Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

Traveling with young kids is always a hassle, but when you travel to Bali it’s all worth it. And we did so this week in true Aussie style: limit culture to trying the local beers, and only do short ‘kids-friendly’ trips to the zoo and the beach. Otherwise just relax, do a bit of shopping, hang around the pool and wait for Happy-hour to start at 4pm. Kids easily help themselves with all the other families around, so before you know its way after bed time! Bali is perfect for families. From Adelaide it’s less than 5 hours flying, pretty close by for Aussie standards.  Also many resorts are fully catered for kids, including playgrounds and daily activities. Food is catered for all cultures and most of all it is soooo layed back and relaxed that mum and dad even forget about parenting from time to time. We just arrived back this morning, but we’re already longing for our next trip. We’ll be back ...    

Four new Australian Passports. It all seems so simple when you look at them. Just a passport really, what’s the big deal?  Well, the big deal is that these four little documents are the final result of nine years-worth of endless paperwork, red tape and bureaucracy … up to the very last hurdle. Sure, we love our new country, but dear lord you need some thick skin and tons of patience to work the authorities.   Let us explain in this link: the road to our Australian Passports .  Got the picture? You can imagine that when these documents finally arrived today, it was a bit like finishing a marathon. We got through nine years of obstacles, and can now proudly show our Australian Passports.  To celebrate we booked a trip to Bali.   Yoohoo !!!

All exited we went to the pet shop this weekend. The girls picked one fish each: Queen Elsa (the white one) and Princess Ana (the goldfish), after the Disney movie Frozen. Aren't they cute? Back home we placed the bag into the water, let it acclimatise a while, and then " Let it Go " into the new small aquarium. Blub blub, welcome to the family!

OK, you may get a little dizzy watching these pictures. But it's what you get when the winter rain finally clears and we manage to get to the Balhanah playground. Here's Nora with her friend Eden... (thanks to Rachel for photoshopping. Quite impressive!)

Thanks to the family in Holland we now all have a third citizenship: an 'official' Frisian Passport! Tige Tank broer !

Was it Mother's Day, or Pancake Day? Well, in our family it was both. First thing in the morning we had breakfast in bed with Crumpets. And then after all the drawings, crafts and Mother's Day gifts we made it to the new Dutch pancake place in Hahndorf. What a treat for the worlds best Mum!

It took him some years, but Dad finally caught up with his girls. Just like Mum did two years ago he made his citizenship pledge and received his Australian Citizenship. Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi oi oi !