Concluding Day 1

We didn't end up finishing watching the penguins until about 11:00 at night! Our kids loved it so much and were so into it, but we still had a 2 hour drive back to our hotel! We didn't get back until 1 AM, but so worth it. Like I said, we weren't allowed to take pictures, but I saw this little guy in the parking lot and tried to take it without the flash on. Some of them have burrows quite far from the ocean! The guides warned us to check under our cars before leaving to make sure we didn't hit any of them. These are our poor kids at about 11 PM. Exhausted and ready to go, but such an amazing learning experience! We all loved it - definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

Penguin Parade

This was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! The unfortunate thing (with kids) is that it doesn't start until dusk, which is basically 8:00PM! It makes for a REALLY late night, but it's a once in a lifetime experience and the memories are priceless. We went to Phillip Island, where every night, for as long as anyone knows, this has been going on. Over 6000 little penguins come back from a long days work of finding food in the ocean and waddle back onto the shore where their babies are waiting to be fed! This is not a zoo, but a completely "wild" and natural part of nature that we got to experience first hand! We were mesmerized for a couple of hours while the penguins all waddled to their burrows where they fed their young, preened their feathers, and "protected" their individual homes! It was like watching a little colony and so amazing. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so the first two I actually bought at the gift shop, to be able to show a glimpse of what we saw.Coming in from the ocean
The general admission seats were at the top of the picture, but just for a few dollars more a ticket, we were able to sit in the seats at the bottom of the picture - SO WORTH IT! The penguins came right out of the water right in front of us and you can see the path where they walked right next to the seating and boardwalk - so incredible!
This was a fun sign we saw - so Australian!
these were some penguins we saw at the Nobbies. Little babies waiting in their burrows for their parent's return with food.

The Nobbies

At the end of our Day one, we drove 2 hours out to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade! It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, but I'll talk more about that in the next post. We first stopped at "The Nobbies" which is near where the penguins come in, but it's a beautiful place where you can sometimes see seals out on the little island. Unfortunately we weren't able to see any, but the view was spectacular! As you can see, it was just a tad cold and windy! Ha!

A "blow" hole" where all the waves would rush into the cave and blow back out - really pretty and LOUD!

doing Day 1

After visiting the Eureka tower, we walked down to the main square. It was really cute with chairs in the middle to relax in, big screen TV, shops, etc. all around. We took a little break relaxing and taking it all in before taking the trolly back to our hotel. We had to get changed and start driving to Phillip Island to watch the penguins that night!!They had a Christmas tree up in the square - of course!

chillin in the chairs - too cute!
a view of the tower
catching the trolly

At the top!

I literally can NOT believe how long it's been since I've "blogged" or uploaded pictures and I can't believe how OLD these pictures are now!!!!! I mean, really, we're still in December!!!!!! For those of you that actually care and/or follow, I am SO SORRY!! We've been a little crazy with Josh's parents here in Jan. for 2 weeks and our kids starting the school year right after they left. Then, my brother Scott, Erin, Solon, and Vera all came for 2 weeks in Feb!! We've had an AMAZING 3 months, so I guess I've just been enjoying life, and not blogging about it!! Ha! I guess I'll keep plugging along......

These pictures were taken from the top of the Eureka Tower. (Oh yes, remember, we're still in Melbourne!!) It was such a fun, pleasant surprise to find all of these free kids activities that they had at the top! They had fun making their own buttons, getting a tower tattoo, and meeting "Eureka" himself! (I really have no idea what his name was, I just made that up - ha!)

making buttons


showing off his tattoo!

"The Edge"

We went to the top of "The Edge" at Eureka tower since it was one of the landmarks that we had to visit! It was good to see everything from high up and get a better idea of where things were located within the city.
This is where the Australia Open Tennis was played (every Jan)

Thought this was fun of the bees on the side of the building - took the picture for my sister-in-law, Erin! ;) ;)
The Eureka Tower

Our first day

This is what we woke up to our first morning - Ha! The kids found these in the closet - they crack us up!
I was being funny and stuck a shower cap on Lance in the bathtub before Grace got in. Well, she thought this was great and had to have one, too!!
taking a little break while walking around
One of the walking bridges
Melbourne is a very "artsy" city and it's known for art and restaurants. There are sculptures and artwork everywhere! The kids wanted a picture with this one....

Melbourne Trip!

One of our gifts to our kids was to surprise them with a trip to Melbourne. We left on Dec. 26th and arrived back home on Dec. 31st. It was a WONDERFUL trip and I enjoyed Melbourne even more than I thought I would. We were pleasantly surprised! ;) Josh travels there all the time for work, but the airport is outside of the city and the GM plant is also outside of the city, so he hadn't really seen much of it either. It was so much fun exploring together and seeing all the different things there.
A shot of part of downtown
taking a little walk after arriving.
having a Coke on the roof of our hotel

the view from our hotel room - you can see the ocean in the distance! ;)