Afternoon Hike

One of the great things about where we live is all of the amazing hiking tracks just minutes from our house. 

After a morning of marketing, Hannah headed to a friends house for the afternoon and the rest of us went for an afternoon hike in Sherbrooke. 

Paths were followed...

Weird trees were found...

Bridges were crossed...

 And trees were climbed.

It's amazing that all of this lives in our backyard. 

Lets go to the beach!

I can honestly say we've had our share of rain since arriving, but there's been no shortage of beautiful beach days either!

I love Canada and I do miss the snow *just a bit* However I think I'd be hard pressed to trade in this awesomeness:

 

for this ridiculousness! 

  

(*pictures of our house in Osgoode from the recent snowstorm at home leaving a whopping 50cm of snow in just one day!)

It's Birthday Month!

I know, it's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged, but I was pretty sure that none of you wanted to hear about the mundane goings on of our daily life here! Which is exactly what life has been like for the last few weeks. Mundane and normal. It's a perfect existence and exactly what we've been looking for, and a pleasant consequence of our second year on exchange.

Part of the normal was of course birthday month for both of the little people.

First up was Miss Hannah making the jump from 10 to 11. She was lucky enough to celebrate the day with her Aussie bestie and later on in the week swing through the trees with the rest of her crew.

Her party was held at a trees adventure course. Literally her favourite activity in the world and getting to do it outdoors on her birthday in February I'm told was "epic"!

    

Hannah flying through the "easy course":

Also of note...best cupcakes ever - rainbow cupcakes with rainbows on top made by our friend Sarah and the best gift ever - purple hightop converse. I'd say we can call this birthday a success!

Next up, Mr. Tyler turned 9.  This I was not prepared for at all. I'm quite honestly considering denying him the right to turn 10 next year!

So the best birthday ever theme continued with a party with 10 of his mates at a local sporting centre complete with a nerf battle!

     

And if that wasn't amazing enough, there were bubble sports too! This was seriously hilarious, I didn't even want to try it, watching it was entertainment enough!

    

Funniest video ever:

It all finished off with a family dinner birthday cake for the birthday boy.

And who can forget what I'm told is another best birthday gift ever...a quadcopter.

Best 11th birthday ever = ✔️
Best 9th birthday ever = ✔️

2 birthdays in the same week = 2 exhausted parents ✔️

The first day of school

Successful day one at school...check!

All three had a great day getting back into the swing of things.

We woke up to crazy pouring rain this morning which made drop-off a bit more rushed than usual, but I think perhaps that was ok, it left no time for first-day jitters.

   

Pick-up at the end of the day produced 2 happy and tired children. Their teachers were lovely and they immediately reconnected with their old friends.

We also have one tired teacher. He had a hectic day, but spending the day in front of a class doing what he does best never fails to put him in a good mood.

They have the weekend to rest up and then they're back for a full 5 days next week.

Australia Day and Being Welcomed Back

It's been a whirlwind week for us. Arriving a week earlier than last time afforded us the luxury of extra time which was great in terms of getting settled, but it also allowed us to spend some time visiting with the great friends we've made.

There was a one-day exchange orientation at the Department of Education for Scott. It's a wonderful opportunity for him to become acquainted with the other teachers in Victoria on exchange this year and get answers to some of our questions from some resident "experts". Having already been through this exercise once, Scott quickly discovered that he was one of these "experts" and just like that we were back in the thick of things!

There was a pizza dinner in the city after orientation so that we spouses and children could meet each other as well. While the adults usually have more than enough to talk about, the kids mostly just played around on the grass, eating pizza and drinking fizzy drinks.

My personal favourite moment was a beautiful barbecue was organised for us as a welcome back. It was so great to see so many of the great friends that we had made back in 2013 there to welcome us back. We had so much fun that this lunch bbq turned into pizza, drinks and toasted marshmallows (imported from Canada of course)!








Monday we made a return visit to Arthurs Seat to the Enchanted Adventure Garden. (You can find our original visit here: Enchanted Mazes) Only this time we went with friends! Seriously, all this stuff is way more fun this time round with other families. The weather was great and the company was lovely.

That brings us to today - Australia Day. 3 years ago on this day we were still pretty alone here, so we took advantage of free admission at the Melbourne Aquarium.

This year was a much different experience for us at not just one, but two different barbecues with friends!

First up a welcome back with Scott's colleagues. Drinks, great food, great fun. More than one remarked that it seemed like hardly any time had passed since we left. They're all excited to have him back, so they must like him!

Next up, a bbq and swim at a friends house. It was the perfect way to end the day. The kids had more of their friends to play with, we had a lovely visit and another slice of pavlova. Did I mention I've had pavlova 3 times in 4 days? Doesn't matter, it was amazing every time!

So tomorrow is the end of school holidays for Scott. He has his first day of school - no students, casual dress and just meetings and presentations, so it should be a pretty easy transition back.  Hannah and Tyler don't go back until Friday but the countdown is on, just a couple more days of laying around for them!

We've arrived...again!

At 10:05 am Saturday, January 16, 2016 after 34 hours of travelling we arrived in Australia for the year of a lifetime. Again!

It was an uneventful trip. No delays and all of us and as well as all of our luggage arrived in the same country together. I'm calling that a win!

After a 5:00 am wake up call, one last Timmies for Scott was an absolute necessity!

iPads for the small people was an absolute lifesaver. Normally at our house there are strict limits on how long you can use your technology. While travelling all bets were off.  As long as there were no meltdowns or arguments, you could keep your nose stuck to your iPad as long as you liked.

Silence is golden

These guys are pretty seasoned travellers though. They make their way through security like champs, carry their own bags and we hardly hear from them during the flights.

The best part was that our Aussie family met us with enthusiasm and made sure the jet-lagged travellers got home safe and sound!  Groceries and dinner were also gratefully provided.

We're home :)

Time to leave...again

Parts of getting ready to leave on exchange much easier the second time. For example, well...pretty much everything! From cleaning and decluttering to packing and getting to the airport,  it's much less stressful the second time round. We've done it all before.

Seeing my house empty is something that never fails to amaze me. Every drawer and closet is empty, every corner vacuumed and mopped. We've put all our personal things in storage. The house is bare and so different from what it looks like on a daily basis!

While some things are easier, some are just as difficult if not more. The most difficult is saying good-bye. It's still hard to leave behind our friends and family, but those who knew us before the first exchange and saw how changed we were afterwards understand how amazing this second opportunity is for our little family and support us all the way. Still it's hard.

So on the eve of our departure we had a great night out with our wonderful friends before heading out on the adventure of a lifetime...again.

We'll miss you all!