tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12584508906843236492024-03-14T00:05:31.452-07:00TheScrantonsGrandAdventureThe Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-55150368334722109772012-05-20T21:38:00.001-07:002012-05-20T21:38:08.211-07:00May 20, 2012Settling into the Utah way of life. One thing we notice is that every day pretty much just seems to be a beautiful, perfect, sunny day. Everyday. Like unbelievable. I am going to like this. <br />
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I spent my first two weeks of work in one location in Sandy and then the Freedom Fasttrack moved to downtown Salt Lake City about two blocks from where the Jazz play. I can find my way to work. I found a gym to play open volleyball. Met some guys who are getting me connected in the Utah volleyball scene. I already went and played in a sand doubles King of the beach tournament and one 1st place and $100 for my efforts. The whole family went to a tennis social for the South Jordan tennis association. They had drills and lessons for Cooper and then pizza and snacks and then drills for Rob and then more pizza and snacks. So we are finding recreation opportunities.<br />
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We are still in our two bedroom town home and enjoying doing with less but anxious for more space. We found a really cool modern brand new home in the Daybreak area of South Jordan that we hope to buy. It seems ideal for our family right at this moment. We will see if that is the home God intends for us to buy. It seems these banking chaps are real sticklers for wanting you to have some kind of proof of income. It seems you are very risky if you actually work for yourself and depend on your own intellect and work ethic to produce an income. Gee how we wish we had a low income wage from working at McDonalds and then we would be more suitable borrowers because we'd have a pay stub, who cares how small. ( notice Rob getting sarc there ). Well we shall soon know and it doesn't seem to much be in our hands at this point.<br />
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Learned that they have whole stores here dedicated to the mission industry. Even Macy's has a missionary special where you can get two of everything to dress up as a missionary for one low, low price. Just like they have bridal registry's and shower registries they have you guessed it missionary registry's at the department stores. Interesting stuff. People have warned us about or asked us, and know we have not really felt particularly discriminated against by not being LDS. Someone explained to us though that just like there are Chriseaster Christians not every Mormon is really practicing per se. So only 1/6 of the people in the valley are actually serious practicing Mormons. Much more diverse than we would have guessed before moving here.<br />
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Cooper and I have been busy viewing sports. We went down to a few BYU mens volleyball games, they were ranked as high as 4th in the country this year. We also went to two Jazz games. Got to show Cooper that this was the team that "Pistol" Pete Maravich played for. <br />
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Robyn and I were able to get a baby sitter one night and went and watched 'the avengers' movie. So one date night in two months, we'll have to do a little better on that. We've enjoyed going to the expo center just down the road from where we live. Got to see a karate tournament one weekend and went to the Scout-o-rama another and Cooper had a ball at that so many things to do.<br />
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Had an interesting experience one night last week. Cooper plays all the time with a boy in the neighborhood named Santi, especially they play soccer. The other day Cooper comes in and says Santi wants to go to the ice cream shop. I'm like great but Santi is like 6. Cooper says no Santi's dad is going to take them do I want to go. So yes I meet him and go get ice cream. He says his name is Javier he is from Argentina and he plays soccer. I say oh great I play soccer too. I soon figure out he means like for a living, for Reall Salt Lake the MLS team. Oh I see Javier Morales. I still have no idea really who he is. That evening I get home and open the newspaper which I still hadn't looked at and I open the sports section and who is there a full page picture on the front of the sports section of Señor Morales. He is like the star player and highest paid player on the team and I had no clue.<br />
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Interesting item for purchase. Supposedly was sold in a 7 pack when first launched.</div>
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This is great. Utah state troopers trying to create lifelong Chiropractic patients early in life.</div>
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Cooper at the Scout- o - Rama. Made it all the way to the top.</div>
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High altitude. Special pressurized balls are required.</div>
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Yes they do exist! An electric car charging station at Walgreens. Now there is finally one place to drive my Volt to.</div>
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Hybrid 1953 / 2004 Corvette at the Thanksgiving Point auto show</div>
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Cooper walking on Mars at the Salt Lake City Planetarium</div>
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So today we drove down to Cedar City Utah and watched a Solar Eclipse of the sun. The ring of fire. The moon was perfectly centered inside of the Sun and only a very thin ring of light shone around the edges. Amazingly cool. The sun was very high in the sky but there is a lot less light when you block out 90% of the suns rays. It shocked us how much the temperature dropped. The crickets got very confused as they started chirping like it was dusk or night and yet the sun was still very high in the sky. This is a picture of Robyn and Tucker trying not to fry their retinas.<br />
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The house on Kettle Way that we hope to make ours Lord willing</div>
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Laser engraved rose petal flowers for Mother's day. The boys worked hard on these.</div>
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Engraving on the railroad tie where the golden spike was hammered to complete the transcontinental</div>
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Robyn and Tucker sit on the tie where the golden spike was hammered Promontory Utah</div>
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Union Pacific railroad woodburning Jupiter</div>
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Central Pacifics Coal-burning No. 119 these were fully functioning almost exact replicas of originals</div>
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Parrish Lane?? definitely did not want to drive the motorhome on that offramp</div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-25185401216865335202012-04-01T17:28:00.000-07:002012-04-01T17:28:16.663-07:00UtahWe are in Utah. Sandy to be exact. A southern area of Salt Lake City. We have been here 6 days and are super glad we updated our GPS before we left because we use it to go everywhere. Roads are marked in a grid system that we are yet to master.<br />
We closed on the house March 16. We got rid of so much and to be honest threw away some good stuff but we ran out of time. It made me sad to pitch good stuff and at the same time ashamed that we had so much that we could just throw away. We still filled a large storage shed in IL. I hope that I can be more careful with accumulating things that can be so easily discarded.<br />
We stayed at Rob's parents house for a few days (they are wintering in AZ). We were waiting for the check from the bank and tying up loose ends. Said 'see you later' to special friends. The weather was so beautiful we got to see the crocus and daffodils bloom. If my summer clothing wasn't in AZ I could have worn shorts it was so warm.<br />
We left IL on Tuesday (20th) and drove through to Denver where we stayed with good friends, Tony and Leah Shay. We had 4 great days with them. After the craziness of packing and selling the house we were ready for some relaxing. We celebrated 11 years of marriage by going out with the Shays. Never new Italian dessert could be so fun and so expensive. The company we enjoyed it with was definitely worth it though.<br />
After leaving the Shays we made a brief stop at Rob's Aunt and Uncle's for dinner before heading out of Denver. We chose I-80 through Wyoming to avoid too many steep mountains. We were pulling the Element behind the Land Rover so we didn't have a lot of stopping power since the Element was loaded to the roof with boxes. Within a few hours we drove through 55m/h winds, dust storm, rain, sleet, snow, sunshine, rain, 50m/h winds and sunshine. Oh.. and there isn't a whole lot in Wyoming. Once we hit the Utah boarder everything got beautiful... the mountains are amazing.<br />
We stayed in a hotel for a few days after arriving and spent a day and a half looking at apartments and finally settled on a newish townhouse. It has a little more of a house feel with the 2 bedrooms upstairs and a garage. Only took us a day without chairs to crave somewhere to sit. Thankfully Ikea isn't to far and we now have 8 chairs and a small TV table (no TV though).<br />
Cooper's shopping list only had one item on it, a new basketball hoop. He let us sell the 3 he had in IL and we could tell we weren't going to hear the end of it until we found a new one. So in addition to our 8 chairs and 1 TV table we have a basketball hoop. And if you are wondering we have air mattresses for sleeping. The camping thing is going over pretty well so far. I like living with less.<br />
One of the most notable changes out here is that just about everything is closed on Sundays, thus me sitting here blogging. Walmart which is an easy 5 minute walk from our abode is open so I think after Tucker's nap we'll take a family expedition to pick some meat for our dinner.<br />
We went to a cool church today. Rob had to work at a seminar this morning but thankfully this church had a 12:30pm service so we were able to attend. Boys enjoyed it too. Cooper seems a little nervous about making new friends but who of us isn't. God has a plan for each of us in this place. One day at a time we'll see it through. We are excited to get to know this church more over the coming weeks and months.<br />
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It snowed this morning and was so cloudy the usual vibrant mountains were hidden. They are my visual clues so it felt lonely without them. But it seems the weather can change multiple times in a day and it is still light out so they may appear yet.</div>
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So we sit here in our Ikea Poang chairs using Rob's iPhone as a hotspot while Cooper plays basketball and Tucker naps. Grateful for God's guidance and slowing settling in to a new normal. </div>
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Thanks for your continued love and support. </div>
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Packing our most beloved items into the truck that will take it to the storage shed.</div>
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The dining room was full too.</div>
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Tucker found my make-up bag... mascara, eye-liner and foundation powder.</div>
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In our defense the neighbors added to this pile of junk as well. </div>
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This home always represented God's promise of faithfulness. As we packed and things were taken away I repeated the hymn lyric "Great is thy faithfulness". </div>
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Cooper playing hoops at Moline high school's Wharton Field house. A dream come true for him. </div>
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Leaving IL. </div>
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UTAH. Our town home is in the street below. </div>
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This looks like a green screen picture but it's totally real. On the ridge near the townhouse.<br />
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Our first meal. </div>
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<br />The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-81898034601832239482012-02-11T12:36:00.000-08:002012-02-11T12:36:26.132-08:00Catching up from the last couple of weeks...Since we came back from Australia we have been staying with Rob's parents in Mesa, Arizona. We arrived back on Tuesday night (Jan 31) and On Thursday (Feb 2nd) Rob flew to Florida for a conference. He returned to hear the results on the Superbowl on Sunday night.<br />
While he was gone the boys and I amused ourselves with school, parks, visits to the local Water Reserve to watch the birds and inspect cactus and playing basketball.<br />
The day after we returned we found out that the people who wanted to buy our house were ready to move ahead with the purchase. (We had signed a contingency agreement with them back in November and they were waiting to sell their house). So with that news our time in the sun has been cut a bit short as we are now headed home Sunday (12th) to start packing the house for the move to Utah.<br />
For all the times we have been swimming in the last months Tucker has been content to play on the steps of the pool. Never quite brave enough to let us take him deeper. Since being in AZ Rob has been taking the boys daily and in 10 days he is almost swimming by himself. Cooper is our little fish and Rob has taught him to swim. He loves to jump in and dives to the bottom, so it seems that Tucker is trying to be like his big brother and making good head way at it. I love to watch them swim and the joy they get out of it. Rob has treasured the special time and being the one to teach them. I have been in the pool too I just like to take a few moments to myself too.... other mums you understand.<br />
Last Tuesday, Rob's dad watched the boys and we went hiking with his mum. We love to hike in AZ and it's always a beautiful time and we enjoy some quiet moments together looking at amazing scenery.<br />
We've squeezed countless oranges to make delicious orange juice. Enjoyed Pei Wei (Asian restaurant) as often as we can. Rob and I have seen some movies: the late showing, meaning we get home at 12:30- 1am.... Played tennis and basketball, used the remote controlled cars and an undetermined amount of batteries. For the first time in many years we are pretty stress free, able to focus on the boys and each other.<br />
Through this whole process of putting ourselves and our plans in God's hands he has revealed things just one step at a time. We came back to the USA thinking we'd be doing some more open houses to sell the house but God took care of that. We are in awe at his faithfulness. Not sure the exact plan for moving out to Utah (buy a house, rent a house, which suburb to do that in...?) but God has clearly shown us the path to walk so we are relaxing in that when we need to know he'll tell us.<br />
This time away has been huge for the 4 of us. Our family is stronger and so much more relaxed. The boys have been fantastic and adapted to every new situation. They are used to sleeping in different beds and eating different food. We are really proud of them. I love my family. I love my boys and I know them so much better. Tucker has developed into a beautiful boy, he loves to laugh and play with cars and planes. He has a twinkle to his eyes that melts your heart and makes you do almost whatever he asks. He is more relaxed than a few months ago. He wants to do everything his big brother does and they are good friends. Cooper is inquisitive and loves a good joke. He is a careful big brother and much more at peace being and playing by himself. I can see his mind thinking about things and everything usually comes back to basketball or football. They are both eagerly awaiting the trampoline we have promised when we are settled in a new house.<br />
We are driving home Sunday (12th) and will be back in the Moline by, we hope, afternoon on Wednesday (15th). We are leaving the RV here in AZ and once we are in Utah we'll come down here and get it. We have allowed time for distractions and frequent stops for the boys. Our house closing is March 16th so we have just over 4 weeks to pack everything. Before you panic for us, we had done a lot of purging and some packing prior to leaving last November so the task will be a little simpler.<br />
Thanks for walking this journey with us.. stay tuned for posts from the road.<br />
- Robyn<br />
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Rob's parents house in AZ. </div>
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Hiking with Rob's mum and her hiking group.</div>
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Relaxing half way through the hike.</div>
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We made it. 6 miles and still smiling.</div>
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The boys hanging out in the wagon. </div>
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Goggle boys!</div>
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Our #2 fish.</div>
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Almost all looking. </div>
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<br />The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-8882689995961929912012-01-30T20:34:00.000-08:002012-02-11T14:40:55.404-08:00Jan 29-31 FIJI<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We got up super early (5:30am... we are on holidays so that is really early to us) to leave for the airport. Still a little rainy. Got everything into the suitcases and they are bulging with goodies and memories. Have had such a great time. Refreshing and relaxing. My heart is full after good times with family. I am reminded how much I love and appreciate each one of them and reminded where I came from and who I am. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Stopped by Mum’s house for a last kiss and hug and then 2.5hrs to the airport. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At the airport we were met by my Dad, Marissa, Mark, my brother Joni, Penny, Helena and Baby Evie. All come to say good-bye. We had some time together before we headed through security and onto the plane. About a 3 hr flight and we were in Fiji. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We landed in Fiji about 5pm on Sunday 29th. Caught a taxi to our hotel. First Landing Resort, 25 minutes north of Nadi. Checked into our sea side buree and went to get our welcome drinks (fruit juice). Very nice with perfect ocean views. Of course we were straight off the pool after that. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Started raining heavily overnight and hasn’t really stopped since. Not so bad, it’s warm and when you swim you get wet anyway. Explored the nearby Marina and counted tropical fish and crabs. Have had some fresh coconuts cut down from the tree for us. Met some lovely Australians holidaying here so we are staying entertained. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We leave tonight (Tue 31st) to fly back to Phoenix AZ to stay with Rob’s parents for a little while before heading back up to IL to pack the house up and get ready to move. More adventures to come along the way. </span></span><br />
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Drinking coconut milk from a coconut.</div>
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Delicious dinner complete with flower.</div>
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Went into Fiji to do some shopping. Cooper found a cool chair but we couldn't fit it in our suitcase.</div>
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Interesting</div>
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The store that has everything.</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-38007976409176461572012-01-30T20:08:00.000-08:002012-01-30T20:08:28.046-08:00Jan 26th- Australia day.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A lot of the next week was spent in Kingaroy relaxing and watching the Cricket and tennis on TV. It was overcast and cooler (still 85-90oF) and rainy pretty much the entire week. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We celebrated Australia Day on the 26th of Jan. I asked everyone why they celebrate it on the 26th like did something significant happen on that day or something? Nobody knew the answer except Robyn. Interesting I thought, we mostly know that July 4th was the day we signed the Declaration of Independence from England. It is as Robyn informed us the day Sydney was founded, the first White settlement in Australia. Anyway we went down and saw the whip cracking demonstration, Lamington eating contest, and Cane Toad races. Got there to late to bid on a Cane Toad to enter into the competition. I also included various pictures of interesting and curious sites to me in this little Aussie town.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Afterwards we headed back to Ruth's for a family BBQ, Later in the afternoon we had a little surprise birthday party for Cooper and a cake for Robyn (birthdays are in February). Watching tennis and hanging out. Wanted to play cricket in the park but the weather was drizzly and too wet. </span></div>
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Cane Toads are in the can ready to be released. </div>
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Cooper's Aussie birthday party. </div>
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Happy Australia Day!!!</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-92185389720909095902012-01-30T19:51:00.000-08:002012-01-30T19:51:30.933-08:00January 21-22<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We left Melbourne on Friday 20th and travelled quickly back to Queensland.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The second day of driving (21st) we stopped for lunch in Parkes, NSW. This was where the Radio Telescope Dish is located that was featured in the movie “The Dish” with Sam Neill of Jurassic Park fame. This was neat to see. During NASA’s missions to the moon there were periods of time the lunar vehicles and spacecraft were crossing over the southern hemisphere and this was their only communication with earth. It’s good to have allies on the other side of the earth.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Internet connection is very slow so I'll post more pictures later on this. But here is one!!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Arrived back at Ruth;s house in Kingaroy on Sunday mid afternoon. Ready to do some laundry. </span></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-70460491664133902582012-01-23T22:42:00.000-08:002012-01-23T22:42:54.306-08:00January 20th<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-89716548416776085602012-01-23T22:33:00.000-08:002012-01-23T22:33:53.797-08:00January 19th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We dropped the boys off at the Hart’s in the morning and took the train downtown again. The Brewerton’s went to the markets and we went to the famous MCG ( Melbourne Cricket Ground ) and took a tour of the facilities and learned some of the history of it all. I talked the guy into giving us a 20% discount on our tickets. This was fun and I learned that if I got on the waiting list today I might get an invitation to join the Melbourne Cricket Club in 20 years. We then went over to the tennis right across the street. We again scored a free ticket from someone leaving for Rod Laver arena. Got to see Serena, Djokavic win handily in there. Had a nice day. Watched the Bryan brothers play doubles. I guess it’s our tradition to watch them now at Grand Slam events since we also saw them play at Wimbledon. One disappointment was that we got here too early to see any of the legends matches. We really enjoyed that at Wimbledon. In the evening the Brewerton’s had to leave to meet up with some rellies and so Robyn and I left the tennis went back across the street to the MCG to watch the Big Bash or 20/20 cricket. I got to see my first ever cricket match and at the MCG. Too bad it was soo cold that even with jackets on we left after the 1st innings because we were freezing. Bizarre, it’s the middle of summer here and yesterday people at the tennis were succumbing to heat stroke?! just across the street. Anyway it fun to say we’ve done it. As far as entertainmentwise, going to a Riverbandits game is one heck of a lot more fun.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Doubles sensation Bob and Mike Bryan in action at the Australian Open.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rob and his buddy Pat Rafter. I was told that wearing this shirt and going into an Australian cricket ground could get you in hot water. Luckily it did not as I donned my recently acquired OZ Open jacket to wear to the cricket.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MCG and the Big Bash. Shane Warne bowls for the Melbourne Stars in Green. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Interestingly this stadium was also the main stadium for the opening ceremonies, etc. at the 1956 Olympiad although it is much older than that the Melbourne Cricket Club was founded in 1838.</span></div>
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<br /></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-64776727083209396732012-01-23T22:25:00.000-08:002012-01-23T22:25:19.861-08:00January 18th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span>We had a late night last night getting back from the tennis. Daniel seemed to survive the boys and they were actually in bed when we got home. We didn’t get an early start but we did head off to go see the downtown. After much debate we decided to take the train downtown. We took the free tourist bus around to the MCG, had a look around and then went to Fitzroy Park and Captain Cook’s cottage. That was a lot to see in the small time we had but it was good because we got our bearings for what was there and what else we might want to do.</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Captain Cook and friends? Hope Tucker doesn’t mind being the girl of the family just for a day.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Yeah, finally here comes our trolley!</span></div>
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John Deere tractor as art. </div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We did have to leave though because we were going to meet some relatives that I still had not met yet. Uncle Wes and Paula Nalder,(Ivan’s brother) and their daughter and granddaughter’s. We went out to a restaurant that one of the girl’s was working at. Good food and really nice people. I enjoyed talking with Wes. He still plays tennis in his 70’s and had lots of interesting stories about his road rally racing days. He did one from London to Australia, they drove straight through from London to the southern tip of India and I liked his description of driving across Iran and all the cars blowing up in 120 degree heat. Nice to finally put a face with the names. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Blue tongue Ice cream.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Robyn Scranton and her Aunt Paula Nalder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The family get together at Tulky’s.</span></div>
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<br /></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-47382935699345227582012-01-23T01:14:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:38:28.381-08:00January 17th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I got up really early and walked to McDonald’s for breakfast and a coffee and to use the internet. It’s about the only way I’ve found to use the internet consistently and it is still highly unreliable. After a lot of frustration I was able to upload about 2 pages in the amount of time I normally could do 10. Not a complaint but a comment, but Australia is about 6-7 years behind the US in access, speed and reliability of it’s internet capability. It is I think a huge roadblock to economic growth and increased productivity. I met everyone else at about 10:30 for some bowling. I think the boys had limited enjoyment out of this. I started with an 85 then went to 140 and 166. Fast learner I guess in 45 minutes. We made some lunch and then I really wanted to go to the Australian Open tennis tourney earlier than our night match tickets because local phenom Madison Keys originally of Rock Island was playing that afternoon in the first round. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">They dropped me at the train station to find my way downtown and the rest of them went to visit Granny Thodey. I arrived at the tennis tournament and started asking questions to one of the workers about the different tickets and how to get in , where to go etc. and a guy said look I can’t stay around to watch Roddick you can have my ticket to the Hisense arena. It was a $50 ticket and since I had that I didn’t even have to pay to get in the gate. I sat there and watched Andy Murray and then Roddick’s match I was in the 3rd row right behind Roddick’s coach Larry Stefanke and his wife Brooke Burke. It was weird I kept thinking that Andy was looking right at me after every point but realized that he was looking at them. I got to see Nadal practice and Roger as well. Robyn, Ruth, and Elray had taken off after leaving the boys in the hands of Daniel Hart and made it down to the night session. I met up with them and we went over to watch Madison Keys. Poor Madison after being 2-2 I don’t think she won another game. I was really hot that night and stifling inside Rod Laver arena where we watched the Hewitt match. Late night getting home but I hate to say it, really nice to have a evening out without the boys.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">PBA tour here we come. Tucker and Cooper Scranton</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Rob (self portrait ) watching his mate Andy Murray and Ryan Harrison</span> </div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Rafa Nadal goes through a practice session.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Roger Federer also likes to practice.</span></div>
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Australian teen phenomenon Bernard Tomic after his 5 set first round match still practices. He beat 3 top 20 players in the week before this tournament so we’ll see how he goes.</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Robyn was asking why does Andy Roddick kept starring up at me after every point?! oh wait that’s his coach Larry in the bottom right corner of the frame and Andy's wife is sitting next to him. Maybe he's not staring at me. Whew!</span></div>
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Madison Keys originally from Rock Island, IL loses in the first round</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Robyn and Rob Scranton enjoying some tennis. Isn’t she beautiful! (Not attractive photo but proves we were there)</span></div>
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Ana Ivanovic working on her form.</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Lleyton Hewitt in first round action, Rod Laver arena.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">WE WERE THERE!!! YAHOO!!!!</span></div>
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<br />The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-83299807105677612232012-01-23T00:54:00.001-08:002012-01-23T05:18:00.639-08:00January 16th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We finally arrived in Melbourne last night finally. We are staying at some longtime friends of the Nalder family through the Wesleyan church. He is a pastor to the pastors and they are away for about 2 months and said we could stay there while we are in Melbourne. Thank you Lord. What a blessing to have all that space. The MacLachlan’s are very nice people. We all slept in after our long drive and leisurely went over to Monash Gardens to visit Granny Thodey and have lunch with her. It was Tucker's first meeting with his Great-Granny. The girls did a little shopping and we then went over to Maurie Conry’s house (Robyn's Uncle) in the evening for a barbecue with the family. We got to meet Mauries new wife, Jenny and the Hart’s joined us as well. Kids had fun playing with the older second cousins. Sorted out plans to attend the Australian Open Tennis and after a wonderful evening we took the tired children and ourselves back to bed.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-13842298199807220932012-01-23T00:53:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:12:29.684-08:00January 15th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We continue our journey of chance and destiny down to Melbourne to see the tennis tournament. We stopped at a town called Gundagai to get a drink, buy some gas, and snap some photos with our Tucker. There is a famous Australian poem called Dog on the Tucker Box that was set in this town, so we had to stop. We stopped in a town called Holbrooke named after a British WW I submarine hero. Therefore they have a submarine buried in the middle of the town hours from any water. We had lunch and took some pictures. We also stopped in Glenrowan the town of the famous last stand of Ned Kelly and his gang, the infamous bushranger of Australia. Kind of the Jesse James of Australia. They a well known for doning suits of iron hammered out of ploughs in their famous last battle. There was a very good movie made about it starring the late Heath Ledger if you want to check it out you Netflixers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Here it is Gundagai! I can’t wait.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tucker as usual very dedicated to his yoga, Rob blogging, Robyn supervising both.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Which way do we go to the dog on the Tuckerbox.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Ok you non-Aussies here ya go, I had to ask too. Tucker is a word for food, so tuckerbox is like a lunchbox.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tucker in his appropriate “Me so Hungry!” t-shirt contemplating having himself one of them Tuckerbox Burgers!</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sydBNY_U_zU/Tx0a6NhJZ8I/AAAAAAAAAt0/eIwT3dgsMCc/s1600/DSCF2468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sydBNY_U_zU/Tx0a6NhJZ8I/AAAAAAAAAt0/eIwT3dgsMCc/s320/DSCF2468.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And now for something completely unexpected, a submarine buried in the ground in the middle of Australia. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Ned Kelly casts a large shadow in Glenrowan over Cooper, Aaron, and Tucker.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-30646586482025489892012-01-23T00:22:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:24:57.728-08:00January 14th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We got up with lots to do. See an entire capital city in one day is a tall order in any developed country. We went off to see the the Parliament House and took a tour of the Senate and the House of Representatives, modeled somewhat on the USA example but with a parliamentary system and Prime Minister like the U.K. instead of a directly elected President like the US. After being to Washington D.C. even pre 9/11 was a bit surprised at the seeming lack of security and that we were able to get into these areas with no background checks or even I.D. checks. Metal detectors was about it. After this we went over to the Australian War Memorial to have a look around. We bumped into a tour guide who was very good and passionate. He went around to various things and told story after story and was just fascinating. This was not just a memorial but also a war museum so I just soaked it up. It was really fascinating seeing world events that I was well read on being explained through a different lens from a different part of the world. If definitely affects our viewpoint and opinion. The first world war seemed to have a very deep impact on the national psyche here much more so than in the USA based on the amount of space devoted to it versus the rest of the museum and WW II. They were in it from the very beginning I suppose, as contrasted to the USA only really being involved in the last year. They also made very liberal use of dioramas in the museum, which I found fantastic in their scale and detail but very unusual.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As we were having lunch Robyn checked her email and put 2 and 2 together that the suburb our motel was in had the same name as her friend Sharon lived in so we rang her up. We were able to go over and pay a short visit and catch up. They remembered me for being so fascinated 8 years ago that they actually had Koala bears in the trees in their backyard in Brisbane!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Picture of the House of Representatives. The green is the color of the Gum tree leaves of Australia.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Senate at the Houses of Parliament. The pink being the color of the gum trees flowers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Robyn, Tucker, Cooper & Rob Scranton in the Senate chamber at the Houses of Parliament pleading with the government to repeal the carbon tax.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Elray, Ruth, Aaron Brewerton Robyn, Cooper, Tucker, Rob Scranton on top of the Houses of Parliament. Bottom of hill (white bldg.) old house of parliament, in the background shadowed by the mountain is the War Memorial.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Eternal flame pool at the War Memorial. Throwing coins into the water.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">On these walls are the names of every Australian service member every killed in combat. The poppies tucked into them are put up as a remembrance by family members. Poppies were plentiful in the fields of Europe in WW I where so many died. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Let’s see from left to right it looks like from their headgear we’ve got a frenchman, german, and an aussie.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is Tucker dressed in his diggers (what OZ Infantrymen are known as) floppy hat with Emu feather for decoration.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Robyn with her friend Sharon Tree.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-87588698898944314982012-01-22T23:54:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:27:30.425-08:00January 13th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We drove on to Canberra. This is like the Washington, D.C. of Australia. We had a pretty full day driving today so we got in late and didn’t have any real time to do any sightseeing but found our accommodation, checked in and went out to the Crust pizzeria. Pretty good food, we were starved and needed a good fill up before had a full day of sightseeing tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Roadsign pointing us to Canberra.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Our amazing one star accommodation complete with plentiful flies:) Our accommodation book did have it listed generously at 3 ***! It ha beds and was the right price for a major city. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Picture of the top of Parliament House on the way into Canberra.</span></div>
<br />The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-19050585197798429132012-01-22T23:44:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:30:29.155-08:00January 12th<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; clear: right; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mhf-9KBMmIs/Tx0FefXxe4I/AAAAAAAAAqY/3aSqnEUnT68/s1600/DSCF2306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">The great overland journey begins! We are taking off for Melbourne and more importantly the Australian Open tennis tournament. For Robyn and I this will complete the second leg of our personal Grand Slam after we went to Wimbledon 1 1/2 years ago. For me personally anything else we see or experience will be a grand bonus. On our first day driving we made several stops including going to Wellington Caves and we stayed overnight in Dubbo.</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">This was a fun little park we stopped at enroute. The little rocket in the foreground is just like one I used to play on in Belleville, IL that my grandma used to take it too. I loved that park. This one still stands but looks like it has been deemed too unsafe and been welded closed and the slide removed. They have obviously built a bigger, better one in the background.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Rob takes a turn down the slide inside the rocket.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The boys and Robyn were fascinated by this futuristic toilet. You put your hand over sensors to open it , flush it, and to make the toilet paper come out, as well as it being self cleaning with jet water sprayers that clean the whole of the inside of it.</span></div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-picasa-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rgJ_6djgXkA/Tx0Fo76ZLMI/AAAAAAAAArA/Ibj7URkkt0s/s1600/DSCF2312.AVI" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?videoUrl=http://v6.nonxt1.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?id%3D97a39bf4ced10344%26itag%3D5%26source%3Dpicasa%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1327325215%26sparams%3Did,itag,source,ip,ipbits,expire%26signature%3DB72F649018071C74A2CFF19CD8F2338817C8FA09.3F4BD6DFC2F16B629CFC1A6B9D66901CBA4D6AC%26key%3Dlh1" />
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It ask played music while you peed.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Ford Territory with a tow trailer carried all 7 of us and our gear.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4rEip3BDQo/Tx0HtTs6UXI/AAAAAAAAArM/jAGeXNaPBY8/s1600/DSCF2314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c4rEip3BDQo/Tx0HtTs6UXI/AAAAAAAAArM/jAGeXNaPBY8/s320/DSCF2314.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This is really some kind of interesting motorhome. Wonder how long it took him to assemble this in his garage. Notice the a/c unit self installed at the top back. He had a satelite for internet, tv and an aerial for tv. Quite outfitted.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Inside the Wellington Caves. Robyn and Tucker.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Caves Bottle House. Made out of, you guessed it, Bottles!</span></div>
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<br /></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-4321782784918302912012-01-22T22:57:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:31:21.763-08:00January 10th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I watched to boys all morning and did school work with Cooper. We worked on subtraction and spelling. This way Robyn could have a day with her Mom going to get Scones and coffee or something. When she got back Tucker was napping so I took Cooper down to the pool. He got incentivized by watching some other boys to practice his diving. Lots of belly flops later he was doing it better than the boys he was trying to imitate. Then I made a date with Angela and her friend June to go see the new movie War Horse.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-66066001188715969242012-01-22T22:56:00.000-08:002012-01-23T05:38:10.332-08:00January 9th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This day we spent driving back to Kingaroy from the coast. On the way back we came across the biggest outdoor fast gocart track I have ever seen, so I had to give it a go. They let you drive for 1/2 hour. Quite a long time I reckon. They also had a kiddie course with tandem seats I took Cooper on. I am pretty sure he was thoroughly convinced that he was the one doing the steering. Also on the way home we stopped at this indoor/outdoor mall overlooking a canal that they had these inflatable balls on the water that kids could get in so Cooper had a try at that as well.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">What is this really? I don’t know what name to give this?</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E1r2rJrkfIs/Tx0BqYwBKgI/AAAAAAAAAqA/fQD0Ij55hdQ/s1600/IMG_0319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E1r2rJrkfIs/Tx0BqYwBKgI/AAAAAAAAAqA/fQD0Ij55hdQ/s320/IMG_0319.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Seriousy how dangerous do they expect these gocarts for kids to be at 10 mph?</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXZFPzrqg_Y/Tx0B1Ak6_BI/AAAAAAAAAqI/N0on73g8HL4/s1600/IMG_0320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lXZFPzrqg_Y/Tx0B1Ak6_BI/AAAAAAAAAqI/N0on73g8HL4/s320/IMG_0320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Is that Cooper or Speed Racer?</span></div>
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Rob taking off...<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-42443406419899723262012-01-22T22:40:00.000-08:002012-01-22T22:40:19.809-08:00January 8th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We went swimming in the hotel pool. They had a really nice pool. I got up before everyone else and used the eliptical machine in the gymnasium. Joni and Penny made a really good breakfast for us and we headed up to the ginger factory. We rode the kiddy railroad and took the gingerbread man boat tour around the world. A kind of live action, animated “Where’s Waldo” with a gingerbread man. Got some really good ginger treats while we were there including some ginger infused gummi bears.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Later we drove down to a northern suburb of Brisbane to see some old friends Ken and Leanne Baker, whom we’d met when they were doing an internship at Heritage Wesleyan Church in Rock Island. It was great to catch up with them and see all the renovation they had done on their home. Kind of like us they are transitioning in life from something they had poured their heart and soul and family into for approx. 10 years to something new and different but still doing some of what they had been doing. This worked in very well with a trip we would have had to make to Brisbane International Airport anyhow. Somehow when we landed at the beginning of our trip we went through immigration and customs ok but they didn’t give us back all our passports. I don’t know how we didn’t notice it at the time. Maybe something to do with 18hours of travel with two young children. Anyways a week after we got here I checked our passports ( I have no idea why as I had no reason to think we did not have them all ) and discovered we were missing Coopers. Panic ensues. Level heads thought back to the last time we knew for sure we had them all or handled them was at the airport when we landed in OZ. We called the airport and yes they had them. Another stroke of back luck or poor planning was this is probably the first trip we have ever taken that we did not take copies of all our passports with us. J. and my sister-in-law Emily sent us a copy from home so we could show it at the airport. Got it back problem solved.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">The Bakers at their house outside Brisbane with our boys. Cooper,Jett, Ken, Leanne, Finn, and Tucker.</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is the coffee that Ken made for me. He asked if I wanted one and said he made a not too bad flat white. I thought anybody who is going to brag on his coffee making is not likely to disappoint. And my intuition was justly served as it was fantastic. It might almost convince you to buy one the those really expensive, horrifically expensive espresso machines that nobody ever uses because they only produce really awful coffees with it. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Helena, Cooper, The Gingerbread Man, Tucker at the Ginger factory in Buderum.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gingerbread man at Mount Rushmore.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Saw this in the front of the store at the ginger factory right as you walk in. Not sure how politically correct this would be in the states.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-43659843979514300122012-01-22T22:05:00.000-08:002012-01-22T22:05:58.764-08:00January 7th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We got the cars packed and prepared to leave Kilcoy for the Sunshine Coast at Mooloolaba. Joni got a hot last minute deal for 1/2 price accomadation in a holiday house. On the way down to the coast we stopped in a town called Meleny to make some lunch in a park that overlooked the Glass House mountains. Really pretty view over the valley and out to the mountains. I guess they were called taht because someone on one of Captain Cook’s s journeys thought they looked like the big kilns used for glass making in England. There was also the remnants of a rainforest there. Most of it had been felled by loggers during a time when people weren’t near so concerned about preservation. The rainforest was really cool.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">In the rainforest the trees have tentacles! Robyn, Tucker, Joni, Penny</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Picture of the glass house mountains from our picnic spot.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-21752729015152653632012-01-22T21:23:00.001-08:002012-01-22T21:51:23.948-08:00January 6th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We headed up to Jonathan and Penny Nalder’s in Kilcoy yesterday today we are headed up to Steve Irwin’s Australian Zoo. I got up super early go for a run this morning. Ran all the way around Kilcoy and then stopped in to the newsagent for a paper. While I was there a guy asked me if I would be interested in signing a petition to send to the government to stop them from increasing the sand mines in the area. I conjured up my best Aussie accent and said “I think I can do that” and signed it for him. I was glad I went for a run in stead of swimming. They told me the swimming pool was open every day at 6:00 am but not today for some reason. We had gone to the swimming pool the day before in Kilcoy and it was very nice, swam some laps. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We headed off to see the Zoo. The Crocoseum was now open which wasn’t there when we came 8 years ago so that was neat to see. Sadly though it was completed, Steve was no longer there. The main show featured Terri, Bindi, and Bob Irwin. The kids were there on school holiday. They were still apologizing for Steve feeding the Crocs whilst holding infant Bob 8 years ago. A nice time. Went back to Pen and Jonny’s and put the kids to bed.</span><br />
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Terri, Bob and Bindi Irwin at the Crocoseum</div>
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Rob and Tucker feeding the kangaroos</div>
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Cooper and his Koala</div>
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Koala, Tucker, and Robyn</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tasmanian Devil. No Yosemite Sam found anywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Always good to get instructions at the zoo!</span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-47801753043949819042012-01-22T21:22:00.001-08:002012-01-22T21:24:08.283-08:00January 4th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I spent the morning visiting with Granny Nalders chiropractor in Kingaroy named Chris Bowles. He was working an associateship in his first year out of school. I think he went to Macquarie University Chiropractic training. They don’t have separate schools over here except for one in Queensland that has the nerve to teach about the subluxation but they will probably be forced to give it up. He used a lot of Osteopathic manpulation and was completely focused on pain and showed a sense of pride in trying to wean patients off his care as fast as possible and see them as little as possible as opposed to checking them for subluxation simply because of the knowledge that the simple presence of one is detrimental to one’s health regardless of the presence or absence of pain or discomfort. A posterchild for the education our colleagues are getting around the world that results in them not knowing what their purpose is or what chiropractic is. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Luckily he was a decent manipulator and he rattled my bones and loosened me up and I did feel quite a bit better. I then scoped him and adjusted him. It is always interesting to reciprocate with the manipulator type, thoroughly checking them for subluxation, precisely adjusting only these areas and then having them confusedly look up at you and say “ That’s it?”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jonathan and Penny came up then later that day. </span></span></div>
</div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-37305552196850529602012-01-20T13:45:00.000-08:002012-01-22T21:21:21.434-08:00January 2nd<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">A big day for Cooper and the boys as Grandpa Ivan took them all to the Cinema which is a converted squash court to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked. They apparently had the C&C music factory hit dance tune “everybody dance now” in the movie because we were treated to Cooper singing it every 5 minutes for the next week. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">After they got back we did a local interesting sites tour around the Kingaroy area. going to see the swinging bridge at Cooyer and had lunch. Then we went to The Palms national park, which is a tropical rainforest area in the middle of nowhere. The fruit bats were thicker than fleas on a manure pile. They were very active during the day and very interesting to watch not a sight you get to see very often. The we went to go see Coomba falls. Lots of sightseeing in one day. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Ivan, Cooper, Aaron, Mark going to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rob, Robyn, Tucker on the swinging bridge</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Rob, Robyn, Tucker, Lylah on the swinging bridge</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Fruit bats, fruit bats, everywhere, everywhere!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Giving a big tree a big hug</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">More fruit bats. Look how big and hairy they are. Black wings and brown bodies. Like miniature upside down hanging grizzzly bears.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Monster rainforest trees Moreton Bay fig tree. notice the roots almost look like tentacles of some great beast.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Cooya falls</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-22183496893913767262012-01-20T05:22:00.000-08:002012-01-20T05:22:25.643-08:00January 1st 2012<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A new year! What’s in store for the Scranton’s. It was a very eventful 2011 and seems hard to top but I think it will. Lots in store. We went to church on the new year day. That was a good message. Nice to be in church again. With all our travel and different towns and not knowing the area ( I know I’m just making excuses and justifying ) we haven’t been to church in quite some time. We spent the day just as a relax and don’t do anything day. Big event of the day Rob stopped by the “World Famous Peanut Van” ;) Apparently Kingaroy is the peanut capital of Australia. I bought some ginger and honey roasted peanuts. Not joking now, they are some of the best tasting peanuts I have ever had. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39fCtH1TE5g/TxlqWjMyEvI/AAAAAAAAAlI/RqISXHG0pM8/s1600/IMG_0279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39fCtH1TE5g/TxlqWjMyEvI/AAAAAAAAAlI/RqISXHG0pM8/s320/IMG_0279.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-75196366790472016432012-01-20T05:17:00.000-08:002012-01-20T05:17:09.953-08:00December 31st<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We headed back from Rainbow Beach and had New Year’s eve in Kingaroy. We stopped by the Brewerton’s house in Rainbow Beach before heading back. They served us lunch and we had a stirring game of backyard cricket. Once we returned to Kingaroy we had a very intense game of Scrabble that lasted right up until midnight. Then we did the sprarkleys and went to bed.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Rob the batsman and Tucker setting up the stumps with Cooper set in position to take the Wicket.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Uncle Joni helping Tucker play a safety up the middle of the pitch.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Cooper sorry to include this one mate, but it is such a perfect live action shot of Daddy bowling you out with a wicked spinner hitting the stumps and the bales go flying!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1258450890684323649.post-38856963325382506612012-01-16T15:13:00.000-08:002012-01-20T04:56:07.543-08:00December 30th<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The last day of our stay at Rainbow Beach. The day was spent at the beach and swimming in the pool. Rob went to go surfing again but conditions were overcast and very blustery again so not good. We all went to the surf life saver club on the ocean for our lunch very nice views.</span></div>
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Lunch at the Surf Lifesaver Club</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>The Scranton's Grand Adventurehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15160795176455737928noreply@blogger.com0