First swim in the Southern Ocean and a Zoo trip!

Thursday evening we were invited to a friend's house (Frank and Tracey) for dinner. Frank is a Dept. Head/Professor at the University of Melbourne and Barry has known him for several years. They have three daughters in their 20s and we met two of them. They also had a pet rabbit and the kids had fun playing with him. Frank and Tracey are also storing some of our luggage until we are settled into a permanent place. Thank goodness for their kindness as that's about 150 lbs we won't have to lug around for a few weeks!

We spent Friday, January 2nd at a park down by the bay in Geelong letting the kids get their wiggles out, then we went to look at a house we'd like to rent in Ocean Grove (that's a nice beach community about 20 minutes from the city). We loved the house and hope to hear from them soon on whether we got it or not. Fingers crossed!! We are living in hotels until we find a place, which is always an adventure!

On Saturday, we spent the morning test driving a couple of cars at a used car lot and settled on a beast of a station wagon. We don't have it just yet, as there were a couple things we wanted fixed. Hoping to pick it up tomorrow (Monday) or Tuesday. We'll post pictures - it's kind of big and ugly but will work perfectly for us and our luggage.

Saturday afternoon we went to Ocean Grove Beach and swam in the Southern Ocean for the first time. It was 100 degrees and super windy, so we only lasted about an hour. We all had so much fun and can't wait to go again. We asked Lydia what she liked best and she said "jumping over the hills." She actually meant standing in the ocean and jumping when the waves hit her. I love what she comes up with! Hard to believe we went from snow on Monday and were on a beach on Saturday! If we get the house we like we will only be about a mile from this beach. It's a really safe beach for kids.

Snow on Monday - sand and surf on Saturday - January 3, 2015

Barry made a little sand snowman to connect with those friends and family stuck in the frozen world! We miss you and wish you could be on the beach with us! Hannah's in the background....along with a bunch of strangers.

Sand snowman, Ocean Grove Beach, January 3, 2015

On Sunday we went to Mass and then had brunch at a little cafe called Blackseed Cafe. Yum! After that we headed to the Werribee Open Range Zoo. It was a great zoo! They had a 40-minute safari ride and had lots of giraffes, zebras, rhinos, antelopes, etc. The guide did a great job and the kids were soaking up the facts. Lydia was pretty happy too!

Giraffe-Werribee Open Range Zoo - safari, January 4, 2015

Werribee Open Range Zoo

First koala sighting (it's at the zoo)

Rhinos, Werribee Open Range Zoo

Zebras (pronounced zeh-bruhs by locals)

Tomorrow we head to our next hotel and Barry has his first day of work. We did a little school work today, but our first official homeschool day is tomorrow according to Kiernan.

Sarah