US trip Dec 08 to Jan 09

California Dreaming.

Around midnight of Dec 9, we were all packed up and headed to the US to spend the Christmas holiday time with Sean's family and our old buddies from California. After months of checking airfares (and deciding that it was too expensive) I found a good price via Tokyo and the 4 of us (Zach was only 8 mths) went for $5500 AUD - still exp, but hey, that's just the fact of living on the other side of the world.

We managed to keep the packing light and had only 1 suitcase and 1 duflle bag for all of us - and that had to cover winter weather and summer gear for our cruise - more on that later. Of course the only way we could do this, was being able to borrow some clothes from family and friends and loaning Michelle's (my sister in law) stroller (and car seats) - thanks so much Michelle!

No sleep and lots of vomit

The Qantas flight to Tokyo was 10 hours and there were no bassinets on the plane, so little Zachary was not very comfortable in our arms all the way. We didn't have any spare seat next to us, so we tried several combinations of seating with him on the seat, and Jasper in our laps etc, but not to much avail. Then when everyone seemed to finally be getting forty winks, Jasper threw up, all over everyone, the seat, himself, the baby.... With no assistance from the staff, we cleaned up the best we could, changed kids clothes and covered the seats, only for him to do it all again. So we spent the rest of the flight in vomit and just waited anxiously to get cleaned up when we got to Narita airport.

Half way there

We were so thankful for our twin day room (which I'd booked a month prior) at Narita airport. We recharged the DVD player, Jasper watched a movie, we all showered and Zachary and I slept a bit. We had an 8 hour layover, and then boarded the American Airlines flight to LAX. The staff were MUCH more helpful, we had a bassinet for the baby and he got 7 hours sleep - yay. Then LAX to SFO and we were met by Ray and Chris (Sean's mom) and all of our luggage made it too - though the suitcase was a bit battered with parts falling off it.

Zach at LAX - who'd think he'd been travelling for 2days and on only about 8 hrs sleep?

Into CA life

The weather in the Bay Area was unseasonally cold for mid Dec - sunny, but chilly days and very chilly nights (dropping to the 20sF/minus 1-4C at nights) brrrr. But it was great to be back amongst such beautiful landscapes. Our first big outing was to Monterey Bay Aquarium, which has got to be the BEST of its kind anywhere. Jasper LOVED it. He saw the otters swimming (called them seals), saw hammerhead sharks for the first time (hammer sharks, as he referred to them), loved the wave tunnel, the jellyfish and octopus displays and enjoyed touching starfish and sea cucumbers etc in the touch pools. It's really geared up for kids and very educational. Zach was only mildly interested for a short period of time, and then protested about being in the stroller. But we'd had a good 3 hours there and with low crowds, we got to see most exhibits and up close.

October - December 2008 Perth

October-December 2008

Yep, I'm WAY behind in my blog again. With most of my network of family and friends now using Facebook, I am far more diligent in keeping that site updated than the old Runkle Adventures site. But for those Runkle family fans that just can't get enough of our comings and goings (yes that's you Aunt Penny!) I will endeavour to keep this blog updated every month or so.

October 2008

So with lots of help from my diary I can tell you that October was a relatively quiet month (for us), but did include a wonderful catch up with our friend Nat and her two boys. They were living in Perth, but moved back to Calif last Dec, so we were lucky to have them visit WA again and see them for dinner at our house and a girls night out at the Sushi Station.

Sean went to Rottnest Island for a leadership course as part of his MBA program and I took the chance to go to Bunbury and mum looked after the kids while Dad and I walked another 26kms on the Bibbulmen Track. We went from just outside Collie to the Mumballup Tavern (which was unfortunatley closed for renovations - ahhh, just when we could have done with that rewarding frosty beer!).

Dad in the black boy grove. The rare Spider Orchid. Donkey Orchid.

Swallow's nest with 3 baby birds. This nest was at the Mumballup Tavern and we watch the mummy swallow busily fly in and out with food for her babies.

Finally for October, we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on Oct 27, but I can't remember what we did and there's nothing in my diary. So here's some cute pics of the kids instead.

Zachary at 7 mths. And again. And another really cute one with his fuzzy hair.

Jasper enjoying a warm afternoon in the back yard - I'll save this pic for his 21st birthday!

The boys playing at home. Move over Toby Maguire, here's the next Spiderman!

November 2008

The first weekend in November a group of us (mostly with kids) had a little camping trip to Dwellingup in the Lane Poole Reserve. It's a lovely area where you can also bring your dog, so Maddy got an invite too. Here's some pics.

Camping kids. Our campsite. Beer o'clock at the campsite.

Dinner is cooking. Hmmm, camping tucker. Zachary: Hey what's in here?

Later in the month we landscaped our front verge yard with a native garden and crushed limestone near the road for parking (and also we don't have to water it!). We also did some improvements inside with a new breakfast bar created by cutting down a portion of the wall that divided the kitchen and family room, adding new stone benchtops and glass splashbacks.

Bobcat digging up our front yard.

Sean, myself and two friends (Melissa and Shelley) also enjoyed the John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crowe concert at Sandalford winery. The venue was awesome, both muscians were fantastic and Johnny rocked out big time for a 58 yo and still looks great. Sean drove home the three boozy girls and all three of us paid for it the next day. Unfortunately Jasper had a little accident while at home with mum that night and broke his collar bone. He ran into the corner of the sofa and I only noticed it was his collar bone the next evening when he was having a bath. An xray the following day confirmed this and he had to wear a sling for a couple of weeks. Well we got a few days in the sling but that was about it. It didn't seem to trouble him, but I felt awful that he already had his first broken bone before he was 3.

We went to a great 40th birthday party for one of Sean's work mates and it was a black and white theme, so I got to wear my gorgeous B&W number that I bought for the Telstra Business Awards evening.

The last weekend of the month we went to Bunbury and the day we returned, Jasper was playing in the backyard, fell awkardly (we think) and broke his elbow - Aggh! The trip to Murdoch Emergency Dept confirmed the crack in the humerus condyle and again to be treated with a sling. 2 broken bones in 2 weeks - this can't be happening! Poor fella.

December 2008

Even though we left for the US on Dec 9, we still managed to get in a couple of Xmas parties. The first being the Playgroup one, where Zachary was very intrigued with Santa, yet Jasper refused to sit on his lap this time.

Then on the Sunday of the same weekend we had the Rio Tinto Family Christmas party at Adventure World. It's always a great evening and this year Jasper was tall enough to go on some of the rides. Here he is with Beth and Melissa and Sean on one. They also got their faces painted. He was the Hulk, but he called himself the Scary Monster and proceeded to "scare" everyone with a big roar for the rest of the night.

Zach meets Santa. Jasper & Beth on a ride. Scary Monster and pussycat.

The Hulk, aka Scary Monster

Our last social event in Perth for 2008 was a fantastic belated Thanksgiving lunch at Kirstyn and Chucks. K went above and beyon again and we enjoyed fantastic turkey, ham, green beans, mashed spuds and an awesome pecan pie (thanks to Kerry!). Here's a pic of Louise and Zachary with Reno and Lucy at the Thanksgiving party.

Reno, Lucy, Zachary and Lou

September 2008

September 2008

I can never seem to keep on top of my blog - the weeks are flying by and here I am in October already and I never made one post for Sept. So I'll have to just give you an update on the whole month now.

Sept 6 we attended another award ceremony for Pit Crew Consulting, the small Co. I work part time for. It was at the Perth Convention Centre and was more relaxed than the event the week before. The MC was funny, there was some singing and dancers as entertainment and the food was very nice. Mum had taken Jasper that day, so on the Sunday (which was Fathers' Day) we drove to Mandurah - the half way point to pick him up from mum. We had lunch/afternoon tea on the foreshore there. Here's some pics of Sean on Father's day with his boys.

Sean and boys on Fathers' Day.

I took the boys to an indoor play center to meet some girlfriends with their bubs. Here's Zachary in a swing for the first time. On Sept 10 it was my birthday - when you get to 39 and have two little kids you don't celebrate much, but I'd better enjoy this last year of my 30's - I cannot friggin' believe I'm going to be 40 next year - holy shit, where did the last 10 years go? Anyway we went out to dinner to Himali Gurkha, a great little Nepales restaurant close to home with mum, dad, the kids and friends Kaz and Guy and their 1 yo, Maya. The kids then came home and got ready for bed, with Maya in Zach's PJs - the same matching ones as Jaspers - very cute.

1st time in a swing for Zachary. Dancing in Daddy's boots. Maya & Jasper ready for bed

Then on Sept 13 with donned the glam gear for one more time this year and went to the SJOG Murdoch Hospital Ball with Dr friends, Andy and Julie, and Melissa. As you can tell it was a masquarade ball and everyone looked awesome. Food and wine was fantastic! And we hit the dance floor for several songs. A top night out and thanks to Shiney who came over to mind the boys - you're the best!

Glam gals. Masked Duo. Feathers and diamantes all round.

Perth Zoo

The last weekend in Perth was a long one and we went to the zoo on the Sunday with Melissa and Beth. I think the kids enjoyed the carousel more than the animals - oh well.

August 08 - White water, balmy Bali & dressing up

August 08.

Avon Descent.

Sean paddled in this years Avon Descent, a white water (and some flat parts) race of 160km over 2 days. He did it as a relay team with 3 other dads of little ones (no one has time to train for the full event themselves this time). And with all the rain in July the river was at the highest level (read: flowing really fast and heaps of white water) since 1985.

On the first day, Sat Aug 2nd, we lugged the kids along to Toodyay to catch Sean as he finished his leg. There was a great Samba band and miniature rail way for Jasper.

Finished his leg and still has his kayak!. Jasper and Grandma on the mini train

However the testing conditions put the kibash on the 2nd day of paddling as the first paddler fell in and lost his kayak, so the team had to drive back to pick him up and they couldn't finish the race. But we celebrated back at Sonia and Dan's anyway.

My gran at 96 and Zachary and Grandma

Bali Aug 10-20
We enjoyed 10 days in Bali for Sean's 40th birthday. While we had arranged for Chris to join us there after her 2 night stop over in Singapore, we had no idea that a surprise visit from Sean's brother, Kevin was in store. Kevin was waiting at the airport for us in Bali and had arrived the previous day from SFO, via Tokyo and Jakarta to holiday with us!

Poolside with Beth and Zach. Beth and Jasper. Daddy and Jasper.

Holiday toes. Zach and his Bintang belly. Now he needs to sleep it off.

We spent the 1st 5 nights in Sanur at the Peneeda View Beach Hotel, which was a great choice for families. Melissa and Beth were also with us and we rooms right near the kiddie pool. We enjoyed pedicures, massages, a bit of shopping and plenty of great meals. Jasper loved flying his new kite on the beach and there was plenty of wind!

The boys played some golf with my brother Matt, who was also in Bali, and on Sean's birthday, the Runkle brothers and myself went on a 2 tank scuba dive to Nusa Penida and saw the Moli Moli (sun fish). At 3.5 mts long he was a beauty and was right in front of us. The next drift dive was something else - more like diving on cocaine as we were racing along at lightning speed due to the current - no time to look at the great coral or the fish, they were almost a blur! But and experience none-the-less.

We went to dinner at Poppies Restaurant (good atmosphere, bad service) in Kuta for Sean's birthday after drinks at Ku de ta (good everything!)

With our dive master, Agus. Birthday boy and drinks.

Then we headed to Ubud for 3 nights where we did a great cycle tour from Mt Batur down to Ubud, took the kids to the monkey forest and had some fantastic meals at Nomad restaurant and shopped it up at the markets.

Monkey family. Jasper in the Monkey Forest. At the white heron village where there were no where near as many birds as we were told!

Rice terraces on cycle tour. Start of cycle tour - Mt Batur. Village kids.

Our last 2 nights were at Masa Inn, in Poppies 1, Kuta and we hooked back up with Matt who had been a regular face there for a while now. We had a night out with some other crew at the Sky Bar.

Happy Zach on our last night out in Kuta.

So while the holiday was not relaxing with little kids and everyone trying to sleep in the one room, it was still enjoyable and Bali is now a favourite with Uncle Kevin and grandma. Sean and I came home exhausted, but happy to see Maddy and even now, we're still tired, so I doubt that's going to change.

Glammed up.

The last event for August was attending the Telstra Business Awards with the Pit Crew Management Consulting team, where I work casually. While Pit Crew didn't take out the big award we all had a great night and are thrilled to be finalists from over 4,000 entries!

Pit Crew team