Ex-Cyclone Oswald

We have been having the most insane weather.  I don't know if you remember the 2011 flooding in Queensland, but apparently this weather will exceed those floods.  It's been raining for a couple of days now and yesterday afternoon it got really bad.  I'll start by saying that we're fine.  We are in a good area, in a strong, sturdy building that is only four years old and our power has been unaffected.  That being said, this weather is CRAZY.  Probably around 1 or 2pm yesterday the rain started intensifying and the wind really picked up.  At three or so one of our building managers came on the speakers and said the police had called and ordered all outdoor furniture to be brought in because there were wind gusts up to 150 kilometers/hour (90+ mph).  It raged all afternoon and continued all night.  This morning it was STILL raging and didn't let up until around 3pm.  Brooks and I were so excited that the rain stopped and even more excited to see the sky that for 1/2 a second I thought we should join all of the people across the street who had gone out for some fresh air.  Good thing we didn't because not two minutes later the clouds rolled back in, the sky turned gray and we were hit with round two.  Although it continues to rage, it doesn't seem to be any worse and it's believed that tomorrow the weather should clear out.  At that point we should be okay and the danger will be for those in areas where the flooding has occurred.  We live directly across the street from Burleigh Beach and that's been a focus for news teams.  Here are some pictures that have been snapped today from those who have been out and about.

This is just to give an idea of some of the flooding taking place.

 This is an easy walk from our place and usually

you can see the beach and a bunch of huge rocks.

 

 This is the same place getting pulverized by waves.  Check out
the inside of the building. (Click the picture to make it bigger.)

This area might look familiar from pictures, except usually 

it's grassy and not covered in foam from the waves.  You can 

see the park where Brooks plays under the blue tarps.

The next pictures are from the very brief time this afternoon when the rain stopped.

 I guarantee ALL of these people got SOAKED because round two came out of nowhere.

 This is a preface for the saddest pictures we saw.  Take note of the
swings because they might be all that's left of Brooks' park.

 The trees have fallen and knocked over the poles with the tarps.

 

But he's resilient.  He wants to take his plastic Black and Decker

tools over when the rain clears to start the rebuilding efforts.

mini-me...

Brooks wants to be JUST like Patrick when he dresses, in his mannerisms and expressions and anything else you can think of.  There have been times where he's been insistent on wearing something in particular or not wearing something and it all boils down to what Daddy is wearing.  It was so bad the other night that Patrick was icing his hurt wrist and, of course, Brooks needed to ice his wrist, too.  Patrick loves it and it really is sweet. 

classic...

When I go back to Brooks' room I never know what I'm going to find...

On this particular day he had gotten his sleeping bag out...

and filled it with his buddies who were ready for a nap.

Great Ocean Road

We drove the Great Ocean Road and loved it...

 We went by Bells Beach for Patrick...

 and Sheoke Falls for Brooks and me.

Patrick was a good sport and made the hike even though he didn't want to.

We explored all around Loch Ard Gorge...

and loved looking at all of the different rock formations.

We also went to the Arch and London Bridge before calling it a day.

 

The next morning we went to see the Twelve Apostles...

 

 Poor Brooks probably wondered what the big deal was about all these rocks.

I love this picture.  Any time Brooks can match Patrick he does.

At lunch Brooks was able to feed some birds...

then we came across wild koalas on the side of the road.

Our last detour before heading back to the airport was 

Cape Otway, the most southern point in Australia.

Melbourne...

Patrick had a work conference in Melbourne last week so Brooks and I went with him...

Our hotel was in the Docklands and we loved it.

There are a couple of free tram services so we took them all around town.

Our first stop...Queen Victoria Market.  It's insane.

 

It's so big and has everything you can imagine.  We bought fruits and cheeses...

...and Brooks wanted to buy these for the babies.

 When we left I heard Brooks giggling.

He said, "Mama, I bet this man has five or ten babies in his tummy!"

We met up with Patrick early that evening at Batman Park

and relaxed by the river before going to dinner.

 The next morning our first stop was Cooks' Cottage.

 James Cook had his residence in England deconstructed brick by brick...

 before sending them to Australia where his house was reconstructed.

Brooks needed a banana bread break before continuing on with our day.

 We saw these horses on our walk...

 and as he pet the white one, the black one came in for a smooch.

 We went to the Docklands for dinner...

 ...where I had a HUGE meal...

and we just had a nice time...

...hanging out as a family.

Brooks has gotten to where he enjoys taking pictures...

 ...almost as much as he enjoys being in them.

the Bible bearer...

Our friends got married the weekend we got back from Dallas...

and Brooks was the Bible bearer.

He did such a great job...

and we had a wonderful time celebrating.

exciting times...

What did you say???

 There's what???

 I'm going to have HOW many siblings???

 We are SO excited to share our news:

The Terrell twins will be here in May.  Yay!!!