@Sun1121
California/Australia Oct. 2024
Oct 04 - Oct 13 2024
@Sun1121
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Oct 04 2024

Friday!

We left home at 2:00 (we did a one way rental from RDU to CLT and I got the rental car and then picked the boys up from school early at 12:00). We drove to Charlotte with no traffic! The airport was empty, and the boys were happy to visit the GameWay lounge to get snacks and play video games!

Catching a cat nap on the way to the airport

Gameaway!

Gameaway!

We had an ontime flight into LAX (yay!) and got to my parents around 11:30 after getting our rental car and hitting the road. We basically went right to bed 😊

Ready to fly!

Tired travelers 🥰

@Sun1121
Oct 05 2024

Saturday

We woke up around 6:00 am and Rob and I hit 85 Degrees and Del Taco while the boys got up and around with my parents. After breakfast at my parents, the boys went with Rob to Frank and Son’s Collectibles in City of Industry. They had a blast!

The boys enjoying waffles and Teen Titans Go 🥰

Clark deciding on what to get at Frank’s 😊

While they were shopping, I was getting a manicure and pedicure from Vivian with my mom. Then my mom and I went to Victoria Gardens to get some See’s Candy for the trip!

After the boys went shopping, Rob drove them to Redlands to visit with his family. Then he drove them back to my parents where we said our goodbyes! We least for LAX around 4:00 to drive to LAX.

There was some traffic, but we returned our rental car, checked our bags, and got through security in record time! We got our free snacks at Gameaway, grabbed a drink and a bite to eat (while watching the Padres/Dodger game), and boarded our plane!

Video

The boys enjoying the backyard and scaring Sky 😜

@Sun1121
Oct 06 2024

Monday in Australia!

We were on the Sky bus and on our way by 8:05 am! Customs took a little less than an hour, and we were thankful that our both of our bags arrived 😜

We took the Sky Bus to Southern Cross Station and then took the free Tram to Parliament. The public transportation was great! We got to our hotel (Park Hyatt) a little after 9:00 am. Our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our luggage and explored the area outside of the hotel. Our first stop was breakfast at Anda’s Cafe. It hit the spot!

Rob relaxing in the lobby of the Park Hyatt

Anda’s Cafe

Then we visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was beautiful and peaceful. We met a very nice (and chatty) man named Calvin at the gift shop where I bought a souvenir for my parents. \240Everyone was so nice!

Then we walked a short distance to Fitzroy Gardens and explored- it was beautiful as well!

My Twin 😜

Our room still wasn’t ready, so we went to the spa! It was so nice to shower and go in the hot tub 😊

The hotel even had a cute mascot that you could pet 🥰

Our room was ready at 1:30, so we left the spa and checked into our room! It was spacious and luxurious. 😍

This is Monday for us but Sunday for the boys in California. They went to see The Wild Robot and to eat at Lazy Dog where they met up with my brother and his family. They had an earthquake wake them up around 3:00 am, but thankfully they got back to sleep. Ace spent the night with Clark on Sunday night ❤️

Video

Ace helping Clark cut his steak 😜

@Sun1121
Oct 08 2024

Tuesday

Our first morning waking up in Australia! We were up around 5:00 am. We decided to get coffee at a place that opened at 7:00 am and had one of the best croissants ever! 😍

We left our room around 9:30 to walk/take the free tram to the National Gallery of Victoria. We had a lovely tea there, and enjoyed exploring the museum!

Then we headed out to explore the city - we stopped into St. Paul’s Cathedral (which was beautiful) and then visited the Arcade (which was very reminiscent of a Paris Arcade) and we visited the market

It was Monday back in California, and my parents took the boys to the beach!

@Sun1121
Oct 08 2024

Wednesday

We got an early start and grabbed coffee at 7:00 am and got to the pick up spot for our tour at 7:10 am. The bus ended up picking people up from 10 different stops in 45 minutes 😳 (we were the second stop …)

We took an hour drive to

We saw a koala in the wild!

@Sun1121
Oct 09 2024

Thursday

@Sun1121
Oct 10 2024

Friday

We enjoyed our second amazing breakfast buffet before leaving to go on the Penguin Parade tour.

The first stop on the tour was the Brighton Beach boxes (which we had visited the day before when it was much sunnier 😊)

Our next stop was the Moonlit Animal Sanctuary

Video

@Sun1121
Oct 12 2024

Saturday

Rob, being the amazing husband that he is, left our room at 6:45 am to walk 15 mins over to the laundromat to do our laundry (while I relaxed in the room 😊)

After he got back, we enjoyed our third amazing buffet breakfast at the hotel! I have been enjoying the fried rice each time 😊

Brandy is sending her daily Rex updates - he wasn’t ready to walk in the cold this morning! (It was 44 degrees at 8:00 am back in Durham!)

Sleepy puppy

After breakfast, we got ready to catch the train into the Yara Valley to meet Peter and his wife Debra for lunch.

The boys went to the planetarium at Valley College at night and saw some stars! 😊

@Sun1121
Oct 13 2024

Sunday

Our last full day together! 😫 But is was a wonderful day - we “slept in” until 6:30 am and got a lazy start. We played a game of Wingspan on our phones and left the room around 9:00 to walk to the Royal Gardens. The Melbourne Marathon was happening today, so we saw a bit of the race during our 30 min walk to the gardens. The gardens were amazing and smelled so good!

The tea was delicious. All of food was top notch.

@Sun1121