Boise

Since arriving back to the U.S. life has been extremely busy!  Luckily, in between the hectic madness of trying to organize our lives, we were able to meet up with some of my family up in Boise.  Boise is halfway between SLC and Pasco, so it worked out really well. It was a really quick trip; we arrived on a Saturday afternoon and parted ways on a Monday afternoon. Even though time with family was limited, we made the most of it.  We were able to eat out at some Man v. Food establishments and nearly all day Saturday we relaxed by the hotel pool.  It was so good to see my parents, my sister, and her three kids.  

The first day we checked in to the hotel, then we donned our swimsuits and hit the pool.  Teya loved playing with her momma in the kiddy pool.

I absolutely adore Teya's swimsuit (I bought it for her last year in anticipation of this summer).  I wish they made watermelon swimsuits for adults.  After I purchased this swimsuit I literally googled 'adult watermelon swimsuits'.  I didn't find any.

Proud Aunt Rachel with Teya.  I had to keep my eyes covered for nearly the entire visit.  every day my eyelids were puffy, red and itchy.  Just went to the optometrist, I guess I had contact dermatitis.  She gave me some ointment and it has since cleared up.  Huh.

The group + half of Chase's body at the pool.

Later that evening we hit the Flying Pie Pizzeria for dinner.  This place was featured on Man v. Food.  It was too dark to take any photos inside, but the pie was good!

The next morning we decided to go see the capitol building.  And parked right in the hotel parking lot was Nikki Sixx's tour bus.  

Cole and chase in front of the Idaho capitol building.  Clark actually rang the bell.  It was loud.  I was slightly embarrassed.

Katie and Teya inside the capitol building.

Clark marveling at the marble.

Later that day after spending nearly six hours at the pool, we went to Rockies Diner for dinner.  Rockies is another Man v. Food establishment.  This is where Adam Richman did his food challenge in Idaho. 

God bless you, Adam Richman!  

Of course, we took the table with Elvis.

My Dad whipped out his glasses to read the menu.  Clark and I instantly noticed how off kilter they were.  It was pretty funny.

After dinner we went to a park so Chase could show us his roller blade skills and Cole could use his scooter.  

The next morning we went back to the same park so the kids could play a little bit.  Teya loved the swing!

And so did Katie.  I thought she might flip over the top of the swing set, but it didn't happen.

Mom and Dad even got in on the swinging action.

We had such a great time seeing you all!  Thank you so much for meeting us in Boise for a quick visit!  Can't wait to see you all (with the addition of Scott, Dagmara, Cedar and Ty) at Christmas!

Philly

Welp, we arrived back in the U.S. of A late on August 2nd, and on August 6th we flew out to Philly to find a place to live.  We just love TSA, I guess. And airport food. And screaming kids on every damn flight. No, actually I don't love that last part at all.  Control your children, people.  Crying babies can't always be controlled, but shrill screaming for no reason 3 year olds can be!

After our horrific rental hunting experience in Sydney, Clark and I were a little gun shy and planned for the worst. We gave ourselves 5 days to find a satisfactory dwelling place.

We ended up finding a place, signing the lease and paying the deposit/rent by mid morning on the third day. Success!  So we drove down to Alexandria, VA to visit my little brother Scott and his wife Dagmara!  We stayed the night in Alexandria and the next day drove up to Baltimore, MD to visit with Clark's brother Kyle, his wife Kim, and their kids Charlie and Greta.  It was awesome to visit so much family in two days.  We feel so fortunate to have family so close by in the future!

I brought our camera along but took very, very few photos over the course of five days.  I took some photos of our venture to Tony Luke's for some fine Philly cheesesteaks, and one photo at Scott and Dagmara's.  Dagmara threatened that she would leave if I took any photos of her so I put the camera away and didn't take it out the remainder of the trip.

Anywho, here are a few pictures from Philly.  I swear we drove the entire city twice but never took any pictures.  I can't wait to do some in depth exploring of our new city in the near future.  I think we're going to love it :)

Oh we won't just visit PA, we will live here!

Most of our nights were spent at the Holiday Inn right near the Phillies stadium.  Literally, we opened our curtains in the room and the stadium was directly in front of us.  A missed photo op, for sure.

Mmmmmmmm, Tony Luke's cheesesteaks!  We both ordered cheesesteaks with cheese wiz, the real deal.  It was amazing.  

I know, it's kind of ridiculous.  I didn't make an effort to take photos of the city, family, or our apartment, but I made sure to document our stop at Tony Luke's! I have priorities ;)

Clark was a little embarrassed that I brought our camera along.  But fortunately for me, tons of other people were taking pictures of this sign and their food.  I can't prove it, but it's obvious that Man v. Food helped this place gain popularity among non-Philadelphians.  Oh how I love people who love food, and more importantly, people who love Man v. Food!

Clark and Scott hanging out in Alexandria.  Scott and Dagmara live in the cutest neighborhood.  (But so do Kyle and Kim.)  Our apartment on the other hand may or may not be a few blocks away from some questionable West Philly neighborhoods.  But we feel good about it.  And, everyone....everyone we talked to or mingled with in Philly was so nice! Such a breath of fresh air after having experienced life in SLC for 14 months before moving to Australia.

It was a successful and fairly non-stressful trip.  Can't wait to visit Alexandria and Baltimore again!  And of course, we'll have to make it up to Boston to visit some more of the Tobler clan that has relocated in the past year! East coast is where it's at!

The last from Oz: Port Macquarie

Right before our departure from the land down under, Clark, myself and our good friends Joanne and Ivan drove up the coast to Port Macquarie, which is about 5 hours from Sydney.  It was a total blast.  We had excellent weather and overall a wonderful time.  We miss our Joanne and Ivan sooooo much!

Rest stop near the coast, enjoying some pelican watching.

Laurieton Lookout right off of the scenic drive to Port Macquarie.

The other lookout on the mountain top, aka the Johnstone Lookout.

 Paraglider taking off from the Laurieton Lookout.

About 20 miles outside of Port Macquarie. Beautiful white sand beaches lined this coast for miles and miles.

Our awesome villa a street away from the water.  Oh, we love to live lavishly when we're not staying in hostels and eating cup-o-noodle ;)

Joanne giving the camera all that she's got!  Work it, girl!

walking down to a beach right before dusk.

Getting ready to hit the pool at night.  It's a shame the pool was closed even though we went before the official closing time.

The Koala Hospital was a short walk from our villa, so the next morning Joanne and I took a stroll down to see some koala feedings.

An awesome array of breakfast foods.

So, down at a dock, Joanne tried to shimmy around a wooden beam and would have definitely fallen in the water had Clark not helped her back to safety!

Painted rocks all along the walkway.  Dora is just adored world wide, I guess.

Running toward Joanne on a beach.  I love how animated Ivan is.

I laugh every time I look at this one.  Thanks for the photo bomb, Ivan.

Joanne and Clark following the spiral...not quite sure what this thing was for.

Joanne rolling down a hill.  If there is one thing I love about Joanne, it is her ability to be herself regardless of the situation.  She is so care-free and fun.  Seriously, I don't think anyone else could have convinced me to roll down that hill.

Tacking Point Lighthouse.  I. Love. Lighthouses. Period.

A 'So You Think You Can Dance' off with kelp.  We each had one minute to perform an interpretive dance with the kelp.

So graceful.  I tried to emulate Will Ferell's rhythmic gymnastics moves from the movie Old School.

Clark was the least animated.  He totally lost.  Ivan did not perform as he was wondering around taking pictures of sand or something.

That night we stayed with our good friends Jade and Levi in Nelson Bay, and enjoyed some awesome pizza down on the waterfront.  A game of Pictionary consumed the rest of our night, along with Mad Libs.  Mad Libs are unbelievably fun when 6 adults play.  Wish I would have taken some photos of the night's madness, but I didn't.

Fingal Bay on our last day.  Beautiful beach; would have loved to enjoy the water here but as you can see, no one has towels laying about on the sand here.  Just a little to cold for that sort of thing.

Clark and Ivan.

Joanne and myself trying to do a 'gummy' smile.

We had such a blast with Joanne and Ivan.  Wish the trip could have lasted days longer but unfortunately, Clark and I had to get back to Caringbah and pack up our apartment.  Joanne and Ivan, we miss you!  Let's meet up somewhere exotic down the line!  I would opt for somewhere Joanne hasn't been, but she's been pretty much everywhere...