Leaving for Australia 7/11!!!!

Alex's first 4th of July-in all her patriotic finery!

First time in a pool-and she's loving it!

Yay! I cannot wait to go. I'm a little worried about traveling with an almost six month old, but it's also part of the "new parent" adventure. So basically, getting there (and back, of course) takes a long (long) time. We fly from where we live to Philly (2-3 hours), from Philly to LA (6 hours), LA to Brisbane (14 hours or so, no stopping) and Brisbane to Rockhampton (1 hour). My poor baby-that's a lot of traveling and flying for her maiden voyage. Alex hasn't even been out of the state yet, lol. So yeah, it's almost exactly 24 hours just in the air....this does not include lay-overs, however. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Alex isn't fussy and that the white noise from the engine lulls her to sleep. We're bringing her favorite toys (the quieter ones so as to not completely piss off our fellow co-passengers), some books, her blanky and her lovey. Basically, I'm just trying to prepare for everything and anything! I'm excited though-it's our first BIG trip as a family. I cannot wait to expose Alex to the other part of her heritage....we really want her to understand and know her Australian roots. In time, we may come to spend the whole summer (our summer) there so she can know her Australian family as well as her American family.

Anyway-we'll be gone for three weeks. We are spending most of that time with Dan's family in Yeppoon. Yeppoon is a beautiful coastal town on the east coast of Australia. It is north of Brisbane and south of Cairns. It's a very nice area-an up-in-coming resort town. Should be very nice and, hopefully, relaxing. We are also going to spend a few days in Brisbane, as this is where Dan and I went to school (uni). We plan to hang out with his friends from uni and have some informal "party" time.

I'm hoping to bring my laptop with me so I can blog as I go, but it all depends on how much stuff we have to lug around. Keep your fingers crossed that the trip over and back goes well :)