Today. Picnic in the Australian Bush.

It's cold today {well....cold for a Queensland day} and very windy. After a morning of running errands, catching up on housework & emails, I decided to get the kids out of the house for some fresh air & fun. We packed a little picnic & headed 1 minute up the road......

Today, I'm Grateful for......{impulsive decisions}

I live in suburbia! But I love where we live! We're close to the city and close to the beach...the best of both worlds! It's a pretty central place! Our suburb is the 'sterotype norm'......an estate made up of fairly modern homes, a lot of young families....put simply.....a growing, brick & mortar area!! But.....if you travel 1km up the road you'll be heading North or South on the main freeway, or 3km West & your into the Gold Coast Hinterland mountains, or 2 km East & you're driving through 'rural' cane field farms! I love where we live! There's always something to do....somewhere to go!

And yesterday afternoon, as I clocked off from work at 3pm, with the most amazing feeling of FREEDOM.....THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS HAVE BEGUN!!!!! I wanted to kick off the holidays with a BANG! I got home to a very happy Ella {who had spent the day with her Nanny...they had been swimming & lunching & meeting Santa!!!}, I decided to succomb to the muggy 31degree heat & head to the beach for an evening picnic! So, I crammed a few goodies into a bag & off we set! We had to make a pit stop at the post office & to the local grocer to buy some hot chicken!

I drove through our populated suburbia, and into the cane fields! It's amazing how you can go from a modern, developed area to weave through a bend in the road & be in the middle of hectares of cane fields....I love it! 10 minutes later & we arrived at the sleepy little bayside fishing village! Another little treasure just minutes from our home! It was nice! It was perfect in fact! However, it would've been all the more sweeter with Chris there too....but he was in Melbourne yesterday on business & wasn't due back til late last night!

We sprawled out my favourite blanket, we snacked, I drank wine {hey, first day of the holidays....starting with a bang remember!}, we ate our greasy chicken & garlic balls, we dug in the sand, chased seagulls, watched the sunset, chatted to some 'colourful' locals, swam fully dressed & hung out until the wind had a chill to it & the moon was making his debut for the evening!

So....on that note.....I'm grateful for impulsive decisions....the decisions to drop everything, pack a bag & go somewhere totally unplanned!! It's usually those moments, those decisions, that result in lovely memories!

Cheers to holidays, I say!!!

What are you grateful for at the moment? To see lots of inspiration & gratefulness, head over to Maxabella's!

Happy Weekend All :)

Time to REST......{week~a~boo}

Week~A~Boo!!

Oh, hello there! Apologies for not getting my weekly week-a-boo post up last night.....quite frankly....I was just way too exhausted! I actually fell asleep at 7:30pm putting my little Miss to bed :) I then rose again at 9pm & attempted to upload, resize photos & blog.....but decided back to bed was a much more sensible option! Last week was MAMMOTH....and I honestly did NOT STOP! If I was sitting....it was because I was driving or working at the computer or on invitations. If my eyes were shut, it was because I was blinking :) It was the most busiest work-jammed, event-filled week I've had in a while, and even though I love being busy & I LOVED all the work I had to get through.....I'm now looking forward to a slightly slower week....and maybe even some sleep each night :)

So.....the weekEND? How was yours? What did you get up to?

Mine consisted of a night market on Friday Evening, IKEA shopping on Saturday, a good friend's birthday cocktail party on Saturday night, grocery shopping Sunday morning and a massive family picnic in the park for the rest of Sunday at my favourite-beach side park to celebrate 2 birthdays & a visit from 1 of Chris's brothers & his gorgeous girlfriend. Oh, and of course the fun of Halloween squeezed in there Sunday night ;) So, I can't complain.....it was a good busy! And the perfect weekend to finish off the many late nights of the week before!

My gorgeous bestie {Monica from Sweet'n'Sexy Scraps} & I at the night markets, Wishart, Friday evening 29/10/10. We shared a stall....a lovely mixture of my prints & lunchbox notes and her gorgeous hair goodies! We spent most of the night laughing, sipping wine & chatting....now that's my kind of market :))

Saturday night was a BLAST! My teaching partner, Sheree, turned 40! Her party was at her gorgeous house....complete with a photo booth, caterers, cocktail machines, DJ, dessert/candy table.....oh yeah, it was good :) This is a photo of a photo.....from the photo booth....Sheree & I. Gosh we had some fun with that photo booth all night :))

Sunday.....was filled with family, laughs, a chance to relax {Finally!}, fish n chips, champagne, good coffee, LOVE, and those lovely moments where you just sit back & stare at the amazing people around you & feel so full of blessings & beauty! Corny I know....but so true!

Above: {Chris, Ella & I} My 2 all time favroutie people! My 2 LOVES!!!!

Our newest family member, Lily, is almost 3.5months old now....gosh we love her! What a sweet little Soul!

Above: Chris's brother Mike & his girlfriend Moriah....such a beautiful couple! It was so lovely to see 'Uncle Mike' again!

Aunty, Nan, Jenni {Chris's lovely Mum}. Ella & 2 of her cousins, Ava & Elina! Celebrating Aunty & Jenni's birthdays.....and all the beauty in life!

My beautiful sister-in-law Michelle & I with our gorgeous girls {minus baby Lily...who was being cooed over by other family members!} I love my family!

Fairies in the trees! The girls play so well together! It was a day of non-stop giggles & running :)

{Chris & I...having a little smooch in the park!!} Part of Shadow Shot Sunday on Hey Harriet here!

Back home on Sunday evening to start the Halloween celebrations! We filed with bucket with treats, lit some spooky candles & dressed Ella up....yep, in last year's costume...lol....but she didn't know haaaa, she can't remember last year, & we hardly got any photos....so it's all good baby!

Our little Strawberry...trick or treating :)

And now....it's Monday morning...I plan to catch up the housework {sorry, my little neglected house} and maybe grab a slice of rest....and of course find some of adventure to embark on! Ella is asking if she can call her best buddy & invite him to the beach...but the weather isn't looking promising! We'll see!!

Happy Monday All!

Please....join in with this week's WEEK A BOO by adding a link to your blog below!