Days 8 & 9

 Nathan's favourite--the meerkat

 Emma's favourite--the echidna

 Catie's favourite--the wombat

 Naomi's favourite--the stairs.  haha

 Beka's favourite--the baby zebra

On Saturday we got up earlier than normal and headed inland to Dubbo.  We arrived around noon and spent the afternoon at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo.  I enjoyed that we could drive from exhibit to exhibit.  I think Dad enjoyed that part the most as well as his knees were bothering him too much to walk.  We left from there, stopped for dinner (and while we were waiting watched a firetruck come up with sirens and lights going to the petrol station beside us.  Apparently something happened at one of the bowsers as they set up a perimeter around it and there was still a car there. ) then headed to our motel.  We stayed at the Australian Heritage Motor Inn.  We didn't stay up late because we had a big drive on Sunday.  We drove the entire way from Dubbo to Hervey Bay on Sunday.  Well, Josh drove.  BIG DAY!!  But we made it home safely and had a few more days with Mom and Dad before they left. 

Day 7b

 standing at the front of the War Memorial looking towards Old and New Parliament Houses

 on the roof of Parliament House looking down to Old Parliament House and the War Memorial at the base of the hill.

 we were all leaving but she was waiting for Daddy to take her picture again.

After lunch we made a quick visit to the War Memorial.  The adults could have spent many hours here but the kids weren't as into it.  We did miss the kids' section.  not sure where it was.  Then we headed over to Parliament House.  We took the tour and learned a few things but those who had been to the Old Parliament House found that much more interesting and I seem to remember the tour we took in 2002 to be more interesting and informative.  We did send Grandpa and Grandma a postcard from the post office that is inside Parliament House.  And it was fun to take the elevator to the roof of Parliament House but it was very breezy and cool. 

Nathan was excited because our last stop was the Telstra Tower.  He had been calling it "Rocket Tower" all week and we had told him we could go up inside.  I stayed down at the bus with Naomi and Susannah because there was no point in paying for us to go when none of us would enjoy it.  The others went up and were able to appreciate the view.  Mom said she was glad I didn't take Susannah and Naomi because they would have blown right off. =) Apparently it was very windy up there.  Nathan stepped out, looked up to the very top and wanted to go higher.  He also kept asking where Rocket Tower was.  haha. 

After Telstra Tower we headed back to the motel to eat dinner and pack up ready to leave early the next day. 

Day 7a

Friday was our last day in Canberra so we wanted to cram as much as possible in while still having fun.  So we started the morning off at the Royal Mint.  We weren't sure how interesting this was going to be but 7 of the 10 of us found it interesting. The kids got to stamp their own $1 coin and we bought a commemorative coin for Susannah.  Then we headed off to Questacon.  This place was huge and had a ramp that went up like 4 stories.  Freaked me out!!  (yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of the chairlift the day before either)  Anyway, the girls really enjoyed this and went around with Josh.  I took Nathan and Naomi down to the little kids' area then Mom and Dad came down and stayed with them while I went back to Josh and the girls.  We spent several hours here.  It would've been a bit more enjoyable without the several school groups but that's life.  We left then for lunch.  We were going to find Nando's and eat lunch there as we don't have one near us but it was in the middle of the city, in the mall and that was CRAZY so we had McDonald's.  again. 

day 6--SNOW!!

 

On Thursday we drove 3+ hours to Thredbo so the kids could see and play in snow.  As you can see there wasn't much snow down the bottom but there was plenty of snow and freezing cold wind up the top of the chairlift!  The third picture shows Josh, Nathan and Naomi on the chairlift.  They both wanted to ride with Daddy and no one else did.  Since he was holding on to both of them our camera slipped out of his pocket and fell.  It was down closer to the bottom thankfully and not up where the snow and skiers were.  However, it did mean that he had to go looking for it after we came back down.  He missed it when he was walking up but found it as he came back down.  While he was off looking for it the kids had a great time in a patch of snow that was perfect for packing snowballs and sliding on your belly.  They were SOAKED but happy.  Catie kept her snowball and put it in an empty water bottle.  She still has it in her room.  =)

Day 5b--Old Parliament House

After a full morning at Cockington Green and the National Carillon I took the 3 littles back to the hotel for naps while Josh, Mom, Dad, Catie, Emma and Beka went to visit the Old Parliament House.  They all really enjoyed this visit.  They had an adventure trail set up for kids so they had to go through the displays and find answers, etc.  As you can see there was also a dress-up area that they enjoyed.  They went on a tour of Old Parliament House and learned all kinds of interesting information like the peep hole in the Prime Minister's office that Bob Hawke used to tell via signals that he was bored and wanted his secretary to interrupt his meeting.  Or the story of the speaker's chair which is a replica of the one in England.  The British made it from a ship or something and gave it to Australia then when their's was destroyed in WWII Australia made them a replica (of the replica) out of Australian hardwoods and it sits in the House of Commons in England.