The Australia adventure is rapidly approaching its end! Boo!

We lounged around on Sunday.  The weather was still wet, but muggy. The rain did not stop the kids, though. Their dads still took them to the pool and the beach. 

I have no beach photos as of yet because I am always off shopping or getting a massage when they head to the beach. 

Sunday was Louise's birthday so we went for a massage in the late afternoon.  While we were relaxing, strangely in the same massage room which was very unexpected, the dads were on beach patrol with the kids.  After our massages we headed back to the resort to the chaos of kids showering and getting ready for dinner. 

The kids really enjoyed the teppanyaki grill master. He fried eggs and tossed them into our mouths. Jack actually caught a piece of egg. We were all very entertained by the grill master. 

After dinner we walked to the fun fair happening on the beach. The kids rode some rides and Lou and I shopped a bit. We then went up to our room and played music while the kids danced. A friend of James and Matt joined us for the meal and the after party. We didn't get to bed until after midnight. Yikes!

You can tell how much fun Jack had. Monday morning came too early for all of us. 

We went to see the movie Big Hero 6 on Monday morning, hoping the rain would go away by the time we were out. The theater held 30 people and each seat was an electric reclining chair. It was 'flash' for sure. We ordered food and it was delivered to our seats. Millie actually napped toward the end of the movie  because of her lack of sleep the previous evening. 

Too bad Jack and Josh couldn't relax in their plush seats. 

After the movie we returned to the room and got ready to go to the beach. The weather was perfect. The dads, along with Jack and Josh, played game of rugby, while Millie and Billy played in the sand and the ocean. They were all having a wonderful time. It warms my heart to see the relationships the kids are building with each other. 

Louise was off getting her nails done. A kind person walking by volunteered to take this picture. The wind caught my dress, making me appear a bit overstuffed. 

Millie and Billy like playing together. 

I thought this was a blue plastic bag. Turns out it was a blue dolphin jellyfish. Glad I didn't pick it up. 

Even after seeing the jellyfish, everyone went in the ocean, everyone except Josh. Heat have been the smartest one of all. Fortunately no one was stung, but Stuart said they saw the jellyfish everywhere in the water, which is why they didn't stay in the ocean for very long. 

One picture before they showered off. 

Ice cream after an ocean adventure only makes sense. They needed a rinse off after the ice cream as well. Although it wasn't super hot, it was super humid so the ice cream melted exceptionally fast. 

We had dinner at the Surf Club just up the road from our place. We could have walked there but why would you when you could ride in a pedicab?

The kids had fun and really the walk was further than we had been told, so it was best. 

We called it an early night and were all in bed by 10 pm. 

Tuesday morning the sun was shining and all traces of rain had vanished, just in time for us to leave this surfer's paradise. We had to check out at 10 am but our flight was not scheduled until 5 pm. So we packed up a bag of swimmers and toiletries and still used the pool all day. It was perfect. 

When I first got up Tuesday morning and noticed it was clear skies, I decided to walk along the beach instead of working out in the gym. It was so great to hear the waves crashing, see the seagulls flying around, and watch the surfers on the water. It reminded me of my walks in San Diego with my good friend, Ken Green. Because we are both early risers we walk every morning while at their time share. I love times that bring back super memories of my besties. 

The sunrise was superb and definitely something to behold. 

Millie had to have these pancakes with Nutella and marshmallow fluff on them. She had about 3 bites. Money well spent, clearly. 

We were able to take showers at the pool then left for the airport around 3:30 pm. The flight was uneventful and we got home around 8:30 pm. The kids went to bed and we followed shortly after they did. 

Wednesday we got up and lazed around. Louise and I went to the mall again to return an item and maybe to shop a bit as well. We stopped at the grocery store and got food for our New Year's cookout. James had purchased a new fire pit and tiki torches for the evening's event. We bought poppers and sparklers. 

When we returned from shopping the guys went to play golf while Lou and I got ready for the evening. I blew up water bomb balloons and she started on the food preparation. When the dads returned the water balloon fight was on! The dads loved it as much as the kids and as you would guess the water hose was eventually involved. 

The water fight was over and here you can see the damage, wet kids and adults. 

We ate, lit the fire by the beach and enjoyed some music while the kids made s'mores and played with sparklers. 

We reeked of the fire pit by the end of the evening, but rang in 2015 in style. We saw fireworks across the water and enjoyed the moon lite waves slightly crashing on the shore. 

One more than one occasion someone nearly caught on fire by the sparklers. In the end the only injury (which was slight) was Jack's ear. He tumbled out of the trampoline, onto a chair. 

We barely rang in the new year. The kids were able to watch the Family Fireworks on television at 9 pm and then went to bed. We stayed up, napped down by the pit, and then finally woke up a few minutes before midnight and walked down the jetty while fireworks shot off across the water. 

We retreated up the stairs to watch the fireworks on television from the Sydney Harbour  the television coverage was not so great, but the fireworks were still spectacular. 

Thursday morning we got up and headed toward Matt's house. He lives about an hour away from Louise and James. We hadn't seen his house so thought we would make the trek. He spent most of the time with us at James and Lou's.  

On our way to Matt's we headed to Featherdale, a nature reserve, to see kangaroos, koalas, dingos and other wildlife native to Australia. It was so fun. The kids loved it. It was really hot, but we survived. 

We couldn't hold the koalas but we were able to pet them. It was an incredible experience. 

The wallabys were out and about as wel. 

We finally got to Matt's just after 1 pm. The kids played crickett, swam, and played in a little doll house in the yard. We had gigantic steaks that must have come from an enormous cow. They were huge. We just relaxed and played all day. 

We left just before 8 pm with kids showered and pajamas on. It was sad leaving Matt's. Jack and Josh created such a close bond in the two weeks we were there, and of course it is always tough for Stuart to leave his brothers. Jack was sad, which naturally made me cry. 

Friday morning we took one last trip on the boat. We went to the marina to have breakfast and then checked out some of the gorgeous homes on the water. It was a great way to end a much too short holiday. 

We left for the airport around noon. Jack was terribly sad. He didn't want to leave. He played so hard with his two cousins and Millie for two solid weeks. Our life will seem quite boring once life resumes as normal. 

The Sad family leaving for Abu Dhabi. 

Our travel was long. The seven hour time difference was rough on us as well. We had turbulence over the area where the plane crashed last week. It freaked me out until I remembered that I am not in control. That made me relax just a bit. 

We transferred in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia again. After a five hour layover and some very restless children, we boarded the plane for Abu Dhabi. 

The kids slept for the majority of the flight, which allowed Stuart and myself to get some rest as well. 

When we arrived in Abu Dhabi we had to circle the airport for about 30 minutes because the fog was so bad and the landing of planes had been postponed for many flights and therefore there was a back up. Once we did land we stayed on the tar mack for almost 2 hours. 

Once we finally arrived at the gate we were well over it all. The good thing was there was no line at immigration because we were one of the first flights to land in the morning. Although we were to land at 6 am and most likely would have been home by 9 at the latest, we got home just before noon.  We had stopped at the grocery store for some needed items and then drive home.  It was a long journey. 

When we did get home the kids were asleep. We decided to take them into the living room and let them sleep while we unpacked. 

By the time we unpacked it was around 2 pm. We woke the kids up and let them open their Christmas presents that Santa had left, plus gifts from Grammie and Pop and from us. They were spoiled once again. 

Miss Millie got a bike from Santa and took to it like a duck to water. She rode up and down the hallway for most of the afternoon. 

That naughty Santa gave Jack a Nerf gun that holds 12 bullets. And Grammie and Pop got him this new chair. We hope we get to move soon because we have started to accumulate furniture that has no home. We will work on moving this week. 

The rest of the day was spent playing with the new toys and just lounging around. The kids were bathed, fed and in bed by 6:30 pm, and Stuart and I followed closely after, well at least we were sleeping. I'm not sure we were both in bed until late, but we were asleep by 8 pm. In fact, Stuart slept on and off from about 4 pm. 

A true assessment of a great holiday? Everyone is wiped out and needs another vacation from their vacation when they return home. That was us!