Australia

In October, we spent two weeks in Australia visiting family! Our trip went by too fast, but we had a great time catching up with everyone and showing Claudia around. Glen's parents had a big crowd to host because we also brought my sister Gina, and then the whole Banks/Svendsen family flew in to spend part of the time with us. Seeing our family was obviously the highlight, but we also showed Gina a good time by going to Australia Zoo, Sea World, and the Gold Coast. Claudia stayed with Nana, Poppy, and Aunt Jo for three days while Glen, Gina, and I flew up to Airlie Beach to go on a sailing and snorkeling trip to the Whitsunday Islands. Claudia enjoyed playing with Nana and all the toys she got for her like Legos, a baby stroller, and especially the princess chair. I think Claudia did well while we were away, but when we were with her, she was disappointingly very clingy. I suppose it's just the age she is at (18 months) added to jet lag and an unpredictable schedule, but it was a little frustrating that everyone wanted to play with her and she just wanted me.

Claudia was very excited about flying on an airplane for the first time and she was so hyper, but in a fun way that made us laugh a lot. The flights over were exhausting, but pretty good considering we were in the air for 17 hours. I can't say it went so well on the way back. There was a lot of crying and frustration for all of us. Claudia was happy to be home and back to her routine, but when she saw Nana on Skype when we got back, her eye just lit up and she seemed so proud to point and say "nana", so that made the frustrating flight worth it.

Claudia's first flight to Australia. She slept for 4 glorious hours in this cot. Then "only" 10 more hours of playing. We were lucky to get the baby row (bulkhead) on both of our flights.


Gina & Claudia feeding a kangaroo.


We got to pet the koalas and Gina even held one.


We stayed in Airlie Beach for a night before leaving on our catamaran sailboat for the Whitsundays. We had just 12 people on our boat and everyone was really nice.


Springtime is very tropical in Queensland, so we had sun at times and rain at other times, but it was always warm.


The view from our hotel at Airlie Beach (not bad!) It's a cute little touristy town that is a great launching point to see the fringing reefs that are part of the Great Barrier Reef.


Claudia's first time to the beach.