The Malin Family

Sunday, January 8, 2012

One last time....

I know, I know......we always have to say good-bye to the koalas!

great pic Wetherbees!

precious

We love the koalas...

Crocs!

We saw the feeding time for the crocodile and it was crazy! It's amazing how high he can jump up when he wants something - scary!!

ready to pounce....

"petting" the echidna

Kangaroos!

They were really hungry today!! Watch out for the emus - they were stealing all the food from the kangaroos - ha!

Koalas at Featherdale

Petting a kookaburra with the wallaby in the background - Ellen was scared of the birds!

loving on the koalas - can't get enough!!

On Dec. 18th we were able to spend the day with the Wetherbees!!! They are my sister-in-law (Erin's) parents and sister, Ellen. Ellen had been student teaching this past semester in New Zealand, so when she was finished, her parents came over to do a New Zealand/Australia trip! We were so excited to find out that they were happy to spend one of their Australia days with us! We went and picked them up at their hotel and drove out to Featherdale first. They loved being able to see and pet all of the Australian animals there - it's a winner!! We then drove to our train station, picked up some sandwiches, and ate on the train on our way in to Sydney. We then took the Ferry over to Manly Beach where we saw the ocean and had some fish and chips for dinner. We took the Ferry back to Sydney, had some ice cream and said good-bye (it was about 8PM!) We had a super fun, jam packed, Australian day! Thanks, Wetherbees, for sharing it with us!!

LOVE Cindy's face here - it really is amazing the first time!!

Ellen, Lance and Grace holding a bearded lizard - NO thank you!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The finished product

We took some pictures of us eating the gingerbread house on Christmas Eve day because it's something we've never done before! Everyone I told was shocked that we just threw ours away after Christmas! Well, when you get it from a kit in Target, IKEA, etc., you don't even want to eat it when you're making it!

off came the roof!

daddy helping...

This is where it sat, on our kitchen table, until Christmas!

all done!

Making of a Gingerbread house!

We put together our annual gingerbread house again this year! It's different over here, though, in the fact that most people who do it, buy the pieces special from a bakery. Then everyone picks at it and eats it during Christmas day! It was very weird to eat the gingerbread house and not just throw it away this year! The kids had fun doing it and the candy stuck quite nicely to the frosting.