Aussies

Post 7:

Wyatt is now 1 year old and what a good birthday he had. I woke up on Monday to the sound of the family singing happy birthday to Wyatt in English and then the Dutch happy birthday song. It was really sweet. Monday night we had a couple of Robert's aunts and uncles over and had cake for Wyatt. The frosting had black in it so it was classic. Wyatt wasted no time grabbing the food and shoving it into his mouth. It was pretty funny. There was plenty of paparazzi around him as everyone had their phones out taking video and pictures. I couldn't help but to laugh thinking how different things were not too long ago. We took a couple of pictures and hoped we got a good one.

I had a great night on Wednesday. It was girls night out as Becky, Ashlee, and I headed to the "Outback Spectacular!" This was Ashlee's surprise night. I couldn't get her to make any guesses because she didn't want to be let down. When she got there I think she was a little unsure and maybe a little let down but it didn't take her long before she was excited and smiling. I was very excited and happy. I loved the show and wished that they would have let me take some pictures, but once you got into the show area there was no video or photo taking allowed. We got some straw cowboy hats when we came in and it was so funny to see hundreds of people in these hats. Pretty corny looking, but I was totally into it. We walked into the room for dinner and it was like a rodeo arena only a little smaller. They had stadium seating with the tables and seats going around the arena. There was quite a bit of room and it was a really neat set-up.

The show was awesome. It was a lot of horses and horse tricks. The story they told was about the horses and riders from Australia during WWI. It was a little intense at a few parts, but for the most part really fun and lively. I am so glad I was able to go. I think Becky had a really good time as well. To top it all of as we were walking back to the car after the show I spotted a wallaby jumping away! I pointed it out to Ashlee so she can back me up. It was pretty cool.

Becky and I decided it may be better not to leave Ammon guessing what his activity would be on Friday... thought he was creating something larger than life in his imagination. So we told him about the Rugby games that we were going to and he was very excited about that. It was fun to see him so excited. He kept talking to me about it and would just come and sit by me. It was pretty funny.

We took the train on Friday morning to the Gold Coast where the tournament was going to be held. The train ride was about an hour and a half and Ammon and I played the "how much longer til we are there" game. He was so talkative the whole time. I'm glad I didn't give him my iphone to play with since it was much more entertaining talking to him.

The tournament we went to was played with 7 guys in 7 minute halves. The games went by really quickly which made it more entertaining. There were a lot of trys and that was fun as well. We watched lots of countries play like France, Kenya, New Zealand, Scotland, Argentina, England, and of course the United States. For the first game Ammon and I sat in the front row of this large and beautiful stadium. It was one of the most beautiful stadiums I've seen. It was awesome to be so close to the action, but I forgot sunscreen so we grabbed some food and moved into the shade a little higher up. The people down here really get into rugby. The was they do is by dressing up. It was like a large Halloween party. They all have group costumes. So there were construction workers, crayons, police, gringos, and many more groups. It made things very interesting. As we left I almost fell over from the smell of all the alcohol that was around. People certainly come to rugby as a social event here.

On our way out I bought Ammon a slurpee and we decided that Ammon's favorite part of the day was the bounce house that he played in before the games started. He spent 10 minutes jumping and sliding down a huge steep slide. He screamed each time he went down it, but he loved it. We boarded the train around 4:30 and headed back to Brisbane. Ammon fell asleep on my lap on the way home and I too fell asleep for a little while. The sun sure wipes me out down here. It was a great day. I am really glad I got to go to a real Rugby match down here to see the culture that surrounds the game.

On Saturday we had Thanksgiving with a few other American families. The food was delicious, but the best part was the pool party after dinner. We jumped in the pool and played for along time. It felt pretty odd to be in the pool on Thanksgiving day. We had a great time. I especially liked going for a walk in the rain last night with Becky and a couple of her friends. I was glad for the exercise and it was fun to see the bats flying overhead.

I can't believe that I have been here for 5 weeks now. The time has certainly flown by. This is my last week here and I am looking forward to spending a few more days with Becky and the family. They are amazing and I've loved interrupting their lives just a bit.

Cheers

Debbie