Houston we have a problem....

Greetings from Western Australia, or WA. WA also stands for Wait Awhile as we landed safe and sound 19 days ago and have JUST been hooked up to Internet in the last 24 hours! Its a small miracle considering Kirk signed up for service three months ago. Needless to say we are thrilled to be connected- even though reaching optimum band width requires me to hold a wire coat hanger in one hand and a piece of tin foil between my teeth. Ahhh the Outback!

Where to start....

The flight was long but uneventful. All of the awesome "treats" everyone gifted the kids with to kill time on the flight were opened on Beltway 8 en route to the airport! Needless to say, everything was a big hit and the kids were VERY entertained. A special thanks to the thoughtful friend that included orange fluorescent Silly Putty.

The flight is about 26 hours broken up by a "lay-over"- note to future visitors, while the luxury and extravagance of Qatar Air might draw you in, no amount of free liquor can make up for an eight hour lay over in Doha...we just made it out alive...consider yourself warned.

We have rented a house outside of Perth, in Peppermint Grove, which is as WASPy and high-falutin' as it sounds. American accents aside, we stick out everywhere we go simply because of how excited the kids are about everything! Sidewalks, paved roads, trains, retail other than Target, taxi cabs and most of all street musicians! Vee and Davis love to hand out money to ANYONE playing an instrument- after dolling out $20 in change, (two dollar coins look like nickels!) we have taken to drawing pictures, writing "Have a nice Day!" on them and handing those out. We don't get the same reaction but we can still buy lunch at noon!

The trains are easy to navigate and driving is not nearly as hard as I expected. I am ashamed to say, any and all cultural benefit the children get from our travels is sure to be nullified by the extreme profanity I use while navigating around town!

This post is a first go so I will cut it short. I promise more as I get the hang of posting photos.

Thanks so much for all your emails, they mean so much. Also, Petunia is still in residence at the TCYC with deSha- thanks to all of you that have been so sweet and loving to her while she awaits her big trip across the pond!

Adios mate!
The Atkinsons