Like everything else, the expat lifestyle is chock full of pros and cons. Our community in Suva is amazing, but ever changing. You learn to make the most of your time with people you love and so here we are with some of our favorite people of 2017 celebrating Xmas. See you soon to Dave, Rahda, Dale, Finny and Solly!
….then, we wake up the next morning and this is our view from our kitchen and we are reminded of the pros. 🙂
More pros…..here we go…due date: End of May, 2018!
But, first, it is NY’ Eve at the Sofitel in Nadi with Dale, Rahda and the kiddos……
…and of course, the water slide. We usually wait till after lunch and then, it is on…..
For the second year in a row, Abby’s parents came to visit and after another year under our belt, we put together a world class 10 day trip.
We started at one of our favorite spots about 90 minutes up the Coral Coast. Mantanivusi. This is the first place we visited a few years back and it never disappoints. For this trip, it was a quick afternoon visit on our way to Sigatoka.
Enough time for Will to demand a swim in the pool.
Followed by a quick boat ride out to the reef…
Next stop was Natandola where Lucy got some braids……
..and Will and I took a horseback ride on the beach. Somethings look like a ton of fun, but are actually slow and painful. Slowly riding bareback in the sand with a squirmy almost 4 year old boy is a great example.
We followed up the beach day with a day at the Kula Adventure Park.
Abby and I ended the day with a date and yet another world class sunset….and a growing bump.
Next up was Beqa Island. Beqa Island is best known for its Firewalkers…..and coincidentally, their ability to treat burns.
…and yes, the bure’s at the Beqa Lagoon Resort are a bit more plush than other places.
Our own beach with Viti Levu (our island) in the background. Don’t worry, we will never get used to this…..
More fire…..
Not much scares Will, but I think sticking his entire hand in his mouth and squealing is code for h-e-l-p! This will be fun to revisit in about 10 years when he is towering over me.
The next day we took a boat out to go snorkeling and yes….I can never resist a dive off a rope, cliff or top of the boat.
….and seriously, I think Lucy belongs under water.
Another spectacular Bega Sunset…
The pink hues in the sky go perfectly with Abby’s prego dress. One of our last family of 4 shots….not quite sure why I went with the Johnny Cash outfit.
We joined our friends Aria, Janah, Joe and Tony for a day at a waterfall about 20 minutes outside Suva….and I couldn’t resist showing the kids how its done…
Thankfully, we are past the upside down clothing stage….it was fun, but exhausting.
We were certainly lucky to be able to chose between the International School and The Learning Center for Lucy’s next school. ISS (International School Suva) is a big K-12 school about 20-30 minutes away……big school, big resources, lots of expat kids.
On the other hand, The Learning Center is a school that is near our house, much smaller with a much stronger sense of community amongst the kids and families. We decided on TLC, but after lobbying pretty hard to the school administrators, Lucy was put on the wait list so we enrolled her at ISS.
Funny how things work. It turns out that the class size at ISS is 12-13 with 2 teachers and it is far more diverse than we ever realized and Lucy has just blossomed, met tons of new friends and has seriously loved every day so far.
Here is Alice taking Lucy to her first day of school.
No first day jitters here…just a girl trying to hydrate and get to class on time…
After a quick trip back to CO, I had a nice visit with Pete and Brad at LAX on my way back to Fiji. We have been close friends for over 40 years and from the looks of it, we are just entering our primes….
Okay, so a few more random shots of Life in Suva prior to our Australian Adventure!
All I can say about this one is that I can’t imagine Abby looking better and me looking worse…..:)
Okay, I lied…..and we are going to miss Warren and his family who recently left us for Madagascar.
After two years going to the pool, Will decided he was ready to start swimming without floaties which when you spend most of your time around water is a much bigger deal than ditching the diapers. Here he is hamming it up…
Post swim wear with his recently departed bestie Gerard……
We are going to miss Gerard, but Tama is still here…:)
A year or so earlier, we went to The Outrigger resort to celebrate the historic election of our first woman president…….so, we felt the need to go back and make things right with this place. Turns out, I still blame The Outrigger….but, somehow we managed to have fun.
…not sure how.
Back to the pools at Colo-i-Suva to watch the aerial acrobatics…..
Lucy taken a very casual approach to surfing at Nasili…..
Posing with her new umbrella…..for some reason, she wanted me to drive slowly so that she could walk besides the car the whole way home.
As we headed into the third tri-mester, we did what any rational family would do. We decided to move from our current house of 2 1/2 years to a new house right around the corner.
When we make big decisions (like should we move to Fiji or stay in CO), we usually pull out the pro / con list….but, for this one, it was a total no brainer. The house, the property and the owner are all amazing.
Here is our pool area. Let’s just say the previous two tenants liked to entertain. What we need is a Ping Pong table now.
..and of course, the backyard has a zip line.
6 days after moving into the new house, Abby hit the 35 week mark and flew to Brisbane to be closer to her Dr and the Mater Mothers Hospital. We would join a month later. Here we are at Nausori Airport saying good bye. Everyone was in good spirits until Will learned why we were there….and then it all fell apart. Not pretty, but mommy made it safely to Brisbane that night which was quite a relief.
When we look back on our time at Waldorf, I will miss their celebrations. For William’s 4th birthday, there is the obligatory story of William by Shirlyn….
….blowing out the candles with his cape still on.
Followed by a line where the kids feed Will cake and each gave him a big hug!
Then, it was home for a more intimate birthday with Will’s boys. Darcy, Gerard, Tama and Jack.
Happy 4th Birthday William!
Will with his prized Hammer present….
Lucy is ready for it to be April 18th as she is ‘next’…
Before heading to Brisbane to join moms and start our great Australian Adventure, Lucy decided to try to stand up under a concrete stair case at school. Yet another lesson learned at ISS.
Signing off as a family of 4 for the last time!
Lots of love,
Abby, Lucy, Will and Clancey…..oh, and we now have a three-legged dog named Shine as well.