Fun Filled Days Spent With Family...

There has been a distinct lack of posts this week because we have had Bao, Ty and Phi come and visit us ... and it has been one action packed week!

A brief rundown of what we've been up to...

Saturday - They made their way into BrisVegas not long after noon... Phan was working an afternoon shift, so Beth and I went to pick them up... Beth had fallen asleep in the car on the way there... and when they all got in the car she woke up... a little startled to see all these people in the car! She was a bit nervous having so many people in the car, but she remembered who her Bac Bao Anh was, so she held onto her hand really tight all the way home... As soon as we got home and broke out a few presents Beth was on happy terms with Phi and Ty... and when they started playing this game where they lift her up high over their heads (like she's flying), she decided Phi and Ty were her new best friends! She warmed up *very* quickly to them... In the afternoon, we went to the local pool and spent a good hour there... Beth was back to her normal happy self in the pool... there was no "santa face" this time... just lots of laughing, giggling, splashing and silliness. Came home and I whipped up some roast chicken and vegies for dinner and we spent the night chilling.
Oh, they introduced me to this game called "Bop It" that they had brought with them I am currently the reigning high scorer after scoring 139 on their last night here... LOL (C'mon Bao and Ty... I wanna see you beat my score!)! I really miss that game!

Sunday - We made a day trip to the Harbour Town on the Gold Coast... Awesome, almost overwhelming shopping... lots of bargains to be found and had... Bao and Ty wandered off by themselves and Phan, Phi, Beth and I shopped together... Beth developed this complex of not wanting Phi to leave her sight though... so we all had to go into the shops together... no letting Phi quickly pop into a different shop to us... And she wanted to follow him into the changeroom at Ralph Lauren at one point... It was quite cute. Phi found some great bargains (pants, shoes, tshirts... he did some serious shopping!)... Phan bought a RL polo (I'm amazed he actually bought clothing!), Beth got a RL pink polo top, a dress from Cotton on Kids and some cute Nike sneakers and I bought a whole heap of sports apparell and found some great pants and a skirt in Colarado. I've basically done my clothing shopping for the year. Bao & Ty did really well too... they found some stuff... Overall, we saved about 50% of the retail price on the things we bought. That night we dropped into Trangs for dinner.

Monday - We went to the park with the curly slide and flying fox in the morning... I converted the Croozer into a jogger pram and we walked to the park which was a decent 15-20 min walk... It was pretty warm too... Beth spent ages on the slide and then had fun going down the flying fox whilst Ty, Phi and Bao held her.... In the afternoon, we went to Chermside and managed to waste a lot of time in a shop called IGEDO... Beth was hilarious... running in and out of the changeroom through the curtain whilst Bao and I were trying on clothes! Beth also drank a ridiculous amount of Boost juice whilst we were there. Bao and Ty got freshly cooked crabs to have with dinner from a seafood place there and they were delicious!

Tuesday - A low key-ish day... we went to our other park, taking Beth on the trike. In the afternoon, we ventured to the pool again and burnt a lot of energy swimming around. Lamb yiros for dinner that night, that Phi kept raving about...

Wednesday - A big day trip to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast... We left at 11am expecting Beth to have a sleep in the car on the way there... but noooo, she decided not to have a nap. She's now developed a fear of the waves, but had a ball in the saltwater pool that is right on the beach... Relaxing on some grassy parklands and had fish and chips for lunch... then Beth (who was still as bright as a button despite the lack of napping!) ran laps and played soccer on the grass with Chu Phi and Ty.. I sat and watched and Bao decided to bake herself in the sun and give herself some sunburn! We went for a second dip in the saltwater pool, then had a rinse down and headed back home around 3:15pm... Beth had managed to stay up all this time (her love of water must have given her a boost of adrenalin needed to stay awake), but crashed 5 minutes into the drive home. Nando's and Eagle Boy pizza for dinner (because I was too tired to cook!)...

Thursday - This was my slow relaxing day with Beth whilst Bao, Ty & Phi took a daytrip down to Dreamworld... Beth and I took it easy in the morning and then in the afternoon, went to Chermside so I could pick up somethings for dinner... Beth enjoyed sushi for afternoon tea and spent an exorbitant amount of time looking at herself in a set of mirrors outside of the Portmans store... Picked up Phan from work early and then back home and I cooked dinner. By all accounts, it sounded like Bao, Ty and Phi had a fantastic time at Dreamworld....

Friday - Everybody's down day... after all the go-go-go and things we'd done during the week, Bao, Ty and Phi were totally knackered. Beth was also severely constipated, so I was having to deal with an unhappy, pained child... but luckily we got a bowel movement in the afternoon. Bao, Ty and Phi popped out in the afternoon and had a massage from a machine which uses a Migun Thermal Massage system (sounds weird, but apparently is really good... I'm intrigued and am planning to go and try it out myself). I prepared a family bbq to celebrate Phan now being fully qualified in his profession after many years of study and also to farewell Bao, Ty and Phi who we have loved having around this last week. Everybody went to sleep *really* early... it had been a busy week!

Now that they've all gone home, I really miss having a "full" house... It was just great having them around... We had some really funny times in the evenings when we would all get in a funny mood and laugh at the silliest things... It was kind of amusing seeing Phan being annoying and trying to 'molest' Phi (in a brotherly way)... So good to have chats with Bao about random things (and to educate me on all things beauty related... :p), great having Ty there to capture lots of priceless moments on video... And it was good always having someone around to play SingStar, FIFA 09 or Rock Band with... But most of all, seeing how much Beth just adored their company and how much she loved playing with them. Ahhh... good times...

I'll leave you with a few photos taken during the week ...