We took a Lyft to the Raleigh airport (my favorite airport!) and caught the 10:15 am Frontier flight to San Diego.

Cool Colin in RDU

Cute Clark in RDU

Direct flight (5 hours in the air) and the boys did great, as always!

After we got into San Diego we hit 85 degrees, Taco Bell and McDonalds and made the 2 hour drive up to Debbie and Chuck’s house in Redlands. We hung out for a little bit with them and Grandpa, and then met Dawn, Kumar and Katie at Casa Trejo! After a wonderful dinner, we went back to the Doolittle’s to stay the night (and watch Duke beat Florida State 😊)

Clark’s awesome tower

Fun on the hammock!

Then we spent some time with the Busi family celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and playing with Ellie

Wearing our St. Patrick’s Day green!

Lucky Charms and donuts 😊

Having fun with Ellie

Then we went to a winery in Rancho \240Cucamonga to see Grandma’s \240Ukulele group play!

We headed over to CPK at Victoria Gardens from there for lunch, and then back to Grandma and Grandpa ‘s house to stay the night (and love on Sky, Max and Annie)

Colin in his happy place 😊

Beautiful Waikiki!

Rob passing out at the hotel after traveling for 10+ hours

We got in around 1:00 pm and after checking into the hotel and getting cleaned up, we went for lunch at Dukes! We worked off our Hula Pie by walking Waikiki beach 😊

Duke’s!

Waikiki Beach 🏝

We went to bed at 8:00 pm after a fun day at the beach!

While we were having fun in Hawaii, the boys were having fun at Knotts Berry Farm with their cousins, Ace and Lucy!

It was a beautiful morning.

We got into Sydney around 8:00 pm. It was the easiest customs experience ever! (I was proud of us… We did not check any luggage… We fit everything into two carry-ons !)

After we checked into our hotel (The Meriton suites Campbell St) we went to the Thai restaurant that was right next to our hotel and had some delicious Thai food

Meanwhile, back at home, Colin and Clark has a blast with Bobbie and Gracie

Got bread at 85 Degrees 😊

Took the train to Featherdale, the best place ever

He looks like a Niffler from Fanstic Beasts and Where to Find Them 😊

This guy made our day. He hated one of the workers and tried to attack her every time she went past his pen!

Duke the koala 🐨

We went back to the hotel after feeding kangaroos to our hearts content and got ready to go to the Sydney Opera House to see the Moliere play, “The Meiser”. The harbor was just amazing - bustling with people, beautiful weather, gorgeous views. We had a drink and a bite to eat before the show at the Opera Bar. Such a great experience!

Before the show

The Meiser

View as we left the play ❤️❤️

We came back to the room and got cleaned up to go to Tea at Gunners Barracks. The view and weather were incredible

Then we walked down to the ferry. But that is where we encountered terrifying spiders in the trees dozens of them ... and they were huge. We were very brave for making our way through that path!!

Then , this guy startled us

Thankfully we made it to the ferry in one piece

Meanwhile, the boys spent the day with Auntie Dawn and took Ellie for a walk!

I’m pretty proud of our packing skills .. we only took one backpack and one carryon each for the entire trip!

The airport in Sydney is so efficient. We went through the line to check our luggage and security in no time (and they didn’t even check our IDs ... not sure why not ...)

It was a short 1.5 hour flight, and then we landed in beautiful Tasmania!

About to board!

Cute Tasmanian Devil statues at the Hobart airport

We rented a car and Rob did an awesome job driving on the left side of the road while sitting in the right side of the car!

After we checked into our hotel (RACV/RACT Hobart Apartment Hotel), we walked around the local market and then drove over to the Mona Museum.

“Fat Car”

Black Light Room

While we were having fun in Tasmania, Dawn took the boys and Grandpa whale watching in Dana Point!

Beautiful morning in Hobart!

A beautiful beach on our drive to Coles Bay

Poppy 😊

April and Poppy, our friends at the Craigie Knowe winery ❤️

View from our living room. It was such a beautiful day

View from our bedroom in Coles Bay 😍

Back in California, the boys had fun with Auntie Dawn and Grandpa at his place in 29 Palms!

The airports here in Australia do not ask you to show ID when you travel ... it’s very odd! We had a good flight back to Sydney and got back around 7:00 pm. Everything is so efficient here. The plane unloads from both the front and back, so we were off of the plane quickly and they had our bags out on the Conveyor belt less than 15 mins after we had touched down!

We took the train over to our room at The Marriott. We used points and an upgrade- we were on the top floor with a view of the Harbor Bridge!

After we put our luggage in our room, we went down to dinner at The Spice Room. It was SO GOOD! The tea we both had was out-of-this-world. After dinner, we walked down to the Harbor in front of the Opera House for a drink. It was such a beautiful night!

Video of Sydney from the Opera Bar ❤️❤️

This is how Rob feels about selfies 😜

Lastly, we noticed these HUGE bats 🦇 flying around and decided to get a closer look .. this is a video of how that went ...

We walked back to our room, for our last night in Australia.

Meanwhile, the boys had fun with their Auntie Debbie today in Redlands!

View from our room at the Marriott

Wild cockatoos!

Manley Beach

Manley Rob at Manley Beach 😊

Ferry ride from Manley to Sydney

Happy we had a great trip

Sad to be leaving

Clark and Brooke

The whole gang (even Charlie!)

Then we headed over to Souplantation in Arcadia. Trisha and Jeff met us there for lunch. It was great to catch up, even though it was only over a quick lunch.

Then it was off to LAX for our flight to Atlanta

On the rental car bus, headed to the airport