Just another piece of the puzzle

My parents came over from the US for a quick but action-packed visit and we had so much fun!

Jet lag is NO joke but they were troopers and hit the ground running when they got off the plane. We hung around Sydney...visiting the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House...Manly...Darling Harbour, The Fish Market, The Maritime Museum...

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                                                         (Mom loved the Fish Market)

We then made the trip north to Cairns (pronounced Cans, of course) for a few days... We visited the Cairns Tropical Zoo to get up close and personal with some kangaroos and koalas...

 Took a tour through the Daintree Rainforest and saw the beautiful Queensland coast...

 We spent a day diving/snorkeling on The Great Barrier Reef which was prettyyyy amazing. So many colors and fishes and turtles and clams and OCEAN! These pictures...are... hilarious. It is impossible to look good/normal with those goggles on.

We spent the rest of our time in Cairns eating, drinking, and betting- in typical Australia fashion.

We then headed back to Sydney in time for a rugby game at Olympic Stadium-- the NSW Waratahs vs. the QLD Reds. The 'Tahs won!

It was so nice to have a little bit of home all the way in Australia. We FaceTime or text with our families almost daily so there wasn't too much to catch up on but it was fun to show them our new life over here. My mom said she had a flashback of being a little girl and putting together a big world map puzzle. At that time, Australia was just a little piece in her hand.. but coming here and actually visiting this huge, beautiful land made it become full-circle for her. I guess the more you travel and the more of the world you see, the more things "come together" and the smaller the world feels!

Miss them already!