While they...

{sang 'Yippee - we're home'.....}

{... played follow the leader around Melbourne Airport...}

{... posed for the camera...}

{...ran around and around and around...}

{more poses}

{...pretended to be asleep...}

... emptied their bags out and played with all their stuff....

... balanced along some beam and fell off ....

... talked and talked....

WE.... sat there, hardly saying a word (too tired to speak!) trying very very hard to keep our eyes open!!

These were our first photos taken back in Australia! The girls had a lovely time playing at Melbourne airport, until...

... during check-in Emily decides to fall asleep in my arms - making it very difficult for me to carry my bags and hers - all the way through security and up to our gate (which was like as far away as they get!!)

AND

... just before boarding Leilani decides to fall asleep - making it impossible for us to carry our bags, them and their bags!

This was the worst part of the whole trip - I was so disappointed with the Jetstar supervisor.

I went and asked them for some help before boarding and explained that we couldn't carry all of our bags because the kids had fallen asleep. Any other day I would have just woken them - but seeing as though they had probably only had 5 hours sleep in the last 30 hours - there was just no way we could have woken them even if we tried. The girl I spoke to said we could board first and she would get someone to carry some of our bags for us - but then the supervisor stepped in and said we had 'too many bags to carry on' (1 more than we should have had) she spat the dummy with us and was so rude - made us stand there and wait while someone came and got 1 of our bags to be checked on.

We were kind of annoyed at being treated that way, but really, too tired to even care. (But I get really annoyed when I think of it now!)

Things didn't get much better when we arrived into Launceston with the girls half awake and not wanting to walk. They were tired and started to cry - which turned into screams when they saw the sniffer dog! We walked in with crying girls and tired arms from carrying our bags, the girls bags and the girls and tried to look happy for most of the Challis Family waiting for us. I think they were shocked that we all looked so awful!!

D Day

The day we often thought would never come....came! Monday 11th January 2010 our hotel shuttle bus dropped us off at Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport....we were on our way home. This is the last photo we took in the UK!

After that, the camera went away for our long trip home.

We flew from Heathrow to LA, which took about 11 hours. We had a 2 hour stop there - which was really very boring. We all had to get off the plane and go and wait in this big room. We had to be checked by immigration before being allowed to enter a secure room (we even had to apply for an online visa before we left) - all a bit silly really as it's not like we could escape the room anyway! Having kids was a bit of a bonus at this point because we got to skip the massive queue and go straight to the front! We were then back on the plane for a 13 hour flight to Auckland. I know I say this often but Leilani and Emily really were such good kids on the plane. We really didn't have any problems with them at all and they handled it all so well. They slept at different times from each other though - which didn't give us much of a chance to rest, but it did give them a break from each other.

I was actually looking forward to the flight home - some time to sit back, read, and watch movies, but I got so sick that I couldn't even do that!!!! I had a headache, runny nose and a bad fever and felt absolutely terrible. (I'm sure I had swine flu!) So I was totally stressed about how the kids would handle the flight - when in fact it was me that struggled!

Our flight must have been a little late getting into Auckland because we had to rush to make our Melbourne flight and only just made it. Three hours later we were arriving into Melbourne!

We got through immigration and customs pretty easily but then had to wait 4 or so hours for our flight to Launceston. It turned out to not be so bad - I think we were just happy to be off the plane and back in Australia!!

Threesixty presents Peter Pan

We travelled up to London the day before our flight home, and stayed at Heathrow Airport for the night to make our afternoon flight the next day a little less stressful. We decided to take one last trip into London that evening - to say goodbye - and boy did it turn out to be adventurous!!!! A simple trip into the city on the tube turned into a bus, train and cab ride!!! We had booked tickets to see Peter Pan at the O2, which was being put on by a theatre company called threesixty.

We ended up being late for the show due to tube lines being closed and the O2 Arena being a little further out than we had expected! We didn't miss much though and the show was really good. Leilani especially enjoyed it and the 360˚ experience was pretty cool. The show was in like a big circus tent, but the roof was a movie screen, and they projected things on the whole roof - all 360 degrees of it - it was awesome! And then the actors had a stage in the middle of the arena that people sat all around - on every side. The guy that played Captain Hook was a famous actor - Jonathan Hyde (he was in Titanic, he was the hunter in Jumanji, and the butler in Richie Rich, among other things).

We were all quite tired after the show - from a full on couple of weeks of packing and saying goodbye so we had a quick look around the O2 and headed back to Heathrow (this time on a much simpler route!).

{It was freezing by the way - but that goes without saying really!}

{The O2 was pretty cool and the girls enjoyed running around in the big open space!!}

We got asked if we would like to sample the next big thing.... 3D TV! 'Why not?' We said! They had big comfy bean bags and full-on surround sound! It was great, but to be honest - a 3D TV is the last thing I would really want! The girls just liked the glasses...

... I LOVE Emily's eyes in this photo!!!

It was sad getting on the tube for the last time, it was sad looking out at London and feeling like it was only yesterday that we saw it for the first time. I feel sad that we are no longer there. (But at the same time extremely grateful that we were even there!)

M5

There was a little bit of concern a few days before we were due to fly out of Heathrow Airport, due to all the unexpected snow fall across England. Most of the smaller airports around us were closed and nightly news reports showed stranded passengers everywhere - not really what you want to see and hear just before you are about to fly out of the country (with connecting flights to catch) but we remained positive and hoped for the best! Our good friend Kevin kindly offered to drive us to the airport on Sunday morning, which we were really grateful for because it saved us a lot time and made things 100% easier. A lot of the "A roads" (side roads) were closed due to all the snow freezing and turning to ice, but fortunately the motorway had been gritted and well looked after - making our 2 1/2 hour journey from Taunton to London a breeze!

I had mixed emotions travelling along the M5, a road we have travelled quite a lot over the past 12 months. I felt sad not knowing when I would be seeing the English countryside again. England really is a beautiful place and although I missed the mountains here, there is something spectacular about looking out in every direction, trying to see the earth's edge as it stretches as far as the eye can see! For our last time - we saw it all covered in white!

I'm sure for you looking at these 2 pictures you just see a snow covered field, but for me, I see England, I see our little family packed into our Peugeot driving along the M5 with 3 lanes of cars, some racing past at 90 - 100mph. I see myself staring out the window, with feet up on the dash or trying to check my email on Mick's iPhone before feeling sick. Mick is singing along to loud music or playing a game with the girls. Leilani and Emily are talking to each other in the back, usually about where we are going or what we are going to do. They find shapes in the clouds or sing songs over and over. We would never get far before we would hear 'Can you turn Man in the Mirror on please?' We will miss our drives along the M5.

Our Last Night Out in Taunton

On our last Friday night in Taunton we headed out for some ten pin bowling and 'all you can eat Chinese' with a few of our closest friends. It was a fun night, but kind of sad at the same time because we knew it was the last time we would see everyone (for a few years anyway). During our last few months we spent quite a few nights hanging out with the Tutton, Ainslie and Dadswell Families - including New Years Eve - we had some good laughs together and we all got to know each other quite well, so it was sad to be saying goodbye.

Emily and Leilani were very excited to be going ten pin bowling for the first time and they both really enjoyed it.

The girls with Beautiful Becky! They both Adored Becky and still talk about her because she gave them each a pretty little top for Christmas - which are now called 'Becky's tops!' (Do you want to wear Becky's top today?) so we are reminded of her often. They also adored Becky's older sister Hannah, but she left to go work on a cruise ship in September, which Leilani was especially sad about. We are hopeful though that in the next few years Becky and Hannah will come and stay with us and see some of Tasmania.

{Getting Excited!}

{Leilani gets a strike}

She was so excited to get a real strike! She was really into it all actually and would count the pins and watch her name on the screen for when it was her turn! She even had the back foot thing happening!!!!!!

Lots of giggling happening at the kids table... only feels like yesterday we were sitting there in the warmth - looking out the window at the snow and ice! We were so lucky to find such great friends over there.

Imagine waking up to this...

I remember laying in bed wondering if it had continued to snow overnight as forecast. Mick was on night shift and Leilani and Emily had come and jumped in my bed at the usual time. We all got up and looked out the window, and to our excitement saw our very own winter wonderland!

Our snow/ski clothes were all packed in suitcases ready to be sent home to Australia in a few days, but out they all came, and as soon as Daddy arrived home from night shift we were out there!

The snow sleds Elle brought back from Finland also came back out of a box and we put them to good use. They were the most awesomest snow toys ever!

Emily was so funny (we have her on video) she was giggling SO much and just had the best time! It was so fun just to watch her and hear her extremely funny laugh! Leilani was a bit of a pro on the sled and quickly worked out how to lean back and pick up good speed!

What a fun day! It was great and we will always remember it - as well as the cold! There was no wind which was nice, but it was most likely around the 0˚C mark. It was pretty cold, and after a while we had to go in to warm up again! bbrrrrrrr.... I can still feel that cold chill if I think about it hard enough!!

Our little town of Taunton - covered in snow...

{Whirligig Lane}

{The street we drove/walked nearly everyday}

{Mall}

{Town centre}