Brisbane, Australia

We had such an awesome time in Coolangatta with our moms! Unfortunately our week at the timeshare was up so we packed everything and drove an hour and a half back to Brisbane to hang out for the last three days of our parent’s trip. We decided to stay at the same hotel we were at when we first landed in Brisbane since it is at a great location downtown with lots (aka heaps) of things to do in walking distance. When we arrived at the hotel they said our room wouldn’t be ready for another two hours. Shucks! Oh well, at least this time we wouldn’t have to sleep at the Starbucks next door, lol. Luckily it was lunch time so we just walked down to the river and had a quick lunch at a great Mexican place. Once we were finished with lunch we walked back to our hotel and had to stop at Starbucks along the way (hey, I gotta take every opportunity I can get!). Our room was ready so we dropped off our stuff and then headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the next three days.

We felt a little lazy so we had bought two frozen pizzas for dinner. When we attempted to make the first one the crust was burnt like charcoal but the inside was still all doughy. What the heck? We figured the oven was broken (although it was more likely user error) and just said screw it so we called up Pizza Hut to deliver pizza to our hotel room. When the pizza guy arrived in the lobby the receptionist called our room and said they she had a really weird question and asked if we ordered pizza. Uh, yeah… has nobody ever ordered pizza to this hotel before? Haha! Oh well, there’s a first for everything. We spent the rest of the evening chowing down on our pizza and having a family movie night.

The next day I had a big surprise planned for my mom. Before my mom got to Australia she thought that while they were here we could do a day trip to Sydney to visit my best friend from grade school, Rebecca, when we lived here in Australia. Unfortunately, we had to rain on her parade and let her know that Sydney was a nine hour drive away. Silly mom. A few days ago I told Rebecca that my mom was disappointed that she wouldn’t be seeing her while she’s in Australia and then she told me that she gets super cheap flights and could come visit us in Brisbane for a day. Sweet! We made plans for her to come out on Saturday at 11am and I made sure to time our day just right so we were in our hotel room to let everything fall into place.

We started the day by eating breakfast at the hotel and then grabbing coffee before heading to a park for Tyson to play. There is a big playground along the river that Tyson loves playing at. We spent about an hour there and then I told everyone we should probably head back for Tyson’s nap (but really because Rebecca was coming soon). We got back around 10:45 so I had about 15 minutes to stall my mom because she thought we were going to do a shopping day. I said I needed to check my email, change my clothes, go to the bathroom, etc. When Rebecca arrived I secretly ran downstairs to let her into the elevator up to our floor. I then came back into the room without anyone noticing I even left. A minute later Rebecca knocked and luckily my mom was closest to the door so I asked her to see who’s there. My mom opened the door and saw Rebecca standing there. She was totally shocked to see her! They gave each other hugs and then Rebecca came inside to meet the rest of the family. She’s so sweet and brought Tyson a cool kangaroo backpack with all kinds of Aussie animal toys inside. Tyson was so excited and hasn’t stopped playing with the animals since. Thanks Rebecca!

My mom, Rebecca and I headed out for an afternoon on the town starting with lunch and then some shopping while Marshall and his mom walked around the city with Tyson. We started walking down the main drag and stopped at a restaurant placed in the center of the shopping area which made for great people watching. I hadn’t seen Rebecca in 19 years since we lived in Sydney and it was SO much fun catching up over lunch. It’s amazing how you can go that long without seeing somebody and then when you see them you feel like you picked up where you left off. Both of our families were great friends so it was fun to hear what everyone was up to all these years later. After lunch we spent the afternoon shopping around town. I was on a mission to get a few warmer clothes because the rest of our trip will be a bit cooler and most of my clothes were for hot weather. I found some nice black boots on sale along with two warm sweaters and my mom found a new swimsuit for next summer.

Once we were all shopped out we headed back to the hotel and hung out in the room for a while. My mom hadn’t talked to Rebecca’s mom in years so Rebecca called her mom so that they could chat. So cool! Rebecca had to fly back to Sydney at 5:30pm so Marshall and I drove her back to the airport. Such a fun afternoon! Thanks again Rebecca!! Can’t wait to hang out with you and Dave when we get to Sydney.

Later that evening we all walked down to the River to eat at a nice restaurant overlooking the water. The food was amazing! There were some veggies on my plate that I had never seen in my life and were so delicious. After dinner Tyson wanted to walk to another restaurant next door playing music outside so he could dance. He put on a little show for us and we all clapped along like he was a street performer. Everyone inside the restaurant stopped what they were doing to watch him. So stinkin’ cute!

Today is our last day with our moms in Brisbane. Sad, but so happy to have been able to spend so much time with them, especially after 4 months without seeing them. After breakfast we took the free ferry over to a big park called New Farm Park. There is a huge playground area in the park that was jam packed with 100+ kids. Apparently every kid in Brisbane comes to the park on Sundays. After Tyson played for about 20 minutes we realized that if we wanted to get back to the hotel at a decent time for Tyson’s nap we needed to catch the next ferry which was in 30 minutes. We sped walked back to the ferry and hopped on. Our ferry stop happens to be next to lots of restaurants so we stopped at a café to pick up chicken schnitzel to go and took it back to the hotel. Mmmm…it was so good!

This afternoon my mom and I went out to do some last minute souvenir shopping. She made sure to pick up extra Turkish Delight for me so I can continue my kick for at least a few days longer when I get back, lol. They really need to start selling that stuff in the US (although I’d probably gain like 50lbs if they did). When we came back to the hotel Marshall and his mom decided to head out on the town and play a little at the casino. Meanwhile my mom and I had some down time in the room while Tyson napped. It’s nice to have down time sometimes to work on the blog, research online, or simply relax and watch TV. Once Marshall and his mom came back it was dinner time so we walked over to a Bavarian restaurant along the river. We had a great dinner and came back to the hotel to crash for the night.

We had the most amazing time with our moms and are so thankful they were able to come see us in Australia. We love y’all and can’t wait to see you when we get back!! Tomorrow morning we’re all going to the airport bright and early together because we’re all flying out at 8am. Can’t wait to hang out with Rebecca and her husband Dave!

Next stop: Sydney, Australia