After the lovely lunch and playing in the park we walked down to Krohn's Conservatory to see the butterfly exhibit they had going on there. Of course - beautiful pictures ensued: Well, if beautiful means hot and sweaty that is...
First we walked through some sort of green house area that had a very cool waterfall. They had a lot of tropical plants and many that my sisters and I recognized as some of my mom's favorites.
This tropical hibiscus was just so flashy I had to take a picture! Mom always grew red and pink ones and this was the first time I had seen an orange one!
And, of course, there were some flashy ladies there as well!!
Walking through to the butterfly exhibit, we saw some super gross bugs and then stumbled into a room filled with Bonsai trees. It was fascinating to see how the limbs are trained with copper wire. Some of the trees that were on exhibit had been "in training" for almost 50 years!!
This tree was only about a foot high; but I wanted to show all of the wiring on it's limbs so due to the camera angle it looks quite large!
After that we entered the sauna that was the butterfly exhibit!
They gave us fake flowers to trick the butterflies into landingon them instead of the delicious real ones. Most of them weren't dumb enough to fall for that one; but some of them were quite happy to land on arms, shoulders etc...
Some of them were quite alright with the fake flowers too; but I think that the natural sweetnees of my darling neices may have had something to do with it!
Friday was my last day at work... It was weird - I actually did a lot of work, got called into an impromtu meeting for an hour (all though, really, it wasn't surprising) and did a lot more work after that. My manager got me a beautiful engraved clock with my initials and my last day of work on it. I only cried a very little and I was very proud of myself for not bawling like a baby the whole time. I had to rush out of work though, to make it to Eden Park in time to meet my family for round 3? 4? (I've lost track!) of saying goodbye.
What a beatiful view! I am going to miss Kentucky so very much...
My sister Annmarie (she of the collapsible basket and photo frame noteriety) was in town for a wedding so she and her family planned a lovely picnic afternoon for us and also my sister Theresa and brother Andrew. I'm not sure why I'm the only one wearing sunglasses in this picture - I ended up looking like the odd man out!
The kids were so cute - I was distracted and spent a ton of time taking pictures of them ( and especially Lilia who was into an absolute cookie-eating frenzy!!).
The three girls found a little wading pond and they were content to spend the afternoon splashing through it to run across a cute little bridge that went over a deeper portion of it. What a great park for children...
The boys decided that they were champion duck scarers for a while and then they decided to completely switch gears and spend the rest of the time feeding them!
Last Thursday Joe and I headed over to my brother Matt's house to visit with his family and also to see my sister Theresa and my brother Andrew. We just sat on the couch, drank beers and talked; but we had so much fun that we didn't leave until close to midnight. I was sad to go; but we made plans to do dinner this Saturday. The highlight of the evening was Lilia, reading the same book over and over - talking to it, petting it, kissing it..... Completely Adorable!!
Well, my fabulously thoughtful sister Annmarie sent me this photo frame before the movers came. I packed it in with the rest of our pictures so that I can look at it in Australia when I am feeling super homesick. I am so thankful for such a lovely family who cares about me so much! I cant decide which of the photos I like the best; but the one of my nephew Ben, dressed as a cowboy in only his unders is really topping the list!! Thanks Annie - I appreciate this more than you will ever know!
A couple of weeks ago I was talking to my Aunt on the phone and she mentioned that my Grandfather was interested in reading my blog as he has spent his R & R time in Perth during the war. My Grandfather (we call him Coach) served in the U.S Navy as an Engineering Commander on a submarine during World War II. He was inducted into the Veterans Hall of Fame in 2002. He also received the Silver Helmet Award which is awarded for excellence and outstanding accomplishment in the fields of Americanism, defense, rehabilitation, congressional and civil service. He was also awarded 2 Silver Stars and 1 Bronze Star.
He left for war after he and my grandmother were married; and while he was gone, my mom Denise and her twin Diane were born. I never knew that he spent time in Australia during the war until my Aunt told me the other night.... Completely by coincidence, I was packing my jewelry that night when I got to my drawer of sentimental jewelry. I store my Mom's things in this drawer and I spent some extra time (as I always do) touching them and remembering her. I've always loved the pin
pictured above - maybe because it has her name on it or maybe because it is just so pretty. I flipped it over and looked at the latch and the hinges and I noticed something written on the back of it. I took it into the light and look what I found! My Mom's twin Diane still has hers as well and told me that Coach got these for them in Australia for their first birthday.
So, here I am.... I've never thought about Australia one way or another. Out of nowhere, we decide to move there. Suddenly I find in my possession something from Perth, made in Australia sixty six years ago. I am just blown away by how wonderful this is!
After the crate was packed, I had to sign a bazillion papers and then they were gone! It is surreal to have an almost empty garage...
10:50 AM
Posted by
Mimi and Joe
I took this photo on Sunday night before the movers came. I thought it might be fun to point out ten random things that we are taking to Sydney:
1.) The super fab collapsible basket that my sister Annmarie got for me (it is going to be my "going to market" basket)
2.) A whole laundry basket filled with dryer sheets and Bath & Body Works stuff!
3.) 8 Yankee Candles (Hey, I have to have the necessities of life right?)
4.) My Kitchen Aid Mixer
5.) My mom's sewing box
6.) A beautiful photo frame that my sister Annmarie made for me (Wow Annie! you are rockin' this post!)
7.) The horrifying but sentimental vase that we did our wedding sand ceremony in
8.) A whole rolling case full of scrap booking stuff (evil laugh - and you all wonder what I will do with my time there...)
9.) Hydrogen
Perioxide
10.) Joe's two enormous computer
monitors
First we walked through some sort of green house area that had a very cool waterfall. They had a lot of tropical plants and many that my sisters and I recognized as some of my mom's favorites.
This tropical hibiscus was just so flashy I had to take a picture! Mom always grew red and pink ones and this was the first time I had seen an orange one!
And, of course, there were some flashy ladies there as well!!
This tree was only about a foot high; but I wanted to show all of the wiring on it's limbs so due to the camera angle it looks quite large! 
They gave us fake flowers to trick the butterflies into landingon them instead of the delicious real ones. Most of them weren't dumb enough to fall for that one; but some of them were quite happy to land on arms, shoulders etc...
Some of them were quite alright with the fake flowers too; but I think that the natural sweetnees of my darling neices may have had something to do with it!
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