September Holidays - Part 1: Underwater World

We didn't have much time these holidays (when do we ever lol?) to go away but we decided it would be nice to do something, so we checked on http://www.wotif.com.au/ before we left and found a great place up at Mudjimbah and packed the kids up for a mini-holiday! We took them to yes, you guessed it by the title of this blog post to UNDERWATER WORLD!

I had never been before, I think Dam had years ago and the kids hadn't either. We we loved it, no we lurrrved it! We waited patiently in line to get inside and when it was our turn we were told there were two spots left for the Seal Encounter. The other spot got snapped up and as Las was a bit too young to do it, we got the last spot for Luci! I was allowed to go with her and watch... Dam & Las got to watch from the other side of the enclosure.

The following three images were taken by the Underwater world staff photographer (scanned by me - they didn't scan too well unfortunately - they look better if you view them in flickr - just click on the image.)







We got a "backstage tour" of the Seal enclosure and got to see where they wait before their show starts but everyone can go and see them swimming around downstairs in the viewing area... I got these ones...







Some fishies upstairs... this one looks like he'd camoflauge quite well in amongst a coral reef.





These fish were probably as big as Lara!



Mr Otter! Funny little things! They liked to bunch together quite a bit. I don't really know why there were otters there considering Otters aren't native to Australia or anything but I guess it's cool for the Aussie kids to see creatures from other countries. And they are so darn cute!



Then it was off to what turned out to be my favourite part of Underwater world, the Tunnel! To see those sharks just meandering around, just cruising and even sometimes with a bit of a posse was just too cool! I have had a bit of a fear/fascination wierd thing going on with sharks in the past... even looking at these photos makes me skip a beat a bit, but seeing them in the tunnel just gave me a real feeling of peace towards them, especially just seeing how they "interact" (that's code for not chomping on everything and anything that they swim past) with the fish and other creatures around them!







Favourite 2 shots of the day... the fishies underbellies!





Luci & Las in the tunnel, it was hard to get them to look at me for one second to get a photo with all the sharks everything around them... Lara really loved the revolving floor probably though more than the fishies!

Medieval Day

The day had finally come! Medieval Day! Luci's dress was completed a week or so before the big day but then the days dragged on until it she could finally put it on for Medieval Day! The finished product came out even better than I expected, what a great feeling! My old ancient singer did it's job and can be put away for another however long until the next project comes up!

So here's some photos of my Luci looking very royal in a couple of these photos I must say. She had such a great time! They had a big banquet for lunch and she won the Archery competition and got to help dress a knight ready for battle among other things. In the evening we went back for a cup o' soup and bread and watched them dance to the dulcet tones of the recorder, drums and tamborine. Later all the "Lords and Ladies" gathered on the hill near where they were dancing and "lit" up their clay castles that they had made in class. So pretty! Everyone looked fabulous on the day both girls and boys. I think a great time was had by all.

Riverfire 2008!

Riverfire almost didn't even rate in our lives this year... very sad! We hadn't talked about it, hadn't had time to think about it. I was out most of the day doing a shoot and some preparation for a future wedding and got home to the girls saying that they wanted to go. So Dam piled us all into the car and we drove to his work on Coro drive and made it about 1/2 an hour before it all started. Unfortunately we had to watch behind the glass windows and that's also how I shot and tripodless these are the results:



This was a bit of a long exposure... the fireworks look a bit smudged but the thing I love about this pic is the reflection on the building just right of centre. Every time the fireworks errupted over at southbank it would look awesome on that building!



The love heart fireworks... very cute.







Final dump 'n burn.



Next year we are going to make a big effort to plan and get to a great location to make it more exciting for the kids and so I can get some more shots!

Have a great day!

I'm Sewing.... something

Sewing something, originally uploaded by Wendamp - Wendy P.

Yes the rumors are true, i've trudged out the old ancient Singer and am once again making my mother proud by sewing something! In fact Mum's very excited and has come over to check on my progress and offer some support!

So.... what is it?

It's a medieval gown for Luci! Her entire class is doing a Medieval unit at school and in a couple of weeks they get to wear their medieval costumes to school and then to a night-time banquet... very exciting especially for a 10 year old!

I'm NOT joking... it really is a medieval gown!

So in the meantime, I sew, and try to make as few mistakes as possible! I have been enjoying the challenge so far which is always a good thing. I'm a bit further along then what my montage shows you, in fact the bodice section is needing lace and a zip and that's about it.

I told Luc that if I made this for her I'd want to take photos which did not go down well but I figured i'll get some from Medieval day anyway and i'll keep you posted on that.

Have a great day!

Nicole & Rhys' Bridesmaids & Groomsmen

I originally had the girls in the previous entry but I thought I'd pop them in their very own space. They looked absolutely lovely didn't they!









Here's a few more of the guys making cool look easy...

Nicole & Rhys - Married - 16.08.2008

The long awaited wedding day for Nicole & Rhys finally arrived! Nicole & Rhys must have asked me well over a year ago now to take their wedding photos and very honoured I am! It was a gorgeous end of winter day and perfect for their afternoon reception at Samford. Nicole & Rhys were married at the Westside Christian City Church and then we went down to the local park for some photos before the reception.























































Nicole & Rhys had as their bonboniere Pineapple Jam that Nicole's family made. The Pineapples were from Rhys' family farm.