Wow...So Much Has Happened...

To those of you who faithfully watch for updates, I apologize for the delay. We've been super-busy...

In July, Daniel took his bar exam and felt confident. He will not know until September 28th whether or not he passed (but I'd like to think it's a no-brainer!) As you can see, he had quite a fan club. Brutus was extremely happy to get his play-buddy back. And I made a cow cake. Now, there's no reason I picked a cow, I just thought it would be a cute cake:)

He relaxed for a couple of days, then we were off to Australia. It took nearly 24 hours to get to our first stop, Cairns, but it was well worth every minute. Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the trip.

We snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef on the first day. The water was so beautiful and clear. We saw all kinds of fish, coral, clams three feet across, blue starfish, and...drumroll please...an octopus! I didn't know they were poisonous until I told the diving instructor about it!

The next day we visited the rainforest by train and skyrail. Absolutely spectacular.

At the end of the day, we tried our hand at spearing "kangaroos" and playing the didgeradoo. We learned all about the Aboriginal culture, history, and way of life. Daniel was stellar at spearing food using their techniques, and I was gifted in the area of throwing boomerangs...and catching them! I actually got to keep the boomerang since it was rare for a "newbie" to catch it. As for playing the didgeradoo...well...we have a long way to go before it sounds like actual music.

After Cairns, we headed to Melbourne and went to a local hotspot for Italian food that night. Early Saturday morning, we enjoyed shopping at the Victoria Market then finished the day with a wildlife tour. This picture shows a koala if you look between the trees. Pretty cute, huh? After seeing these cuddly creatures, we went to see penguins emerge from the ocean...as they do every night to go find their home. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, but it was definitely a highlight of the trip for both of us. We were within inches of these little guys as they marched home. They swim and eat in the ocean for 2-3 weeks, then come home for a few days to relax and meet up with their spouse. They go to the exact same "house" every time.

The next day we went to one of Melbourne's baptist churches, but found that we were among many tourists there. Apparently Aussies aren't too into organized religion. It goes hand-in-hand with their relaxed atmosphere. At the end of the service, there was morning tea time. Anywhere you went in Australia, there was tea time, morning and afternoon. After church, we headed to the "G", or Melbourne Cricket Grounds. During the off season, the enormous stadium is used for AFL, or Aussie Rules Football.

The third stop: Sydney. Yes, the opera house is very impressive. A definite work of art. We walked across the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and toured the city by bus (and a whole lot of walking!). Bondi Beach, known worldwide to surfers, was still a sight in the middle of Aussie winter. Surfers didn't mind the cold temperatures at all. This lifeguard surfboard was dropped right next to us and a lifeguard was training for his job. It is an extreme honor to be a lifeguard at Bondi. And last, but not least, we saw an English opera, A Streetcar Named Desire after a behind the scenes tour of the impressive structure. We were fortunate to get tickets, since the opera had been sold out for months ahead of time. And, no, Daniel didn't fall asleep...it was actually his favorite part of the trip. We were grateful to have a chance to go to Australia and highly recommend the trip to anyone.