An afternoon at the beach... in winter.

This past weekend we got away! We went to Saugatuck, Michigan. Andy found a Groupon for a Bed and Breakfast that we couldn’t pass up. So off we went in the blizzard of January 2012… Ok it wasn’t really considered a blizzard – but if you’d ask the news people at the time – I’m sure they’d tell you of the impending doom. So off we went in the crazy snow – 4 hour trip that should have taken 2 ½ hours – we didn’t think that was bad at all.
Saturday after relaxing most of the day – we explored the town of Saugatuck. Too touristy for our tastes, but I saw a sign for Oval Beach. While I do not consider myself a Beach Girl – I do love the big lake. I find peace on the beach listening to the waves. So we followed the signs and found Oval Beach. I’d never seen Lake Michigan in winter before – so walking on the ice was so fun and interesting. To see these huge boulders of ice just rolling around in the waves, crashing into the shore/ice. So glad we spent that time wandering.

OZ – Beach

Kevin and Belinda whisked us off to the beach as soon as we arrived in Brisbane. Oh the beach – how gorgeous! The breeze, the sand, the waves… love every part of the beach. We spent a morning walking the beach then the next afternoon I walked the beach at low tide. I’ve not seen a low tide before – but was amazed by how the beach transformed. What a relaxing way to spend an afternoon enjoying God’s creation.

OZ – Rainforest

The country of Australia is so diverse in its landscape. We were blessed to be able to see the rainforest – from above the trees. We took a scenic train up to a “village” – aka tourist shopping area. Then took the SkyRail back down the mountain. The train took it’s time as we ambled along to see countryside. The SkyRail was so cool to see the trees from the tops. What an amazing ride.

OZ – Snorkeling

Many people have something on their bucket list… Swim the Great Barrier Reef. We can now say we’ve done that. Amazing is all I can say about it. Ok… that’s just not true. I have a lot to say about it. I’m not a huge fan of snorkeling. Let’s rewind further… we took a day cruise in Cairns out to the reef. They gave us little to no info on how the actual snorkeling would be happening, so I was a bit nervous. When we got to the place, they ferried us to an island that was covered with birds. We were told not to go near the birds, don’t touch the reef, leave the fish alone. Ugh… so many rules and things not to do! How do I snorkel? So we got this 30 second lesson – not enough. I was still freaking out that I wouldn’t be able to breathe out of my nose… then the chilly water… then Andy was swimming like a fish. Ugh… not my thing. The ships photographer came and took our picture underwater…. Well…. I was somewhat underwater. See the panic in my eyes?
We had a super fancy ziplock type bag for our digital camera so we were able to use it to take photos underwater. Really cool. Our camera was dry as a bone after.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I would hope this time I’d be at least less of a freak about it.

OZ – Sydney

We had two full days in Sydney – really full days. After sitting on a plane for 14 hours we were ready to get going! We had purchase prepaid sightseeing tickets that allowed us entrance into a bunch of different places in Sydney and also use the public transportation. The first thing we did was take a tour of the Sydney Opera House… we felt sure that you aren’t allowed to see anything else without going there… probably a law or something. :) It was really cool. It was great to be able to wander the city and not worry about forking over cash constantly. Something I’d certainly consider doing in the future if we are able.

OZ –Bush Walk

Just a few blocks away from the beach condo we stayed in, we were able to go on a Bush Walk. It was a maintained pathway, so we didn’t exactly wander into the bush and fight our way through it. Belinda warned us to always look down, since most things in Australia are poisonous… at least, so it seems like. In the middle of our walk Belinda would say, “you aren’t looking down, look down people!” We survived AND got to see many fun animals and plants.

OZ –Kangaroos

Yay for pictures… Sorry for the delay. I have no real excuse.
One of my favorite parts of our trip to Australia – other than getting to see my family, was getting to see, touch and feed kangaroos.
We got to see kangaroos in a few different ways… In Sydney we saw them through the window at the Wildlife World, at Australia Zoo we got the pet and feed them, in the bush we were surprised by one right around the corner… on the road on the way home we meet one with the bumper of the car. Oops.
Roos are so soft and sweet, at least the ones that we encountered. Feeding them was amazing, they would grab your hand and pull it down further so they could eat with more ease out of your hand. So cool. I do think they had to rotate the roos that were being feed… otherwise they’d have a whole bunch of REALLY overweight roos no longer to hop around.

The Dune of Death

I know I know… post some Australia pictures… I’ll get there… first I had to share our latest adventure – Warren Dunes, Michigan. We went camping last weekend and what a beautiful weekend it was. October can be kind of a dicey month as far as weather. Last year around the same time we went camping - pretty miserable. This year we went with Andy’s family. We had a great time. We laughed over a late night bonfire, walked and almost died on the dunes, sat by the lake, generally enjoyed ourselves.
What? Oh yes… almost died on the dune. I’d gone on a hike Friday afternoon, enjoyed winding my way through the trees and enjoying the color. Saturday we all wanted to go for a hike. We got to the start of my nice trail… No… wind through the trees? That’s silly, why not go right over the dune. I’ll tell you why not, it’s nearly impossible to get up the dune without thinking you are having a heart attack! After finally getting up it and sitting for a nice long while, we all made our way to the lake. What a gorgeous day for it.
We came home with a little less lunchmeat than we thought. We found some footprints inside our cooler – our raccoon friends snatched our lunchmeat! I hope they enjoyed that brand new unopened package of ham! :)

Weapon of Mass Destruction

Dear Federal Aviation Authorities of Australia,
Really? A tiny little pair of scissors? You think me and my scissors are going to take down this airplane and be a threat to national security? Um… OK… Right. Have it – take it.
So… on our recent trip to Australia I had a little run in with airport security. Here I thought my punch needle would be a problem. You know, sharp and pointy with a long metal shaft. Oh no…. my cute little scissors were a breach of security. The fine folks in Chicago and Los Angeles saw no real threat, the folks of Sydney – freaked! So while in Brisbane, we found this cute little scissors. It was fine, but it wasn’t my Fiskars.
When we were leaving Cairns, I decided I need some sort of cutting implement or the next 28 hours were going to be really unpleasant. 3 flights, 21 hours of flying… I needed something. So we went to the grocery store and found seam rippers! Take that Australia! I breached your security with 2 seam rippers! Each time I went through security it was a victory.
Last night – I went and replaced my orange handled friend. I’m sure some airport worker is enjoying my awesome scissors patting themselves on the back for saving the country. Sigh.

Down Under Pictures

Want to see our vacation pictures? Let me pull out the slide projector... hold on.
Oh wait... Just look at this neat collage... Oh, you want a few more to see? Ok... I'll post some in the coming weeks so you can actually SEE them. Can you figure out where we went? I'll give you a hint... our photos are in the shape of Australia for a reason... and no, we didn't go to Alabama.

A day at the beach... the dog beach

Rusty loves the dog beach. Who knew? Andy knew. Off to the dog beach we went downtown Chicago on a day off of work. Who knew chasing every ball anyone was throwing could be so fun? Rusty did. He had a little doggie ADD that day… swim swim BALL! sniff sniff BALL! drink drink BALL! No matter what he was doing : BALL! So fun to watch. He got covered in sand, but he dried off and cleaned up quick. So fun to watch.

The Great Outdoors

Yay for camping in the cold, rain and yuck. Actually it wasn’t really too gross – only Friday was nasty out. Cold and rainy. But check out the pics… couldn’t ask for a more beautiful location! We went to Shabbona Lake, Illinois.
http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/PARKS/R1/SHABBONA.HTM

If I were a better blogger, I would have all sorts of great recipes and photos of the food we made camping this weekend… I don’t.  We ate good food, even the raccoons agreed. On Saturday night they lifted the lid on the crockpot, set it down upside-down, then proceeded to eat every morsel that was left. Such well mannered critters. :) Then there was a galloping deer… we think it was a deer… we hope it was a deer.

It was nice to get away, good to see all the colors, nice to hear the millions of geese making all sorts of crazy noises.