body boardin' adventures [UPDATED]

[UPDATE - someone needs to let us know if the videos play on Windows machines now...)

We try to hit one of the many beaches on offer here on the Central Coast as often as possible, but rarely do we take our camera (our Nikon D70 bit the dust awhile back, and we don't want our lil' Canon getting salt damage). So, we were thrilled to discover some of our beachmates toted their cams along and took some snaps (thanks Tuckers & Northey's!).

Practicing her seamanship skills before she takes it out on the high seas (nice shovel...I mean, paddle)

Kim and Amelia cheer on Brad as he rides into a nice barrel (out of view)

the menacing cliffs of despair (or the rocks waiting to take any who were swept to them via the riptide)

The Northey's

There's a teeny crab in there somewhere that Amelia caught (bottom middle of the inside of the pink thingy).

Killcare/Putty beach during a lull between breaks

Brad finishes off a wave as it turns into whitewater (too bad we didn't get a picture of when it was barreling!)


Now onto some videos taken on New Years Day at Avoca Beach (courtesy of Tammy Tucker's new underwater Christmas present)....

Jared Tucker barely misses Brad (I pushed him aside at the last second before getting smacked) on his ride into shore (use your left & right arrow keys to watch frame by frame)

Perry Haeata catches a nice wave


We all ride the same wave in (Brad on camera left, Perry on camera right, Jared behind the camera)

Sunday Morning fun

I always tell myself I am going to take photos of Amelia on Sunday's when she is all dressed up and looking cute and then never do. So this Sunday I decided to just take a few minutes to do it. I am so glad I did. She got this little dress for Christmas from Grandma, Thank you so much! She loves it. Can you tell?

Dancing and twirling in her new dress.

Looking a little mischevious?

She was having so much fun with this. Everytime I'd count to three and say "Cheese" She would laugh so hard. It was great fun!

you know its REALLY HOT out when the lizards sneak inside the house seeking shelter

It got up to 106F/41C yesterday when we nabbed this lil' guy sliding in under the front door. Luckily, Amelia caught him with her cat-like reflexes and put him in this little insect viewing container the Smith's gave us for Chrissy.


nice macro pic we took before we set him happily free

some like it hot

"Mmmmm...sweet chili Doritos medium salsa. yummy yummy!"

Beautiful!

Just had to share.

Too Stinkin' Funny!!!

Okay, so I know that we are always posting comments about Amelia's sleeping habits, and this is yet another one, but it's just too stinkin' funny to me!!! She is a comic act when she sleeps. So, as a few of you may already know, Amelia somehow ends up in bed with us most, well, every night. If we weren't so tired at night we might put up more of a fight to keep her in her own bed, but when fatigue and heat set in, well, that's a lethal combination and we are pretty much rendered out of commission.

So anyway, the last few weeks I have been having to get up quite a few times in the night (as you do when you're pregnant) and when I come back to bed I have heard Amelia talking in her sleep. Yes, that's right. She talks in her sleep!!! I have heard her say "Jo Jo & B-Bell" (next door neighbor friends), Carrot said in conjunction with putting an imaginary carrot in her mouth, and she laughs ALL THE TIME in her sleep!!! It's so funny!! I have heard Brad talk in his sleep a few times, so it doesn't surprise me, I know where she gets it from. One of these nights I'll grab the camera and see if I can catch it.

So that's it for Amelia's sleep habits....for now. I am sure more will follow!

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!

For those 'un-Australian' among you, Monday, 26th January is good ol' Australia Day (the day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788)...it's also the time they roll out some great new Sam Kekovich adds on the telly. Enjoy! (and eat more lamb!)

surprise

(if this was a bit too subtle for ya...we're expecting a lil' bub around September... :)

The Next Morning...

So, this was the very next morning...New Year's Day!! For some reason I just could not sleep in. When I woke up, this was the first thing I saw. It just melted my heart!! I just love it!!

(Yeah, we slept right on the mattress...our sheets somehow fell off the line the day before and were so dirty so they had to go through again...yes, we only have one pair of sheets!)

It reminded me of a photo of myself when I was closer to Amelia's age. My Dad and I always used to take Sunday afternoon naps together. (I am assuming this was a Sunday afternoon, evident by the white collared shirt my Dad was wearing - you only see him in that when it's Church related. Good times!)

Belated New Year's Eve photos

I've fallen a little behind lately, but here are our photos from New Year's Eve. (This was the same day as the Reptile Park, Amelia was thoroughly pooped that night!) We decided it was too much effort to fight Amelia and take her down into the city that much past her bedtime and heard that they did some local fireworks over the water near our home. It was beautiful! Albeit not nearly as amazing as Sydney...oh well, maybe when Amelia is a little older.

Waiting for darkness to settle in.

Amelia was not excited about staying up so late past her bedtime.

Not happy at all...

That is, until we ran into some friends from Church. Then Amelia perked right up!!

Darkness falls.

Hey, you guys should come see the view from here!!

And then, the game started. Us moms are still not sure which child initiated this, but it was just too stinking funny! Keiana would line up a row of Burger Rings (like cheetos but in a circle and not quite the same flavour,) and then Amelia would take a turn...

Then Keiana...

Then Amelia...

Then Keianna...

Oh, it was just too much fun!!!

Australian Reptile Park

Over the last two weeks Brad has been home for a Christmas Holiday.  It's been so nice having him around home, he's just gone back to work this morning and Amelia keeps asking where he is.  Oh well, we'll look forward to his next holiday.  

While he was home we took advantage of the local attractions and headed to the Reptile Park just up the road from us.  There are a lot of photos here with this post, 15 to be exact, but this is just the beginning, not to mention the video.  And we wonder why our hard drive keeps filling up so quickly!  Sheesh.

Part of the fun of the reptile park are the free roaming Aussie critters.  They are so tame that you can hand feed them.  Amelia didn't quite know what to think of it.  

Not sure of the giant Tortoise.

A cool hawk in the back.

These things were massive and yet so tame.  It was so cool.

OK, I love love LOVE these next few photos.  Brad was trying to get Amelia to look at the camera and smile and these are the result.

After a little snack.

Almost got it...

Now you got it!  The typical open mouth Daddy smile!  (Or maybe she's just showing us what she ate.)

This may have been a little mean, but look at that face!  Priceless.  No wonder she didn't sleep well that night.

More giant stuff.

Christmas Morning

And finally here are our photos of Christmas morning.  Unfortunately the best stuff is on video and we don't have enough room to edit them so photos will have to do for now.  Last year Amelia was just too little to be able to know what was going on, but this year she had so much fun as did Brad and I.  

Brad and I woke up way before Amelia did, we thought we'd go in and wake her up and this is what we found.  So we decided to let her sleep a little longer.  

Finally awake and downstairs to open pressies.

First time going through a stocking.

Amelia found the best stuff straight away.  Chocolate!  And she wouldn't let it go.

Feeding her new baby.

Kim's knew kitchen decor.  Thanks Smithies.

Ho hum...now what?

Oh a puzzle!  

Brads nice little beach mat!  Works wonders.

Helping Daddy open his presents.