Category: A Beer

Road trippin’

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We are here. We arrived in Cairns last night at 8pm. We left Rocky at 2pm Friday and after stopping in Mackay for dinner (and a pee stop somewhere before that) we arrived in Bowen around 10pm. 565km in 8 hours. Not bad going with four kids and a couple of stops.

The kids set up

Ocean View Motel just outside of Bowen

We pretty much just got up and left on Saturday morning and started heading for Townsville around 8am. It took close to three hours to do the 200km drive thanks to roadworks but the kids did so well! We got there and let them loose in the water park while we caught up with friends and family there. It was 2.5 hours very well spent.

After buying sushi and iced coffees we left close to 2pm and were half an hour out of town when we realised we needed fuel. So annoying! So we stopped and of course the kids needed to pee and Darby woke up from his deep sleep he was in. After some stuffing around we finally made it to Innisfail around 5pm and stopped for dinner.

We were all getting pretty much over it by this stage but still had 120km to go!

We had to keep going! We got back on the road around 6 and I ended up sitting in the back seat with the kids. Jules was inconsolable but happy with me there.

Frith and Jules having a quick break in Innisfail.

That last leg was a doozie bit we made it! So day two was 523km in 12 hours. Yes 12. It was pretty crazy towards the end but we made it and it is glorious to be on holidays with our people. Our incredible friends who we adore and wish we saw more of. So we are just soaking it all in. And enjoying the amazing Air BnB house. Seriously. The main bedroom and cot are nicer than our own bedroom at home!

It’s going to be an amazing 10 days. I’ll keep you posted!

What happens when…

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You hide toys  (in this case our entire collection of Little People) for 18 months and the kids rediscover them. Over an hour, maybe closer to two hours, of playing. Bliss!

While I hung out with the neighbours. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

What a view

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When we started talking about how to renovate this house two years ago, this is EXACTLY what I had in mind. Beautiful deck with our beautiful view that I can enjoy while preparing food for family and friends.

This is potato salad prepared in “Nanny’s potato salad bowl” and Nanny’s serving spoon with Quinn Maria pretending not to notice I was taking a photo.

I’m going to miss our beautiful house and neighbours more than you know. Pancakes on the deck with my world.

A real Melbourne day out

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Now this is what I’m talking about. It’s been a bit of a pain getting around with the stroller to be honest. I was planning on hitting up a couple of op shops today but the thought of getting on and off trains and trams just didn’t get me excited at all. So after an awesome morning with Hubs at PAX I decided to head on over to the Stomping Ground where my brother works, to sit back and chill out for a bit.

The best thing? It was ONE 14 minute train ride away with no changes. Winner winner! I got there, ordered my beer from my Bro and just enjoyed this beautiful brew pub.

It is suuuuuch a great place. So Melbourne. So I texted our good friends Nathan and Cal who live nearby to see if they wanted to come on down. And they did! And Hubs dragged himself away from PAX and came too! Brilliant!

Soooo much history with these beautiful people. They were the first couple I ever married once I became a celebrant!

(Yes, I did just dig that photo up!)

And Chance and April are only a year apart! (April and Chance May 2012)

And this happened today. Just too cute. (April and Julius Oct 2017)

I really just needed a relaxing afternoon with good friends to re-energise for the weekend. So good for the soul. ❤❤❤

What a great night!

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So as I mentioned, the main reason Mum was up this week was so that Hubs and I could go to our neighbour’s 30th party in town on Saturday night. It was fun getting all dressed up, but very weird leaving the house without Jules. I decided not to feel guilty though, as he was being well looked after by mum, and if I needed to, I could always pop home to give him a feed.

Oh my goodness we had the BEST NIGHT! Jules settled okay for Mum (it took a bit of rocking and cuddling but he didn’t want the expressed milk) and we stayed out dancing until the last song at 1:30am!

So much dancing to cheesy music with Hubs and these gorgeous girls!

The thing about a big night out is the morning after/next day. But Mum had that covered as well. It was time for their visit to Mount Morgan! So off they trotted around 9am and they didn’t get home until after 2pm. We had some recovery coffee and Hungry Jacks with the birthday boy, and after that we decided to take full advantage of child-free time and watched a movie during the day! Wild, I know. It was such a nice recovery from a fun night out. Thanks Mum!!!! And happy birthday Hobbsy!

This is my life

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I love my kids. I love My Hubs. Life is exhausting and chaotic and messy and I wonder if it will ever be different or easier; I wonder if my house will ever be tidy, but it’s where we’re at right now and we’re in it together, me and Hubs. And that’s all that matters.

Our attempts at a family photo. Chance was not interested…

4 weeks

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It’s been slow and glorious with Hubs around for the last three weeks and Mum before that. We are soaking up all the goodness. My little super hero.

We had quite a crowd of friends over today to officially welcome him (show day holiday up here) and wet his head. Brunch turned into lunch which turned into afternoon drinks which turned into dinner for the kids and us saying goodbye to the last people around 7pm. Just the kind of day we love.

Weekend with Ouma

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Hubs’ mum came up for the weekend for a grandkid fix and new baby snuggles. It’s always lovely having family around and the kids had a great time. There was a lot of this action…

We headed out to the Heritage Village yesterday for their open day and saw lots of cool stuff.

I think Hubs is quietly suggesting that we’d had enough fire engine bell…

There was also a bit of sitting around drinking coffee and wine and eating good food with good company. My favourite kind of weekend!

Thanks for visiting, Ouma!

Confession time

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My name is Renae and I’m a compulsive entertainer.

Entertaining, dinner parties and BBQs were a huge part of my childhood. In a sense I’ve been entertaining my whole life. (Just ask my parents. Badoom ching!) I just can’t help it. The need to have people over on a regular basis is in my blood. It’s genetic. And Hubs shares and encourages this passion.

Two weeks ago though, I put my foot down with Hubs. “No more dinner parties for the time being. I’m nearly 40 weeks pregnant and I need a break! We can have people over but we’re ordering pizza. Because even a simple BBQ equates to preparation and cleaning up and I’m done for now!” That’s what I told him. And I meant it I swear!

So Thursday rolls around and Hubs says “I have a three day weekend. Want to fire up the BBQ Saturday night?”

And what do I say?

“Sure sounds good. Might as well invite the neighbours over. Oh and (insert several more people here.) Nothing fancy. Just burgers.”

Except I decided to make home made bread rolls. Because I can’t help myself.

And I made a special trip to Woollies because I had a hankering for yummy cheese. Because I can’t help myself.

And we invited a few more people who didn’t end up coming (8 in fact) so we “only” had 7 adults and 6 kids.

But that’s it. I swear. I’m done. We had a great night and we can take a break on a high.

Unless I can’t help myself…