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Natasha takes loans seriously. She came all the way to Australia to pay back the $5 we loaned her on the last day in Mexico. Good thing the interest rate was favourable.

We did A LOT of fun things together. It was great.

We went for a swim and a photo session at Brighton Beach.

Baby’s first snot block. (And by “baby” I mean Natasha! Cripes people ;))

Melbourne has the best alleys. We did a lot of walking.

Top notch Melbs graffiti.

Our favourite work at the National Gallery of Victoria (which is free, by the way).

I tried a macaron from Maccas. It was a confusing experience.

We went to an AFL game at the MCG. The crowd was lively and Collingwood lost so it was a good night.

The view from Arthur’s Seat, on the Mornington Peninsula. You can see the tiny gap in the otherwise enclosed Port Phillip Bay, and the actual ocean in the very back.

Playing on the rocks at Cape Schanck.

At Yering Station in the Yarra Valley. That was a very cheese, chocolate, wine and cider filled day. Thank you Scott for driving us around.

All that was in the first week! The second week I kinda had to get back to my normal routines, and Natasha explored on her own. And then she found a ride to Adelaide and continued on her lap around Australia. I hope she comes back to visit again, or we are able to meet up with her somewhere!

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a life update. I guess because we’ve settled into a bit of a routine now.

WORK: Mine is going well. It’s been a bit challenging trying to learn everything when I’m only there a couple days a week, and with everyone sharing the work, but it’s coming together. Scott’s is… going. :/

HOUSE: We moved! We upgraded to a two bedroom apartment a bit more central to work and family. The apartment is small, but nice, and I love the neighbourhood.

EXERCISE: I joined a new gym near our new house and it’s GREAT. They have an epic gym area, swimming pool, and lots of classes, so I’ve been able to add yoga and swimming back into my exercise plan (in addition to weights). Scott started biking to work (10km each way!), and still plays basketball and the occasional extra game of soccer or more basketball.

CRAFTS: My latest project is creating cross stitch patterns that I am trying to sell on Etsy. It’s hard though!! I have to make the patterns, test stitch it, photograph it, list it, and then advertise it. I’ve got two patterns in my shop but I still have SO much more work to do.

I also taught Scott how to crochet, so we’ve been making granny squares to eventually turn into a blanket. The biggest challenge is getting our tension to match each other.

FRIENDS: I’ve still been going to trivia most weeks with my internet friends. They are great. I also get together with a sub-group of them to Stitch n Bitch every month, which is fun. We usually eat lunch, and then crochet/cross stitch.

We used to go to a different trivia night with some of Scott’s friends but the pub changed the night so that is off until we find a good replacement.

We had Jemma and Damien over for a games night the other weekend. We played Wasabi and Carcassonne. I think we are getting close to teaching them Agricola!!!

VISITORS: Cassia and Pablo came to visit Melbourne with two of their Spanish friends. We went to Chin Chin for dinner the first night (1.5 hour wait!!! but really tasty), and then did a mega tourist day the next day at Brighton Beach, Fitzroy, and the CBD. I hope Silvi tags me in her pictures because I didn’t take any. :/

Natasha has arrived in Australia as well. She’s in Sydney at the moment, but we expect to see her in the next couple weeks. I can’t wait! We’ve got the guest bedroom all set up ready to go. :D

SUMMER: One really hot day we drove out to Sorrento back beach to play in the tidepools. It was lovely but Scott severely sunburned his feet which was SO GROSS. It wasn’t that hot of a summer, but it is lingering a bit. It’s still been above 30°C most days, but thankfully it gets cool overnight, so it’s been okay.

SKELETON: My FOMO about not sliding this season hasn’t actually been that bad because 1. I still get timesheets from Whistler to analyze, 2. the World Cup races are on at very convenient times here so I’ve been able to watch most of them live. 3. Instagram stories make me feel like I’m right there, and 4. My old coach Rob has been keeping a daily vlog. So yeah, that’s cool. The final race of the season is next weekend, in Korea on the future Olympic track! Should be interesting.

OK I can’t think of anything else at the moment, so… hasta luego.

 

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PREPARE FOR CUTENESS!!

Scott took Noah and Beau to the zoo when they were each around 4 years old, so this visit was good timing for Seth’s turn. We took him to the Healesville Sanctuary for the day, which was also a treat for me since I hadn’t been there before.

We watched a really cool platypus show. Platypuses (platypi?) are way smaller than I expected. That girl picked Seth out of the whole crowd to come up and feed an eel but he was too shy and passed (while hiding behind Scott). Aww.

Then we went to a birds of prey show where birds swooped right over our heads. Very exciting. A wild wedge tail eagle kind of ruined the end of the show by scaring away all the demo birds though. Seth is showing off his feather we found earlier.

We saw koalas, emus, dingos, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, and lots more too.

Seth really really wanted to get a bird on his arm. I was impressed by how quietly and carefully he would go towards the birds. Much patience!

Having a plate of food helped, but he really wanted it on his actual arm.

So close.

Then we drove back to his house and we all drew pictures of each other and jumped on the trampoline (I taught Seth popcorn) until Michelle and the other boys came home. A fun day!!

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1. FAMJAM/#jornapalooza2015

April helping Uncle Scotty use the computer.


An extremely cute Easter bunny.

I love that the whole family likes games. Simultaneous Wits & Wagers and My First Carcassonne.


Cutest dinosaur ever (Seth).

Jemma and April.

The entire Jorna family together! This hasn’t happened in a long time. It made Pat (Scott’s dad) so happy. :’)

2. SPORTS

We went to a rugby union game. I learned all about weird things like BORING IN THE SCRUM.

Scott’s cousin hooked us up with ultra cheap tickets to the footy. The Hawks demolished the Cats. It’s one of my life goals to go to a full house AFL game at the MCG (100,000 people) (happens about a dozen times a season according to Scott), and this was close, but not quite. There were 72,000 people there, for a FIRST ROUND GAME! Melbournites love their sports.

Hawthorne cheer squad.

We even caught a Canada vs. Fiji Rugby Sevens game on TV, which made me laugh, and made Scott run to his room to put his jersey on. Canada was even winning for most of the game! But then Fiji smashed us. They seemed like they could run twice as fast as the Canadians.

3. AUSSIE FOODS

I ate 5 meat pies in 2 weeks. :D

We went out for dumplings, but they weren’t great. Should have researched a bit more about where is good these days.

At one of the spots on our impromptu pub crawl. We also went to a bar that was a little house right in the middle of the CBD, and Transport, and possibly somewhere else. Hmm.

Really expensive fancy margarita and really expensive piece of pork something. Too tipsy to remember the name of the restaurant. The pork was mega delicious though.

– we also ate lots of lamb, vanilla slices, parmas, flathead, Freddo Frogs, etc etc. And brought back an entire suitcase filled with Savoys, Tim Tams and BBQ Shapes.

 

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After more than 24 hours of travel we finally arrived in Melbourne. Brett and Beau picked us up with packages of Tim Tams, Savoys and BBQ Shapes in hand. They dropped us off in Boronia, and then we headed off with Vicky (Scott’s mum!) to Shannon Bennett’s Piggery Café for lunch in the hills. We had barramundi burgers, pork belly BLT, and lots of salad. It was lovely.

We had a night to adjust and then the next day we drove to Phillip Island to join the rest of the family at the holiday house they rented. Brett, Michelle, Noah, Beau, and Seth were all there, along with Jemma, Damien, and April, and then Scott and I and Vicky. FAMJAM!

Scott and I meet April for the first time! She was pretty aloof with us at the beginning. Lots of side-eye, haha. It was also my first time meeting Seth, who seemed pretty excited to see me, especially since I was carrying a big bag of presents.

It was hot the first day so we spent the day at the beach. Scott played a lot of beach cricket with Noah.


We played a lot of games while we were there. Scott and I got the boys kids Carcassonne, kids Wits & Wagers, and Forbidden Island. Kids Carcassonne is fun, even for adults, although it’s best when you play with people around the same strategy level because I had to sort of restrain myself from SMASHING 4 year olds. Kids Wits & Wagers is pretty much the same as the adult version, except slightly easier questions, and an easier betting system. Everyone liked it, we even played it after the kids went to bed. And Forbidden Island is a cooperative game, similar to Pandemic.

We all went out for dinner at the Cowes RSL.

I think Scott took this picture when he was waking April up from her nap? Pretty dang adorable.

One afternoon Scott and I went for a drive around the island. We ate pies and went out to the Nobbies. We didn’t see any penguins (not the right time of day) but we did see the blowhole blow. And got so blown around by the wind that we felt sick afterwards. It didn’t feel bad as we were walking around but when we got back in the car we both felt awful. So weird, it was like a wind concussion. I do love those pictures though. I look like a troll!