Australia 2013 - Brissy

Our final destination on our grand vacation was Brisbane. Phil had been wanting to take me here ever since we lived in Sydney. It was perfect for this trip as Phil's sister and brother both live there now with their families. 

We started off our stay by visiting sweet little Baby Krok's gravesite. Baby Krok is our nephew who passed away before birth. It was so sweet for Matt and Jade to show us this special place. 

The next week began our theme park time. This is one of the main reasons Phil loves Brissy-it's home of all the theme parks he grew up going to as a kid. We bought passes to Movie World, Wet-n-Wild, and Sea World. 

Movie World is a full on theme park based on Warner Bros. Studios' movies. Here's our view of Movie World from the outside. You can be sure that I had a giddy husband right next to me the whole way through the parking lot.

Batman greeted us on his batmobile

Wet-n-Wild is a theme park but the rides are all water rides. It was perfect during the hot Brisbane weather. They have amazing slides like the aqua loop...

Yesir, you go in a loop. Crazy!

Luckily our family was able to join us at the parks. What is better than theme parks with your friends? and cute nieces and nephew? Plus we had an unexpected addition that limited my riding capabilities so at least Phil had family to join him on the crazy rides...but more on that in another post!

Needless to say, we had a lot of fun and made some great memories.

(Bennallack Boys: Phil's Dad, Phil and brother Andrew)

(trooper kids: Leo, Pacey and Savannah)

Here's a vid I stole from Jade of all our time at the theme parks. 

(Remember this post about the jelly beans, well that's where the end of this vid comes from. Let's just say Phil ate a handful of bad ones all at once!) 

Also, check Phil & I's moment of fame at 1:16! 

Yep! Phil and I actually go chosen to be a part of the stunt racing show. Here we are getting the run down of our parts.

I was so nervous when the host of the show was explaining what we needed to do because his accent was so thick and the speakers made it impossible for me to understand what he was saying. Luckily Phil had a quick second to whisper "frightened, relieved, KISS". Saved my acting career that Aussie hubs of mine did!

While we loved the theme parks, we of course made time for other Brisbane "must-do's" like Surfer's Paradise

All oiled up!

and of course South Bank!

South Bank is a beautiful area just south of the city (across the river) that they've made into a beach-like pool, complete with sand, kiddie pools and amazing views. It's like the beach but in the city!

We loved spending time there!

Brissy was great to say the least. We even tried to leave to come back home and the airline turned us away telling us we had to stay for another week! Ha-Phil actually didn't bring his green card with him (long story) so we weren't allowed on a flight back to the USA without it. Fancy that! Thank goodness for FedEx :)

Well I cried the first time we drove away from Matt and Jade's house so at least we got to see the fam again for another week!

Thanks Matt & Jade, and Andrew & Alex for letting us stay with you and spend time with your families. And thanks for having such cute kids. We miss you all!