spending your inheritance

I thought I would try and put some extra pictures on photo bucket and link it
The test picture is of some boats we saw in Greece on a previous trip
http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m9/papanik/

One week to go

One week to go and we are looking forward to the travelling. People are mixed in their reactions from "Wow I have always wanted to go to Mexico" to "Why go there, that's a long way off the tourist track". I am wondering how we can satisfy every one's requests, from Cuban cigars, one of those big sombreros to please take lots of photos of all the old cars in Havana.
We have been playing with a new camera, a Panasonic DMC-TZ1, so far a wonderful camera. The real test will be taking pictures in the jungle or on a Carribean beach and then downloading the pictures at an out of the way internet cafe.

Well today I saw a budding ballerina in action. I am a little sad we can't be at Ella's first ballet concert but I guess there will be many more.Where has that time gone.It seems only a short time ago that her mum was dancing around in my womb... and that time was 30 years ago.Incredible really.The funniest thing is Nicole is going to be sewing sequins Ha! ha! I managed to avoid that , it is a shame we will be leaving I won't be able to help .Damn!!

New Crane, Old Crane

Yesterday I ventured to Semaphore by my self with our 4yr old,3yrold,20mth and14mth grandkids. We had a great day .Took themto lunch at an expensive cafe. How fantastic are they so well behaved! Easy!We met Nick's sister Dianne as well she enjoyed watching the kids perform as they do.She even laughed when Hannah commented to her that when she finishes her lunch she will have a big belly like Dianne.... out of the mouth of babes.
Conversation between Ella 4yr old and Hannah 3yr old inthe back of our car.Hannah"Where are Adam and Eva? Ella says" New Crane". Then starts singing" New Crane Old Crane ". I guess our pronunciation of the Ukraine is not very clear .I had a little chuckle. Kids!!We had a scare for a few hours with the plane crash in 'new crane'.Makes you realise how much we love you guys .Rachel's discovered she has come of age as a parent.She managed to remember where to find an important prop for Ryans' book week costume and he was very pleased.Talking about Book Week ,Ryan .. never one to conform.... chose to be a character from a Non Fiction book photos to follow.Bethany was the Wicked Witch from Snow White and Hannah was SnowWhite and was she pleased to be included in the parade with the big kids.Still18months before she is at schoolHope she becomes healthier soon!We are very lucky to be having house sitters while we are away worked out great for all parties concerned. Nicoles great friend Jackie and Craig and their two children have sold their house. Need to stay for 3 months to do up the caravan to travel around Australia . We are glad to have been able to help them.

Two weeks to go

And time flies, suddenly it is only 2 weeks until we leave to fly to Mexico. We think we are ready to go not. We have our tickets and our Cuba visa ... it is a bit dodgy.... a loose leaf piece of paper no stamp in the passport.We are extremely busy at the moment it always seems to be that way . We bought a kitchen this week.. well the cupboards anyway .We will have our work cut out for us on our return. Still thinking about our intrepid travellers no tears now though, It is great to have updates via email but it was great to hear their voice when they called home. No sightings this week from Hannah.We had all the grandchildren for most of the weekend .They are fantastic kids. Their parents are doing such a great job with them.So intelligent ...all of them ..it is so exciting watching them grow and change every day we are so blessed to see at least one or two of them every day.Life is great ! Everyone is so excited at the Bakery for us.I am careful to keep a lid on it.I think we had better get our act together this week . Maybe start to speak a little spanish would be a good idea. Still can't believe in 2 weeks we will be in L.A. at this time

I still can`t believe Adam andEva have gone for so long.I cried most of the afternoon the day they left .I am crying as I write this. What a sook I am! I was happy that they found a great place to stay in Kiev. Today I washed their clothes that they wanted to keep.It felt weird holding Eva`s wooly jumper.Dont get me wrong I am so pleased for them. Yesterday Hannah nearly 3 and1/2 year old thought they would be home soon.Today she spotted a plane in the sky and said and I quote"I think that`s Adam and Eva`s plane". We have visions of them circling around for 2 years. We have just over 3 weeks before we leave our precious children and especially our 6 grandchildren.We are so excited to be going on our longest journey of discovery 3 months immersing ourselves in another culture. We are so lucky . Nick and I hope our girls will have the same opportunity in the near future. Bugger those terrorists! Well at least the new restrictions mean it will be safer than ever to fly.It is a hard time to leave at the moment, but I guess anytime is ,.when you have a family you love so much.I know the girls will support each other when they need to.Nick and I are so blessed to be able to travel so well together. We love doing the same things and sharing every day our ups and downs as we experience new food new cultures and make new friends. So lucky!

Three weeks to go

Well we are off to Mexico in three weeks and we have nothing done yet. We have paid the fare and most of the accommodation is confirmed. The garden needs care, we will miss the footy finals and 3 months seems like such a long time.