When we got back from our family holiday last year my step Dad sent out an email planning a weekend with everyone to celebrate their wedding anniversary the following year (such is the planning needed for a family with kids living all over the place). It wasn’t a special year per se for them to celebrate (18 years married) but it was a good excuse to get us all together for a couple of nights and head back to a place we had last been to the same amount of time ago when we were just young adults ourselves and certainly not with a kid in sight! Friday morning we packed up, dropped Frank at the kennel and headed north to the furthest tip of Sydney to beautiful Palm Beach. From there we parked our cars, jumped on a ferry over Pittwater to Currawong Beach.
It’s such a gorgeous spot. A tiny little place where just a few groups can stay at any one time in the various cabins that are there. There’s so much for kids to do – run around and explore, play tennis, golf, volleyball and for the rest of us, plenty of places to sit back and soak in the surrounds. And this weekend…some warmth. With the days hitting above 20 degrees it was completely novel for us to have no shoes on and sit outside without layers on.
We ate well, listened to good music, sat around and chatted and doted over babies. Kids ran around and did their own thing, and we sat and hung out. A perfect few days being with the people I love the most…laughing (I haven’t laughed that hard and much in a long time) and just being a family. I feel very lucky to be part of a family that are so close and enjoy being together. We take the piss out of each other, we love fiercely and we laugh, boy do we laugh.
And the best bit was asking on the off chance if we could book the place for our next family Christmas (we have every second year all together) and you know what? It was! So we are booked in for a week of goodness over Christmas next year. These babies will be running around, the other kids a little longer and the adults, well, we’ll still be laughing. And better still…it will be even warmer!
What did you get up to on the weekend?
How fantastic Beth. You really are so super lucky to be in a family that enjoys being together, that’s not a given in every family. Looks like a beautiful part of the world.
And how good is it to laugh with people?
It is the BEST. I haven’t laughed like that in a long time…tears rolling!
Man your family make cute kids!
Ha! Thank you x
What beautiful photos. You captured the love and laughter so wonderfully. It made me miss my family so much. Now I will need to organise a catch up for us all.
You should! Such a lovely thing to do.
That looks like such a lovely place & it sounds like you had a great time 🙂 I spent my weekend blowing my nose……frequently !
Oh no…hope you’re feeling better now x
Wow, you guys picked the best weekend ever to have a weekend away. The full moon rising over the water. And what a gorgeous pic of the 4 girls on the swings. Heaven!!!
I love the picture of the girls on the swing also – a beautiful capture.
Thanks CC – Rob actually took that. He took a whole series that are just gorgeous!
It was great timing with the weather!
Beautiful photos Beth,so glad the weather was great Xx
Thanks – seems like a distant memory now we;re home in the freezing cold!
Our friends live in Shaver Lake, California and they took us to a Black Pot Cook Off, it’s a fundraiser for the local historical society. (A Black Pot is a cast iron pot and they sit on raised tables made out of a steel plate. You use coals to cook your food.)
They needed extra cooks this year, so we decided to help out with the cooking and we WON! I made a Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chip Donut Bread Pudding with a Buttermilk Glaze. Choco overload…I was shocked when they called my name.
Fabulous!
What a wonderful weekend…..please,please can I be adopted into your family? I can be funny, cook well, drink if called for, swear if necessary, brilliant with kids( my job for eons) , Yep I’d fit right in!!!! Xx?
Ha!
I love this, Beth. Reminds me of my family gatherings on the Hawkesbury. When my eldest was little my brother & I decided we would have family holidays together so our kids would grow up knowing each other and us adults could relax and connect regularly. Sadly, my brother died a few years ago but his family still comes to the river every year where we can now reminiss and just be together still. It’s my favourite time of year.