Wombats and Koalas and Kangaroos, Oh My!

It has been such an eventful weekend that I am just now sitting down to write. Friday at school was okay. I prepared most of the day for this coming week's lessons. I rearranged the classroom the way I wanted it, so tomorrow will be a test to see how it works out. Friday evening we didn't do much. Kendall, Mary, and I went to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant near Mullaloo and then came back to our house and relaxed and laughed at YouTube videos. It was raining (of course) so we didn't plan for much.
Saturday was a pretty big day. I woke up the sound of a two year old wandering through the house. Ella, Pippa's granddaughter spent the day with us. She is just the cutest thing! She became my shadow for the day and loved holding on to my cell phone for me. Kendall went to a fashion show in the city that morning and we later met up to talk with a travel agent about our trip during our break. On a side note -- Kendall's host sister, Stephanie Whife, is a model and is in several newspapers, magazines, etc. around the country. However, Kendall was in today's newspaper watching the runway at the show. We got a big kick out of that! At the travel agency, Kendall and I didn't really accomplish much. All of the tour packages we liked were already booked. There are only a few more options open, so we need to figure out something soon. Last night, all of us joined together for dinner at John and Hazel's house. This was Chloe's farewell dinner this time. Chloe leaves on Wednesday night to go back to America. We had great food and laughs, but the night didn't end there. Heather, Kendall's host mom, took us to Subiaco and dropped us off to enjoy the night on the town. We went to a couple different pubs and ended up getting back home around 3:30am. It was a long, but fun night.
Today was probably the best day I've had here... even the weather was great! John picked Mary and me up and took us to the dog beach to give us a glimpse of that. It was so funny to see, but the dogs looked like there were having the best time. I wish Bruiser could be here to enjoy it! Then, we got the other girls and Hazel took us to Caversham Wildlife Park to enjoy the day with the native Australian animals. It was absolutely the best thing ever! We got to hang out with the kangaroos and pet them as much as we liked. We also saw kookaburras, koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, dingos, llamas, camels, and MUCH MORE! It was so amazing! Kendall and I even ventured out for a camel ride... and might I add, not the most comfortable thing. We also watched a farm show and got to see a dog round the sheep up (Babe was filmed in Australia, by the way). The farm show also included the sheering of a sheep. We got to experience so much in one day that I am about to pass out right now. Too bad I need to prepare myself for full-on teaching tomorrow. I LOVE AUSTRALIA!