What else happened in August?

We came home from our trip to Australia to find that our garden had gone "Jurassic Park" on us!  Giant, dinosaur sized zucchini!!

I spent a week at Camp Kilowan with our Stake Young Women for girls camp.  This was my 3rd year attending girls camp.  I love being with all the girls.  We have silly times and spiritual times and lots of laughing all week long!

I somehow managed to get my van stuck in the forest at girls camp.  It was high centered so the back left wheel wasn't even touching the ground anymore...luckily one of the men had a big truck and towed me out.  Lesson learned, don't go up and down those steep hills at camp without 4 wheel drive!

I was in charge of "Service" at camp and one of the days I had the girls paint these great rocks to hide around their neighborhoods or school to brighten someones day.  I think they all had a wonderful time with this activity.  There was so much variety and creativity!

Hyrum took the boys on a hike to Mirror Lake while I was at camp

Some nice end of summer wild flowers on the hike

Our family spent 3 nights camping on the Oregon Coast at Cape Lookout.  We had amazing weather the whole time.

On our hike to Lookout Point

At the end of the hike with a great view of the Pacific Ocean

My friend Sabrina (from Germany) joined our family on our camping adventure.  She was in Portland to visit her sister but I stole her for a few days to come camping with us.  We took a little trip into town for some Tillamook ice cream...the boys wanted to stay back at camp on their iPads...what is wrong with  my kids???

Emerson and Julian enjoying the beach.  The both actually got in the ocean and played in the waves for about 20 minutes.  The water is too cold for me but they looked like they were having fun jumping in the waves

We buried Julian in the sand:)

The entrance to the "Secret Cave" in Oceanside along the Oregon Coast.  Many years ago a hotel blasted this tunnel so their guests could get from one beach to the other because during high tide you couldn't walk around the rocks to get to the beach on the other side.

Coming out of the cave on the other side.

Having fun at the beach in Oceanside

Climbing on the rocks at Oceanside

My little rock climbers

I think Julian was channeling his inner "Lion King" in this shot:)

Hyrum and the boys worked together to gather driftwood to build this "shelter".  I told them they should apply to be on "Survivor"

We rented some ATV's and had a fun couple hours driving around Sandlake Dunes

It took a while for Julian to get comfortable riding around.  He didn't like going up and down the hilly sand dunes but really enjoyed his time racing around the flats.

Emerson, Me and Townsend on our ATV's...this was just minutes before my accident.  I was a little too sure of myself and tried to go up a dune that was way too steep.  The ATV tipped over backwards onto me and then rolled over me.  It was a pretty scary incident and I don't remember much except I remember thinking, "I'm glad I have a helmet on!" as I heard the ATV crunch over my helmet.  It took me a moment to catch my breathe but I was able to ride back to the van.  When we got home the next day I went into Urgent Care for an x-ray because I was finding it really hard to breathe or walk or talk or lay down...everything hurt.  Luckily the x-ray showed just some bruising and maybe a cracked rib or two but nothing was broken.  I'm so glad it was me and not one of my kids...I just need to be super careful if I ever go out on an ATV again...those things are dangerous!

Hyrum took this photo right after the accident.  I was covered in sand from being rolled by the ATV.  I can see the pain in my eyes even though I'm smiling

I took Emerson and a bunch of his friends to Sauvie Island.  This is a summer tradition and one I'm glad we could squeeze in even though we spent most of our summer in Australia!

We took a family bike ride around downtown Portland.  I was worried it would be hard to ride with all the cars and traffic but there was a great little bike trail loop that we took all the way out to Oaks Park in Sellwood

We stopped at Camp 18 for some lunch on our way out to Seside Oregon for a little adventure over Labor Day Weekend

Julian and Daddy skipping rocks at Camp 18

Walking along the beach at Seaside

Julian played for a while in this "hot tub" that someone had dug into the beach

Family photo in Seaside

Hyrum took Julian to Goodwill and bought a super cheap CD player and a CD.  He showed Julian how it worked and the played the CD for Julian.  Then Julian had lots of fun using a sledgehammer to  destroy the CD player.  This is one of his favorite activities...destroying electronics to open them up and see all the wires and guts on the inside:)

Australia: Brisbane

Our final week in Australia was spent in Brisbane.  I love this city and especially the wonderful Heindorff family that took me in as an exchange student way back in 1994!  I'm so glad I could visit them again and finally get to meet my host sisters kids.  Corinne has 5 girls and Leah has 3 boys!  I also got to see my host brother Matt who came down to Brisbane just to say hi (he works about 2 hours north of Brisbane).  I also got together with almost all of my friends from high school.  It was so nice that out of our whole group just one friend wasn't able to join us (she was pregnant and was due to have her baby any day).  Some friends came all the way from Melbourne!  It made me feel so loved to see that everyone took time out of their busy lives to get together!  Brisbane didn't have any "must see" sights so we just took it easy, relaxed and spent time with my wonderful host family!

Funny story about this photo.  The entire time we were in Australia Oma had been wanting to see wild kangaroos jumping around.  I told her many times it was unlikely to see any kangaroos in a city as big as Sydney and I had never seen kangaroos just jumping down the streets of Brisbane so I told her she might be out of luck.  She said she had talked with friends who had visited Australia and they had told her kangaroos and koalas were just everywhere so she was disappointed that we hadn't seen any.  So, while we were driving from the airport after our trip to the Great Barrier Reef the sun was just going down and I happened to look out my window and there, in a big field off the side of the road, were about 30 kangaroos!  Of course we pulled over and watched them for a few minutes until our presence scared them off and they all bounded away into the bush.  So Oma got her wild kangaroo adventure after all!  She was so happy:)

Enjoying a nice little nature stroll in Alex Hills with my host Mum

Annika, Tracy and Niki...3 of my good friends from high school

Me with my friend Linda

Me with Ceri.  I'm so bummed I didn't think to get a group photo.  There were 12 friends that were able to come and I wish so much I would have taken 2 minutes to get a photo with everyone!  My host Mum and Dad were so nice to open their house up for this party.  We were up chatting and being silly until well past midnight!

We hiked up a fun trail through the bush on Mt. Coot-tha to get this fabulous view of Brisbane!

Emerson and Julian on Mt. Coot-tha

We went to the wonderful Eumundi market with all my host family.  It was a fabulous market to walk around but I didn't find any Australian nativities...that was my goal

I drove up to the market with Corinne and Mike and their gorgeous girls...such a cute family!  Love them all!!!

The Heindorffs and the Durtschi's at Eumundi markets:)

After wandering around the market for a while we headed to Noosa for a great lunch and a walk along the beach.  I love this host dad of mine:)

Walking along Noosa Heads beach

That evening my host Mum, Corinne and Michael and I went to the fabulous Eat Street in Brisbane.  It was like food trucks on steroids!  So many choices and wonderful food to try...I was stuffed afterwards but it was so fun!!

There were tons of people everywhere but the live music and atmosphere were pretty fun.

Spiral potato deep fried and salted on a stick?  Don't mind if I do:)

On Sunday Corinne took me to visit the grave of her precious little Lily.  I love how it says "born sleeping" on the stone.  I can't imagine the sadness and loss you must feel to loose a child.  I was glad I could come and visit little Lily and I think it made Corinne happy that I was interested in sharing this with her.

Julian and Emerson took advantage of the pool at the house we rented right on the canals in Raby Bay.  It was a wonderful place to spend our last week in Australia.  Such a gorgeous location right on the water.

My host Mum made my most favorite dessert...dumplings with golden syrup!  She spoils me!

Me with my wonderful host family.  Corinne, Dad, Me, Matt, Mum and Leah.  They have another son, Adam, that lives with his family in Utah.  I love this family so much.  I can't believe how much they welcomed me into their home and their lives when I was a punk, emotional, snotty 16 year old girl.  I will be forever grateful to them and how much they helped me grow up into the person I am today.

 

On our last day in Australia we drove up to the "Australia Zoo-home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin!"  It was a real fun experience and we got to see lots of native animals up close!

Yeah, ummm...these guys are crazy!  They showed us how crocodiles jaws snap shut when they feed. No thanks, glad I was on the other side of this fence!

The man, the legend...Steve Irwin:)

Definite highlight is being able to pet these awesome kangaroos:)

Everyone loved the kangaroos

I like this photo, looks like the kangaroo and Julian are just hanging out having a chat:)

We watched this red panda for quite a while.  It was so active and kept wandering around its enclosure and we tried to guess what trail it would explore

You couldn't pet the lemurs but it was fun to get right up next to them and see them wandering, free range, around the park

Love the sleepy little koalas.  We couldn't hold them but we could pet them...their fur is so thick and soft

A rare sighting indeed...Townsend smiling:)

This poor mommy koala had twins.  One baby was hanging onto her back and another baby was tucked up hanging onto her belly...she could barely move around the tree!

Saying goodbye to our lovely canal on our last morning in Australia

koala and kangaroo crossing signs...only in Australia:)

I had to get one last sausage roll at the airport... I love these things!!

And just like that our amazing trip Down Under was finished.  I am so very happy I convinced Hyrum I wanted a trip to Australia for my 20th wedding anniversary.  And even though traveling with kids is a pain sometimes and you wonder how much they appreciate it, I'm very glad I got to enjoy this trip with my whole family.  I love this country so much!!