Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful city with a ton to do and we only had 2 days to do it! The first day we took a ferry to Circular Quay which had absolutely gorgeous views of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

We then took a ferry to Taranga Zoo which takes you on kind of a ski lift up to the top of the park and the ride is beautiful, you can see so much of the city.

The second day we went to the Aquarium at Darling Harbour and then it was off to Adelaide to see Grandma and Grandpa Quinn!

We Made It!

And I am happy to report that there is very little to report about the plane trips. The kids were absolute angels (I don’t like saying that out loud because I feel like I’m going to jinx our return)! On our longest flight, the one from LA to Sydney, the plane sat on the tarmac for 2 hours while they fixed some problem with the satellite. They made everyone de-board because the temperature was getting too high in the cabin but our kids had already fallen asleep and it was 2:00 AM Michigan time. When the stewardess approached Shawn about getting off he was like “we’re not getting off this plane.” She actually went and got permission for us to stay on which was very nice considering the fact that they made every other person on the whole plane return to the terminal. I tried really hard to not let the fact that this turned our 14 hour flight into a 16 hour flight bug me; in the end things could have really been far worse. Ben only had screaming fits a couple times but the great thing is that he had kind of lost his voice due to a cold/cough which he had recovered from right before the trip so his scream was little more than hollow air. Who knew that Ben losing his voice would be such a blessing?

The only other memorable moment related to the flight was when we finally got to Sydney. The first thing I was ready for was a shower! As soon as we got to our hotel I hopped in and that’s when I saw my ankles; actually I didn’t see my ankles at all which completely freaked me out! I guess I didn’t walk enough or drink enough water but my ankles were seriously swollen. I’m happy to report that my ankles returned after a good nights’ sleep…phew!

On a Journey to the Outback

All right, maybe not on a journey, I just thought that sounded adventurous! We are leaving in the morning for a 3 1/2 week vacation in Australia where both Shawn's parents and my parents are serving missions. We are super excited, but a little nervous for the 20 + hours of plane time as well as the 13 1/2 hour time difference with 2 small kids. I'm going to try to post at least once a week so I have a good record of our trip. Wish us luck!

Happy Birthday Ben!

It is hard to believe that 1 year ago today Ben was born. That day we experienced an incredible range of emotions as a family and I love this picture because it was taken about 2 seconds after we first laid eyes on him and you can see so many of those things. Great happiness, tears of joy, emotional exhaustion...

Ben has been such an incredible blessing in our lives. He has brought so much joy into our home with his easy going personality, as well as his easy smile. I always call Ben my little puppy because when someone he loves walks into a room he gets soooo excited! He breaks into a big grin and if he's REAL happy to see you his whole body will shake. Whenever I walk into his room to get him in the morning or after his nap I know he's going to be sitting up waiting with a BIG smile for me under the little binkie that very seldom leaves his mouth.

Here are a few things I want to remember:

• Right now Ben's favorite things are toilets, faucets, lights, clocks and candlesticks
• One of his favorite things to do is get me or dad to pick him up and then direct us through the house by pointing his finger at different objects and saying "dis" or "dat" which we're pretty sure means "what's this?" and "what's that?"
• When Ben gets tired he says "nigh, nigh, nigh, nigh!" which means "night, night!"
• He says "dada" way more than "mama" but says mama when he's upset.
• When he's feeling well there's nothing in the world that excites him more than food and fortunately he's not a picky eater.
• Ben follows Keely around and wants to do everything she's doing but doesn't quite get that what he's really doing is just messing her stuff up. Fortunately Keely's pretty patient with Ben!
• He has the best smile and the best laugh in the world!

Happy Birthday baby, we love you and can't imagine this world without you!

Michigan Spring

For those of you that are enjoying 70 degree weather this is what Keely and I did yesterday. Oh yeah, and the fun's not over yet; there's more snow on the way tomorrow! Makes you want to move here doesn't it?? Spring in Michigan usually starts mid-April if we're lucky but on good years it will snow then too.

And He's Off...Sort of

All right. This is for daddy, grandparents, and whoever else gave me a hard time about not posting Ben walking. He's not so much walking as taking steps without holding onto anything, not the easiest to capture on video. Enjoy all 2 seconds of footage!

A Bad, Bad Thing

Shawn travels a lot and when he's gone Keely's and my meals (Ben's still eating baby food) consist of pretty much sandwiches, quesadillas, grilled cheese, and/or soup; don't worry, I always throw in a fresh fruit or veggie just for good measure. Well, this time I decided to switch it up. When we were at the grocery store yesterday I said, "Keely, do you want to try something fun?" She was game. I took her to the frozen food isle and said, "You get to pick your dinner tonight, any dinner you want." She was soooo excited and ended up with a Kids Cuisine corn dog meal (don't judge me). Well, I decided that if Keely was going to have a TV Dinner then so would I. I ended up with a Hungry Man (again, don't judge me) rotisserie chicken meal and we were on our way until a chicken pot pie caught my eye and I thought, "perfect for dinner tomorrow."

Well, last night dinner went great for one person, and it wasn't me. There were actually fries in Keely's meal. Microwavable fries. Sick! Back to the point, Keely was delighted with her meal and was like, "Mom, let's do this every night!" I on the other hand couldn't even begin to make myself choke down the catastrophe that came smelling out of the microwave. How do people eat these things? And why, oh why, did I think I could?

Fast forward to tonight. I actually have very fond memories of pot pies and ate them regularly as a child. While I knew I might not be able to choke down a TV Dinner I thought I could handle a pot pie...not so! I looked, smelled and did not even bother. I ended up with chips and salsa for dinner. Keely, on the other hand seemed to be really taken with the little meat and veggie pie. How are kids' and adults' taste buds completely different? That's an actual question; if you know tell me! Oh well, back to the basics.