WHOO HOO!! So exciting!

Our long awaited visitors from Canada arrived October 20th! It was one of the most amazing days ever – we were ecstatic that we were able to pull off the biggest surprise of the kids’ life!

I picked my parents up at the airport and headed over to the kids school and had earlier in the week got the teachers in on the surprise as well… the looks on the kids faces when they realized it really was their Grandma and Papa standing in front of them was … well… you could say, priceless.

It was a good, good day 🙂

Fish n Chips Picnic

We successfully kept our jet lagged travellers awake until bedtime Australian time, complete with a fish n chips picnic at Town Beach… with the delightful sounds of laughter intermixed with the crashing of crystal clear, blue waves. Their 2 week adventure had just begun, and all the travelling to get here was already worth it

The next day it was time to explore our beautiful city and take my parents to see some Australian Wildlife! The kids were allowed to ‘wag’ school and play the role of tour guide for the day – such fun!

Meeting their ‘adopted’ Koala for the first time!

Ocean Summer – the Koala my parents adopted earlier in the year from the Koala Hospital – finally getting to meet her!

I love my time that I get to volunteer at the Koala Hospital – my parents and the kids joined the “Walk and Talk” tour that happens after school while they could watch me feed these precious koalas!

It was so much fun living across the ‘road’ (little walkway) and waking up every morning to this smiling face for 10 days! Being neighbours was so great!! We love our Shelly Beach Resort friends Mark and Kerry – thank you so much for your hospitality for us all while we enjoyed our time there together!

Love having my mom visit! All felt right in the world 🙂

Meeting some of our family’s dear Aussie friends

Delicious Shish Kabobs BBQ Aussie Style

The kids did have to go to school while their grandparents were visiting, and it was so cool for them to go to the beach to see them in one of their mandatory classes – yup – Sport is at the beach every Wednesday afternoon in Term 1 and 4!

Papa’s on the beach!

After school activities…

Connor teaching Papa a few chords on the guitar that he’d picked up and learned to play this year 🙂

Shouting Grandma and Papa their first Aussie Meat Pie!

We had lots of fun discovering where all the Koala Sculptures were hiding!

Touring Town Green

Kate’s Glee Group performed “Shake It Off” for them during one of their practices – so much fun for them to see Kate perform live with her friends at Centre Stage Theatre Factory 🙂

On a trip to one of the Shopping Centres, we found a new store called “CONNOR”! Grandma & Papa bought him his first suit – he looked dashing!

Silly fun with Papa!

A trip to “Revelation Point” and Lighthouse Beach – great conversation and whale watching!

We did a day trip to North Brother Mountain – a spectacular view of the coast and the communities around Port Macquarie – one of our favourite spots for sure!

After school fun with friends in the pool!

Another favourite is the Kookaburras! Since I was a little girl, I would listen to my Grandpa’s records (yes – those big vinyl records) of Australian song birds – their laughing never ceases to make me giggle! This one would come and do a quick bird bath in the pool of where we were house sitting 😉 such fun!

It was a perfect sunny day for us to make a road trip north to Dorrigo National Park! Stunning rainforest views ~ including our first glimpses of Jacaranda trees just starting to bloom out!

While the kids were in school, my parents and I took to the town and found more Koalas, tried various places for ‘morning tea’ and nice lunches out, including introducing them to the very beautiful and delicious aussie traditional dessert – the Lamington!

Sea Acres Rainforest

Love these two! ❤

My parents love to bless my kids with things that make their hearts sing! Connor had been researching getting his own acoustic guitar (our friend Deb had generously loaned us one for him to play for the past 4 months) and he had his heart set on a Maton! Well, it turns out that a very dear friend of ours happened to be selling the exact guitar… so after an afterschool meet and greet, he played some of his favourite rifs and it soon became apparent he was ‘in love’ 😉 … so his Christmas prezzie was gifted to him early so that he could enjoy playing this beautiful instrument as soon as possible 🙂 Hearts of gold my parents have… so very thankful for them both xoxo

Grandma Hugs with Ellie! (who still lives on Kate’s bed!)

Canadian Treats! A whole lotta sugar love! ❤

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we hit the “frog and toad” as a family to go and explore Sydney for 3 days!!

Thanks for following along! 🙂