Cairns

On Saturday, April 13th, six members of the Thoe family flew from Sydney to Cairns.  It also happened to be my birthday.  Heading off on a holiday is not a bad way to spend a birthday.  Just flying into Cairns was gorgeous.  Cairns is situated on the coast of the Coral Sea in North Queensland.  It is a popular location for tourists to visit the Great Barrier Reef.  The area to the west of the city is a dense, tropical rainforest blanketing this section of the Great Dividing Mountain Range. A tour guide on one of our excursions mentioned that the rainforest around Cairns was used as an inspiration for the set designers of the movie Avatar.  There is also a lot of farmland in the plains (or the tablelands) around the mountains to the south of Cairns.  It is in these farmlands that they grow a lot of tropical produce, like bananas and sugarcane.  

The red pin is Cairns and the blue dot is Sydney

Even though most of the area in and around Cairns is beautiful, the actual coastline of the city is lacking.  

The coastline of the city center is actually a mudflat.  But, the city has done a great job of making the most of a bad situation.  There is a park with a huge playground along the coast with a wide boardwalk.

The boardwalk connects the playground to this....."The Lagoon" on Cairns Esplanade.  It is a large saltwater pool that even has a sandy side to give it a bit of a beachy feel.

From this side of the pool, you can completely forget about that nasty mudflat. 

One thing that Cairns is known for is its large population of flying foxes (fruit bats).  In the evening thousands of bats fly over the center of Cairns.  It is quite a site to see.

 

This is just a small depiction of all the bats.  They were flying over us for at least 30 minutes.

On our first full day in Cairns, Sunday, we drove about an hour north to Port Douglas.  Port Douglas is also a popular tourist spot.  Part of the attraction of Port Douglas is that it has beaches close to the town.  The beaches are spectacular. However, once we saw the signs around the beaches warning of salt water crocodiles and stingers (jellyfish), we were more than happy we had chosen to rent an apartment with a pool for our week on holiday.  The beaches even had bottles of vinegar located about every 20 feet so that people could treat their jellyfish stings as quickly as possible.  We decided to enjoy the beauty of those beaches from afar.

Since we were so close to Daintree National Park, we decided to drive through it.  However, we found out that driving through the park isn't really an option because there are no major roads that go through it; at least not in the area of Port Douglas.  There were guided tours we could look into doing on another day.  But, Aubrey had gotten really motion sick on the windy road up to Port Douglas.  So, we did not venture back up to that area during our time in Cairns.

We followed the blue line along the coast from Cairns up to Port Douglas. (On a side note, all the light blue island things in the ocean are the reefs.)

One of the beautiful beaches between Port Douglas and Cairns

A closeup; the water is such a stunning shade of blue

This is why we were not too excited to visit one of these beautiful beaches up close.

The kids were having the best time with the pool situated right off of our terrace.  On most days they fit in a swim in the morning and then another when we returned back to the apartment in the late afternoon/evening.

Aubrey loved jumping in off of the dock.  Our apartment was directly behind where Aubrey is standing.  It was all set up for outdoor living with a dining table right by the pool.

Sean took pictures of the kids with his new underwater camera.

This is the other dock the kids loved to jump from.

Carter had an interesting way of diving.

Aubrey practicing her karate moves by the pool.

On Monday, I took a little downtime for myself at a spa to relieve some of that moving stress that I was still holding onto.  It was thanks to my birthday gift from Sean that I got the luxury of doing that.  Then, Sean and I had a kid-free evening in Cairns thanks to Sean's parents.  When you live away from family for so long, you forget how nice it is to have free babysitters that actually WANT to spend time with your children.  

We went out on a great adventure on Tuesday.  We booked tickets on the Kuranda Scenic Railway.  The railway was originally built in the late 1800's to get supplies from the coast to tin miners up in the mountains.  It runs between Cairns and the village of Kuranda.  We were on the train for about an hour and a half.  It took us past waterfalls and over the Barron Valley as we climbed up the mountain.  Once we got up to the village, we took a little hike through the rainforest on a trail.  After lunch, we headed back down the mountain on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.  It was definitely a trip to remember.  The kids said it was one of their favorite experiences since being in Australia.  

The red pin is the village of Kuranda

 This is the front of the train (we were riding in the back).

Looking down at the suburbs of Cairns near the beginning of our journey

Carter was loving it!

This bridge seemed a little treacherous, but it was awesome to see the waterfall that was running right alongside the train. 

This is what we saw when we looked to the left of the train while on the bridge.

The view as we climbed higher

Aubrey sneaking a peek at Dad

We are really getting high now!

Barron Falls

The beginning of the jungle walk in Kuranda

This certainly doesn't look like the Midwest!

A view of the Skyrail from below

Carter on the Skyrail

Barron Falls from the Skyrail

It was kind of scary to be up this high in a little cabin suspended by a cable.  But, the views were totally worth it.

Looking down at the valley with the ocean beyond

View on the final descent

Wednesday we stuck around the apartment until early afternoon.  Then, we drove an hour and a half south to the Atherton Tablelands to visit Paronella Park.  Paronella Park is where Joseph Paronella, a Spaniard, built a large castle in the 1920's/1930's to be used for entertainment.  It had a large ballroom, a theatre to show movies every Saturday night, and various kitchens where Joseph's wife would sell concessions.  It has multiple levels of gardens and it is built alongside a creek with a large waterfall, which was a popular swimming hole.  Since that time it has undergone a fire, floods, cyclones (hurricanes), and a salt water crocodile moved into the swimming hole.  Right now they are in the beginning stages of trying to rebuild the ballroom, but for the most part, the castle is in ruins.  It is a wonderful place to explore though.  You feel as though you are walking amongst ruins that are much older than the early 1900's.  It has a magical feel to it.   

The red dot is Paronella Park

Paronella Castle from the suspension pedestrian bridge that goes over Mena Creek Falls

Family photo before the tour

This is the stage area of the ballroom.  This is the portion of the castle that had a fire and then lost a wall during a cyclone.

This is the ballroom looking from the stage area

Staircase leading from the top section of the castle to the creek

Family photo by the swimming hole.  Not much swimming goes on there now that the saltie made it his home!

Carter and Aubrey feeding the fish.  Heaps of jungle perch come to the surface in that spot just waiting for the fish food from tourists.

We noticed these while the kids were feeding the jungle perch.  They are long-finned eels.  The baby eel was staying up under the rocks and the mama eel was coming up to check on her baby.  

The lower portion of the castle surrounded by gardens

Fountain in the lower gardens

Visiting another, smaller waterfall on the property

Beehive Ginger plant flowers on the Paronella Park grounds

Thursday was a highlight of our trip to Cairns.  This was the day that we headed out on a tour to the outer Great Barrier Reef.  We booked a cruise on Reef Magic.  We rode on a catamaran for about 90 minutes to an all-weather platform called Marine World.  This platform is docked over the Moore Reef.  There is a roped off area where you can snorkel at any time during the day and someone stands watch over this area to make sure that everyone is doing okay.  They have timed excursions for a glass bottom boat, a semi-submersible boat, guided snorkel tours, and scuba diving.  We were out on the platform for 5 hours before riding the catamaran back to shore.  

I will admit that I was a little nervous about this trip out to the reef with the kids.  Aubrey tends to get very motion sick (as do I on occasion).  Besides that, I was also nervous about how the kids would handle snorkeling out in the ocean over the reef.  Everyone assured me that it was safe, but a mom still has to worry sometimes.  

It was amazing and I had no need to worry.  It was still "stinger season", so the kids and I wore stinger suits.  They were full body wet suits that even had a hood.  The kids had a blast snorkeling off the platform.  They wore life jackets and they could also use noodles to help hold them up and feel comfortable.  The reef comes up so close to the top of the water in the roped off area that you don't have too look down very far.  In some spots, I even had to be careful that I didn't hit the reef with my fins when swimming over it.  Sean and Terry chose to go out further on one of the guided tours.  The kids and I stayed in the roped off area and then we went out with Margi for a ride on a glass bottom boat.  The seas were very calm on the day we went out and none of us had issues with motion sickness.  The 5 hours flew by and it was time to head back into shore before we knew it.  It was an experience of a lifetime.

Carter on the boat going out to the reef

Carter later went outside with Papa

This is Marine World.  It is a platform that stays out at the reef and the catamaran docks up to it.

Carter ready to snorkel

Almost ready to head out!

Carter with his fogged up goggles.  He wouldn't let us spit in them to get rid of the fogginess.

Aubrey and Papa; she used the noodle part of the time while she was snorkeling.

Aubrey and Mom

Zebra damselfish

Closeup of a jellyfish

Diagonal banded sweetlips fish

Sean taking a self-portrait

Nemo is peeking out!!

It was amazing to see all the different types of coral. 

This is a giant clam.  He is currently closed.  He has the turquoise scalloped "lips".  The bright color is actually algae that lives on the clam.  While we were taking the glass bottom boat ride, we saw the clam open and then quickly closing on some prey.

This is a photo of a parrotfish.  The parrotfish is so interesting as it starts out a dull red, brown, or gray color and female.  As they age they become male and turn a bright color.  When they are older and more brightly colored, they are in the "terminal phase".

Another parrotfish amongst the coral

This is some type of angelfish, but not sure of the exact species

Sean with Wally.  He is a maori wrasse.  The tour guides compare his personality to that of a dog.  He swam around the reef with the tourists all day.  You could pet him and he didn't mind at all.  

Wally coming up by the platform (to the area where you get your fins on and such before going out to snorkel).  The resident marine biologist fed the fish and talked about the species for a short presentation after lunch.    

Carter hanging out on the platform waiting for his turn to pet Wally

Wally swimming around the reef

Landscape shot while coming back into shore

This was just a small representation of all the marine life we saw while snorkeling.  All you had to do was stick your head down in the water and you could be mesmerized for hours on end.  It was an experience that cannot be replicated by visiting an aquarium.  It was mind-blowing to actually be swimming with all those fish and there was no way predict what you might see next.    

Friday was our last full day in Cairns.  We spent the day lounging.  We did walk the 15 minutes to go to "The Lagoon" in Cairns for a little while in the morning, but other than this, we just stayed around the apartment.  It was a nice lazy day to bring our holiday to a close.

We had a little time to still enjoy Cairns on Saturday morning before we had to go to the airport.  Sean and his parents decided to drive our rental car up to the village of Kuranda to see the sights again.  The kids and I stayed down in Cairns to shop the local markets for souvenirs.  Then, it was time to fly back.  The weather had been so nice and tropical in Cairns and we knew it was a rainy, cold day in Sydney.  Luckily, we missed most of the grey weather in Sydney since our flight didn't get back in until around 6:00 pm.  Sean managed to capture a few pictures from the airplane window both leaving Cairns and arriving back into Sydney.  For a commercial flight, he got some pretty nice photos. 

Photos of the Great Barrier Reef when leaving Cairns

Sydney's north shore

Southern portion of the harbour

Southern aspect of Sydney CBD

It is always a challenge for me to live in the moment.  I am often worrying about the next step or the next thing that needs to be done, especially when I am with the kids.  But, then I write these posts and take a little time to look at everything we have done.  I am often struck with how blessed we are to have these opportunities.  We always tell the kids how lucky they are to have these experiences.  I hope they can look at these photos when they are a little older and gain a deeper understanding of that.

Cool moon photo that Sean captured in Cairns

Let the madness begin.....

I left the last post with us dropping Jay off at the airport on the morning of Friday, April 5th.  Well, Sean was the one who actually took him to the airport.  I had other commitments that morning.  Aubrey had her beach carnival for school.  All the kids from Kindy to Year 2 were bused down to Balmoral Beach for a morning of playing games in the sand.  We weren't sure if it was going to happen since it had been pouring rain for the previous 2 days.  But, unbelievably, it was a gorgeous day.  Aubrey had a great time.  She said her favorite thing was the three-legged race.  

First game of the morning: the teams were battling to see who would fill their bucket up with water first.

Aubrey waiting for her turn

Second game: Aubrey had her leg strapped to her mate's leg for the three-legged race.  Her and Max were trying to move in unison.  It was hilarious!

Third game: racing in the sand to grab a stick and bring it back

That same morning, after Sean dropped Jay off, he picked up the keys to our new apartment.  Sean and I still hadn't quite wrapped our brain around everything that needed to be done in the coming days.  I kept thinking "we don't have that much to move" and "our apartment isn't that big".  I didn't think the move would be very bad.  I was in such denial that I hadn't even packed a box yet.

So, Sean and I took a leisurely lunch Friday and then strolled over to the new apartment.  When we got into the apartment and looked around, we realized the last owners had not really cleaned it adequately.  It wasn't trashed, but it was far from clean.  Did I mention that we hadn't even packed anything at our old apartment yet?  Oh yeah, also Carter had soccer practice that night and then a soccer game the next morning?  And the removalists (i.e. movers) were coming the very next morning as well?  And Sean's parents were flying in to visit us the day after that?  It suddenly hit us that we were in deep, deep trouble.

I was seriously on the verge of a nervous breakdown at school pickup that Friday.  Then, when Aubrey walked up to me that afternoon, she announced that she received the Star of the Week.  It was a really nice honor.  However,  it meant that we had to bring Henry the Hippo home for the weekend, take pictures of him everywhere we went, and put together a two page printout of all the photos.  Of course, Aubrey was very excited about it.  Mommy, on the other hand, was ready to cry.

I can look back on all that now and laugh.  But, I was FAR from laughing on that Friday.  Carter made it to his soccer activities.  We took some great photos of Henry the Hippo in the middle of our mayhem.  Sean and I had some very late nights and probably gained a few grey hairs.  But, it all got done and everything worked out in the end.  Things generally have a way of doing that.

Aubrey hamming it up with Henry at Carter's soccer practice

Aubrey posing with Henry at Balmoral Beach after Carter's practice

Carter even got into it!

Aubrey feeding Henry fish and chips

Henry in the middle of our moving madness

Henry at Carter's first soccer game of the winter season

Henry was eating very well this weekend!  Pizza at Fratelli's.  Yum!!

Papa, Aubrey, and Henry on the bus on Sunday morning

Our lives were still in a little bit of mess when Sean's parents came on Sunday.  But, it was so nice to see them.  And, they actually helped us out quite a bit with the end of our move when we were trying to drag all the small stuff from our old apartment to the new one.  It really helped that they were not trying to stay with us in our apartment in the middle in our chaos.  They had rented their own apartment for the time they were here. And, just by sheer luck, the apartment they rented was in the same building as our new apartment.  It was awesome to have them so close.  Terry even enjoyed taking over the task of walking the kids to school for me every morning.    

We are now really happy with our new apartment.  It is about the same distance to walk to school as our old place.  But, it is located in Cremorne (about a 15 minute walk closer to the city).  It has two stories and we feel a little more spread out in the new place, even though we decreased from 3 bedrooms to 2 bedrooms.  It has loads of storage, which is very nice (including a walk-in closet in the master suite!!).  AND it is less expensive than the old place.  One of the things that Sean and I also love is that it is more centrally located to a grocery store, cafes, and restaurants  (across the street).  Even though all these amenities are so close to us, the noise outside from traffic is minimal.  We mainly just hear the birds outside when we open the windows.  That is such a nice change from the old place where we couldn't have the balcony doors open when we wanted to watch television because the road noise was too loud.

Enough about the move though.  I am learning that no matter how much stuff you think you have, moves are always a hassle.  I guess it is like most hard things that you know you will probably have to do again in your lifetime; it is best to try to forget about it as soon as possible.  Maybe that is part of the reason I have underestimated each of our moves.  By forgetting what a pain in a butt it is to move, I am more open to doing it again the next time.  And, it is good to be open to that change, because we have been pleased with the completion of each move as they have generally brought us to a better situation than where we were before.   

Sean's parents did spend the first couple of days in Sydney helping us out.  But, we did also squeeze in a little sightseeing.  I got to be the tour guide again this week since Sean had to work and the kids were in school each day.  Monday morning was a fabulous start when I took them to brunch at Burnt Orange in Mosman after school drop off.  We had brunch out on a large verandah overlooking the harbour on a clear, crisp morning.  It just doesn't get much better than that.  During the course of that week, we toured the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, met Sean for lunch at a fantastic tapas restaurant in Kirribilli on Wednesday, and spent Thursday in Manly (on Terry's birthday). 

Terry and Margi at Circular Quay (outside the Sydney Opera House)

Terry and Margi after our tour at the Sydney Opera House

Terry and Margi putting their feet in the sand at Manly Beach

I did have to take the day off of being a tour guide on Friday so that I could organize the new apartment a bit and pack for our holiday.  Friday was the last day of the school term, so the kids had 2 weeks off after that.  And, I needed a moment to catch my breath before we flew off to Cairns the next day......  

Aubrey on the last day of term.  The Kindy classes had a party to celebrate getting through all the letters of the alphabet.  The kids were supposed to dress up as something that begins with their favorite letter.

  

  

First visitor!

I will first off apologize for the amount of time between blog posts.  I'm not sure what happened.  Well, actually a lot happened (visitors, moved apartments, took a trip).  Then, I was exhausted from everything that happened.  So, I had to spend some quality downtime with myself.  Things have quite settled down now, so I am going to try to catch everyone up.  

The first big event was that we had our first visitor from the States!!  Jay, Sean's best friend from Kansas City, arrived in Sydney on Saturday, March 30th.  We picked him up at the airport that morning.  He wasn't looking too worse for the wear after the 15 1/2 hour flight from Dallas.  So, we headed to Bondi Beach straight from the airport.  Sean and I still have fond memories of seeing Bondi Beach on our very first day in Sydney in March 2012.  It is a great cure for jet lag.  I  think Jay enjoyed it.  The rest of that day we spent hanging around Mosman showing Jay some of our local haunts, like Balmoral Beach.  We ended the day with dinner at Hotel Mosman; the home of the $7.90 steak.  It is one of the best deals you will find in Sydney for a restaurant meal.  Additionally, it is Carter's favorite place to eat and we still owed him his birthday meal out.  Everything had been closed the day before, on his birthday, since it was Good Friday.


The day after Jay arrived was Easter Sunday.  The Easter bunny found us again this year!  Luckily, the Easter bunny learned from previous mistakes.   She now knows that stores are open very limited hours on Easter weekend in Australia.  So, she was prepared and did not wait until the last second to buy Easter goodies.
    

Baskets after the visit from the Easter bunny.  The kids painted the Easter chicks on the sides.

Yum!

Carter doing his Easter activity book.  

Carter left us a nice note on his new Etch-A-Sketch

We headed back to the Bondi area after our Easter celebrations.  It was the only time during Jay's trip that we could fit in the Coogee to Bondi Coastal walk.  I have been anxious to do this walk for a second time.  The one time we tried to do it, we had to abandon the walk early due to the weather.  This time the weather held out for us.  It wasn't the sunniest of days, but it was still pleasant.

Sean and Jay

  

Love all the varied views along the path!

Jay helped us to capture a family photo.

Smile!

Jay getting ready to practice his cliff diving technique.

While on the walk, we saw two A380 planes flying extremely close to each other.  We were not sure what it was about at the time.  Once we got home, we learned it was a Qantus plane and an Emirates plane flying together to signify their new partnership.

That night Sean, Jay, and our friend Mike, went to a Sydney Waratah rugby game.  Jay played rugby in high school, so this was something he had really been looking forward to. They had front row seats at the game.  When I asked Sean about it, all he said was "it was awesome".  

Sean had Monday off of work as it was Easter Monday. We took Jay on a whirlwind tour of Sydney.  We started by eating breakfast at our favorite morning spot in Mosman, Cafe Prego.  After our bellies were full, we walked to the zoo.  We took the sky safari over the zoo to the Taronga Zoo Wharf for the ferry.  We then took the ferry into Circular Quay and walked to the Sydney Tower Eye in the CBD.  After going up the tower, we went back to Circular Quay and took a ferry to Manly Beach.  We hung out there for a little bit and then took a bus back home.  Whew.  I'm tired just writing about it. 

View from the sky safari; the Sydney Tower Eye is the tallest tower amongst the skyscrapers.  It has the shape of a Q-tip.  

It is hard to beat the views on the ferry as we cross the harbour.  

Carter was loving the breezes outside on the ferry.

Sydney Eye Tower, here we come!

Carter posing with the city of Sydney 260 meters (or 853 feet) below him.

View of the harbour from the Sydney Eye Tower

Manly Beach at the end of a very busy Easter weekend

Sean had to go back to work on Tuesday, so I got to fill in as tour guide for Jay.  On Tuesday, Jay headed back to Manly Beach for a day of open water scuba diving.  He got lucky that day, the weather was picture perfect.

On Wednesday, the rain started.  That put a hamper in our plans for the last two days of Jay's visit.  So much of what we do in Sydney revolves around walking outside and seeing beautiful views.  Neither of those are nearly as nice when it is pouring rain.  We tried to make the most of it though.  

On Wednesday, Jay and I met up with Sean for lunch.  We then headed into the city so that Jay could do a little souvenir shopping.  On Thursday, we went to Darling Harbour.  Jay and I went through the Maritime Museum, ate lunch at Margaritaville, and walked around the Rocks area a little bit.  The rain finally let up some, so we decided to walk back towards home across the Harbour Bridge.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the best idea.  The rain started again full force when we were just far enough that we were committed to go ahead and walk across the entire bridge.  You know it is raining hard when you have an umbrella and you still get soaked.  Thanks to the rotten weather, we didn't take a lot of pictures towards the end of Jay's trip.  But, I did manage to snap a few in the rain breaks.

Jay in the captain's chair on one of the ships

View from Darling Harbour on a rainy day

It was great to have Jay here.  We were sad to see him off to the airport on Friday.  There is so much to do and see in Sydney; one week flew by.  He is already discussing a possible return visit while we are still living here.

Of course, our minds were kind of buzzing even as we were saying goodbye to Jay.  We were moving into a new apartment the next day and we were getting ready to welcome Sean's parents to Sydney in two days.  But, more on that later...... 

And a Year Later......

So many thoughts go through my head a year after our move to Sydney.  I've thought a lot about my emotions a year ago.  I was so excited, but so scared.  The furthest move either Sean or I had ever made was about 135 miles.  Then, we decided to move 9,000 miles to another country with our 2 young kids.  There were so many unknowns and there were so many things to learn.  Would I make the same choice again?  Without a doubt.  Do I wish I could go back in time to a year ago?  No way.  

We had so many decisions to make in such a short period of time.  I look back at all these decisions now and I just wonder how we got so lucky.  Even with all the research we did prior to the move, there was so much we didn't know.  There were so many factors that we could not account for.  I'm not saying that everything has worked out perfectly, but more has worked out in our favor than not.  The right opportunities opened up at the right time.  When I look back at how things fell into place, I believe it was more than just serendipity.  I think we had a little help from a stronger power.

It is now a year later.  In some ways we are a little wiser, but of course we still never know what challenges await us.  I haven't been writing much lately because we have just been getting in the groove of both kids at school and settling into our new routine.  We have been in a little lull.  Perhaps, it is better described as a calm before the storm.  With April comes visitors, moving to a new apartment, and a trip to Cairns (to see the Great Barrier Reef).  We have to fit in a little "normal" life in between the vacations.  

One exciting thing has recently happened - Carter had his 8th birthday!  He was very happy to have a birthday party this year because he kind of felt like he got the short end of the stick last year.  Since he turned 7 within a week of our move last year, he didn't get to celebrate quite how he wanted.  This year, he invited a few friends for laser tag and bowling and a friend of ours made an awesome bowling cake for the party.  He had a fantastic day.  We didn't get many good shots of the celebration though; the location was kind of dark and the boys were too busy to stay still for pictures.   

Carter with his cake.

Carter's actual birthday fell on Good Friday.  As Australia takes a true four day weekend for Easter, no one had work or school that day.  Carter got up that morning and opened his presents.  He got Legos and an Etch-A-Sketch.  Carter was thrilled with both.  He is really enjoying his old school Etch-A-Sketch.  And the Lego set is just a plain set that he can build anything his little creative mind desires.  He enjoys that because as he said to me about the other Lego sets: "I want to build a motor home and the other sets won't let me build a motor home." 

Birthday morning!

Later in the day, we went for a walk to Cremorne Point and had lunch with some of our friends.  The weather turned out to be kind of chilly and cloudy, but we didn't let that ruin our day.  It made it feel more similar to a spring Easter day in the northern hemisphere.  Carter said this was his best birthday yet! 
  

Family picture at Cremorne Point on Good Friday

If there was one skill that out family has had to learn over the past year, it would be adapting to change.  That is one thing that does not always come easily.  We are learning to live in the moment.  I think about that even more now that we are halfway through our two year adventure.  We still have so much to see and experience in Australia.  We have set up our home away from home in one apartment and next week we are picking it all up and moving it to another apartment.  We have made many friends and we have already had to say goodbye to friends that have moved on.  It is a good reminder of what a transient thing this life is.  

Some of our good friends that we picnicked with on Good Friday.  We all have a limited amount of time in this country and we are trying to make the most of the time we have.