a flying adventure

Earlier this month, Reuben and I (along with my Mum, Dad, sister and brother) took a trip to Perth to attend my cousin’s wedding.

Mum, Jordan, Reuben and I had to leave this year’s Easterfest a day early to catch our flight. After some kerfluffles with our tickets (which thank the Lord we had Jordan with us because Mum and I were just about having kittens) we boarded the plane and took off on Reuben’s first ever flight.

waiting to board his first flight!

He was SUCH a good traveller. He was really antsy when we were waiting at the gate… whiny and crying and carrying on like a pork-chop. I was feeling a little worried about whether this behaviour would carry over to the plane, and I could see looks of trepidation in the eyes of my fellow passengers. However, after a bit of protesting during take-off (and no one can blame him for that!) once we were at altitude, Reuben snuggled into my arms and promptly fell asleep, and continued to sleep for the entire flight, until after we had landed!

We had a lovely time in Perth. Of course the highlight of the trip was seeing my beautiful cousin Emily get married to her husband Andrew. Their wedding day was gorgeous, and made all the more special by the opportunity to spend it with my awesome extended family who we definitely don’t get to see enough of!

Emily and Andrew’s wedding ceremony was beautiful and so God-focussed. Such a wonderful young couple, with a brilliant future ahead of them! It was extra special that the man marrying them is Emily’s grandad.

My date for the wedding scrubbed up pretty well huh?

and I felt pretty glamourous in my slinky little black beaded dress, which (I just have to gloat a little) cost me $10 on sale from $95!!!

There are no words to explain this.

I absolutely loved that I got to sit with these two beautiful cousins at the reception. I had such fun catching up with them!

Nothing like a bridal selfie!!

I was also very excited to introduce Reuben to all of the family for the first time, and in particular to my beautiful Oma.

Because we got to Perth the day before the wedding, the bride to be demanded as many cuddles with Reuben as possible, before she went off on her honeymoon!

Reuben meeting Sarah, his great Tante Christina and cousin Sam

Later in the week, Reuben and Sam had a playdate together. These two are about 11 days apart in age, but much more than that in size!

Oma enjoyed many snuggles with my petite man. She was happy that she was able to carry and cuddle him for longer periods of time, because he is not very heavy!

Reuben was pretty popular over in Perth. There was always a pair of willing arms ready for a cuddle, and they didn’t even mind that he comes with a pukey-cloth and an inevitable vomit stain. Lovely family!

Our time in Perth was both busy and relaxing. I feel like we packed in plenty of activity, but we also got lots of sleep-ins (seriously, Reuben slept until after 8am Perth-time – which I just have to point out is 10am Qld time – every single day we were there!). I unfortunately had a very unpleasant toothache episode whilst there, but luckily for me the uncle we were staying with is a doctor, and looked after me well!

I enjoyed spending some time with my lovely uncle and Godfather Oom Campbell,

and with my beautiful aunty/Godmother Tan Tan.

I got to sit next to another lovely aunty, Tante Anthea, when we went out for dinner one night.

After which, this may have happened.

And I had a fun day in the city shopping with these spunky people!

Above all I just enjoyed spending as much time with my very-loved family as possible. And it was extra special to be with them to celebrate my 26th birthday. I have never had a birthday in Perth or with any of my extended family from there before. The family made a huge effort to come together for a lovely dinner, and I appreciate it more than I can say. (So thanks!!)

A 26th birthday selfie!

So many awesome people came out to celebrate my birthday with me!

me with my cousin Zac

And with my beautiful Oma

And with my sister Alexie and cousin Caleb

Our flight home was scheduled for just on midnight, the night of my birthday, and a handful of cousins accompanied us to wave us off. Our flight ended up being delayed for an hour, so we plonked ourselves in the middle of the gate lounge and made the most of the extra unexpected time together. Reuben had been asleep at my uncle & aunty’s house but woke up when we were leaving, and stayed awake for our entire delay. But the kid is really a magnificent traveller, and this time managed to fall asleep during take-off, right in the middle of that it-feels-like-someone-is-sitting-on-my-head sensation you get as the wheels leave the tarmac. He slept the entire flight, as we got off the plane onto the tarmac and into the airport, through multiple arm-changes as we took turns using the bathroom, through collecting our baggage, and halfway out of the airport, only awakening when a screaming toddle was wheeled past us in a pram!

Having a fabulous time in the middle of the transit lounge in the middle of the night!

My angelic travelling baby…

Reuben and I missed the other half of our family very much, and were so happy to be reunited with them again. Reuben and Mayana hardly let go of each other for the rest of the day, it was absolutely the cutest thing ever.

Siblings reunited. So. Flipping. Cute.

And while it was definitely weird having a birthday away from my husband and daughter, I was one very lucky lady when I got home to the most fabulous surprise present ever…..

Seriously. More on that later.

We had a lovely time away, and I feel honoured that I was able to be present for Emily’s big day. I love my big wonderful noisy family, I’m so blessed to be a part of it! And I can’t wait to go back for more… but next time, I’m taking the rest of the family with me!

point + shoot: newlyweds

On the weekend, my very lovely friend Tjalara married her prince charming, Kevin.

She made a very beautiful bride, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone glow in quite the way she did…

The wedding was absolutely beautiful, with lots of butterflies and lots of purple. The wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses were all designed and made by the bride’s very talented sister, Rhaman.

Congratulations beautiful Tjalara – I’m so happy for you and love you very much!

(Please pop past Sunny + Scout to join in!)

turn back time...

Blog This Challenge 14

If you could choose a day, a week, a moment in time to re-live - what would it be?

Okay, I'm going to go totally cliche here and say the time around my wedding and honeymoon.

Only because I've been thinking about it a lot lately. In just over a week, my gorgeous husband and I will be celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary!

I loved our wedding day, and our honeymoon. I was so happy, excited, in love ... not much has changed on that front.

There is not much I would change about my wedding day, maybe a few little things. Perhaps I would make sure we had time to do a 'leaving circle' at our afternoon tea reception to say goodbye to everyone. We had to leave quickly when we realised the time because the sun was going down and we needed light for our photos! I also wouldn't agree to driving our best man and his girlfriend home on the way to our wedding night. We were so shocked when he asked that we said yes... but that's SO weird, right????

But honestly, they are little petty things, and didn't really affect my day, and certainly haven't affected my marriage, which is after all the most important thing that came from that day.

I would just love to re-experience that incredible feeling of butterflies and pure joy and elation when I was walking down the aisle towards that man who would soon become my husband. I don't think you could ever truly replicate that exact feeling.

And the honeymoon... well it was awesome. We had the best time touring the South Island of New Zealand, stopping to look at things that interested us, walking, eating good food, drinking good coffee and wines. Climbing glaciers (not something I ever thought I would have done), touring beer and chocolate factories, riding 'gondolas', experiencing snow, being completely awe-struck by the incredible scenery... It was so much fun to have an adventure on our own and I truly loved every moment of our honeymoon.

Even coming home was a great time. We had never lived together, so moving in to our little 'Love Shack' (a granny flat under a friend's house) and beginning our life together was so much fun. It was a tiny little place, a bedroom, living area/'kitchen' (which had a bench and a sink and fridge, no stove/oven) and a teeny bathroom/toilet. We had five months there, and it was pure joy. Then we began our new adventure... moving away from all that we knew to a town three hours away to do uni. But I'm stretching the limits of this challenge by going that far!

Just remembering, writing it all down, sitting here thinking about individual moments that made those days so special - even reliving it in that way has made me feel happy. Brings back all those warm fuzzy feelings which are what after all what make those days worth re-living in the frist place.

Save your marriage:

Buy a GPS. I’m not kidding. If we hadn’t had bought our new best friend yesterday, today would have been slightly scary.

Think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever met a couple who DON’T argue when they are trying to find their way to an unfamiliar place. You know the scenario. Hubby is invariably driving, totally thinks he knows where he’s going. Then, he becomes confused – maybe there’s roadworks, or a confusing round-a-bout, or he just takes a wrong turn (but would never admit it). So wifey gets asked to check the referdex. Wifey invariably takes a few minutes to figure out where exactly they are, which often involves turning the book upside down or sideways, which for some reason frustrates hubby’s no end – even if it’s working! Insults are thrown, voices are raised and before you know it your’re in a fight, even if you’re one of those couples (like we are) that truly never fights!

Seriously, the only time I really ever saw my parents fight was in the car over directions and being lost. We were so assured of my parents not-fighting-ness, that when this particular referdex fight occurred, my poor little sisters were beside themselves thinking we were going to become a divorce family! So not pretty.

We have all been there, and it’s okay to admit it.

Thankfully, technology has provided the answer to yet another problem. The GPS. Today, the venue of the wedding we were going to was changed at the last minute due to weather. Now, usually, this would have been a guaranteed for a feisty trip to Brisbane. Not today! We just let our friend Tom Tom know, and our trip was re-routed just like that! After the wedding, we needed to go to the shop to get a wedding card to take to the reception. Good old Tom Tom to the rescue again! We just let him know we wanted a shop, he provided a list and we chose one we liked.

Sigh.

Have I mentioned I love Tom Tom?

Now I’ve got that out, I’ll get to the part that I actually came here to blog about: The wedding.

It was Pete’s cousin Lesley’s wedding to Ryan. What a gorgeous couple. It was such a beautiful wedding, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a groom so gooey and in-awe of his bride ever (except maybe Pete, lol). He had such a goofy, love-struck look throughout the entire ceremony, it was soooo lovely.

The bridesmaids were beautiful, the bride was STUNNING – it was a really nice wedding.

The reception was also beautiful. Very family orientated similar to our wedding. Funny and heartfelt speeches, yummy food, good company. A lovely way to spend an afternoon.

The centrepieces and the tables. So simple yet so effective.

Poor Mayana was totally wrecked by the end of it all. She didn’t really have any decent day sleeps, and was passed around a bit too much than she knew how to handle. Just a wee bit overstimulated. She can’t help it that everyone thinks she’s gorgeous and wants to cuddle her! We didn't have the happiest car ride home, but after a feed when we got here she went down very quickly. Here’s hoping she gives me a sleep-in for my birthday present tomorrow! (at this point, 6/6.30am would be pretty good, lol).

I’ll leave you with some photos of my gorgeous family from today…

Me with the gorgeous bride, Lesley..

My lovely little daughter and I… ain’t she just the prettiest thing you ever did see!?

My hunky spunky husband! He scrubs up pretty good huh!?

What a lovely way to spend my last day of 21-ness.

Ps. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s my birthday tomorrow!

Embarrassing/Silly Wedding Photos

I was reading a thread of embarrassing wedding photos on a wedding forum I frequent, so decided to look for some of my own. Ooh we had a few :P Thought I'd share. Maybe later I'll do a post with some of my favourite wedding photos.

Me and Papa pre-wedding. Clearly, I take after my Pop, who is incapable of shutting up for long enough to pose for a photo :P

My family and I (apart from Jordan my brother who was getting ready with Pete). I promise you we were all very excited and happy about this wedding!

I was seriously over smiling by this point, plus my feet were killing me and I had a major over-tired headache - (Penny was finding me neurofen as I posed :P )

Seriously Hon, I really don't think I was *that* heavy!!!!

This photo is slightly concerning - the way my brother-in-law keeps his face so calm and collected as he attempts to strangle my brother :P :P