It already feels like it’s been forever since Clay and his family were here, but it was two weeks of fun filled adventures. We had a blast having them here, but the kids are missing Kirsten and Kendall greatly. I hear about them all the time. They can’t wait to get to America to see them.

Things started off a bit rocky as their flight was delayed causing them to miss their connections which caused them to miss the only flight per day that leaves LA for Melbourne. They spent 48 hours traveling to get here, but they made it! That forced us to miss the trip we had planned to Great Ocean Road, so instead, the first day was a lazy day filled with brunch and walking around the beach near our house.

The next day we were up bright and early because we had a flight to Tasmania. We flew into Launceston and drove about 2.5 hours west to Cradle Mountain- Lake St. Clair National Park where we spent two days exploring.

On our way, we stopped at Trowunna Wildlife Park. The highlight was to see Tasmanian devils. I mean, how couldn’t we?! Little did we know that we would get to feed the kangaroos too! Isla and Kendall were pretty hesitant, but Kendall finally got close to them.

The Tasmanian devils are pretty ferocious when they eat. Here they are eating roadkill… click here for video.

We drove another hour to enter Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. It was absolutely stunning. It’s such a rural, untouched area of the world. Here is a little about the history, if you are interested.

We had to stop at the grocery store about 45 minutes before we arrived to the park because that was the closest one. We stayed in a cabin for two nights just outside of the entrance to the park, and were up bright and early to begin our hiking adventures. Clay was up the earliest around 3am due to jet lag which lasted much of the first week for him. The girls weren’t as impacted by it.

We took the bus to the furthest point in the park to hike around Dove Lake with the view of Cradle Mountain in the background. We hiked for about 3 hours finishing up with a view of the iconic boat house. After a peanut butter and jelly picnic lunch, we decided that we needed a rest at the cabin, but Clay hiked to Marion’s Lookout which was another 1.5 hour hike up the mountain. The next day, we spent time at the education centre and doing some small hikes before we had to make our way back to the airport.

Who doesn’t want a selfie with a wild wombat?

Good thing we got back to civilization for Wifi. 🙄

On Friday, Brent and Clay flew to Queensland to a rural area about 1 hour from Brisbane, where they spent the week hunting stag. From the stories that we heard, it was an amazing experience even though they didn’t get anything.

Meanwhile back in Melbourne, we kept busy with day trips and various activities. We did have one warm afternoon and got to use the pool for the last day of the season.

Next up was a trip to the Enchanted Adventure park where the girls did a treetop maze and zip line excursion. We also went tubing, but not in snow!

The Melbourne Comedy Festival was going on and since the next day was cold and rainy, we went to see a magic show. I think the adults enjoyed it as much as the kids. Greyson feel asleep in the car, and slept through the entire show!

Next, we embarked on an overnight road trip along Great Ocean Road since they missed it because of the flight delay. I’m glad we did as Heidi said it was her favorite part of the trip.

I learned a lot about teenagers and their need for Wifi. After a sisterly tiff, we required them to hug and make up before they got the Wifi codes for where we stayed. It was torture for them when Heidi and I were surfing the net and they couldn’t! 😜

Are you exhausted yet?

Next up, Isla and Greyson stayed with the sitter so that we could spend the day in the city. We went to the top of the Eureka tower which is 88 floors. We went to the observation floor, and here we are “falling” from the side. We need to work on our scary faces. We did go into the “Edge”, which is a glass box that extends from the side of the building. It’s fogged up when it goes out, then it clears once you are extended out of the building. I did not like it. And, I think it was my idea to do. 😬 We spent the rest of the day having lunch outdoors at a cafe in a laneway and doing some shopping.

The next day, we went to Phillip Island and visited another wildlife park and got to see some new animals such as koalas. The kids weren’t as scared of the kangaroos this time. At sunset, we went to see the penguins. We didn’t see as many as we did the first time that we visited so that was a bit disappointing.

We only had two days remaining and were winding down on activities. It was Good Friday by this point so a lot of places were closed. The kids kept themselves busy by making decorations for Greyson’s birthday party and bunny pancakes for lunch. We did spend a little time walking the beach in the afternoon.

The last day was Greyson’s birthday party, which I already posted.

On Easter Sunday morning, the crew was up bright and early to head to the airport at 6am. Clay has a new found love for hot cross buns, so they had some for their Easter breakfast before heading out.

I’m sure they were ready to get home, but I do believe that really enjoyed their trip as much as we enjoyed having them! So, come back!