1 more sleep!

1 more sleep til we go to Warrnambool for a weekend of whale watching and quilting! Life is good.

Where's Jenny?

That's right... I'll be living in an Emergency Management Conference for 2 days! So far it's been great though, the theme this year is "rescue" (woohoo) and there's a diversity stream as well.

Today I got to learn about search and rescue in Virginia, dealing with people who have been affected by a traumatic experience, rescue operations involving visually and hearing impaired people, swift water rescue, and International Rapid Response surgical teams. Woohoo! All in all, it's not a bad way to spend a few days when you're a disaster junkie!

Megan's work :)

"Through and through"

Kicking to the wrong goal

Marin & Max

Happy wedding day Marin & Max! It's the 27th in Australia... which means it's the 26th in Milford, CT!!!

CONGRATS!

What a perfect weekend!

What a great weekend... filled with nothing but quilting and Dr. Mario. Does it get much better? Yes... with a BULLDOGS game! We are heading out in a few minutes. Bulldogs v. Carlton Blues. Go Doggies!

Frosty July

As we walked toward our car as 6am this morning (yes, 6am... we go swimming now!) we heard the oh so familiar, "Scraaaaaape... scrape, scrape, scrape" sound that we haven't heard since our last Chicago winter. Our neighbours were scraping the ice off of their windscreen, and we needed to do the same. We live in Australia, we live by the beach, and it's July. No matter how many times I think about the northern and southern hemispheres, I just can't believe it's frosty right now!

Winter in July

It's still weird that it's cold in July. Today it's 5 degrees, with a top of 14 (Celsius, of course). In the grand scheme of things, and in comparison to Chicago, it's really not that cold. It's just so so strange!

(oh, and living in an apartment with "polished concrete floors" doesn't help!!!)

Nintendo NES

Oh yeah... that's right... we got an old school Nintendo (thank you eBay)! We actually got it on Megan's birthday and we've been glued ever since. We got 10 games, but so far only 1 works. And only sometimes. And only if you blow in it (just like 1985).

Go Dr. Mario, Go!

Bulldogs warming up (in Darwin)

Not everything here is big and scary.

Who built this little home?

What's the post code for the middle of nowhere?

Where the hell is Wall Drug?

In honour of Wall Drug, here's a "Where the hell is Pine Creek" sticker!

Home-away-from-home-on-the-road

What the?!??

Geckos

I never get tired of these little fellas.

Another thing that can kill us (probably)

153-81

Ahh... this was a happier result. This is the game in Darwin. At many of the stadiums you can run around on the field after the game. It's great to see everyone line up with their balls and wait for the siren... then it's absolute organized chaos for the next 20 minutes or so while everyone gets to play!

Sad day for our dogs.

Well, the first half of the game was AMAZING. It was all tied up 47-47 going into halftime. But things went downhill after that. Our boys fell apart and the final score was too ugly to even post.

But all in all it was an exciting day. We arrived at Skilled Stadium in Geelong (75 kms from Melbourne) at 10:15am since gates were scheduled to open at 10:30. We ran like hell when the gates opened so we could score one of the few seats (300-400 seats for general admission ticket holders). We got a seat and settled in for the next few hours until the bounce at 2:10pm. Don't worry... we brought a box of quilting supplies, so we had plenty to keep us entertained!

Once the game was over and our hearts were broken we headed off for a lovely fondue dinner with Janice (Megan's coworker), David and the boys. Yummy... cheese helps cure a broken heart.

Next week: Carlton Blues at the Telstra Dome. Yeah!

Big day tomorrow. Big day.

Our Bulldogs (#2) play #1 Geelong tomorrow. Our boys are the footy equivilant of the Chicago Cubs... so it's kind of like facing off against the Yankees. No one in Australia has any faith in the Doggies... except for us and our fellow fans. We bought tickets to the game before they sold out (in THREE minutes) and we will make the 75km trek to Geelong tomorrow. Recommendations are to get there when the gates open, 4 hours before game time. The crowd is supposed to be 95% Geelong supporters. Oh dear. I hope we get out alive!!!

GOOOO DOOOGGGGIES!!!!!

Aussie English 101

1. carn: Carn means "come on" and comes from the drunken crowds of Austrailan Rules Football. It can be extended past "come on", as it can be used like "carn the Pies" when you cannot say "come on the Pies".

Carlton Supporter: Carn the Blues!

Collingwood Supporter: F&%$ that, mate! Carn the Pies!

Silly crocs.

"We're happy little Vegemites"

http://www.vegemite.com.au/

Yup, there's a camel

(please note the AWESOME kangaroo/joey shirt I'm sporting!)

Red Cross!

This is a little mobile eye clinic in "back of Bourke" (middle of nowhere) N.T.

I have the best travel buddy EVER.

More Northern Territory pics

Just in case you haven't seen enough... here come more Northern Territory pics! Our computer is slow, and Australian internet is strange (the most you upload/download in a given day, the slower the connection for the following day or so), so it takes a loooong time to post all our pics!

Happy American Birthday Megan!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!

(We'll have to celebrate again when it's July 15th in America!)

Comment away!

Back by popular demand... COMMENTS! And by "popular," I mean Melissa. Thanks for making us feel loved!

So, let's just refrain from posting pyramid schemes and links to sketchy websites and we'll all be happy.

:)

Found one!

Must... find... swimming hole...

Out of ugly things, pretty things grow!

Confederate flag or railway crossing?

Goodbye Tiwi Islands!

Another classic

Important tip...

...pack your luggage in the nose of the plane.

So close to the equator!

(while on the Tiwi Islands)

"I'm maaaaaad"

(If frilled neck lizards could talk)

Frilled neck lizard

Yeah, that's right... Trevor caught this [angry] little guy. For 2 days he started out the window of the vehicle until finally he spotted one in the tree. He hopped out, grabbed it by it's tail, and amazing the hell out of all of us!

"Billabong"

Main Entry: bil·la·bong

Pronunciation: \ˈbi-lə-ˌbȯŋ, -ˌbäŋ\

Function: noun

Etymology: Wiradhuri (Australian aboriginal language of central New South Wales) bilabaŋ

Date: 1861

a: a blind channel leading out from a river b: a usually dry streambed that is filled seasonally

Our own secluded billabong!

(and a rope swing to top it off!!!)

I think she is too. :)

I'm glad we moved to this far away country!

Trevor's Mother's country

Delish.

SUCCESS!!!

DIG!

Time to start digging...

(for turtle eggs)

GETTING CLOSER...

BIG turtle tracks!!!

Getting closer...

Little baby turtle tracks

Getting closer...

Here are some dingo tracks.

No wallaby heads this time!

Not your typical beach comb

We found some coral and a wallaby skull!