Sanders Family Australian Adventures

Somehow Caitlyn is already 12!  I was not allowed to help make her birthday cake at all.  Caitlyn made this cake all by herself. She did such a great job. We celebrated her birthday a week early as her birthday fell on the very last day of term. She had friends from year 6 and year 7 over for a party.  They watched a movie in our living room, ate pizza, and giggled a lot.  It was nice to have the house so full of laughter again. Happy birthday to our wonderful 12 year old. We know you will continue amaze us each year.

Hello trusty blog readers!  Apologies for not having posted anything for months. We had a relatively busy August and September, with the kids in school during their third term (3rd quarter). The poor kids have been in school since 2021. They did three quarters in America, to get in here in time for the second term (quarter). As we noted here, we took a quick winter trip, then it was time for the yet another term/quarter of school. With that came a lot of changes.  When we arrived here, the school suggested that our girls continue in the grade they had left in the United States. So we enrolled them in 3rd and 6th grade (again). We discovered in their first term here that it was not the right fit. So after a lot of back and forth with the school, we managed to move both girls up a grade. Lauren started year 4 on the first day of term. Her transition was very easy and quick and it was obvious right away it was the right fit. Lauren's new teacher is fantastic and just righ...

New b-day sign for the walls Caitlyn's birthday card for Lauren Making birthday treats Enjoying birthday treats!  Today is/was Lauren's 9th (NINE!?!?!) birthday.  Not sure where all the time has gone.  Lauren continues to be amazing and keeps us all our on toes. It has been a super busy day celebrating Lauren. She started the day with chocolate chip pancakes (thanks to a delivery of mini semi sweet chocolate chips we got from the US-- we can't find them here). Then she had a video chat with friends from Maryland.  Then we went to trampoline place (like skyzone).  Then lunch at McDonalds (Lauren's choice).  Then we got gelato and walked around a Sunday market.  There was a cat in a backpack that the girls got to pet.  Then our big kid got her ears pierced. For a second, I thought that we were going to leave with only one ear pierced. Lauren says it hurt more than Caitlyn said it would.  But she got them both done in the end. Lauren says her fa...

 Still playing a bit of catch up in our posts. The girls are finishing up a winter break between terms (quarters).  They get a couple of weeks between each term (quarter) with a slightly longer break during the first two semesters. They had a three week break starting the last week in June. A coworker informed me that the private schools tend to get a week off before the public schools, so we were lucky enough to do some travel during the first week, which was technically "shoulder season."  We started our break by driving a short 45 minutes into the "mountains" for some "snow play." Canberra doesn't get much (any?) snow, but there are mountains nearby where people can go to experience snow. For it to be real snow, you have to drive a couple of hours. We just wanted the kids to be able to do a little sledding, so we didn't drive too far. We went to Corin Forest which is only about 45 minutes away. Closer, but the snow was not at all real. There wa...