Tubing

Christmas has been and gone, and we are in search of our next USA adventure. 

Today we decided to go tubing. 

We all bundled into our hired minivan and set off down the wrong side of the road again 

It was just less than an hour and a half North of Warwick where we are staying  and was the first real sign of snow since that original fall experienced on our first night. 

We donned all of our newly purchased gear, paid our fees and grabbed a tube each. 

As simple as this concept was, it was a great fun experience. 

We had a 2 hour time limit to get up and down the hill as many times as we could, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. 

Jen’s love of  the cold became quite obvious today, however she also had a great time despite not being able to feel her hands! 

On Saturday, we made the drive out to Jen’s home town and visited her Aunt Aura. 

Aunt Aura is 98 years old, still living independently in her own house, and looks like she could still run a marathon. 

We were greeted with some freshly baked cookies, a pot of coffee and had an hour or so catching up, along with a few other friends that knew Tracy from her American days in the early 90’s. 

We then went driving around the local area where Tracy showed us where she used to work at the local hospital, and some of the other shops and areas that she remembered. 

This afternoon, Tracy and I bundled the kids back into the car and headed off to the local beach - as you do when it is 6 degrees outside. 

The boys grabbed their ball, put their shorts on (- as you do when it is 6 degrees outside) and off we went. This particular beach is only about 15 minutes drive away and is one of the fee freely accessible beaches in the area. Many beaches can only be accessed by paying, and even those you must be a local resident. 

Whilst this was no South Australian sandy beach, it was beautiful and was a welcome sight for us to spend an hour exploring. 

Christmas Day

The weather is near perfect. It is Christmas Eve and the girls have taken off to get their manicure & pedicure done, leaving the rest of us behind. Dylan, Tyler and myself ended up throwing a Lacrosse ball on the street in our T-Shirts and enjoying the sunshine and the warm 11 degree weather. 

In the afternoon once the girls had returned, we made a quick trip to Walmart. Mainly to see if we could spot some of the weirdos we always see on Facebook, but also to see if we could find some ski pants for us all. 

Unfortunately, the only weirdo we saw was our own son. 

Christmas Eve arrived, the cook-up began and so did the shenanigans. 

First up was a Brady Bunch style family photo. 

Can’t wait to get this printed onto a 1m x 1m framed canvas at home 😎

Jen somehow convinced us all to wear our early present of our Christmas pyjamas. It is apparently a tradition in their house that we are all to wear the same pyjamas all evening and all day tomorrow. When in America, do as Americans do (even you Tyler). 

The night progressed, dinner was served, pyjamas remained on and the drinks flowed. It was a great evening and many laughs were had with the Cicerone family. 

Father Christmas managed to find us ok despite being on the other side of the world, and we were all truly spoilt with the generosity of Jen and family. 

The entire morning was spent laughing and carrying on in our  pyjamas, eating and watching Christmas movies. 

Why is it that when there is so much food and nibbles around that we feel compelled to try a bit of everything ( and sometimes a bit more of everything)???

They day ended and we were bursting out of our pyjamas - which I can promise you is a sight that you don’t want to, nor will be seeing. 

Happy Holidays every one (That’s American for Merry Christmas)