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 U.S of A...

We went to Dallas back in October for a quick visit.  The first part of our trip wasn't captured because a certain husband took the memory card out of my camera and left it in Australia...oh well.  We got it fixed...

 We went to Kayla's soccer game...

and saw a beautiful Texas sunset.

Aunt Heather and Lily flew in town...

 and gave Brooks this awesome superhero cape.

Gigi and Papa Hugh also flew in so we took them to the pumpkin patch...

where there were slides...

 and hay rides...

 and mazes...

 

and cuddles from Gigi...

and cuddles from Daddy.

We took a family photo...

and Brooks played around.

Aunt Tiffany, Jude and Julia joined us...

and they explored the pumpkin house.

 We had so much fun seeing everybody...

 including my friend Jill...

and Grandma and Grandpa.

 The next day we went to another Fall Festival.  There was plinko...

and nail painting...

 and all kinds of games.  Then Daddy wanted Rudy's...

so we ate barbeque...

and played Big Buck Hunter.

Then Patrick and I flew to Laguna Beach, California...

and stayed in this cute hotel...

 that was right on the water.

 Before we knew it our trip was over and we headed back to the other side of the world.