Home Sweet Home

November 18th -- Well, we would get to enjoy November 18th twice. We got up this morning and finished packing up our stuff. We had planned to check out of the apartment around noon and head to the airport for our 3:15pm flight. A few minutes after 10am, the receptionist called and informed us that check out was at 10am. Luckily, we were mostly packed, so we grabbed our stuff and headed downstairs. We decided to go to the nearby park in Darling Harbour to allow the kids to burn off a little energy. A little before noon, we headed back to the apartment, picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the airport. The check in process was easy and we were through security by 1:30pm. We went to the Qantas club and grabbed some lunch. Around 2:45 we headed to our gate and boarded our plane. It was an Airbus 380 and was by far the biggest plane we had ever been on. It had a complete 2nd story that ran the length of the plane and an under-cabin crew quarters. We settled into our seats, which were the 4 across the middle. Again, we had the in-seat, on-demand entertainment center, so the kids immediately started watching TV and movies. The flight was as uneventful as a 13 hour flight can be. We all watched some movies, ate dinner and then slept. Amy and I slept for about 3-4 hours and the kids slept for 6-7 hours. When we woke up we had breakfast before landing in Los Angeles around 9:50am...on the 18th! So, here we go for Nov. 18th round 2. We navigated baggage and customs fairly easily before checking in for our flight to DFW. As sad as it is, we must say we were not greeted by the most professional employees...slightly souring our re-entry. We encountered 2 rude American Airline employees and 1 rude Airport employee. If they were just being rude to us, we would have chalked it up to being tired. However, 2 of the 3 were being rude to other passengers. One was being so rude to a lady, that Amy approached the lady to offer her assistance. Now, I can't tell you how proud I was to see "my Amy"...the girl who is (was) afraid to fly, offering to help another passenger. Anyway, we finally made it to our next flight for the final leg to DFW. Once on the flight, Austin fell asleep almost immediately. Amy and I took about 30 minute naps and Abby never slept. However, she did order water for all of us since the drink cart came through while we were asleep. We finally arrived in DFW around 5:00pm. Sign number 2 that Amy has overcome here fear of flying...she was taking pictures out the window as we were landing! Our good friend, Matt, picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel in Frisco where we met my Mom. We all then went to La Hacienda for some much missed Tex-Mex. It was then back to the hotel for a much needed night of sleep.

Back in Sydney

November 15th--We left Port Douglas this morning at 9:45 for the hour shuttle ride to the Cairns Airport. We arrived with plenty of time before our flight was to leave. Qantas was remodeling their lounge so we were given vouchers to use at any restaurant within the airport. The kids decided on Hungry Jacks which is the same thing as Burger King in the States. So right after a quick lunch, it was time to board our plane. We were again on a big plane and given a full lunch on our plane ride back to Sydney. We arrived back in Sydney about 4:00 p.m. We quickly got our luggage and hopped in a taxi. It was nice to be at a place that we were familiar with and knew exactly which way the taxi should go in order to get to our apartment. We are staying in the same apartment as we did when we were here a few weeks ago. Anyway, we arrived at the apartment about 5:00 and got our stuff organized. We then left to go eat at Nando's and stop by the grocery store for a few breakfast items.

November 16th--We took it easy this morning. We had a few things to wrap up for our return to the States. Mike then took the kids to play down by Darling Harbour. They played on the playground, rode the train around, and jumped on the FlyMotion. While they were playing, I was doing some last minute shopping. I went to Myers and David Jones which are 2 big department stores here and then the Queen Victoria Building which is a small mall close to our apartment. It's weird to walk around here and see Summer clothes when to us it is really Fall in our heads. I met back up with Mike and the kids about 3:00 at the apartment. We then just hung out until the babysitter arrived at 5:00. Mike and I got a babysitter so we could enjoy a night out in Sydney. The kids were thrilled to see us leave. We headed to the Opera House Bar first. This is an area located right on the Sydney Harbour next to the Opera House. It was so relaxing and nice to watch the sunset over the harbour. From here, we walked to the other side of the harbour to an area called The Rocks. We ate dinner at Phillip's Foote which was recommended to us by our friends, Ren and Dave. The food was wonderful. We entered through the front door and proceed to the back to pick out our meat. We both picked Australian beef t-bone steaks to grill on our own. Once we got our meat, we proceeded to the chargrill barbeque where Mike became the chef. As our meat was being grilled, we filled our plates up at the salad bar. During and after dinner, we reminisced about the past 9 months of traveling. I'm sure there will be plenty more moments like this to come...

November 17th--Our last day traveling...Wow! It's so hard to believe that we have seen so much and had so many experiences. This morning Abby and I headed out for a quick shopping trip. Once we returned, we all went down to Darling Harbour so the kids could show me their talents on the FlyMotion. They were able to jump and do back flips for about 30 minutes. When they got off, we went to eat at McDonald's. Mike and I lost the battle to eat somewhere else. From McDonald's we walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the Moore Park Entertainment Center to see a movie. Once we arrived at the Entertainment Center, we had about an hour before our movie started. So, the kids played on the playground. Then, we went to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3D at the IMAX. The movie was good, but really not geared towards young kids. It was about 5:00 by the time the movie was over so it was back on the bus to the apartment. We spent the remainder of the night packing up our stuff for our flight out tomorrow only to find out late that I had washed a small packet of Peanut Butter that was in Austin's shorts. Well, this peanut butter landed in the dryer and got on some of our dried clothes. Yes, a little bit of a mess, but the clothes need to be burned anyway after being the only things we've worn for a year. It gave us a good last night laugh!