Manly Beach

Once we got off the ferry, we walked on the main pathway to the beach.  They have the cute little fountains that the kids enjoyed walking through.  We purposely put them in their swimsuits since we knew they would be getting wet!  Grace of course headed straight for the water!

 Enjoying the beach together

 group picture

 She loves her Auntie Raquel! ;);)

 digging a hole in the sand

Lance showing off his sandy chest!  About this time it started raining and we had to run for cover!  It was interesting trying to dry all the kids off and get the sand off.  We decided to have ice cream for dinner! (A HUGE treat that NEVER happens!)  My kids couldn't believe it!  We walked back to the ferry and headed home.  What a fun day!

Day 7 - Getting to Manly Beach

We started off the day by taking the Port's to church.  We then went and grabbed sandwiches (which we would eat on the train) at this amazing deli we love.  Off to the train station we went.  We have this routine pretty well figured out, since we've done it many times, however....there were a couple of hiccups along the way that we've never had before nor have we had happen since! ;)  Ha!  The train station we ALWAYS take, wasn't running that day.  Instead, we had to take a bus to another train station and then switch somewhere along the way again to finally get downtown so we could then take the ferry over to Manly beach (which was our ultimate goal).  Needless to say, it took A LOT longer and was much more hectic then we've ever had before, but we finally arrived and the kids LOVED it!  It was quite the process!

Scott and Josh carrying the double stroller everywhere with all of the stairs - ha!  Vera is cracking me up in this picture

 Finally at the train station - we were all STARVING by this point!

 On the train

 On the ferry to Manly - oh - there's the Sydney Opera House!

A family picture with the ferrys

Cableway

We walked along the boarded walkway and enjoyed the lush "rainforest" at the bottom before heading back up to the top on the Cableway.  They also had an "art exhibition" going on at the time, so there were some fun things to see on our walk.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to the car.  What a super fun day enjoying the Blue Mountains - and kid friendly, too!  We came home and made fajitas and nachos!  Yum!

 A very easy walk

 The Cableway we took back up

The Railway

After eating lunch and letting the rain pass - all perfect timing!  The sun came back out and we were ready to tackle the Railway!  It was a little, well, terrifying!!  Maybe that was because I was holding on to Vera for dear life as it went STRAIGHT DOWN to the bottom!!  MUCH steeper than I was anticipating, but the kids LOVED it!  Couldn't choose which pictures - they were all funny to me!

 Uncle Josh with Solon waiting for the Railway

 With my beautiful niece

 STEEP!

 Waiting to board!

 The boys thought it was great!

 Josh hanging on!!

 Scott barely fit with the diaper bag and stroller - HA!!

 Poor Vera....

 Aunty Erin hanging on to the boys for dear life, too!

At the bottom...

Blue Mountain Hike

We had a fun mini water hike before lunch.  Unfortunately, we found out later, that Erin picked up a leach from here!!!! So we might be a little more careful next time around! ;) The kids loved it!

Plugging on....

Ok, so blogging/journaling obviously isn't my thing!  BUT, I've promised my husband AND our families and friends "back home" that I would do this while we lived in Australia, so I'm going to continue "plugging away!"  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!! ;)
Back to the Blue Mountains with Scott and Erin's family (back in, oh, February!)  I WILL catch up!!!