Mid-Winter Escape – Brisbane

I have not seen my daughter and son-in-law in quite a while and sure we talk online and on the phone, but ask any Mum whose baby lives well away from home, it’s just not the same. I needed some facetime. Her birthday was coming up and we decided it might be fun to surprise her. So we cleared things with her Hubby, just to make sure he didn’t have anything planned, and then booked our flights.

SIL tried very hard but did let the occasional thing slip, plus doing things like fresh linen in the spare room and such, she was onto him and was expecting someone, she just was not sure WHO? So when we arrived and she opened the door she said IT’S YOU! Before we could even say SURPRISE!

It was a rather early morning, we got the cheap seats no-one else wanted lol, going to Brisbane and coming home, but it was worth it for a few days with the kids (even though they are all grown up now I still call them ALL kids) and the blue sky and sunshine Queensland is famous for, especially in Winter. Glorious.

We had a catch-up and then went out for lunch, then drove out to the house they are building, then just more time. More laughs, more hugs. The furbabies were happy to see us, especially Kira the Leonberger (big dog) who dotes on Moth. We had several lovely dinners out, including our favourite Italian restaurant Bella Tiarnie.

For my Daughter’s birthday, she could only get a half-day off work, so Moth and I had a sleep in and then wandered through the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, I have been there before, but will still do a separate post with the images. Being Winter, not a lot was in bloom, but it was still delightful to meander in bright sunshine and warmth.

After lunch, we all went out to Redlands and took Kira to a dog beach, it was not quite warm enough for us Humans to go swimming, but she had loads of fun and we took our cameras, so I will do another post on that as well.

Kira

Saturday evening we all went to my Daughter’s favourite burger restaurant for dinner, followed off by another favourite spot for dessert, a crepe bar, Moth got Gluten-free and I got vegan and they were delicious…we could not eat it all. Feeling VERY FULL, we walked around for a bit and then went home, vegged on the couch, chatted and watched TV. Very homey and wonderful.

The next day our daughter had to work again, we knew that this was a possibility and was happy to spend as much time as we could, while still working around her schedule, she did not know we were coming and had not organised annual leave…but that was fine by us, we chose to surprise her! Instead, Moth and I slept in (again) and then drove out to Mount Tamborine. We spent hours wandering in and out of the shops, a wonderful brunch in the gardens and feeling the fresh air and sunshine. But I will also save that for another post.

Look at that blue sky!

 

We spent that evening at home, a lovely home-cooked meal and watching TV, and chatting. We had a very early departure, so we had an early night.

The kids got up super early for a Sunday morning for last hugs and goodbyes, before we drove back to the airport, dropped the car off and do it all in reverse for the trip home. We were expecting extreme Wintery conditions on our arrival, it was cold but clear skies and some sunshine, so not too bad.

It was only a few days, but so lovely to catch up and enjoy some warmth, it’s funny next time we visit they will probably be in their new house, so the house we have always stayed in Brisbane, we may never see again, it’s kind of sad, but I am looking forward to larger guest quarters in the new house!

I will do a couple of separate posts, with photos soon, not that we took all that many. Mostly flowers and of course the dog. I realised when I got home I took more of the dog, than my daughter and her husband…oh what a bad Mother lol.

~ Julz

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