HOLIDAY AWESOMENESS

Hi friends,

We have just returned from our first successful family holiday. I say successful, because both boys slept through the night whilst we were away (unheard of), and my husband and I felt as though we actually had a holiday. Ever since we had our little family, whenever we have finished a holiday we have felt more tired by the event of being away, then if we had stayed at home.

This holiday had a couple of key differences;

1. We expected the worst. I promise. We went away Wednesday to Friday, so that we could recover on the weekend if it went as pear shaped as it usually has been.

2. We planned the holiday around kid themed activities that we could all enjoy. Most notably a steam train ride (Puffing Billy for those in Victoria, Australia) and a bush land zoo, (Healesville Sanctuary). None of us had done these things for decades, if ever, so we had a lovely, lovely time exploring. It also helped, of course, that everyone was well slept.

3. After the family activities, we found a wonderful restaurant that served great celebratory food, I forgot to mention we were away celebrating our 10 year anniversary(!), and drinks, just around the corner from our accommodation. This place had fantastic food, and a cubby/out door area full of stones and clean water drainage pipes just PERFECT for our boys and their miniature dump trucks, excavators and diggers. We had our gin and tonic/vodka raspberry and basil creations in utter peace as our boys recalibrated after their big days in peace, and separation from each other, quiet.

4. Accommodation. I booked this through AirBnB and I nailed it. Mostly luck, but still, feeling great about this one. It had 2 bedrooms, a kitchenette and a little lounge room. It was a small farmstay without the daily rate that a farmstay commands. (sidenote, I am shocked at how much a farmstay costs!). It had chickens, a rooster, horses, kangaroos and apparently koalas and a platypus, but we didn’t see them. It also had a HUGE courtyard full of tiny, clean stones. Again, perfect for excavating and digging in with our miniature diggers. Finally it had a working record player that our family used more than I could have imagined.

My husband and I wanted to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary with the family that we created/is so important to us. We made space among the chaos that is a holiday with two little ones, and held hands and talked about all the things that had brought us to this point. Here we are, 10 years one. Both with different body shapes, both now parents to our two wonderful boys. Both stretching ourselves personally and professionally. There isn’t a person on the planet I would rather be on this marriage journey with. As you and I know, marriage is not for the faint of heart.  We have held each other accountable, and we have (kindly) forced each other to grow and change as we have grown up. We talked about the most challenging times, and the sweetest. We reminisced about our fashion decisions and our holidays pre-kids.

We left feeling rejuvenated, celebrated and in love. Can’t ask for more than that.

Alfred, I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for your unwavering love and belief in me. You have changed my life for the w-a-a-y better.

How do you celebrate your anniversaries?