Our Weekend Away

Christmas dinner (thanks for this gem Rikki!)

My family is pretty keen on Salt Water Sandals, clearly

Nanna cuddles

Aunty Ash trying to have a pre-party nap

Kissing cousins

Baby swapping

Friday afternoon my sister, brother-in-law, mother, Romy & I all went to the Gold Coast for the weekend. We had a family Christmas dinner altogether on the Friday night as this Christmas we all won't be together as some of my family will be off travelling or spending it with their in-laws. We all exchanged gifts, drank wine and ate lots of nice food. It was a very lovely evening, and Romy enjoyed meeting her extended family for the first time she didn't want to go to sleep. But after a couple of songs and a few walks around the garden, my cousin managed to get her to sleep.

On the saturday morning we woke up early to spend a few calm moments with the birthday boy before everybody arrived & to get organised for the big birthday party. While everybody was setting up mum, one of the aunties and myself quickly ducked out to get my mum a pair of salt water sandals, as everybody else had a pair and she didn't want to miss out! While we were out we had coffee and juice at this cute little cafe called The Barefoot Barista, and I had one of the tastiest coffees I've had in a long time. We got home in time to finish setting up for the party and not long afterwards everybody started arriving. There were so many cute babies it was almost too much! It was Romy's first birthday party and she had a blast being surrounded by so many people and so much noise. She especially loved playing with her cousins xylophone! On Sunday we all went out for breakfast before we said our goodbyes and headed for the air port.

Hopefully next time we're all together I am able to take proper photographs rather than the above grainy iPhone snaps with an actual camera. My cousin's partner Rikki took some really beautiful photographs over the weekend, and I cannot wait to see the rest of the moments she snapped up. It was one of the loveliest weekends we have had in a while, and I especially enjoyed seeing Romy so happy in my families company. I can't wait for her to spend more time with (almost) everyone at Christmas time.

Romy's First Road Trip

On Sunday morning we left early for Romy's first road trip. Luke & I both were born and grew up in Gunnedah, and a lot of our extended family lives there. We both hadn't been back together in a good couple of years, so it was nice to catch up with family we hadn't seen in quite some time. I was a little worried before hand about how Romy would go for an extended period of time in the car, but she loved it! So much so that when we stopped at traffic lights or to give way she made little sad noises and would stop when we were in motion. So we were pretty lucky in that regard. The trip normally takes four hours, but we took our time and stopped for an hour to feed her, so we arrived late Sunday afternoon. After quickly catching up with Luke's dad and unpacking our things, we met up with my Nan & Aunty on my Dad's side. Afterwards we had pizza for dinner, which is a Sunday tradition for us that we were able to keep up with this week! 

On Monday we visited my Aunty, Uncle & Cousin on my Mum's side out at their farm for morning cups of tea in the sun. We ended up staying a little longer than we thought and didn't take Romy's bottle with us, so we had to leave to feed her. Shortly after we got back to Luke's Dad's house where we were staying, one of my Aunty's visited with her parents and one my Cousin. And following their visit was Luke's Aunty & Cousins. By this point in the afternoon Romy was getting quite overwhelmed and tired and she just wouldn't settle. After she finally settled, we had dinner and finished the evening looking through some old photos. It was really nice to hear stories about when Luke was a little boy. 

On Tuesday morning I caught up with an old friend and met her daughter Elsie, who was born shortly after Romy. The next stop after that was my Granny on my Mum's side. My Mum's Sister called in quickly also and she snapped up some cute family photos. There is only a small handful of photos of just Luke, Romy & I, so that was nice to have some more taken. We went back out to my Aunty & Uncles farm to have dinner, and it was such an enjoyable evening with baked risotto and homemade apple crumble. Romy was on her best behaviour and even skipped her nightly witching hour and was content to be nursed by everyone and fawned over!

On our last morning in Gunnedah we went out for breakfast at a cafe where my one of my Cousins works with Luke's Dad & his partner & her two girls. We loaded up on coffee and left around lunch time. The trip home went relatively fast and we called into my Sister's house on the way back to the Coast for surprise Romy hugs. When we finally got home it was quite late, so we unpacked, bought some wine and ordered in pizza. It was the perfect way to end our couple of days together. We both had the loveliest time, and getting away for a couple of days had encouraged us to plan some upcoming get aways and little day trips. 

We're Home!

We got home this evening from our little road trip, and I must say it was a success! Romy was a great car traveller, and adjusted quite well to the new environment & the steady stream of visitors. I'll post about Romy's first little trip away tomorrow, but for now there is unpacking, wine & pizza.