Australia part 2

This may take even more than two parts-sorry to those of you who don't care about pictures of animals, but that's pretty much what this post is. I figured since Australia has such a unique (random question shouldn't it be an unique? but doesn't that just sound wrong? perhaps it has something to do with the vowel and an 'n') anyways, variety of animals, I thought they deserved a few pictures. The next day we started with the Fetherdale Wildlife Park. Basically, it's a small privately owned zoo that allows you to pet some of the animals- or at the very least be very close to them. It was one of my favorite parts of Australia. There were wallabies and kangaroos all over the place that you could feed and touch. There were koalas also everywhere, though you could not indiscriminately touch them.

Wallabies (I am not sure the difference between wallabies and kangaroos, though kangaroos seem to be bigger).

There were lots of different birds there, many roaming free (any brid of prey though was in a cage). Doesn't Aaron look handsome in this picture?

A wombat- they never came out of those logs. Many of the animals are nocturnal, so they kept to themselves.

Me and the kangaroo!!!

Aaron and kangaroo. He (the kangaroo, not Aaron :)) just sat there for several hours (we went back to that area later, and there he was still!).

I was enamored with the koalas and understand why people love them. They were absolutely adorable- I could have looked at them all day. They have the same cuteness factor as babies (they oddly enough reminded me of Daniel- though they sleep so much better than him!)


They had the funniest sleeping positions.

Those weren't even half of the koalas pictures we took (in addition to some videos). I told you I loved them. I even bought a koala key chain.

A Cassowary. Don't they remind you of Archaeopteryx (the fossil link between birds and dinosaurs)?!

A Tasmanian Devil. He is blurry because all he did was run in a circle around this tree. It was actually pretty pathetic and sad. Whitney commented animals will just run around in paths when they are bored/unhappy. :( Not so much like the crazy twister "Taz" we all know. Needless to say PITA people would not have like Featherdale, with the free range animals and the somewhat small cages, but it really was still awesome and this was the only animal I felt bad for.

A red kangaroo (they are bigger- isn't its tail ginormous!).There was no petting of the big kangas. This guy was adorable as well, I don't remember its name. Cute pokiness.

White Dingo. They we really pretty and very much looked like dogs, but you could tell they could take you out.

Albino kangaroo. Apparently, they don't survive in the wild because they don't blend in. I don't know why, but that makes me giggle.

Emus! I was eating an apple, and they tried to poke my hand off. I stayed clear of them after that. Random boy and his dad in picture- the boy informed me that the emus "loved his dad."

Did I mention I loved the koalas?After we left Featherdale, we headed back into Sydney. This is in the Queen Victoria Building, which is really nice (posh if you will) mall. This Christmas was gorgeous.

We went to the Sydney Aquarium, which is supposed to be one of the best in the world. I thought it was pretty good, reminded me of an aquarium. It was still very neat.

You could see straight into his head- I'm hoping his brain is just farther back.

This is a seahorse- it totally looks like a plant, no?Neat pic of jelly fish.Shots in the aquarium.We ate at this wonderful Malaysian? place. It took forever to take our orders but they literally got our food out in less than five minutes. I'm still not sure if I want to think about how they did that. The food was fantastic though. Next random thought- there were a lot of different ethnicities (especially Asian and Indian) in Australia- perhaps more than the United States.
I had to get this picture. Rather than exit signs they have "Way Out" signs. Every so often there were "No Way Out" signs. How discouraging.

Australia

Here comes the mother of all posts. I may need to do this in two parts. Once again, I am not a fan of slide shows, so mas y mas y mas pictures are coming your way.

The plane ride was long, and we had the misfortune of not having any movies (because of the terrorist threat that happened in Detroit, they could not use their GPS media gizmo and that was linked with the movies, so we got no movies- though we did wait for and hour and 15 minutes as they tried to fix it, and then decided they couldn't. Passengers were not happy (esp us sardines in the back- where you had to sit on the person next to you to get out). All this aside, it really wasn't that bad. I read a lot and did get some sleep.

We went strait from the airport to our apartment in Carlingford (a suburb of Sydney), which with trains and busses took about 2 1/2h, but we made it there just fine. Aaron was proud we never got lost or took the wrong train/bus. After settling and napping for a little bit, we went back into Sydney and took a look at the harbor. This is in a train station.

We took tons of pictures of the Sydney Opera house. It really was impressive.

We walked around Sydney Harbor for a little bit, and then decided to walk over the Botanic Gardens. I was thinking they would just be neat plants and what not, but it is more like a park- a really really neat and big park. There were different sections to it and you could just walk around. You could spend at least a day just looking and strolling, laying down for a picnic in the grass. It was really neat. This is the rose garden. Pleas excuse my sexiness.When we first saw these bats, we thought it was so cool, then we realized they are all over the gardens. Still cool though. Yes, those are not pods, those are bats. Flying foxes I believe. They were loud- they sounded like screaching birds. Did they generate a lot of poop? Yes, they did. Did I step in it? Yes, I did. (Though not on this first vist, when we went back later I got whole helpings of bat feces on my sandals.)

Cool bat shot.There were neat neat trees all over. They had huge trunks that were bulging and hanging all over the place. Aaron really liked the trees. He doesn't like this picture, but I do. :) There was an area near a cool pond that had all sorts of colorful, exotic birds (like parrots and whatnot). Very cool. Opera House from the other side. A nice random lady took this for us. It was just Aaron and I on the first day, the rest of my family got there the next day.

My family (Dad, Matt, Maggie, Whitney, and Kelsey) got there the next day. Their flight got in pretty early, so they made it to our apartment by like 11 in the morning. They were exhausted and hungry so we made a run up to the grocery market (by run I mean walk- it was only like a 15 min walk). Matt and Maggie slept longer, but the rest of us went into the city. We took a double decker-open top bus tour around Sydney (the typical tourist ones, though they only had recordings for the guide rather than an actual person).

Sydney is a neat blend of old architecture with the new. There would be this old building and then literally right next to it would be a skyscraper. It was neat. We should have taken more pictures on the bus, but it is hard when it is moving. Here is a neat cathedral, though we never went in it (I think cathedral tours are best done in Europe). We stopped the bus tour at Darling Harbor (which is right next to Sydney Harbor). Darling Harbor is really neat- very clean with lots of shops and restaurants and museums. We weren't able to see all the shops and museums, but just all the stuff out on the sidewalks were really neat. Case in point: this fantastic Christmas tree (Sidney didn't take their Christmas stuff down till right before New Years). Notice the silver kangaroos!!!Isn't this an awesome fountain? They had water fountains in random places (not all like this fantastic one, but still really neat) that you were supposed to play in. It felt like Disney World.That night we went to the Opera House to see the Australian Symphony. It was AMAZING! Just being in the Opera House was cool (though it was actually hot as a fart when we finally sat down, probably because of all the body heat). The performance was really neat- they played just instrumental pieces and also had opera-style type singers that actually weren't that bad. They brought in this solo violinist who was amazing! The acoustics were really good (though I don't have too much to compare too). The view during intermission is awesome because you look out onto the harbor.

Aaron and I before the performance.

Opera House at night. It is actually an off-white almost tannish color, but at night it looks white (I always though it was perfectly white).
Okay, that's all for now.

Christmas

Christmas was a whirlwind: I worked Christmas Eve (though I did get to eat yummy dinner before at my mom's and stop by Stacy and Ben's really quickly), did a brief stocking-opening on Christmas morning after work, slept, opened presents in the afternoon, tried to clean up some, then went to the airport for our flight to Australia (more on Australia to come soon). I love the Christmas season, and the whole month was wonderful. Aaron's family came into town, and it was so nice to have them here. Here are some pics from the month and the day.

These are all from the Peterson (my mom's side) family Christmas party. My cousin Ryan organized all the younger grandkids and greatgrandkids to put on a nativity. My uncle read from Luke and the children acted it out. It was really cute and sweet.

Adorable picture of Daniel. I was in the picture too, but my eyes were closed and I was looking just way too beautiful for a public post, so I cropped myself.

Cute family picture taken at Peterson party.

Daniel with Santa (my cousin Russ). Daniel did really well, he just kind of looked at Santa and stared at his beard (I am sure he wanted to eat it).
Isn't this adorable??????

Aaron (con Daniel) with Santa.

Me with Santa.

Christmas morning opening stockings. Notice Daniel's fabulous stocking- my mother-in-law made it!!
This is mainly what he wanted to do with his presents.
Me with my stocking (Aaron was taking pictures).

We helped him open his gifts. He wasn't as excited about tearing the paper as I thought he would be, maybe his was too excited about eating it.

This is Christmas afternoon where we opened all the presents. Aaron looks like he is high, and though he is not the most photogenic crayon in the box, he was sick that morning. (He got the crappy 24h flu that seems to be going around- luckily it was gone for the 14h plane ride to Australia)

Christmas was good to us- especially Daniel. He was spoiled rotten (not from Aaron and I- he has very loving grandparents and aunts and uncles) and got all sorts of toys, clothes, books, hugs, kisses.... I love this picture because it looks like he is just nonchalantly waving his hand saying, "yes just put those over there with all the rest of my belongings."Daniel with the wonderful blanket Julie made him. She is all things crafty.Well, forgive me for a once again long long post. Christmas truly was fantastic. After we opened gifts, Aaron's parents dropped us off at the airport. I only had a few tears in my eyes when I left Daniel, and when I heard a crying baby on the airplane, I was glad he was not with us. I missed him a lot while we were in Australia and did cry when I held him when we got back. I am so blessed to have him and Aaron (without Aaron I would not be able to handle Daniel I think). 2009 has been a good year!

Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun. We didn't do too much, just went over to my parents (they get a lot more trick-or-treaters, so it's more fun to go over there) and showed Daniel off to the great Grandparents. He has been fighting a cold and is starting to get better, so I didn't want to push it too much. I ate way too much candy and other yummy foods (i.e. Grandma Pete's fantastic caramel apples). Oh and also that day, I went scuba diving and probably perforated my eardrum, but that is a story for another time. Here are pictures of our adorable son (he really is so adorable, I take pictures of him all the time and just look at him and smile/laugh).

This was before Halloween, but the outfit is somewhat Halloween-y and he is so cute and smiling. Isn't it cute with all the cute baby things inside the skeleton. Thanks Uncle Danny!!!


This was his Halloween day outfit.

This is me trying to be creative. Notice the cute socks!!

Actual Halloween costume. My mom and I made it (okay, so mainly my mom, but I did actually sew some of it). He is quite possibly the cutest Winnie the Pooh of all time.

My Mom did the Pooh on the shirt. There are also Pooh's on his feet. I should have taken more pictures!!

Though this picture is fuzzy, I love it!

Picture of the whole family. Aaron was the Grim Reaper. His costume didn't scare Daniel at all. He was like, "whatever, are we going to move soon?"

This is for Julie, since I wasn't going to post it, but I know you want as much pictures as possible. I really should have taken more- I'll have to check out my mom's selection too.

He was much happier when we took the top off and even happier when we took the entire costume off (though he prefers being naked in the first place).

In keeping with tradition, here are pumpkins for Halloween 2009.

Mine, a cute and simple bat.

Aaron's- a complex and so cool Maleficent in her awesome dragonness.

Stacy and her cute witch. Doesn't it remind you of Wicked Witch of the West? "Elphaba- dreams the way we planned 'em, if we work in tandem. There's no fight we cannot win, just you and I defying gravity!" Sorry that just popped into my head. That music makes me happy.

Finally, not a Halloween post. I have been gushing about Daniel, but I need to gush about my fabulous husband. On Friday he surprised me and took me out- child free for a whole day and night and the next morning. We went shopping, saw a matinee, took a nap, went to dinner at the MGM, saw 'O' at the Bellagio, stayed at a nice hotel, slepped in, and ate breakfast at IHOP. It was so fun and relaxing and what I needed! (I have also been sick and needed a break- I know, it's only one baby, but I was whooped.) And, then I got to come home and see my fabulous adorable Pooh. I am the luckiest woman alive.

Hawaii part 2

The rest of the Hawaii trip was awesome. We carted poor Daniel all over the place- it was not his most favorite thing (there was lots of crying and being held), but it was still so fun. Thanks Jen and Todd for the fabulous time!!!!!

Daniel at the Polynesian Culture Center (I would not recommend going there with an infant). It was still really neat though seeing all the different islands and the food at the lua after was really good.

A picture of a picture of us in the PCC (aren't I cool with the abbreviations!!).

Grandma playing with Daniel. Everyone was so good to help me out and keep him entertained.In front of the Laie (sp?) temple. It is closed for remodeling but the outside is still gorgeous.

The temple had hibiscus plants all over the place- they were amazing!!! I thought my hibiscus plant was happy- little did I know they come in bushes!! ("they come in pints?!")

One of my favorite pictures of all time!!!! Baby Pink Sassy would kick Daniel when he was sitting on Jen sometimes (she's a little possessive of her mom- and wouldn't you be if your mom was Jen and everyone loved her??).

More pictures at the beach. My hair was so out of control. Since I lost half of my hair post pregnancy (no one told me that was going to happen! At first I thought I was going bald and had to look it up on the internet.) I have these little wispies that just can't be tamed.

More sister shots (and cousins!!). Notice all the kites in the back ground in these pictures. There were tons of kite and wind surfers that day. [It was the day of the tsunami in Samoa. There was an advisory to stay out of the water- which told everyone it was a great day to go surfing I guess.]

This guy was kite surfing and was awesome! He was catch a wave and literally float in the air for a few seconds. When he came into shore Grandma told him he rocked (those exact words).

Hawaii!!

Here is a quick blurb about what we have been doing in Hawaii (Daniel, my mom, my grandma, and I all left this past Thursday to visit Jen and Todd). The plane ride was, well, not so fun. Daniel did okay but I am so glad my mom was there and that we had Jolly Ranchers for him to suck on (we held on to one end and went to town on the other).

We went to the beach that is close to Jen's place (like a 10 minute drive tops). It was beautiful, the water temp was like being in a pool. The waves were not huge, but it was still fun to get in the oceanbecause it cooled you down! (I miss air conditioning, though it's not too bad). It was kind of windy, there were wind surfers which was neat. Daniel liked the water, but did not like the bigger waves or the sand washing over his feet.

Like my Gollum hairs??

Happy at this point!

Deck change! (By this time he was not excited about being wet and sandy- but he loves being naked). What a cute little bum!!

Outside Giovanni's shrimp place, where they cook your shrimp in a van and it is so good!!

We visited the giant turtles (for info see Jen's blog). There was only one on the beach but still so cool! Todd went in the ocean and snorkled and saw one, but it was pretty turbulent out there so the rest of us stayed on the beach.

Cute Grandma in the background. My hair is out-of-control.

"People like pictures"

The last few weeks have been rather uneventful, so I am struggling with the direction of this post. And so, I will take the easy way out and blog about Daniel (and really, what else would you like to hear?). Oh yeah! What I am talking about uneventful?? Aaron passed his PT boards!!!!! We are all so excited- even Daniel- he did an extra special toot when he found out. We went up to Pine Valley when Aaron took the test and had a wonderful time. We see deer fairly often, but we still get excited. This one had no trouble getting into my Grandma and Grandpa's garden.

This was a cute bath picture taken up in Pine ValleyAaron started working 4 weeks ago, which is nice, since money is nice, but it was also really nice having him around. That was a lot of nice's. We are the knights who say nice! Okay, sorry random thoughts. Anyways, it has been an adjustment with Aaron working and me working (only two nights, but still it is tough to leave the little guy). But, things are starting to slow down and we are getting into a little bit of a routine (if such a thing is possible with a baby). Daniel is getting older- 4 months last week. He had a special toot on his four month birthday as well. He wiggles all over the place, rolled over once but has yet to repeat the feat (he was fairly surprised when he did it), starting to eat cereal, and even went swimming. And he sleeps about 10-11 hours during the night (can I get a Hallelujah!). Enough of the ramblings, here are pictures.

Daniel on his side and with his hands in his mouth (I think he is starting to get a little bit to the teething stage). I know, that onsie is a little tight, I have since retired it. If he had chest hair, it would be showing.

Here come a slew of swimming pictures (I considered cutting a few, but as Aaron reminded me- people like pictures.) This is his swimming outfit. He is the Ugly Betty of the swimming world.

He did really well in the water. He stayed in with Aaron for about 30 minutes.

Isn't his hair out of control??? There is not much I can do about it- or that's what I tell myself at least. And, besides, I love it. His pose here is fantastic.

He and Aaron were so cute. He loves his Daddy.

Notice the hair again.Daniel eating for the first time. He usually does pretty well, though at this point he was saying, "Stop torturing me and give me a bottle!!!"We had a video of him rolling over, but it is MIA. sad.

We took family pictures today just for kicks (we were all dressed up, so why not?)

I just love this picture. He looks so old!!