A Trip Down Under

On September 1, we, along with Papa and Gran, hopped on a plane bound for Brisbane, Australia. This was Evie's first trip on an airplane so we had no idea how it would go. We packed lots of books, toys and snacks for the trip and prayed for smooth flying. Guess what? Evie did awesome! I think it helped that we were flying at night so she slept most of the flight. When we landed in Brisbane she even said, "More, please."



Mat's parents met us at the airport - Bill sporting a Texas flag! Evie was happy to see her Nanny and Poppy. After we loaded up in the cars, we headed up the highway to Caloundra. It was really nice to see the Australia sky and trees again, not to mention the beach! Mat was itching to get a meat pie so that was our first Aussie meal - at brunch no less. Evie enjoyed the pie - she ate practically all of Nanny's.




So for the first 10 days of our visit we stayed at an awesome 3 bedroom condo on the beach. It was perfect for all 7 of us. We took many trips down to the beach and received a lot of visitors. We really enjoyed seeing family and old friends and introducing them to Evie. And I just had to make another trip to the Australia Zoo - love that place!





After our stay in Caloundra, Mat and I headed to Hervey Bay for a few days while Evie headed to Toowoomba with the grandparents. I was very sad to leave her but knew that we needed the time away. Once we arrived at our hotel I knew that we had made a good decision. We were able to relax and reconnect, and boy was it quiet! I never knew what time it was or much cared when we ate. But I sure did miss my sweet girl. Now Evie, I'm not sure she knew we were gone. She had a ball with the grandparents!


We spent several days in Toowoomba catching up with people and then caught a flight to Melbourne to visit Mat's brother and his family for a few days. We really enjoyed catching up with Ken and Asha and finally meeting our nephew, Arjan. We strolled around the city and took a drive down the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles. It was beautiful! Sadly, these structures are slowly being washed away.



We flew back in to Brisbane and stayed with the Coker family until it was time to return to the US. We had an amazing trip and enjoyed catching up with everyone. It was fun introducing Evie to everyone - she was a big hit! We hope and pray that it will not be another 5 years until we return. We love and miss you all!