The Family Marathon

Two Saturdays ago we were suppose to go to Caths for tea but at about 3pm I was feeling like death warmed over. David rang Cath and said we might have to cancel and Cath said that she had already put the roast on and we had to come! I promptly woofed my cookies and went to bed for 2 hours. After I woke up (feeling better) we headed over to Cath's ... and waiting for us was a surprise! This Guy!!!! Joel was in town for a week doing a course at the TAFE, which is pretty much next door to the workshop. David and I got to have lunch with him everyday. It was all kinds of awesome. We also had tea at our place and showed him all the renos. Joel made us tea at Cath's one night (the yummiest Lasagna I have ever eaten). Did I mention how great it was to have him here for the week? On Friday it got even better 'cos Joel's bridey bride flew down for the weekend. Cath, Bec and I offered to pick Krys up from the airport and swing by DFO on the way home. Lucky Bec got the back seat. Cath pretended to do work whilst shopping at DFO Whilst I pretended to be smart whilst shopping at DFO Before Friday I found DFO painful. I firmly believed that it was an acre of retail space where ugly clothes, shoes and household goods went to die. Also I'm not really a "shopper". I don't usually go to the Plaza just to walk around and look and if I do go (usually with Cath or Vyc) I only buy stuff on special. Usually our budget is pretty tight and I would always prefer to spend money on trips or family outings than another shirt or pair of work pants. After saying all that... last Friday I rocked at shopping. When I got home I told Dave that I won (if wining involved spending the most and leaving with the most shopping bags). This is why I am a convert to DFO. Sales on stuff I really wanted. I bought a pair of shoes at Williams and they had a 2nd pair 1/2 price, so Bec got a pair. When I got to the checkout I also used a 30% off voucher I got by email. So both pairs of shoes cost $68.00. I bought 2 pairs of jeans at Esprit. I am always intimidated by jeans so I asked the sales girls to find the right pair (there were heaps to choose from) and I ended up with 2 pairs of jeans for $65.00 as the whole shop had a further 30% on all the sale stock. The tag on one of the jeans was $119.00 full price. My boots. I have wanted good quality comfortable boots ever since we moved south - yes Dad I ride a horse to work :-) All the boots I see at Myers or Country Road all look the same but DFO had shops and shops full of different boots. Originally I had my heart set on Wedge heel boots and then I tried them on and look like a tool in them. The boots I purchased were the last pair, $399 down to $149 and the perfect colour (sort of navy/charcoal ) and height. I'm a bit in love with them have I mentioned that? Because I am selfless I also bought the kids new outfits from Just Jeans and a new doona cover and pillow set. Probably because I was shopping like the world really is going to end in 2012 (so my kids tell me) we hit the highway back to the coast a little bit late and sat in Friday afternoon traffic for a while. It wouldn't have been so bad except we were having tea at Bec and Steve's and only Steve was at home doing the prep oops! Steve did very well and the meal was fantastic. At Bec and Steve's Lulu with B&S pet Blue Tongue Lizard The Happy Couple. On Saturday Lucy & I volunteered (with the surf club) at the Mooloolaba Triathlon. We were crowd control marshals. Lulu felt she did her best marshaling with a full tummy. In the surf club bus. I was stationed with the Ambulance girls. Luckily the only casualty they had to respond to was Lulu. She got a piece of bark in her eye and they were good sports and gave her an eyewash (I think they were bored). Whilst Lulu and I were at the tri, Joel, David, Steve and Riley went to the cricket nets and pretended to be Ricky Ponting. A good (boy) time was had by all. That night we went back to Cath's for tea. It was yummy. It always is. I made guacamole which Joel loved ... good thing I didn't make avocado dip 'cos he hates avocados ;-) Sunday morning we went to Caloundra for Breaky and then a swim at Dicky Beach. The water was warm but choppy and the beach was really windy. The little girls had fun. After about an hour it started to rain so we decided to get off the beach and find some shelter. I looked back at Cath and cracked up! Then she started laughing and we nearly dropped all the towels in the sand... it was sort of one of those absurd moments. I love this pic. Then some of us had ice cream and some of us had coffee and we had to say some sad bobbyes. Dave drove Krys & Joel to the airport Sunday night and that was the end of a very awesome family marathon week. PS I have no idea why I cant get all my pics and paras to line up. I have been trying to edit this post (unsuccessfully) since the weekend. I'm done.