Time Travel

**This is a post a actually wrote a year ago.  I just never posted it.  So travel back in time to July-September 2014...

Thursday, September 4, 2014

My first trip back to the U.S.:

 

I was near giddy when I got to go to Walmart.  Everthing I need in one stop. There is nothing like that here! Allison shared the excitement.

I enjoyed hanging out with my bestie Laura...

...and my other bestie Keely. We laughed (and snorted) a lot! 

4th of July in Winter 

This year we celebrated U.S. Independence Day in the winter!  We got all bundled up and went to the U.S. Embassy for the 4th of July celebration.  It was incredible. They had an area of fun stuff for the kids including face painting, a football throw (an aussie football), a baseball batting cage, etc.  They also had an Navy Band playing recent hits, fireworks, and food. It was nice being around so much American pride after being removed from it so much.  We saw lots of American flags and even got to sing the national anthem.  One benefit of celebrating the 4th of July in the winter is that it is dark by 6:30.  We didn't have to wait until 9:30 for the fireworks.  The fireworks started at 6:30 and the kids were back home in bed at their regular bed time, getting rested for school the next morning.  

The U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet Band out of Honolulu played cover songs and the national anthem. My kids kept watching them. One of the guys from the band noticed and came over to talk to them. He gave Charlie his guitar pick and sailor hat. He gave Chaney the insignia pin from his uniform. What a great guy. It really meant a lot.

The U.S. Ambassador to Australia, John Berry.

All decked out in our red, white and blue!

Patriotic kitty.  Meow.

I'm not even sure if an Aussie football is a rugby ball or a Australian Rules Football ball.

My Random Thoughts and Observations...

• In Australia, it's not a closet.  It's a wardrobe.
• In Australia, you aren't going on vacation.  You are going on holiday.
• The word "ripper" (pronounced "rippa") means something that is particularly good or excellent.  My husband is a "rippa" mate. Ripper.  (you just pronounced the R sound, didn't you?)
• In Australia, it's not a diaper.  It's a nappie.
• The word "glacier" is pronounced glass-ier.
• Down here, the little cocktail franks are called "little boys."  I'm totally serious. Little. Boys.   Erich said they don't call them that at work for PC reasons. (No kidding.)  But its definitely still used outside of work places!  I nearly spit out my drink when I first heard someone call them little boys. 
• The other day I heard someone talking about a "stubby holder."  I couldn't stop laughing.  I had no idea what it was but it sounded really funny to me. Once I found out what a stubby holder is, my aussie friends asked what we called it in the U.S, I said, "We call it a koozie." I then realized that that sounds just as funny.  (A stubby is another Aussie word for a bottle of beer.)