popping throughout our walk. It sounded like someone was taking an ax to a tree or maybe even the echo of a hammer hitting nails.

Another day we drove up the coast.
This was our view as we made our way to....

...the CROC farm.
This stop was by far the coolest place.
We learned so much about this interesting creature. They are dangerous and scary and the Australian People take CROCs very seriously.

After the croc farm we walked through the rain forest. We stayed a little too long cause the sun went down and we (I) needed to run back to the car.
Bats were flying and frogs were jumping.
Nasty.

BUT...
Our main reasons for Cairns was to SCUBA DIVE
the Great Barrier Reef.

We went down 60 feet.

The water was warm.

The water was so clear, we could see our boat from 60 feet under.

There were interesting things growing.

It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.

I was terrified to do this. But I knew I would regret not doing it.
We did 3 dives and each one got better.
V e r y C o o l ! ! !
I was freaked out that some Great White Shark would come eat us. But we learned that the water there is too warm, and Great Whites live down in Southern Australia where it's colder.
Once we got down there I forgot I was even scared of sharks.

We had a great time in Cairns.
It was beautiful!

Now off to Fiji!

Sydney, Australia

First stop:
Sydney, Australia.

Sydney is fast pace with busy bodies.
We enjoyed the harbor every day and every night.
We took a boat ride through this awesome body of water.
It was pretty magical.

The harbor bridge ended up being our favorite.

Three weeks out of the year Sydney has light shows on different buildings.
The streets are full of music and entertainment just to celebrate "Sydney."

We didn't really think we'd be that impressed by the Opera House.
WRONG.
Obsessed is more like it.
It was fun to see the sails lit up during their annual light show.

Once we got enough of the city life we headed up to Jamison Valley.
On the way we stopped by the Animal Park where we fed
Kangaroos and Wallabies.
It was kind of gross but kind of cool.

After our little stop with the animals we finally got to our destination.
Our main reason for this day trip was to see the
"three sisters."
We were devastated when we arrived.
We couldn't see a darn thing!
We were so bummed that we weren't going to see the famous SISTERS.

We decided we'd grab lunch and see if the fog would clear.
Within an hour the clouds started to break.

And we were able to see those sisters.
Do you see the three peeks in the back?...There they are.

We were able to ride the steepest railway through the valley once the sun came out.
We were so happy mother nature did her job!

We were so glad that we waited for the sun.
It was worth the wait!
It was just a fabulous day!
There is more to Australia than a harbor, and we didn't even touch the surface of what it has to offer.

Were off to Cairns, Australia where we will scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.

a little trip

While we are working on our pictures
you can guess where we just got back from....

hint: P. Sherman Wallaby Way

puppy school

Magnus graduated Doggy school.
We signed him up at Petco...where the pets go.

He can sit, lay, stay, wait, come...

all for a treat!
He is getting better by the day.
He will be attending the next doggy class...
How cool would he be if he were a therapy dog?
We think he'd be pretty cool if he could go to hospitals or schools to help!
Everyone already loves him and he LOVES everyone, may as well put it to good use.

Diving

Romney really wanted to get scuba dive certified for our upcoming vacation.
I truly had NO interest in it.
The thought of being in the water with sharks...no thank you.
But, I hesitantly said I would certify with him anyway.
Crazy?
Y E S !

We took classes through Sports Chalet.
After the classroom portion we hit their pool.

We stayed in the shallow end the first half of the pool session.

Once we were comfortable at 5 feet we made our way to 15 feet,
and practiced equalizing our ears, and mastered our boyency.
We worked on our breathing and clearing our masks over and over.
We went over every worst case scenario underwater.
We know what to do if we run out of air, hand signals to communicate etc...

After a few pool sessions we had to pass thee final test....
THE OPEN OCEAN.
(This is our class. We are on the right, the middle man is our teacher, on the left is our step bro and sis in law)

Of coarse our ocean dive was a cold day and the sun didn't want to make her debut.
But we got it done.

It was freezing and I am grateful for wetsuits, hoods and gloves.
They really make a difference.
Phew, we lived and I don't have to think about it until our vacation...in a few weeks.
Gulp.
Now we are certified divers!

Ireland

Oh my busy!
Is anyone out there?
Life has been incredibly busy with adoption papers, girls camp, and preschool.
But I am here, to get caught up.

As stated before...we were able to go to Ireland for our Spring Break.
We flew in to Dublin and made our way west.
We rented a car, and drove on the wrong side of road....with NARROW roads.
Scary, I tell ya.
Our favorite little town was DINGLE.
Isn't that a fun word? Dingle.

We loved going to pubs at night to listen to traditional Irish music.

We were able to see castles.
Some were fully intact others were barely hangin on.

Ireland is full of SHEEP!

The bright blue sky and green grass was BEAUTIFUL!

We loved that we brought our rain jackets.
We wore them almost everyday.

We tried different cheese at the cheese shop

... we even tried seaweed cheese....
and liked it.

The fog rolled in, but that didn't stop us from walking
through a farmers pasture to the beehive huts.

These huts were the ancient Irish homes dating back to 3000B.C.

Somedays we're cold and super foggy

and some were warmer with gorgeous colors.

We have so many memories that make us laugh, quote,
smile, and want to return.

It was so different than our other busy Europe trips.
We loved the slower pace and country side.
Ireland is highly recommend!
The green N E V E R got old.