Looking Back: Cairns

We are looking back at the second stop on our Aussie trip from last summer. After four days in Brisbane, we flew north to Cairns. The weather there was a bit warmer - more like a Florida winter. Here are the e-mails and pictures!

The pool at our hotel

Hello,

So much for not being in touch. My husband gets a bit antsy when he has not checked the internet too long...he may not drink, but I think he has a problem! = )

The Rainforest

He ran out of sites to check so I said I'd send a quick update. We are in Cairns until Monday. We did the rainforest thing yesterday It was really neat. We took a cable car thing up and saw the tops of the trees and the mountains in the clouds.

The Train

When we got to the top we spend a little too long in a little town while waiting for the train ride back to town. The train ride back we went past some waterfalls which was neat.

The view from the train

Today we' planned on going to the reef, but it is still a bit rough at sea. We are hoping for better tomorrow! We did laundry and went into town where we found a market. We are going to Mass tonight in hopes that we will be on a boat tomorrow morning!

Cairns Esplanade

More updates in time...likely sooner rather than later...we pay for 20 minutes of internet at a time...and Morgan can't miss a day! = )

Take care & God bless,

Jenny & Morgan

Looking back, we must not have sent a second Cairns e-mail. Even though it was still a bit rough, we did go the the Great Barrier Reef on our last day in Cairns. We were both looking a bit green in the face on the ride out there. It was pretty bad!

On the boat

Finally though we stopped and went snorkeling. It was a dull day and a cheap camera, so the colors are not the best. Regardless, it was amazing! The reef was just so BIG!

The Reef

My Reef Shark

What impressed me most was that I saw a reef shark. I can now say that I went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef and saw a shark. My third graders were impressed! (Although I waited until we were back on the boat to tell Morgan - he was not too impressed to have been in the water with it!)

Again I've uploaded the rest of the pictures to an album. Feel free to look if you are interested!

Cairns Summer 2007

Looking Back: Brisbane

One year ago Morgan and I were in Australia. I was reading Pioneer Woman Cooks last week and she happened to mention how much she loved Brisbane. I can second that!

I am working in my classroom and running errands this week, so I thought I would relive last summer's vacation. It really was a spectacular trip - it is worth reliving! So...we are starting in Brisbane, Australia. Morgan and I spent 4 days there and loved every minute of it. It is the kind of place you would want to live.

Here are my actual e-mails and pictures. Enjoy!

Email #1:

Hello from Down Under!

Morgan and I found in internet cafe, so I have 8 minutes left to give you the latest on our trip!

Day 1: LA
We stayed up all night before our trip and then flew to LA bright and early. The seats did not recline, so we were exhausted! We got to LA at like 10am and did not leave until 11pm. We took a bus in LA to Santa Monica. (Yes Lyndsay, the 75 cent bus!) It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. We made it
back to the airport with only 4 hours to spare...we thought we would never leave! Qantus was great though and the flight was non eventful.

Day 2 : Brisbane
We landed and get to the hotel to find out that our room was not yet ready...so we walked to the church for mass. We had been up for way to long by this point...and were slightly smelly...but they asked us to carry up the gifts!
We were mortified but agreed...and the homily was about taking part in the mass so we were glad we had! We went shopping and were in bed by 1pm...had plans to get up but slept through to the next morning!

Day 3: Brisbane
We met up with Morgan's mom's best friend and two of her kids. (The siblings of the Australian who stayed with us in Delray a few months back) We went to a park for a picnic and had a great time. It reminded me of a painting I studied in college...everyone sitting out with wine and all.. We took the
ferry around and had a great day

Day 4:
I am out of time, but we are in South bank at a man made beach...more to tell later!

I've uploaded the rest of my pictures to an album. You can click here if you want to see more!

Brisbane Summer 2007

Starting Summer

The first day of summer vacation has been a great one! Morgan and I had a lazy morning. I managed to wash all the throw rugs in the house and hang them outside to dry. (Sad I know, but it is the little things like that that tell you it is really summer!)

My Uncle Ken came over for a quick visit. He is going to take a Finn the Frog with him on vacation next week. Ken was also took a look at a plumbing puzzle we have going on. I love an excuse to see my uncle.

Morgan and I also went to the pool and swam a few laps before assuming the usual positions - I read my book while Morgan fell asleep. The pool was not too crowded so we enjoyed ourselves.

After our swim we drove up to Palm Beach Gardens to meet up with the Nantze family for dinner. We met up at Cantina Larado. We'd never been there, but it was quite nice. I had not seen Mauree in over two years so it was great to catch up! The boys seem to be enjoying the vacation - they do love to swim!

On the way home we stopped at the Publix Greenwise Market. They just opened one in Boca, but I wanted to compare stores. (Yes, I know it is sad!) Even better, the toothpaste I wanted was on sale. After reading Gorgeously Green I have been changing products. They had Tom's of Maine toothpaste on sale at Greenwise so I used that as my excuse. I also found Preserve toothbrushes and razors so I bought one to try it out before I order online. Morgan still isn't sold on the recycled toothbrush thing.

I've started and ended my day with a little yoga and I feel like the summer is off to a great start!

Summer Plans

Only 1 and 1/2 days left of school...for the kids at least. I have a few days after that in my classroom to wrap things up, but that's okay. At least the end is in sight!

I found out a couple of days ago that I am teaching summer school. It may seem odd to be counting down to the end of the school year if I am teaching summer school, but there is a big difference. First, there is a small break in between. I could use a few days off! Secondly, summer school is the best ever summer job. I work for 4 hours a day for 4 weeks and make as much as I did working 8 weeks of summer camp. I will have time after my 4 hours to work in my classroom if I feel like and if I don't feel like it I can go home.

We also booked our summer vacation. We'd both been waiting for approval from our employers on the dates. We decided that the cruise we took summer before last was one of the most relaxing things we've done. So we are going back on the same ship doing the Western Caribbean this time. We will stop at Grand Cayman, Roatan Island, Belize, and Cozumel. It tooks us a little over a week to narrow it down, but we are happy with our choice!

We were hoping to make it to Fayetteville for a wedding later this month, but the flights are outrageous. I hope I can find something reasonable soon. Morgan and I really would like to go!

Other summer plans:
- READ! I have a pile of books ready. = )
- Start a compost bin. I have been researching this and have almost talked myself into it. If you have any experience in this, please e-mail me!
- Research/plan container gardening
- Declutter 15 minutes a day in my classroom
- Watch the required ESOL DVDs
- Finally take my charity box to the thrift store
- Spend time with my sister-in-law(s) when/if they come to visit
- Find and use the Disney tickets left over from December

That's enough for now!

Family Reunion Pictures

Last weekend we stayed at the Abita Springs RV Park. (In case you didn't know, Abita Springs is also the home of Abita Beer.) GB and GB had the RV parked there and we stayed in the cabin next door. The "cabin" was really just a trailer with wooded siding on it, but it served its purpose and the campsite was quite pretty.

Soon after we arrived we went to our first event planned as part of the Frederick Family Reunion. Paul (Grandma Betty's brother) and his wife Belle hosted a gathering at their house with LOTS of great food. We caught up with aunts, uncles, cousins, and the like. (Not to mention my father and siblings - I hadn't seen them in a while either!)

Sunday we went to Mass in Abita before heading back to Paul's for a Grillades, Grits & Bisquits Brunch. Yum! From there we went off to the Tchfuncte Queen. It is a rather large wooden boat that the family took out on the river for the day. There was lots of food and drink so a good time was had by all. As we got to Lake Pontchartrain we stopped for a swim. The brave jumped from the top deck and the rest of us watched safely from the boat.

On Monday we stopped at the Boss Frederick Tree. It is a member of the Live Oak Society. The tree was named for my great-great (maybe one more great in there) grandfather, Emile "Boss" Frederick. The road actually goes around the tree. My father reminisced about the time he spent as a kid in the Frederick house.

From there we went out to David Jone's house for the second family reunion of the weekend. We had to leave the David Family Reunion a little early to catch our flight, but we had the best burgers we've had a while there!

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. We are already talking about plans for the next get together!

Memorial Day Recovery

I'd planned to post pictures from the family reunions this weekend, but I took so many it is taking me time to go through them! Here is a preview:

The Boss Frederick Tree in Covington, LA

We got to New Orleans Saturday morning. We checked into the campground and were at Paul & Belle's house for the 1pm event. We saw the usual suspect and a number of more distant family members we hadn't seen in years - if ever!

From the top deck of the Tchfuncte Queen

Sunday after Mass we spent the day on the Tchfuncte Queen for a day cruise. It really was a lot of fun. We were fed well all weekend - pulled pork, Grillades, Grits & Biscuits, Jambalaya, Fried Chicken. I bought some pralines in the airport and felt like I'd had my fix.

We had a great night tonight. We used the crock pot to make stuffed cabbage and then after dinner went to the pool for a swim. My knees are a bit sore from the workout, but it is a good sore. Nothing a little ice won't fix!

In the last two weeks I have set a 10 pm bedtime goal. We are getting better, so I have added that we are going to be in bed by 10 WITH tomorrow's clothes ironed. I guess that leaves me with a 45 minutes tonight to do 2 hours worth of grading...oops!

Only 6 and 1/2 days to go!

Aliens?

Morgan loves his movies. His personal favorite is Star Wars, but the Indiana Jones movies come a close second. He tried to talk me into going at midnight, but I talked him out of it...we are going out of town this weekend. So we bought tickets last night and went right after work today.

Now Morgan has been reading teasers and looking at trailers forever now. I, not being quite as obsessive, did not know much about the movie going into it. Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback when the aliens references started. I know that the title has the words "crystal skull" in it, but I honestly did not expect the skull to belong to an alien.

Morgan did admit that it was the weakest of the Indiana Jones movies, but he did enjoy it quite a bit. I on the other hand just keep repeating in shock, "ALIENS?!?!" Maybe I'll pick the next movie...

Strawberry Success

A few days ago I noticed that I had a berry growing on one of my strawberry plants. The only other berry I'd found went bad before I could pick it. (It was the weekend I was in Boston and Morgan is not crazy about strawberries.)

So this afternoon I got to enjoy my first home grown strawberry. I hope for many more! My grandmother always says that Florida strawberries are the best kind!