Questacon

Questacon = FUN

'nuff said.

It was interactive, interesting and informative.

Triple 'I' yesiree!

We bike raced...

we flew...



and we learned a trick or two!

Really...this place was so fun.  Phil's fave is the level with all the 'sideshow' stuff.  He was so giddy when we finally made it to that floor.

He's just like a kid, but better! :)

Phil and I apparently have skills on this next lil' gadget...but then they sped it up...

Talented hey?

Now onto my execution.

I guess this was supposed to teach me something about fear...

...and by-jiggers it certainly did!  Fewph- I lived!

~the guillotine is not my friend.  Note taken.~

Anyone care for a slide?  A giant one perhaps?  Just come to Questacon!

We're all smiles (ha minus Dan) and ready for the adrenaline rush.

giant

See, told you!

Just let go and slide!  It looks smaller in the photo but in real life it was really hard to tell my head to let my hands let go of the bar...more fear learning.  Gotta love it.

We finished off our Questacon adventure at a little show about airplanes.  Georgia and I got to go on stage.  I was surprised she was brave enough to go up...I think the big balloons sealed the deal for her.

We loved Questacon...here are some last photos from our adventure.

~This fancy little shinanigan...there was a green screen and a huge flash went off while we were in front of the screen and then kept our shadows there once we moved away.  Yup-definitely played on this one for a while. :)~

~Caylee in the kaleidescope~

~this is Caylee's "waiting for Dan look" that we see all too often.  Love it~

By the end of the day, Caylee & I decided that our real kids were these two fine boys here...

...they were totally enthralled by this marble machine and by the whole museum as well.

Cute little Phile and Dan -our kids at heart.

I'll keep my kid around I think.  

Definitely a keeper.

xoxo

Capital

We went on a weekend excursion to Canberra this month...Australia's capital.  (Bet you didn't know that!) 

Our friends Caylee, Dan and fam joined us.

We had a lot of fun and this is what greeted us on our way in... 

First stop was the Old Parliament House...but even more first was the Aboriginal Embassy out front.  The Aboriginals have claimed this land as their 'embassy' and have a whole campsite permanently set up there.

Aboriginal drawings on the courtyard tiles

then the Old Parliament House.  This place was top notch!  My fave.  I want to go back and walk every inch of this place.  I love old buildings with history and culture and this had heaps of both. 

It's a beautiful building with perfect Australian verandas out front.

And straight out the front doors you can look all the way down the road, straight down to the War Memorial.  That was done on purpose by the architect so that the members of Parliament would always see it when entering or exiting the building and remember those that protect their country.

(the War Memorial is all the way down there...I promise!)

See!-culture and history...

.love it.

...Questacon came next but there will a a whole other post on that so we'll just skipperoo like a kangaroo to the next stop...

New Parliament House.

I live in Australia...crazy!

Here's the Australia seal

{cue national anthem}

View from the top of the New Parliament House...directly in front is the entrance to the New House, then further down after the courtyard is the Old Parliament House and then on yonder there is the -not so small in real life- War Memorial.

The inside was immaculate.  So pretty.

Check out my prince charming on those steps ;)

I just love this place!  It was gorgeous and I learned a lot about the government of Australia.  They follow the old rituals of parliament passed on from England.

So cool.

...more on that the next time we go back and have more time...I keep saying that...I really need to go back.

I loved driving around to see all the embassies in Canberra.  There must be at least 25 or so and they're all built to look like their native country.  They were interesting to see!

Here's just a few...

~South Africa~

~Papua New Guinea~

~Thailand~

and

~China~

The last one is my fave.  Can you guess which one it was?

~USA~

YES!-Canberra was good to us.  I even got to go home...almost, American soil at least.  Thanks Canberra!

The US Embassy was huge.  While the other embassies were a single or maybe a couple buildings, the US embassy too up a few blocks!

We definitely were taking pictures of the entrance, sign, seal and flag.

We definitely saw 3 guards at this embassy and zero at the all the others.

We definitely saw one of the guards come out with a camera-looking device as we were walking back to the car.

We definitely don't know if we were or weren't supposed to be taking pictures...but it shouldn't be a problem...right? :)

Guess we'll never know.  At least I got to see my flag, recite the pledge and maybe, just maybe got a tid bit excited!

Almost just like home. :)

and now just some randoms...

-the view from the War Memorial down to Old and then New Parliament House-

-the best tree ever-

-view from the Canberra lookout-

Canberra was just an area of empty land in the middle of Sydney and Melbourne and when Australia couldn't decide between the two fro a capital, they made Canberra.  It's laid out very geometrically and even includes a man-made lake.


-all smiles-

-the lovely Archibald family-

-me and the man-

and this is what greeted us on our way out...

good weekend Canberra, good weekend.

Pace-Face

I was just going through the photos on our camera and I found these leetle gems.

I love these photos.

#1- Pacey is adorable

#2- the faces she pulls just make me laugh

#3- it gets me excited for when her family will be here in a  few weeks

(#4- we have tans from america!)

We definitely miss Matt, Jade and little Pacey.

This is what I call a classic 'Pace-face'.

She can pull some goodies!

We're so lucky to have such a cute little niece.

Oh baby...there are two cuties in this photo for sure!
(they're even matching, not planned-how perfect)

.darling.

Ant's Birthday

We had a blast celebrating Anthony's birthday with him and all the fam a couple weeks ago.  We started off watching Tony in his primary program.  He said his part all by himself.  Such a grownup!

Then it was off to the park for a picnic lunch with the whole Bush & Bennallack crowd.

YUM!

Followed by cake and games at Jo's afterwards...

plus a new friend that likes to visit the balcony often.

Tony has named him Spike.

Aunty Llaine made Tones and Tarts their very own Halloween pinata.  Tony absolutely loved it...ha-especially beating it.  Watch out for that kid Jo! :)

We were all laughing so hard.  It was so funny to watch!

Phil convinced Tony that the broken pinata would be best used as a hat...

...and he loved it.  Tones wore it for the rest of the night.

Tony and Tarts had a lot of fun with their Halloween toys & candy from the pinata.

They've never really done much for Halloween so this was a first.

Dracula Tony even dropped in for a visit. 

and here's the traditional blowing out the candles...always joined by Tony and Tarts.

Every birthday is their birthday.

Happy Birthday Ants!

xoxo

Identity Crisis

More spring...more fall...same difference right?

Amid the confusion, Fall treats still managed to appear in the Bennallack household this year-straight from yours truly.

First off, the staple pumpkin seeds of course.

Chicken salt = yum!

and then my Graveyard Mud Cups.

I made these for my activity day girls. 

(and my hubby and I of course!)

They are SOOO yummy-complete with worms and all!

Perfect Halloween treat.

Mmmmmm!

Oh and this cute sailor here...

He's a huge fan of caramel apples.

.HUGE. I tell you!

I have never attempted making caramel apples on my own before, but you know how it goes

~When you're in America and it's convenient, you don't care; when it's inconvenient, you must have it~

(wise words from...me)

Story of my life.

Phil and Kaylee Jo wanted caramel apples, so we got them!

Not so simple without caramels to simply melt-believe me, I looked!

Ha, took ten...or five...tries but we finally worked it out.

They passed the Kaylee test -barely- to be given away to Phil's home teaching families.

Phewph!

But that's not all folks.  How can you have caramel apples without making an apple pie caramel apple?

I submit that you cannot.

Problem solved.

We were in high heaven.

Goodbye Rocky Mtn $8 apples...hello homemade miracles.

We most certainly dug right in!

He may just possibly love that item in his hand more than me...possibly.

So there you have it.  

Fall treats at the Bennallacks.

Phil looked at all the stuff on our bed when I was showing my parents on skype and just laughed...

"I think my wife is having an identity crisis."

...at least it's a good crisis.

Right?