Our First Overseas Adventure!!

We've been home almost 3 weeks so I thought I'd better get some photos posted about our amazing trip to Canada and USA!!  Here is a tiny selection of the 850 I took!!

We had 2 weeks with the Emma's school travelling around Canada and some of the USA, and we then had 5 nights in Orlando, Florida to see Ryan while he's there for 13 weeks water ski training.

Beautiful Vancouver Harbour

Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco

Lombard Street - the crookedest street in the world - San Francisco

The most famous streetscape - you might recognise it as the "Full House" house - San Francisco

Alcatraz Island - excellent tour - San Francisco

Emma looking a bit bewildered about the size of her breakfast!

Every second vehicle is a "pickup truck"!!

Custer's Last Stand - Montana

The water towers in every town.

Oil rigs or "grasshoppers" as they're called are on almost every farm throughout Montana

Our fabulous host family in Sidney, Montana - Krista, Kathy, Kirk, Hailey and Jared

The prairies heading towards Canada - all wheat and canola

We visited a Huterite community near Sasskatoon, Saskatchewan.  They farmed 12,000ac, had a large commercial dairy, beef feedlot and poultry farm to support the 105 people living there.

All the females wore neck to ankle outfits with headscarves, and they all wore their hair this way

Our teenagers were fascinated with the Huterite teenagers, just as they were fascinated by ours!

It was 30 degrees when we drove through a huge hailstorm

Very odd!

American red barns were everywhere

Calgary Tower

Emma and one of the Calgary Stampede mascots

Visiting the Calgary Stampede

The chuck wagon races - so much action and super fast horses!

An Indian village at the Stampede

Canadian Mounties

Calf roping at the Stampede Rodeo

The bullrider who wins on the final day takes home $100,000 prizemoney!!

Heading for the Canadian Rockies

The Fairmont Hotel at Banff

Castle Rock 

Farmer Phil and I at Lake Louise - this was the highlight for me!

Beautiful Lake Louise

Friendly critters!

Moraine Lake - so blue it was ridiculous!

Farmer Phil and Emma heading up the valley to the Colombia Icefields

Athabasca Glacier

Some of the Yanco kids posing with the Canadian flag on top of the glacier

Gorgeous lake and Rockies

The luckiest kids in the world!

Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios, Orlando Florida

Emma was super excited to have a "butter beer"

The Weasley car

Sea World, Orlando Florida

Ryan jumping at Lake Grew, Orlando

Ryan, Jason, Hilary, Jeff, Nic, Casey and Michael - more of the luckiest kids in the world!

Our First Overseas Trip!!

In 30 short days Farmer Phil, Emma and I will be jetting off to sunny USA and Canada!!!  We're all very excited as it will be the first overseas trip for both Farmer Phil and Emma - I have been to New Zealand a few times.

The reason for the trip is it is the overseas trip that Yanco Agricultural High School organises every 2 years.  And as this is Emma's last year at school we decided 18 months ago that we would go on the 2 week school trip.  There are about 50 students, parents and teachers going.

This is our itinerary:

• Fly into Vancouver, Canada and do a 3 hour city tour
• Fly to San Francisco, California for 2 nights with a tour of Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate Bridge and Fishermans Wharf
• Fly to Billings, Montana and tour Little Big Horn and General Custer's Last Stand
• Bus to Sidney, Montana where we are being billetted by local families for 2 nights with visits to a sugar beet factory, power plant, the University of Montana Agricultural Research facility, heritage museum and local Petroleum industry with many farms having their own oil rigs
• Bus to Saskatoon, Canada with visits to the Moose Jaw tunnels, bootlegging re-enactment, Chinese immigrant history, the influence of the Mafia on the town, and then a visit to a Huterite Colony.  The Flexicoil factory is visited along with the University of Saskatchewan, Western Development Museum and Prairie Town.
• On to Calgary for 4 nights where we will spend each day at the world famous Calgary Stampede
• Bus to Banff with the spectacular scenery of Lake Louise and the Canadian Rockies
• Final stop is the Colombia Icefields with a tour of the glacier and lakes

Whew!!!  It sounds non-stop but we just can't wait!!

Farmer Phil, Emma and I are then adding on 5 nights in Orlando, Florida to visit Ryan.  He is leaving on June 21st to spend 12 weeks there training at a water ski school with 5 of his water skiing friends!  I know, how lucky is he!!!!!

Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, Cape Canaveral here we come in Orlando - the Theme Park Capital of the World!!!  I'm sure we won't have time to do them all!  We'll have to master driving the rental car on the wrong side of the road first!!!

Anyway, the next few weeks will fly by with lots of jobs to be completed on the farm before we go.  We finished sowing our 5,000ac of wheat and canola yesterday, so now Farmer Phil is quickly trying to get the canola sprayed for weeds and insects before the expected rains come tomorrow.

We'll only be away 3weeks, but I'm sure this will be the first of many overseas trips for us now that we will have no more children at school in a few short months!!

2013 Australian Waterski Titles

Easter is always a busy time for us as it is when the Australian Waterski Titles are held each year.  this year it was hosted by NSW and held at Stoney Park near Port Macquarie.  Farmer Phil was chosen to be one of the boat drivers over the 5 day competition so we didn't see a great deal of him!

 

If you remember last year, Ryan broke his collarbone so was unable to compete even though he had rated in all 3 events.  This year he was fit and ready to do well.  He had put a lot of time into training this summer so was hoping to do well.

 

He slalomed badly after admitting he was very nervous! Trick was next where he performed okay.  Then jump came and this event is the one he wanted to do really well in after improving a lot from  last year.

 

Well, his training paid off and was awarded the Silver Medal in the Under 21 Mens Jump event!  He narrowly missed out on a Bronze for overall - if he had slalomed better he may have came in third overall.

 

Anyway, it was a great Easter and now it's back to the reality of farm life and getting ready to put another crop in.

 

 

Medal winners - Charlie, Ryan, Angus, Mitchell, Trent and Nick

 

Very happy!

 

NSW won the Beynon Shield for the 9th year in a row!

 

Brother and sister!

Beach Carnival & Gala Day 2013

2013 is Emma's final year of high school - it's a bit sad really!

 

So here are some photos of her last ever Beach Carnival and Gala Day at Yanco Ag!

 

 

Mighty Mutch House marching - we came second!

 

Emma - second row from the front and second left.  Marching is taken very seriously at Beach Carnival!!

 

Year 12!

 

Then an all in water fight!

 

Gala Day - Grand Parade!

 

Equestrian Team!

 

Parading the cattle!

 

Parading the sheep!

 

The Year 12 Fashion Parade where Elvis made an appearance!

 

KISS were there too!

 

The Wiggles and their Big Red Car!

 

Lady Gaga!

 

Emma, Vanessa and Courtney as Charlie's Angels!

 

 

Year 12 on the balcony of McCaughey House!

Emma is 17!!!!

On March 14th Emma turned 17!!  I can't believe my baby is almost an adult!!

 

She had a singing lesson the night before her birthday so we had a small celebration and cake for her before getting her back to boarding school the next morning.

 

Emma passed her driving test on her birthday so she is now mobile and can drive herself to all her singing lessons etc!  It will make my life so much easier!!

 

 

Emma and Farmer Phil (who turned 47, 11 days before!!)

 

A rainbow cake which turned out pretty great!