So many pictures

This is what they call chocolate chips here.....You basically have to learn a whole new language to grocery shop here.

Henry's first birthday!!!

So excited!

He was really full after he ate a whole cream puff by himself..and extremely happy.

This is a strange Amazonian fruit that we got at a farmer's market called a Rollenia.

It looks really strange, but it's very good & Henry's favorite fruit!

Little man loves to swim.

Henry insisted on not having any help in the water. He's a bit over confident in his abilities.

Henry & Ben at mossman gorge

Boyds forest dragon, fairly rare. Ben ran right into it.

On the beach at Daintree.

The water looks so inviting, but you can't go in it at all, because of how dangerous it is...salties & jellies.

Cassowary bird...extremely rare. We are so lucky we actually saw one. These are very dangerous birds as well.

Mr. Cassowary again. The colors on it's head were so cool. The knob on top is hard like bone.

Happy baby on the boat.

looking for crocs

Here's one! This is a salt water croc.

So much fun croc spotting.

My friend the python. I had to get it off the chicken coop yet again...

This is how it has been looking weather wise here for a while.

We have been having floods all over Queensland & the rain is still coming. We can now say we have been in a monsoon.

Henry's sick spots on Christmas. The picture isn't' really good, so you can only see the ones on his face, but they were all over his body. Yucky!

Henry got a new whistle for Christmas & he blows on it all the time. It makes him laugh every time it makes noise.

Henry likes to brush his hair

Then he brushes my hair...nice.

He had to inspect the new earrings Ben got me for Christmas. He is very inquisitive.

The latest progress on the new house.

notching by Ben

rafters. All hardwood

I like to call it stone henge. This huge concrete wall will have another one opposite it & they will have a floor between them to make a loft way up there.

Henry opening one present while reaching for another.

We all got flip flops for Christmas!

Christmas tree ornaments are one of Henry's favorite things.

Our lovely family on Christmas morning bright & early...the crowns are party hats that you get out of these popper things that Aussies open on Christmas & wear all day.

Alright, so I've covered a lot in these photos. I hope you all enjoy them. We are leaving the house tomorrow, and will be on our way south to see what we can see in Australia before flying home on the 13th .

Queensland is having monsoons & flooding, and several main highways & roads are closed due to flooding, so we will see how it goes trying to make it to Sydney then back to Brisbane where we fly out. We are tent camping...so I have to ask myself...what were we thinking when we got that bright idea?! I hope the tent doesn't float away while we are sleeping. :)

I'm sure we will have more ridiculous stories to share with you all soon, but be patient with us, because we will be having to go on wi fi hot spots to get Internet while traveling & I don't know if we will have access every day.

Can't wait to see you all soon!!! Wish us luck!!

New pictures coming.

Oh...so I forgot to mention that Ben has the camara at the job site today, so I can't download anything, but when he gets home tonight we will get the pictures on, so please check back soon for pictures that go with the last few posts & new pics of the house.

Thanks for checking in on us. Hope everyone had a great Christmas! New years is on it's way!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!!
We had a lovely Christmas here at home just the 3 o f us. We got up early with Henry & made coffee & had a bottle of milk (Henry) before getting to the presents, then went to town unwrapping. We got each other lots of good stuff & even opened some really nice presents from John & Laurie. Thank you so much! We got a call from them as well & were able to have a Skype while Henry opened their gifts. He loves everything he got.
We went to the neighbors up the hill to play a Christmas croquet tournament. I won!!!! (Kristen) thank you very much! We had a nice smoked ham & cabbage salad & homemade stuffing of course for dinner & went to bed extremely late, because the little man was just not ready for Christmas to end apparently. He finally passed out after lots fo protest around midnight!!!! Jack had a fever & all over body rash about 3 days ago & Henry caught it yesterday on Christmas…how fortunate! He is fien & the fever has gone, but the rash remains. It is all over his body from head to toe! He looks like he has chicken pox, but he doesn’t. Little Scarlett ( 6 months old) has the same thing…also caught from Jack. On top of this unfortunate turn of events, Henry received 3 new teeth last night as a nice extra Christmas present. He did not sleep soundly. They are through the skin today & very nice. He is having a well deserved nap as I am writing this.
It is officially the rainy season here now & we had our first category 1 cyclone on Christmas eve..not to worry, a cyclone is not a major thing here. Especially a category 1. We did have trees fall down in the woods though, and lots of rain. The rain is so hard & so loud that the tv on top volume is still to quiet to hear properly. It’s crazy. The rain brings creepy crawlies with it though. All the critters want to come inside to get out of it, so we come in contact with much more than we are used to…and that’s been a lot. For example… last night (Christmas) I went over to the bed to get the flashlight, to go to the bathroom, and next to the bed on the wall was the largest spider I have seen so far on this trip…needless to say I freaked out a bit & Ben, with some well aimed whacks killed it quite quickly. I was feeling very pleased & went on my way out to the bathroom, which is outside…and the bushes had overgrown the walkway at the stairs a bit, so I accidently brushed up against them on my way up & looked back to make sure nothing creepy had hitched a ride on me just about the time I stepped on a HUGE python!!! It was in the bathroom across the top of the stairs waiting out the rain. I freaked out a bit at first; not knowing which kind of snake it was that I had just stepped on, because the flashlight was so dim. I could see it’s head looking at me, and when I leaned down to get a closer look, luckily it turned out to be a 14ish foot amethystine python, and not a red bellied black snake, or something else venomous. Ben came to my rescue with the broom & poked at it from behind until it left.
This morning Ben & I were looking for something in Henry’s drawers, because he likes to hide things in there & I opened the last one to find a HUGE skink taking a nap in nice snuggly comfort. I thought it was the toy crocodile I had gotten Henry for Christmas & went to grab it, when it freaked out & ran from me, which freaked me out, because I thought it was fake, which freaked Ben out, because I yelled & all he saw was the tail, which looked like a snake going behind the cabinet, which scared Henry, because he got snatched up so quickly & had no idea what was going on. We got a good laugh out of it a minute later, but at the time it was really freaky.
Then, while I was making dinner on the stove, the biggest spider I have ever seen in person…way bigger than yesterday’s spider popped out from behind the stove & walked across the wall behind it… I screamed, obviously, and Ben came running, and also freaked out & he is NOT afraid of spiders….so you know it was big. He sprayed it at least a dozen times with “instant kill” spider spray & it was still running around & climbing the wall, so he had to whack it several times with a thick magazine as well & I still wasn’t satisfied that it was dead, but finally it stopped moving. CREEPY!!!!
…so that’s what we are dealing with here. I will go to bed tonight thinking of all the creepers running loose in our house & wishing I had a bug net over my bed like Henry. Lucky boy!
It’s pretty cool watching the rain come down though. Ben & Hamish had to drive through really deep water to get home from work the other day, because the road was flooded. Henry is getting up, so I need to go, but we will keep in touch. We are packing this week & headed out on Saturday if all goes well, then after a quick drive down the coast we will arrive at the airport for our flight home on the 13th. We are really excited to see everyone!!! We miss you all!!!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!

Hey everyone,
We are getting ready for the holidays & really excited for Christmas! Henry's birthday was on Monday the 20th!! He is officially one year old!!! I can't believe it! We had our friends the Jenkins' over for dinner & dessert. Henry got his very own cream puff to celebrate & actually ate the whole thing. He shoveled it in his mouth way faster than any of us imagined he would. Henry got a cool pair of aviator sunglasses, a book, and a train engine for his birthday!
The day before his birthday we went to the mall & Henry met Santa & had his picture taken. He did very well, but when the camera lady saw him coming she assumed that since he was a baby that he would cry & she tried to distract him the second he went on Santa's knee by blowing hundreds of high powered bubbles in his face....which just confused & bewildered the little man. He doesn't like bubbles in his face...who does? So, he just sat there with this crazy confused look on his face instead of smiling & we couldn't make him smile again. We have very funny pictures of Henry's 1st meeting with Santa now. At least he didn't cry!
We have done all our shopping, and I am making goodies for our friends here today, so it's feeling very close to Christmas around here! All the gifts are wrapped & Henry has figured out how to get around the little cabinets we put in front of the tree to block him from getting to it...He moves them.... I have no idea how since they are not light, are full, and do not have any wheels or anything on the bottom. He wants those little ornaments sooooo bad! He's stronger than he looks.
We are sad to miss another Christmas with you all, but will enjoy seeing you next month when we come home!! Our flight officially leaves here on the 13th of Jan. So, after another 24 hours of flying we should land in Seattle on the 13th of Jan....so strange to loose a whole day like it never happened.
Team Davidson took a trip to Daintree way up north of here last weekend for our last weekend with the car. We had so much fun! I will post pictures when I get a chance. We went on a crocodile river tour which was awesome & we saw a nice big salty about 3 people lengths away from us! Very nice. We also saw a wild cassowary while driving & managed to pull over & get pictures & a video of it. These birds are extremely rare. They only live in the rain forest in tropical north Queensland and our friends who live in the rain forest have only seen one ever, so we were luck to get a glimpse of one. They are huge flightless birds about the size of an emu. Their feathers almost look like fur. They have a big black body & a red & blue head.
We also saw tons of other wildlife and had a great day driving around & exploring. We went to Mossman gorge which is a beautiful spot in the forest with waterfalls & a small cold river. We all waded around in a shallow pool & cooled off. Henry was very adventurous in the water & waded out (with help) up to his chest, then held onto a boulder & wanted to be left alone to splash & sidestep along the rock. He is very independent right now. He wants to do things by himself a lot.
He is not easily scared & dives headfirst into everything...literally.
Well, Henry is up from his little nap, so I'm going to go get him. Hope everyone has a merry Christmas & we will add pictures soon!!

Miss you all!
xoxoxo Kristen, Ben, & Henry!

It's been a long time!

Henry loves balloons!

Skyping is one of our favorite things!

Kewarra beach, our weekend hangout

Jungle walk

Henry in his little monkey towel at the lagoon in Cairns.

Henry is good at making new friends. (He's in the red)

Getting sprayed by a jet at muddy's at the Cairns Esplanade

Water baby

Snuggles up with his favorite blankie after swim lessons

Fuzzy caterpillar...a perfect fly fishing lure. (this thing is much larger than it appears.)

Swim lessons, instructor Gary in the background

Playing in the pool after lessons.

Playing with his Swim lesson friend Mayella.

Swim lesson group.

Kick, kick, kick!

Sand everywhere!

He can get in the chair all by himself now.

Lounging...no room for anyone else in this chair!

So proud of himself.




Wow, It's been a while since we wrote!

We have been keeping busy! It's been so ridiculously hot here, we are never home! We try to be in or around the water as much as humanly possible. When we are not at the beach, we go to the waterfront down in Cairns where it is free to swim in their lagoon & "fake beach" and use the kids water park with waterspouts cool water features. The real ocean & beach are too dangerous this time of year in Cairns, so they built all this cool stuff to keep people out of the water. It works!! The beach we go to is out of town a ways & it is jelly netted off & free of crocs etc.... so we feel safe there.

Ben got to take Henry to two swim lessons, which was great, because it allowed me to take some great pictures & videos of it. He does such a good job & he is actually improving his swimming skills! He kicks now & reaches underwater for things. He can also pull himself out of the pool, which is the first thing he got taught. He climbs out, then jumps (from sitting position) back in, then repeats. he has no fear, which scares me a little, but is great at the same time. he is the only baby not to cry in swim class & when we get to the beach he crawls in head first as fast as he can go until the waves wash over his head, before retreating & doing it again. We have been body surfing him in on little waves & he laughs so hard! It's awesome.

We are loosing the car next week, because our friends are selling it, so we will not be leaving the house as much anymore. I had to fight off another python the other night, but lost the battle & it ate our rooster...which makes me really happy actually, because it was really annoying & crowed all day starting at 2 am. It never failed to wake Henry from his naps. I'm sure I would have strangled it myself eventually if the Python hadn't done it for me.

On a positive note, no date has been set, but we are coming home early. We are looking into flights & booking one tonight, so we will know more soon, but it's most likely going to happen in January. We are thrilled to see everyone again & although we love Australia despite it having too many creepy crawlies, it's just not home. We miss snow & all of you! It's going to be a bit of a temperature shock, so we will have to dig out our heaviest winter gear the minute we get to our storage unit.

See you all soon. Hopefully we will have a date tonight!!

Oh, also , Congratulations Doug & Janice!!!! Beautiful wedding!! So glad we could be a part of it. Thanks Jessica!! Mom, we need to skype soon!

Love you all!!!

xoxox Team Davidson.