Life is a Journey

Canberra : Australian War Memorial

We had a very slow start this morning as Sarah had been sick all night so neither her or Leanne had gotten much sleep. The other girls chatted and played upstairs, Kevin & I used our laptops. Noel woke and we started having breakfast. Today was hot cross buns (and an orange). Then eventually Leanne & Sarah surfaced around 10am. Sarah was feeling better and pushed herself to go out – which in hindsight was probably not the best idea.

Around 11am we were finally all ready to leave

for todays destination – the Australian War Memorial – quite fitting with Anzac Day being on Monday.

Unfortunately when we arrived Sarah starting feeling poorly again and spent most of the time here sitting or lying on various lounges.

We checked out some of the exhibits…

Then watched a presentation/film on the Berlin bombing during WWII. But what the kids really wanted to do was hit the kids Discovery Zone. So Amy & the guys went off to explore some more and Leanne & I took the other girls to play. They had a lot of fun. Flying helipcopter…

Playing in the bunks on a submarine – they did this for AGES.

Getting dressed up.

Exploring the trenches.

This was a great area and I think were here for a good hour, maybe more. Unfortunately my feet were really painful again today (so hoped they wouldn’t be in the cooler weather) so I wasn’t up to do a lot of walking around.

Everyone was hungry by now to we decided to get lunch at the cafe.

Unfortunately the vegetarian options were very slim (only a chargrilled vegetable wrap – which I’m not fond of – and a spinach quiche – which I didn’t feel like) so Amy & I both ordered wedges. Something I very rarely do. Luckily they were very yummy.

We sat outside as inside was crowded and noisy. It was cool but lovely none-the-less.

There was still lots more to see inside but the kids were ready to leave so we headed out to see the Hall of Memory.

The four pillars  represent the four ancient elements: earth, air, fire and water. They represent the all the landscapes and climates where Australians have served and died.

And the roll of honor. These places always choke me up – so many deaths and so much heartache. There are over 102,000 names of Australians who died serving our country.

We then had a bit of a photo shoot.

And finally left just before 3pm.

Back at the apartment the girls run upstairs to their rooms to play and hang out, Kevin tried to have a snooze and the rest of us chatted and relaxed the afternoon , and evening away. I was in charge of dinner tonight – pasta with tomato sauce.