On the way home...

Missing the Olympians already, we had a wonderful time, sad it has to end.

The Lorax

Opens in theatres March 2012!

Cookie Party!

It's Friday night in Olympia, Washington and it's nearly Christmas, so that can mean only one thing - COOKIE PARTY!!! OK, mainly the kids got to decorate cookies, but I had a go too (the first is mine, the second is Joey's).
A great night - thanks to Andy and his very strong home brew!

The Girlz With Their Special Cousin Joey!

Where DID you get that beanie Joey?!

Honestly, It's The Girlz' Shopping, Not Mine!

OK, enough of the mall already!

Loving hanging with the Olympia Watts', doing this and that. Been to the assembly at Will and Eloise's school, hearing Will do a reading tonight at a cafe (!) and tomorrow night it's the science fair. Best of all, tonight it's Old School Pizza for dinner!

Seattle and the Space Needle

Up in Seattle for the day to visit Pike Place Markets, the Monorail & Space Needle (both built for the 1962 World's Fair) and just generally "looking around". Beautiful clear day, but very close to freezing!

Christmas Tree Shopping... Um, I Mean, Chopping!

Going to find and chop down a Christmas tree. A different (and cold!) experience for the Melbourne Watts'. Much cheaper too!

Shopping!

OK, time to brave a shopping mall - Westfield Olympia (or something such like). The girls have picked up some bargains and Johnny even managed to do some Chrissie shopping!

Helping Eloise With Her Homework...

I'm not sure much homework is being done, but there is much fun happening!

Rainy days in Olympia

My fav record store. Davey gave me a gift voucher to Rainy Day Records in Olympia, so I had to come over and use it! OK, maybe we have been doing other stuff too!

Not Mucking Around In Olympia!

Don't ever let me loose in a toy store (or with your magnetic fridge magnet letters for that matter, but that's another story!).

Seattle

We've landed in Seattle, waiting out the front for Christine to pick us up. By crickey, it's cold up here!!!

Escaped!

Well, we made it to Alcatraz and we made it off again without having to swim or make a raft out of toothpicks! The cell tour is very much worth it, so if you are ever heading to San Francisco, do yourself a favor...

Um...

Things have gotten out of hand here in San Fran...

Alcatraz

Up until 1963, if you wanted to go to Alcatraz, you had to have committed a crime. Now you just have to pay a lot of money. I like the first option better! Anyway, tell you about it after we've been there...

San Fran

Visiting Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Life is like a box of chocolates...

Goodbye LA!

Thanks LA, we had fun! Now it's off to San Francisco for a few days of less intense fun (I'm not sure we could handle any more!) and then up to Seattle / Olympia. See you next time LA (Caitlin says it's next year!).

Jess Is Puzzled

We can't leave Millie's (makers of the worst cup of coffee in the world!) as Jess is obsessed with working out this puzzle...

Hooray For Hollywood!

After all the fun for Disney we headed for Hollywood and visited the "Dream Factory" that is Universal Studios. More fun ensued, though we were sad that Wisteria Lane was closed as they were filming Desperate Housewives today and the tour had to detour. The studio tour was a lot of fun, especially the earthquake part (I really hope there was no one from Christchurch or Tokyo on the bus, that would not be nice), very realistic (and scary!). They still do the Jaws, Norman Bates and rush of water shtick, always a crowd-pleaser!

Scary?

According to Caitlin, the Mickey Wheel is the scariest ride at Disney's California Adventure Park. What a girl!

Meet The Cousie

On Wednesday night we caught up with our cousin Peter and his lovely wife Leslie for dinner. It had been about 30 years since we last saw Peter (not counting Facebook), so we had a bit to catch up on!

Just A Bunch Of Fairies!

The girls have a wonderful time in Pixie Hollow with Tink and friends!

Disneyland!

A bit wet after Splash Mountain!

This Photo Cost Me $2 To Take...

Some guy at the bus stop had a fancy bird with him. He also had this very beautiful macaw.

Here, But Not Quite There Yet...

We have landed and done the very exciting Immigration and customs thing (love the finger-printing!). Now on the bus to Anaheim. Jess says LA is a bit like Melbourne, except for the driving on the other side of the road thing! Hmmmm, I think it is much more different than that!

See Yas!

We are (almost) on our way... Check you on the other end!

Visitors!

You know you have a long wait at the airport when family meet you for lunch! Mum and Dad / Nan and Ba came to see us and see us off. Nice!

Waiting...

Thank God for iPads! I mean, if we didn't have them we may have to converse with each other! Still, it is a 5-hour wait in Sydney.

A Long Way To Go...

We've only just arrived in Sydney and already they are bickering (don't let the photo fool you)! That's it, I'm sitting in the middle to LA!

On Our Way...

OK, so we have checked in for our first leg to Sydney. A quick bite of brekky first before we go. The girlz are a bit excited (um, and me too!).