Happy birthday to Jake

It was Jake's birthday this weekend and we went over to Andrew and Amanda's to help Jake celebrate becoming a teenager! Jake was particularly happy with this present from his parents. I will attempt to post a video of Jake playing on his electric guitar. He was excellent even though he had had it for only a few hours. He has already got a groupie in the form of Emma, who bobs away whenever the music starts.





























Everyone was in great form and we all had a fantastic time.





















Earlier that day Aidan was awarded a gold medal for his soccer skills. He was pretty chuffed about it.

More photos of our trip to follow (we're saving them for a quieter week).

Congratulations to Sinead

Sinead graduated from Bachelor of Science at Melbourne University last weekend and we went out to celebrate afterwards at La Luna.

We feel like we've re-joined the world after Sally's exams. It is great to be able to say yes to all the catch-ups with families and friends (guilt free).


Sarah and Mick were visiting Melbourne from Elcho Island, it was great to see them, and to see our other uni friends.

Aunty Jas is an August birthday girl, and she organised a yummy Chinese lunch in Glen Waverley. It has been a long time since all the Laus and ex-Laus were in the one place. It was fantastic to see everyone, and to welcome Susan to Australia.

Back to the present

August is a very popular month for birthdays, Happy Birthday to Honoria, Sinead, Jake, Aidan, Aunty Jas, and last but not least, an extra special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Gerard!!

Aidan had a birthday party at his new place last weekend. It was great to see everyone, and to enjoy the space at Stephen and Karen's new place. It's a bit hard to see from this photo, but we all managed to fit on the one table, and there was room in the lounge for another dining table the same size!

As you can see from the photos, both Eoin and Emma have changed quite a bit in a few weeks, and everyone was lining up for cuddles.




Eoin is absolutely gorgeous, and it looks like he's about to start crawling.








Beautiful Emma was a little harder to catch on camera now that she's mobile.




Jake was an absolute gun on the Guitar Hero (despite Emma trying her best to distract him).















Very soon it was the birthday boy's turn in the spotlight, and boy, wasn't he excited!! Luckily Dad was on hand to catch any wayward knives.

Vietnam - Part 4: Ho Chi Minh City and Mekong delta

Our final days in Vietnam were spent in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the Mekong Delta. We enjoyed this modern city, it has a different feel than Hanoi but still very enjoyable. The Mekong delta was great to see. It is very different to anything we have seen and a great way to see how the people of the Mekong delta live. We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels, the 220km underground network of tunnels built by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War. Amazing......

Vietnam - Part 3: Hoi An

Hoi An was another highlight of our trip to Vietnam.

This town is just beautiful. It has been kept as a heritage area and all the shops and houses have been restored to their former glory. This town is also known for its fabrics and tailors. You can get anything made her for about a tenth of the price you would pay back home. We got 4 suits made, 6 shirts, a couple of dresses and skirts. We had a great time here, even if you don't like shopping you will find yourself discussing the quality of fabrics with the shop attendant (and then end up buying multiple items).







































The food was also super, and we had our best meals of our holidays here. There was the Hoi An "white rose", which are very tasty seafood dumplings. The stuffed squid and skewered pork were amazing, we didn't leave anything behind.

Vietnam - Part 2: Hue

Hue, is in the middle of Vietnam and was the ancient capitol. We went to the Emperor's palace which was very impressive but it is still being renovated. I imagine that in a few years it will be spectacular.














































The Emperor was a very fussy eater and therefore Hue is now famous for its cuisine.

This is a few pics of the beautiful food we had in Hue. Two are of the "Lotus dish" - Lotus flower, rice steamed with lotus leaf, with lotus seeds.

The next is their specialty spring rolls, served in the shape of a peacock. Beautiful......

Vietnam - Part 1: Hanoi

We're back after 4 fantastic weeks away!! It was a wonderful holiday, but it's also great to be back home.

Our holiday started in Hanoi. We left wintry cold Melbourne and was greeted by temps of 35C+ and humidity in the 90s. We had a great time walking around this amazing city. Just crossing the street is an adventure. It is best for the uninitiated to close their eyes, and walk slowly across the street, the traffic (from all directions) will move around you.

The first photo's are of Derek trying to get a feel for the local customs.






































While we were in Hanoi we visited some friends that Sally worked with at the National Cancer Hospital 9 years ago. It was great to see them again and to meet the newer members of their families. Both Doctors Hieu and Luc warmly welcomed us into their homes, made us delicious foods. Luc and Nga also took us around sightseeing around their beautiful city. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.














































Some of the sights we saw included the One Pillar Pagoda and the Ho Chi Minh Museum. We also squeezed in a show at the fantastic Water Puppets, and cruised the beautiful Ha Long Bay.