The one that is totally random

On our way to & from Rob & Joanne's house...we have to pass by this building.  Being the immature people we are, Jaret & I always laugh at the sign.  We will let everyone figure out why :)                                      (it's the green part of the sign)

The one at the zoo

As most everyone knows (or maybe you don't)...Jaret and my first date was at the Houston Zoo.  So whenever we go somewhere we try to see the zoo...we would have seen the Scotland (Edinburgh) zoo on our honeymoon had it not been closed.  But this past weekend also happened to be our 6 month anniversary, so what better time to check out Perth's zoo?

It was actually a really nice zoo...and a lot of the exhibits are open and you are very close to the animals. So most of the pictures are zoomed in...but not much, we were that close.

 

First we checked out some pretty birds.

 

 

Then we went to check out the crocodiles...and while he WAS in an enclosed cage, I still thought this sign was funny.

 

Then it was time to see the famous kangaroos.  Their exhibit was a series of trails...and they were just hanging out all over the place.  And had they not been sleeping, the apparently just roam around and will walk right up to you.

 

The koalas clearly had a crazy night the night before :)

At the elephant exhibit...they actually had a couple of the elephants painting pictures.  Which they did sell later...it was really cool to watch them paint.

 

And one elephant was playing with his toys.

 

We saw an animal called the sun bear.  I have never heard of one or seen one...but this guy totally posed to have his picture taken.

 

We saw the little guy hanging around with the other orangutans.

 

 

This sign made us laugh.

 

Then we saw this tree that made Jaret giggle :)

The lions were taking a snooze...and one was VERY comfortable in his afternoon nap.

 

Last but not least was Jaret's favorite...the penguins!  And they had their own river which was pretty cool.

 

 

We had a great day and beautiful weather at the zoo!  It was a BIG zoo, so it wasn't a surprise that we came back and took a nap.  But it was a great way to mark a small milestone in our marriage and to celebrate that we were FINALLY in Australia!

The one at the beach

While Jaret is at work...I must find ways of enertaining myself.  That usually includes tagging along with the ladies while they take their kids out.  Now, as a big kid myself, I have no problem coming along...plus these are some super fun kiddos.

 

So on friday they were heading to the beach on the river.  The Swan River is one of the big spots of Perth.

 

Here's the kids as they start warming up to the water.

 

 

Then we were visited by another icon of Perth, the Black Swan.  Swans are apart of a ton of things around here...from the flag to business and taxi companies....they love the swan.

And obviously...the swans don't mind coming to play with kids on the beach.

 

One of the kids lost hold of a food wrapper and it blew into the river. Not wanting to be 'those trashy foreigners'...I headed into the river to grab the trash.  And as I get out there...Joanne told me to stop to take my picture.  Little did I know I had company. (in the next few pictures...ignore the lady in the black & white swimsuit)

 

I had to go pretty far out into the river to fetch the trash...and when I got back, the kids  wanted me to stay out in the water with them.



It was nice being out in the sun for the day...although the Australian sun is totally not one to mess around with...the sunburn on my back will be my witness to that.  But I had a fun day with my new friends!

The one with all the parties

Starting thursday, we had a bunch of partied booked. 

First up, I was invited to a Girls' Night Out with all the American wives.  They had also planned a "favorite thing" gift exchange.  Basically, we all brought our favorite thing to give to the rest of the girls.  Since it would have been hard to pack 5 extra gifts...I waited to find my favorite thing when I got here.  Jaret and I were out one day and stumbled upon a chocolate factory...and what do I love more than chocolate??? The store happened to have some chocolate fondue sets which I thought were perfect!
Here is our group at dinner and ready to start opening gifts!

 

We had a great night out! (and a lot of wine too!) I am very lucky to have these ladies, they have welcomed me with open arms and have no problem letting me tag along on their daily lives so I am not at the hotel by myself while Jaret is at work :)

 

 

On saturday it was time to get all dressed up again for Jaret's company Christmas Party.  Luckily it was at our hotel, so we didn't have to go very far.  Here was the standard pre-party picture.

 

After pre-party drinks outside...they opened the tent for us to be seated.  The theme was 'Color' and every table was labeled by different colors.

 

And here is our group of Houstonians in Australia :)

 

Ok...and random thing...but our hotel room looks out over the back parking lot and the main entrance to the casino. So Jaret and I like to look out to see the craziness that walks in the casino.  But this is the picture of the line for taxis at like midnight...nuts!

 



 

And last but not least...on Sunday morning we all got together again to watch the Army/Navy game.  Rob & Joanne had a party at their house.  Rob is a West Point grad and Jaret is an Army Vet, there was also another West Point Grad...so there was quite the cheering section for Army.  Now while I am married to an Army man, and one Grandfather was in the Army...my other Grandfather was Navy, so I was a little conflicted....but I had the Army shirt, so they got my cheers :)

Joanne had the house all decked out in Army colors.

 

There was a Navy guy there too and Joanne gave him his own little spirit corner :)

Which he ended up getting to celebrate the win.

 

There was a ton of food! Which included boxed brownies I so skillfully mixed together and put in the oven.







We ended out the weekend by going to Carols in the Park....it to happen to be right outside our hotel.  We were pretty tired from a full weekend...but we were curious to see what it was all about.  It was actually really neat.  There was a re-telling of the Christmas story and carols by candlelight.  It was a fun thing to get us in the Christmas Spirit.

The one where Kelly drives on the other side of the road

As everyone knows, you have to drive on the left side of the road here in Australia.  You are also sitting in what would be the passenger seat in the US.
Well last week, it was time that I learn to drive on the other side of the road.  So after Jaret came home from work...we decided to head out for dinner so I could get some driving time in and I really wanted another person in the car for my first time.

I got us to dinner safely...we just got some fast food at Hungry Jacks...but at home we call it something else...who knows their fast food places???

I drove around a little more while it was still light out and we ended up at some park.  But we were able to get a great view of the Perth Skyline.

 

And of our hotel....

 

I got us back to the hotel without any problems (thank goodness!)  It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be!

 

 

I think the hardest part is getting used to everything being on the wrong side in the car...whenever you go for the blinker, I usually hit the windshield wipers! Jaret & I think we need to put a sock on the windshield one so we don't keep hitting it :) 

I also figured out if it feels right as if I were driving at home...it's wrong here.  And look, they even have nice reminders posted for drivers :)

 



The one about our weekend



This was not actually part of the weekend, but something fun we wanted to share.  Jaret worked for a while in Louisiana when he first started working at Cameron.  There he met Graeme, who is from Scotland.  Well, when we went to Scotland for our honeymoon we met up with Graeme and his wife Tina.  And it just so happens that Graeme & Tina are in Perth visiting Graeme's son...so we met up again.  I told them we expect to see them now everytime we go to a different country :)

We forgot to take pictures this visit...but this is the picture from when we met up in Scotland in June.

 

Can't wait to see where we meet up again!!

 

 

 

So this weekend we finally got some beautiful weather after our first couple of days were windy and rainy.  People here said it was the worse weather they have had in years!

 

We went back into downtown mainly because I needed a cell phone and to explore some more.  There were several street performers...including this guy.

 

 

Part of downtown is an open mall with shops down both sides of the street.

 

They still wish you a Merry Christmas here instead of that Happy Holidays crud they are doing in the US!

 

And Perth even has these couple of gems from back home :)



Saturday night, we met up with my friend Courtney.  We have known each other forever, our brothers were really good friends growing up AND we both went to Arkansas, so I have another Hog around here.  Courtney was celebrating her birthday so we went out to dinner with her & her friends.
This is Courtney and her boyfriend, Phil.

 

Just before we got to the restaurant...Courtney texted and said Russell Brand was there...and what do you know, he was! This is the best picture we could get without being too obnoxious.  He is in the background right by Phil's shoulder :)

 

 

We ate dinner at one of the places in our hotel...it was very good! Jaret had swordfish, which I tried and actually liked!

 

They even had mac & cheese!!

 

We had a great time celebrating with Courtney and it was awesome re-connecting with her after several years!

 

Sunday morning when we woke up....Jaret was looking out the window of our room and told me to get over there quick.  I got there to see an entire family of black swans!

 

 

Once we got up and about we drove to meet Rob & Joanne and their kids for lunch.  I didn't get any pictures of Jaret driving, but he did very well on the left side of the road and got us where we needed to be safely!

We got to the restaurant and it was on the beach...so pretty!  And by the way...there had been a shark sighting about 20 min before we got there.

 

I think I am going to like it here :)