McMillan trip 2010 (Perth)

The McMillan's departed for home this past weekend and I can honestly say that this house hasn't been this quiet in 23 1/2 weeks!!  With 3 extra people in the house there was a lot going on and lots to entertain a 5 month old!  I may have to hire some extra hands to come in and entertain Kylie so she doesn't go through "attention withdraws"!  Who would have thought there would come a time when all of my attention isn't enough for her?!?  All joking aside, Jamie and I really were concerned that it would be hard to entertain her for a while because of all the attention she was used to, but it actually hasn't been that bad.  We're in the middle of a little rough patch right now, teething and a growth spurt, but she seems to be adjusting quite well.

In between our adventures to the east and then down south we spent a little time in Perth hanging out.  Mostly shopping and walking around, but it was a nice change to the site seeing chaos that always seems to consume a vacation.  We had lots of fun but like most other things all good things must come to an end!  It's funny how you get used to being on this side of the world alone (without family and close friends) and when people do visit you adjust to seeing them around all the time pretty easily.  The same cannot be said for when those people leave!  You would think it would be easy (since you don't see them everyday anyway), but I think the leaving is always harder!  I've even started the countdown to Christmas a little early this year hoping it will make the time go by faster!  So just so you guys know, we've got 84 days until take off and counting!!  After seeing that number not sure if it's helping or just depressing = (

Here are some photos from their trip!

Kylie informing Mama Connie and Pops on the sites they should see in Perth

Downtown Perth after Jamie's meeting (Hay Street Mall on right)

Showing off during swimming

Golf at Burswood Resort.  Started off as a nice day but around here that can change quickly!

Golfing at Joondalup Golf Resort (just north of Perth)

Just another day on the course!!

They are everywhere!

Watching the golfers play

Lunch afterwards

Breakfast with Pops

Hanging out with Mama Connie

Cottesloe Beach (It was a windy day and Kylie was less than impressed!)

Trying not to fall asleep while we pack the car for Margaret River

Going for a ride with daddy! (check out how she hangs onto his ears!)

Kylie showing off her skills and her new sunglasses

Our last day...

Kings Park

And dinner at our favorite restaurant The Boatshed

View from our table

Dolphins and Cows and Kangaroos OH MY!

Since Jamie and I moved here we've wanted to visit Margaret River.  It's about 2 hours south of Perth and is considered their "wine country".  We've heard wonderful things about it, but seeing as though I was pregnant when we moved here the trip wouldn't have been much "fun" for me.  Instead, we saved it as a "to do" while his parents were here.

Since we were taking the trip to Sydney as well I didn't want to leave the dogs again.  My answer for this problem was to rent a house instead of staying in a resort.  We couldn't have picked a better house to stay in!  The house had plenty of space and the grounds were beautiful! 

View from the front patio and view from back door

From the back yard we had this gorgeous view...

We spent the first day hanging out in the house and getting settled.  Not that we really had much of a choice since the entire town seemed to shut down on Sundays!  In the end it worked out and we were able to relax and enjoy the house.  The next day we headed over to Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, Sugarloaf Rock and the Ngilgi Cave.  Kylie wasn't too fond of the lighthouse but I think it was because it was cool and windy and the tour happened to be at her eating time.  She fell asleep in Mama Connie's arms at Sugarloaf Rock (as she had just got done eating!) so I can't say she was too impressed with that either!  All of the adults on the other hand enjoyed taking in the beautiful views and watching the whales and dolphins splash around.  The site I can say with certainty that Kylie L-O-V-E-D was Ngilgi Cave.  She talked and smiled the entire time, probably because she was not the one walking up some 400 steps and then back down them again with an extra 16 pounds on her chest!!  My legs were killing me the next day, but it was worth it to watch the look on her face as she checked things out.

The lighthouse and view from the top

Sugarloaf Rock - Beautiful!

Kylie before falling asleep and us

The caves - Jamie tried to crawl through the "kids hole".  He made it through, but said it was a "tight fit"

The entire next day was spent touring the wineries.  I'm not sure how many there are down in that area but it must be close to 100 or so.  We made a list of some that we wanted to visit with our "must see" being Watershed.  It's our favorite wine here so we thought we had to see it while we were down there.  All of the ones we ended up seeing were great and I am happy to announce that Watershed did not disappoint.  Not only do they have great wine, but their winery grounds and cellar door are beautiful!  After our wine tasting and purchasing were complete we had lunch in the restaurant (which was great too!) and enjoyed the views.  Kylie was amazing all day and handled the "in and out" of the car seat like a champ!  Thank goodness I have a well behaved, easy going kiddo!

Jamie after a few drinks at Vasse Felix

Watershed

Our nights were spent hanging out at the house watching the kangaroos and relaxing.  It was a great holiday, even though it was a little short!  For as small of an area as it is, there are tons of things to do.  We were able to keep pretty busy and see a lot of sites while we were down there but there are still a few things we missed.  Jamie's golf group is planning a golf weekend down there in October, so we may be heading down that way again soon.

For those of you on Facebook you'll note that I do have photos with my hair down even though I swore I would not! (If you have no clue what I'm talking about I'll catch you up real quick - I got a haircut the week before Sydney and it was THE WORST HAIRCUT EVER!!!  It was WAY SHORTER than it was suppose to be and the lady did my layers completely wrong!  Jamie tried to make me feel better by saying "Oh no it's not the worst, but probably the second worst cut you've ever had"!  I said that for the next 6 weeks or so there would be no photos of me with my hair down.)  Even though I've gotten used to my ugly hair, I still don't like it!  I've just decided to live with it, hence the photos. 


Here are a few additional photos from our trip!!

Mama Connie and Kylie hanging out before bath time

Jamie taking the photo at the begining of the blog

Jamie going hunting for kangaroos! (we blamed the large herd of cows for running the kangaroos off by our last day, but this many have been a factor as well!)

Beautiful Sydney

We have arrived back in Perth with the McMillan clan in tow!  The trip to Sydney went off without a hitch and we had an amazing time! 

We were a little concerned about how Kylie would handle the flights, but she was AMAZING!!  Sometimes I look at her and wonder what I did in my previous life to have deserved such a wonderful little girl. With the exception of one night she was wonderful the entire trip (we think the night she was fussy was due to the time change and us trying to put her to bed too early).  I think I may have the best baby in the world, honestly.

Relaxing after our flight

View from our hotel room

We arrived Friday morning and had plans to hang out with the folks for the day. Unfortunately they were delayed so we spent the day hanging out and walking around the botanic gardens. It was a nice, relaxing day; even though the weather was complete crap. It had rained that morning so it was cold and windy. Even still it was great to get out and see the sites.

Checking out the sites, Kylie was so impressed she slept through it!

Bundled up for the Botanic Gardens then happy to be inside where it's warm!

The McMillan's arrived Saturday morning and thus our adventures began!  While Jamie's mom spent the morning cuddling Kylie (it was the first time she's met her!) Jamie and his dad did the bridge climb.  The weather was rainy that morning but lucky for them it had stopped by their climb time and the sky had cleared a little.  It wasn't sunny, but at least it wasn't raining!!  That evening we all went on a sunset dinner cruise around the harbor.  This was quite the trip for Kylie as she was able to cross a lot of "firsts" off her list. First vacation, first flight, first hotel stay, first boat ride...check!

"First" photo with Mama Connie

Photo on the cruise and Kylie passed out afterwards... Man, it must be exhausting to be so damn cute!

Sunday was our morning to shop.  We started the morning off at Krispy Kreme to full fill my 6 month craving.  Why o' why can't we get one in Perth already, I mean come on people!!  After that little taste of heaven we went to the markets and the shops in downtown.  After that Jamie and his dad went to the top of the bridge pillars to take photos while the girls shopped some more!  While in downtown I decided to get proactive and get some chores done, so I stopped by the Gucci store to have my sunglasses and watch battery fixed (I noticed it was dead on the flight...ugh so annoying).  They couldn't do either that same day but the trip was not a total waste.  As I started to walk out something in one of the cases caught my eye.  What is it you ask?  A handbag?  A watch?? A pair of heals???  No my friends, surprisingly it wasn't for me.  It was however, the CUTEST pair of pink, Gucci, baby shoes!!  Yes, baby shoes!!  They were simply adorable.  So, another first was crossed off Kylie's list.  First Gucci experience...check!

Sunggled up watching cartoons before our big shopping day!

Our trip to Gucci (check out her shoes!!) 

Do you think it was fate that they happened to match her outfit that day?!?  Like mother like daughter!

Photos from the bridge.  When they did the bridge climb they climbed to the flags!!  To high for me!

That night was also the night we had tickets to see WICKED.  The show was fantastic!  By far the best show I've ever seen!  Not that I've seen a lot of them, but still.  I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to see it.  It's definitley worth the money!

Me at WICKED!!

Monday was spent relaxing by the harbor and walking around the botanic gardens again before our afternoon flight.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect day to enjoy the fresh air.  If only the entire trip could have seen weather like that!

Flying foxes at the gardens (basiclly the biggest bats ever) and Kylie with Mama Connie and Pops

Our little family

The flight back home

So, now we are in Perth hanging out and enjoying what the city has to offer.  Sunday we head down to Margaret River for some wine tasting, national parks and maybe a whale watching tour!

Final countdown

We are now less than 24 hours away from out long awaited departure (as I write this we are 14 hours and 30 minutes away but who’s counting?). Woo Hoo!! I have spent the last 2 days doing everything possible to get ready and yet I am sure I will have forgotten something.


I have told you all about the McMillan travel curse at one time or another. He shows up at the most unreasonable of times and always seems to try his hardest to ruin any trip we take. Thinking back I can't remember a trip that he hasn't shown up to (yes, it is a he what else would it be???). Well, he has decided to visit us once again and today he is in Atlanta with Jamie's parents. As of lunch time in Perth they have been at the Atlanta airport delayed for almost 4 hours. They are expecting to miss their Los Angeles flight to Sydney which means they will be delayed an entire day since the next flight doesn't leave until the following night. I have my fingers crossed that he (the travel curse) enjoys Atlanta so much that he decides to stay there!

Aside from that things on the home front have been pretty busy. Jamie has been working late nights all week and I have been getting things ready around the house for our trip. It's amazing how much more you have to pack and plan for just by adding a little one to your travel plans! To make matters worse Kylie is still showing symptoms of teething. I think it's more of the teeth just shifting at this point because the pain (and symptoms) seems to come on for a few days and then go away for a week or two. This past Sunday was the worst day yet and Kylie just wanted to be held ALL DAY LONG! She would bite down on everything she could get her cubby little hands on and ran a mild temp pretty much all day. Sunday and Monday night she woke at 2 am and didn't fall back asleep until 4am. Yesterday however she was in a much better mood and went back to sleeping through the night again so hopefully we're good for the next few weeks.

On a side note the name of this post is "Final Countdown" for 2 reasons. The first one being our trip to Sydney and the second you ask?

Clemson Football starts this weekend and Jamie couldn't be any more excited. We've got Kylie's first tiger’s jersey arriving with Jamie's parents so she is all set to go as well.

That's about it for now since Kylie is up from her nap. Here are a few photos taken this week of Kylie receiving a gift from her Uncle Jason and Aunt Laura. 20 week weight is 14 pounds 6 ounces and length is 25 1/2 inches.

Jason said something about Jamie fighting off the fellas and she just thought that was hilarious!!