Australia

On Christmas Eve Eve Hud had a really bad runny nose then when we were getting him ready for bed, just after he took his medicine, he threw up everywhere. We thought he might have just choked on his meds or something so we didn't think much of it. He didn't have much of an appetite the next day and seemed congested, but the holiday hours at the pediatrician were impossible with our Christmas Eve and Christmas activities so we decided to just see what happens. When we found more vomit on Hudson's sheets though on the 26th, I decided I better get him in to the doctor before we left for our trip. She told me that some awful thing was going around and it was most likely going to get worse before it got better, especially if we flew (you know Murphy's law). She wrote us a note in case we decided to change our flight and gave us a vomit bag in case we decided to brave the 24 plus hours of traveling with a sick child. I couldn't contain my excitement for our flight to Australia. :/ Obviously, we couldn't cancel or re-schedule so we were just going to have to suck it up and manage as best as we could.

Nic and I both worked that day then we left that evening for the airport.We sure had a lot of stuff! haha. After we checked in, we took Hud to a little play area to attempt to wear him out and keep him happy before the flight.

We had a row with a bassinet. Our first choice would have been an empty seat, but the flight was full, so this was our next best option. We ran into a few issues though: It is the bulkhead row so we couldn't straighten our legs (I'm assuming this isn't an issue for short people). The huge arm rests dividing the seats housed tvs and food trays so they couldn't be lifted, which really limited our movement. The bassinet was a bit small for Hudson and he had to be zipped in (in case we hit turbulence). Hud is old enough now that he moves all around in his sleep and every time he tried to move and realized he was trapped in a tiny space he somewhat panicked. All the bassinets are in this row so we were sitting with all the other small children. Anytime one fussed or cried it woke up the other kids. I ended up with Hud in my lap for a good chunk of the flight which meant that I didn't get much sleep. On the plus side though, we had no throwing up and besides the obvious discomfort of a cramped space, Hudson did pretty well on the flight. Also, the bassinet provided a good place to contain all of our stuff and the floor space was bigger than a normal row so Hud could play down there. 

After the 14 hour flight from LAX to Melbourne, we had to do all the international arrival stuff like customs, etc. before collecting our luggage, going through ______ and checking in for our next flight. We were so tired and happy when we finally arrived in Launceston, about 24 hours after we left! Now the fun can begin!

Due to the time change, it was December 28th when we arrived. We freshened up, caught up with Nic's family, then we headed over to Julie McKenzie's house for a BBQ. Susan walked over with us and Stu. Nic's friends Ewan, Scott, Josh, Robbie, Paul, and Megan were there. We had a great dinner and everyone had fun catching up and meeting Hudson. We had him do a few of his party tricks: mean face, what does the fox say? and Miley Cyrus so he was pretty much the hit of the night. ;)

On December 29th, we had a Christmas celebration with Nic's family. Anna brought an impressive (and delicious) cheese platter, Lauren made adorable holiday cupcakes and Susan put together a gorgeous BBQ lunch. We opened some presents before the extended family came over, then spent the afternoon catching up with everyone. Nan, Bron, Leah, Julie Husband, and Amanda all joined us. 

On December 30th, we left with Stu and Anna for Port Sorrel. We stopped at Ashgrove Cheese Farm on the way. We went on a quick tour then sampled all the delicious cheese. 

When we arrived at the beach, it was a bit dark and cloudy, but it was so beautiful! We had the best time running all over the beach with Hudson. 

December 31st was a gorgeous day. Hud and I walked to the beach closest to the house in the morning while the boys were off golfing. Then in the afternoon, we all went to Hawley Beach. It was so beautiful!! I just love all the orange rocks, white sand and turqoise water. Too bad the water is so cold! lol.  

That night we went to a party in town. We knew it would be cold and go late so we put Hud in hi pjs. Hud had so much fun dancing, then I put him in my ergo and he actually fell asleep with the concert music blaring. Everyone was impressed with what a trooper he was. After we rang in the new year, we walked home. 

Here are my New Year's Resolutions (goals) for the year:

1. Go on more date nights. We should go out at least once a month without Hudson. (This is going to be a huge challenge as we have been very bad about this since Hudson was born).

2. Catch up on my blog. This is also going to be a huge challenge as I am way behind, but my blog is important to me and I really want to make it a bigger priority.

3. I would like to be more involved with my mom group. It is a great support system and the mom's are all wonderful, but because I work two days a week and a lot of the events are during Hud's nap times I feel I haven't immersed myself as much as I would like.

4. Finish our kitchen. Our kitchen remodel was finished back in August/September 2012 and we still don't have a window seat cushion! I need to get on this and get this finished.

5. Catch up on photo back-ups then stay on top of it. I need to get caught up, which is a huge project in and of itself and then I need to come up with a system so that it doesn't become a huge project again.

6. Make me time. Not only do Nic and I not spend enough one on one time together, but I don't give myself enough breaks from mommy-hood to be by myself. I would like to try and have "me time" at least once a month.

On January 1st, we left Port Sorrel and met the family at the Raspberry Farm for lunch. It was a really cold day, which was a complete contrast to the gorgeously warm and sunny day we'd had the day before. I had a delicious raspberry hot chocolate and raspberry waffles with ice cream. It was a perfect way to start the New Year!

On January 2nd, we went to the Tasmania Zoo with Lauren, Oliver, Rob, Stu and Anna. Hudson and Oliver had fun watching the penguin feeding, feeding kangaroos, and checking out the other animals like dingos, monkeys, potaroos, Tasmanian devils and cassowary birds.

The zoo also had this huge inflatable bounce thing. We thought the kids would enjoy, but honestly, we had way more fun!! We were all trying to bounce each other, show off some tricks and laughing so hard I thought I might pee my pants!!

From the zoo we went Seaport for lunch. We met up with some of Nic's friends Ewan, Brett and Luke. Then we walked along the pier.

That night we went to the Holt's for dinner. We had Burger Got Soul (one of my favorites) and Lauren made a delicious dessert. The boys played outside forever. They played with Oliver's slide, swing set, basketball and hoop, and the trampoline. The highlight though, was Uncle Stu's bubble blowing! After Oliver went to bed we remembered to take a family pic (sorry Oliver) then we played Jenga. It's nights like these that I wish we lived closer to family so we could do things like this more often.

On January 3rd, we checked out Duck Reach and the old Power Station, then hiked down to the Gorge with Stu and Anna.

Susan, Lauren and Oliver met us at the Gorge. We all played on the play equipment, then we took some photos at the Gorge (it was another beautiful day), fed the ducks and we went to the cafe for lunch. I have become obsessed with tea again on this trip and have a new obsession with scones too. 

That night, Susan watched Hudson so Nic and I could have a date night. We went to one of our favorite restaurant's the Black Cow. It is an impressive steakhouse owned by one of Nic's good friends. I am somewhat embarassed to admit this, but since Hudson was born, we have had 5 dates, technically 2 dates and 3 weddings. We went out to dinner for our Anniversary while on vacation in Hawaii in November 2012 (my parent's watched Hud), We went to Kelli and Kevin's wedding in New York in February 2013 (we had a babysitter come to the hotel), we went out to dinner for our Anniversary while in Huntington Beach in May 2013 (Ashley and Andre watched Hudson), we went to Tara and Dan's wedding reception in Acton in August 2013 (Susan and Lauren watched Hudson~they were visiting from Australia) and we went to Lauren and Hank's wedding in San Diego in October 2013 (Aunt Susannah and Will watched Hud). As you can see, our date count is pretty pathetic, especially when you take into account that 3 of the "dates" were actually weddings so we didn't exactly have one on one time together to re-connect. Also, most of our "dates" seem to occur when we are already on vacation so it isn't like we get a break from our everyday lives to spend quality time together. I always swore that I would be a person who always put my marriage first, but between breastfeeding, Hudson's issues and subsequently my over-attachment to him, and mainly not having family close by, we really haven't made us time a priority. As I mentioned above, that is my #1 New Year's resolution. We have to find a way to make time for us as a couple. Since we don't have family nearby, that means we are going to need to try and find a few babysitters that we trust so we can make it happen. Anyways, Susan also agrees that time as a couple is important so she graciously offered to watch Hudson for us and insisted we have a night out. We had a wonderful meal and a great time out together. 

On January 4th, we met Lauren, Oliver, Susan and Rob at City Park. The kids played on the playground (Hud especially liked the train), then we walked along the pond and watched the ducks, we checked out the monkeys, Nic and Lauren took the boys on a train ride (this is one of Oliver's favorite things and Hud loved it too!) and took photos with the cannon.

After that, we picked up Nan and went to a fish n chips lunch in Seaport. Hudson and Nan had so much fun passing a basketball back and forth. Nan amazes me how sharp her mind is and how well she is doing physically for her age. Hudson gave Nan a bunch of kisses, then he spent the rest of the lunch drawing on the chalkboard. He was obsessed. In fact, he cried when it was time to go. 

That night we had a BBQ at the house so we could catch up with as many friends as possible. Alex, Tim, Aaron, Hannah, Paul, Megan, Scott, Danielle, Stu, Anna, Robbie, Dale, Kieren and their daughter Elsa, and Lisa, Scott and their daughter McKenzie. We had such a great night. Nic has so many wonderful friends in Australia that I am now lucky to also call my friends. I so wish we had a group of friends like this in Valencia. 

McKenzie and Hudson were so cute together! They kept playing funny games on the chairs, they had a little dance party and Hudson pretty much just followed McKenzie around and tried to copy her all night. At one point when they were running off into the garden together we asked them to kiss and they did it. It was seriously the cutest thing ever!!

On January 5th, we began our family road trip. Our first stop was Campbell Town. It was freezing! We all grabbed coffee, tea or hot chocolate and some breakfast. Then we played in the park for a bit and of course got some photos in front of the Campbell Town sign before continuing on our journey. 

Our next stop was Kate's Berry Farm. I loved this place!! We all grabbed a bite to eat. I got fresh scones with homemade jam that were amazing and we had to try the ice cream. I was so caught up in all the delicious food and the gorgeous view that I forgot to buy some jam! Such a bummer! 

Next we went to Cressy beach. Oliver found a really cool stick that he had fun playing with and Hudson spent most of the time collecting shells. We of course took a bunch of photos screwing around and just had a generally great time. 

From the beach, we went to spiky Bridge. It was pretty cool and was an interesting quick stop.

After the bridge, we stopped for a picnic lunch. 

Then we did a lot of gorgeous coastal driving!

Our last stop was the blowhole in Bicheno. It wasn't very big that day, but we did see a few decent sprays. Hudson was pretty fascinated with it!

We grabbed some dinner before heading to our hotel in St. Helens and going to bed. 

On January 6th we went to the Bay of Fires. It was stunning! Pristine white sand, turqoise water, orange rocks and the best part: no other people! We followed a path once the road ended and honestly I could have spent hours there exploring. It was just so beautiful!!

We forced ourselves to leave and explored a few other beaches including this beauty! The boys had fun running around and Hud added to his shell collection. 

Next we completely changed scenery and entered a rainforest type environment to see St. Columba Waterfall. It was so green and a bit rainy, a complete 180 from the previous scenery, but beautiful in its own right.  

After the waterfall, we stopped to check out the Pub in the Paddock. It was an interesting place, but we decided to make it a quick bathroom stop then continue on to the Holy Cow Cafe at the Dairy Farm for lunch.

We got fresh )like literally just squeezed from the cows) milkshakes. Milkshakes in Australia are flavored milk and thick shakes are what we call milkshakes. We did a cheese tasting too which was fun, but the highlight was the food. I had the most amazing burger! It was honestly one of the best burger's I've ever had! Nic got a mushroom and steak pot pie, which was also delicious!

On January 7th, we went to Trowunna Wildlife Park. It is one of our favorite places to visit in Tasmania. They only have native Australian animals, which we of course want to see, but the best part about it is how hands on it is. They do this great tour where they tell you all about wombats, then they let everyone pet and hold the wombat. After that, they tell you all about devils, then you get to pet one. I don't know anywhere else in Australia where you can pet Tasmanian Devils, so that is pretty cool. They also show devil's feeding, which is interesting. Hudson loved touching all the animals and he was fascinated with the devils. After the tour we checked out the echidnas, quolls, and kookaburras before heading down to feed the kangaroos. Hudson loved the kangaroos and even kissed one! By the end of our visit he was saying wombat, kangaroo and devil. :)

Here is a video of Hudson's first time feeding a kangaroo with Nic's help. 

Here is Hudson feeding a kangaroo on his own. He loved it!!

After our exciting morning, we went to Josef Chromy winery for lunch and a wine tasting. It was a beautiful day and the property was gorgeous. We had fun wandering around and Hud loved runnng wild and playing. 

 He was not a big fan of us doing the wine tasting though. It was really crowded and only one guy was doing the tasting so it was a long, slow process. This of course annoyed us, but we had to remind ourselves that if we didn't have a fussy child with us, we totally would be enjoying a leisurely, relaxed, slow-paced wine tasting. We had to keep taking turns doing the tasting and chasing after him so we kept missing explanations and didn't really have a relaxing tasting experience. Sometimes you just have to make it work though. We discovered that Hudson was actually quite interested in the wine and wanted to be part of the smelling and tasting action, haha. Of course we didn't let him taste the wine, but we did let him smell it. He even tried to stick out his tongue and lick the glass! I wonder if that means anything?

That night we had dinner with the Quills. They were so excited to meet Hudson and we all had a great time chatting and eating pizza and chocolate log. 

On January 8th, we went to the Bridestowe Lavender farm. It was so beautiful. The smell of lavender filled the air and the endless rolling hills on purple were spectacular. I adore this place. We had so much fun taking pictures and jumping around in the fields. Then we enjoyed the cafe. We got Lavender English Breakfast tea, lavender sausage rolls, lavender scones, and lavender ice cream. All of the food was delicious!! I bought the culinary lavender, lavender relish, lavender honey, and lavender herbs de provence (they provide recipe cards of the food they serve in the cafe) so that I could attempt to make everything at home. 

After that we went to the Strawberry farm to pick strawberries. Hudson had fun picking the berries and he even tried a couple. They also had raspberries and blueberries to pick, toys to play with and a sandbox. We played for a little bit, I bought some jam and then we had to get back on the road. 

From there we drove to  Low Head. We checked out the lighthouse then went to the beach. It wasn't as pretty as the east coast beaches, but Hudson still had fun throwing rocks into the water (I think he could do this for hours). After the beach we grabbed some dinner in Georgetown. 

After dinner, we checked in for our penguin tour at Low Head. We got to see the sunset, touch a real stuffed penguin, then the real fun began. We heard the penguins first, then we watched as they slowly came in from the water and up on to the beach. We followed them up the beach to their burrows. It is amazing how far they travel each night. The penguins were so cute and a few got pretty close and walked right by. We even got to see a few babies! We all had a great time!

On January 9th, we went over to Stu and Anna's for a family dinner. We all brought ingredients to create our own meat pies. Everyone came up with delicious combos. We had: mince and mushroom - lamb and gravy - chicken, rice and curry - chicken satay - mince and chorizo - chicken with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and brie cheese - and fresh berry pies with ice cream for dessert!!

On January 10th, we had a few visitors. Ben Rush and his daughter came over. Julie McKenzie stopped by for a visit and Oliver came over for a play with Hudson.

While Hudson napped, Stu, Anna, Nic and I went wine tasting (Susan was home with Hud). We went to Tamar Ridge first. They made the wine we served at our wedding, Devil's Corner Pinot Noir. It was our favorite wine when Nic and I had done a Tamar Valley wine tasting tour years ago. We were telling the man conducting our tasting our story and he insisted we take a bottle on him. How nice is that?!! We had a wonderful time chatting with him, tasting all of the delicious and interesting wines and enjoying the view.

The next winery we went to was Ninth Island. Their wine wasn't as good, but they still had a beautiful view. Our next stop was one of Rob's favorite wineries, Goaty Hill. We shared a hummus platter, enjoyed our wine tasting and then goofed around. It was such a fun afternoon!!

We came home and had chicken burgers for dinner. It is one of my favorite meals and didn't disappoint!!

On January 11th, we had breakfast with the Jacksons. Hailey made pancakes and we brought over scones, cream and jam. Tim is one of Nic's closest childhood friends and Tim and Hailey are expecting their first child any time now (we were hoping we would get to meet the little guy, but it isn't looking likely) so it was fun to talk married life and soon to be parenthood.

That afternoon Nic's family came over for one last BBQ. It was nice to see everyone one last time before we head home because we never know how long it will be until we see them again. Nan and Hudson were so cute together again. Hudson really adores Nan and she seemed to really enjoy spending time with Hudson too. I am so glad she was able to meet him in person. 

On January 12th, we finally had to say our goodbyes. This time was especially hard because we knew it would probably be a long time before we saw everyone again. All I have to say is thank goodness for skype. I know it isn't the same as spending time with everyone in person, but it is the next best thing. After all the tearful goodbyes, we boarded our first flight from Tasmania to Melbourne. We got an empty seat next to us, which was nice. Then from Melbourne we flew to Sydney. We got our own row again. We also got to see the Sydney Harbor bridge and Opera House as we were landing so that was fun. At the Sydney airport we discovered that they made a mistake and checked our stroller all the way through to LAX. That was annoying because they main time we need it is in big airports! After waiting for it forever, I had to carry Hud through the airport while Nic dealt with most of the luggage. We finally got on our last flight and gave up our bassinet seat for an empty seat in a row to ourselves. This made the flight so much better!! Hudson was able to sprawl out and sleep, which meant Nic and I were able to sleep and relax a bit too. The only issue we had on this flight is leaking diapers. Hudson's diapers rarely leak so it was shocking when it happened 3 times. By the third time, we just changed Hud's diaper at the seat while he stayed sleeping, then we just placed his changing pad under him so he wouldn't get wet and swapped out the blankets. We survived another long 24 hours of travel and Hudson did amazingly well. Even though the trip back was longer, Hudson did way better. I was so relieved that all went smoothly when we landed and was so proud of Hudson's behavior that I was honestly disappointed that we didn't get a round of applause (or at least a comment or two about his impressive behavior) at the conclusion of the flight. Oh well, we were proud of him and that is most important.  

That concluded another amazing trip to Australia. I am so glad that we were able to take Hudson to meet his Aussie family and show him some of the best things about were his dada grew up. We have always enjoyed going to Australia, but sharing the experience with Hudson made it extra special.