The Big 30!

Hello folks! I write to you as a member of the 30's club, or should I say I'm now 29 years and 368 days old? Had a thoroughly enjoyable birthday and thanks for all your cards, pressies and email/facebook messages. Still munching our way through the birthday cake, yum scrum. Apologies for not blogging that often, February has been one busy month, with the return of netball training/coaching, and the arrival of the Fraser/Black families. Phew, we are still recovering!

Last Wednesday night, Bob and I celebrated the beginning of our week off work with a trip to St Kilda to stay in a posh hotel. We met up with Helen and Steven for a few beers and a burger and of course a good chinwag in The Ludlow Foundation bar on the Southbank. It was rather bizarre to see them both on the other side of the world but it really did just seem like we were back home, chatting as normal. They had had a good couple of days in Hong Kong and were enjoying their time in Melbourne - perhaps not looking as forward to seeing the parents as we were but I guess understandable when you're on your summer hols! A good catch up and lots of stories of Meg Dog later, we headed back to the hotel for a much needed rest before the 'rents arrived!

Thursday morning, Bob and I grabbed our breakfast from the local cafe in St Kilda before heading over to Albert Park to enjoy the sunshine. Albert Park is the venue for the Australian Grand Prix at the end of March, maybe we'll need to purchase a couple of tickets?! Onwards to Southbank to meet Mum and Dad, Helen and Steven at the Casino (this is the only place Bob and I are comfortable driving to, it avoids any hook turns and avoids any crashes with trams!) We dropped the bags off in the hire car and Jimmy then headed for lunch to catch up! Sun shining, a wee pot of beer and some antipasto, a good luncheon was had by all (except poor Stevo who had a spot of food poisoning, bleurgh) Mum and Dad appeared to have had a good few days in Melbourne, as usual walking their socks off on the first day!

After lunch, us girls headed to High Street, Armadale for some wedding dress shopping. The boys headed home to Drouin to chill out. Unknown to us, Bob's house keys were in my car so they got all the way to Drouin before realising they couldn't get in! Bob felt a bit of a numpty with the father-in-law to be and tried various attempts at getting keys from our landlord, Liza, before admitting defeat and heading to the golf club for a beer (or three). Poor Stevo just wanted to go to bed but I do believe he perked up with a touch of alcohol! By the time we got back to Drouin, it was 6.30pm and the boys were ready to get settled into their accommodation!!

Back to the wedding dress shopping, I had narrowed down my choices to a top 3, all of which Mum and Helen disliked! Uh oh. So we tried on a 4th and that appeared to be the best. Being my usual indecisive self, I couldn't make the decision that day so I decided to go home and sleep on it. Will I won't I? Will I won't I? We were going to head for a glass of wine, but judging by the above fiasco, the boys were glad we didn't! Back home for a BBQ tea and some chit chat.

Friday, we had a leisurely breakfast chez Bob and Mo before heading into Warragul for a wander and a cup of coffee. Both Mum and Dad were pleasantly surprised at how nice (and big!) Warragul was. We stocked up on some supplies for the weekend in Wilson's Prom and I was given my birthday pressie from Bob, an awesome Canon Powershot digital SLR camera, woop woop! We had a quick session with the camera man about how to use all the buttons and then off we went to experiment at the local Brandy Creek Winery.

We sat at a table with a beautiful outlook across the vines, tasting 6 or 7 wines along with the port and dessert wines. Ooh yum. A few purchases of port and a tapas book later (thanks Mum!) and we were ready to hit the next stop of Wild Dog Winery for pizza, wahoo, before heading to Wilson's Prom, a 1.5 hour drive from Warragul.

We hit the beach on arrival and managed to avoid a slight petrol mishap (yes, I know, I should have filled up when we had the chance) before heading back to the accommodation. We won't mention Dad's altercation with his seatbelt (he got stuck and Mum had to help him out, honestly the elderly people of today) nor will we mention the photo of a wombat's bum that Mum got as she was just a bit too slow to get the whole thing. Next time Mum!

Saturday was a glorious day. We headed into the heart of the national park and embarked on a coastal walk to Squeaky Beach with lots of good views and sea breeze. At Squeaky Beach, we pitched up and made ourselves comfy on our towels, well everyone except Dad who forgot his towel and had to sit on a facecloth. Honestly, the elderly people of today.....We won't chat about the stubborness when he declined a seat on a full sized towel!!! Anyway, we all managed a good competitive game of beach cricket (Mum even managed to run for a few balls) before old age set in with my good self when I sustained an obscure beach cricket injury of a weird lump on the arch of my foot. Unfortunately this halted the game and halted Bob's victory over the father-in-law to be. What a shame says Dad! Helen was developing a few weird sunburn blotches and so it was time to head back for some food. A pie and a pint later and it was back to the ranch for a spot of wedding chat and poker. Dad, what's the rule? Never let the kids win! Think those days are over, mwahahahahaha

Sunday we packed up and headed for Drouin once more with a slight detour (yes Bob got lost or rather he was just showing Dad the sights of Foster). A seat on the sofa and a wee cup of tea before chilling out for the afternoon. Sunday night was fairly relaxed with a spot of chicken parmagiana and a pot at the local golf club. We got shouted at by the bingo folk for talking too loudly (sorry) - Bob thought one of the ladies look suspiciously like darts player Bobby George which had us all in a fit of laughter which caused more noise (for anyone who doesn't know who Bobby George is, all you need to know is that it's not good). Yes the parents were being bad influences on us!

Final day was my last day of being 29, eek! We headed into Melbourne via the wedding dress shop (yes, it was time to make a decision, ooh scary) and the boys were in charge of taking the hire car back. Mum, Helen and I went back into the shop only to be met with the woman who knew I'd been in there 4 times already and asked if i was struggling tomake a decision. Eh, maybe! She did give me a bit of a talking to (in a nice way) and said I was confusing myself. So a decision was made! Hurrah! No more details to be given until 28th December!

Met up with the boys for some lunch (slight misunderstanding with some potato wedges) then off to buy Helen some UGGs. Talk about having difficulties making decisions, we must be related, we were in there for an hour! She still managed to get a bargain though, and some free stuff. I don't know how she does it.

Got back to the hotel to be met with a snug-in-a-rug Bob in his PJ's tucked up in bed with a bottle of red wine and a rented movie! Make yourself at home Bob's : ) A quick spa and steam room before getting ready to head out for some birthday celebrations. Pressies, fizz, cake, all good! Happy birthday to me. Taxi to The Kitchen Cat (formerly Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant, now owned by Tobie Puttock) for some delicious food and yummy puddings. Beef carpaccio, tortellini with chicken and sage, grilled peaches, chocolate icecream and a rum baba for Dad (he was quite happy), all amazing. For anyone who might be going to Melbourne soon, I would recommend it! Managed to get a family photo outside the restaurant, if you look closely at the photo, the dude in the baseball cap who looks about 12 yrs old is Tobie Puttock! Claim to fame.

Off to the casino to try and win some money. We were all doing rather well! Dad won $30 on roulette and Bob and I won $30 on blackjack. We decided to put the $30 back onto the roulette table to crowd the number 30.......and we lost. Boo! Much fun anyways.

Back to the hotel, where I allegedly fell asleep in the middle of the bed surrounded by my birthday pressies like a toddler. Happy : )

A farewell to the parents (sob sob) and a farewell to the sis/bro in law (hug hug) and Bob and I were back hom on the sofa for my actual birthday to be slobs for the rest of the day. Recovery required (and detox!!)

Great to see the family, looking forward to September. I'm sure Dad has a few stories to tell in his wedding speech, and I'm pretty sure Bob has a few to tell in return. Bring it on!

Bob and Mo xx