an eco friendly(er) water play table

For months I've been thinking about and looking forward to water play. Its one of the things I miss in winter, nothing keeps little people occupied like water play.
As the weather warmed but we are still having lots of cool days I decided I wanted to get a water play table.
This decision came about after 1 too many incidents of little girls ending up fully clothed in the bucket of water they were supposed to be filling up watering cans from on a cool day. Something off the ground would be good!
I searched and searched for something that would suit us at a decent price. I was just about to buy a plastic step 2 sand and water table. It looked great but I hesitated because although I knew it would be good quality and last a long time it would still eventually end up as a big piece of plastic in land fill.

I'm glad I hesitated because soon after I came across a blog post where someone made one out of a low table. I mentioned to Benny that I wanted to find a a little table to make one. He pointed me in the direction of the shed, I had completely forgotten about our old coffee table!

All we had to buy was a plastic bin and some paint. I afterwards saw one made from a stainless steel double sink which would cut out the plastic completely and be super long lasting but this should keep us going for a long while anyway and its still a lot less plastic so i'm happy

Benny measured and cut a hole for the plastic bin to sit in using a jigsaw

 its made of good thick wood so it should last a long time

 Once it was fitting just right I gave the whole thing three coats of paint and looked forward to my first day back to work so I could try it out!

 I had originally looked for an under the bed storage container as I was worried this would be too deep but I couldn't find any that seemed strong enough. It turned out fine, the just turned 2 year odls can easily reach the bottom. I think its actually quite good this deep as I can fill it less when Id rather they don't get too wet (ie near home time)

 They played happily for ages this morning although by the time I thought to take pictures the boys were off on other adventures. My minds buzzing with ideas of sensory play activities we can use it for, flour and water, dried beans etc. in winter, paint, slime, mud pies, all sorts of fun is yet to be had!

 while I had the paint brush out I gave our old sandpit  boat a coat too. I've had this boat since I started daycare 6 years ago and its looking worse for wear but a bit of paint always makes it feel fresh and loved again. M was the first to see it. I heard him gasp and say in a surprised tone 'the boat got blue, that's awesome!"

our honeymoon

 we've had the loveliest week away relaxing and exploring beaches

a perfect day

 Well..... It turns out I had absolutely nothing to worry about
On Wednesday after seemingly no rain there was a big muddy puddle in our ceremony garden. Thursday poured with rain. Friday I had butterflies in my stomach walking down the pathway to asses the damage. I got the biggest and best surprise when I got to the end and there was NO puddle. No mud, no nothing, just a beautiful perfect garden looking more beautiful than I ever could have imagined

 Saturday night my bridesmaids all stayed with me in a beach shack. We had tea with Benny and his groomsmen, a few drinks and then after they left relaxed in the spa

Saturday morning our hair and makeup started at 7.30 am. I'm not at all a hair and makeup person so it was a bit boring sitting around all day while our hair and makeup got done but it was relaxing. The lady's were really nice and we had brekkie, munched on fruit and chatted all morning long. 

My hair was lovely and I had my sister Anneke's hair clip from her wedding as some thing borrowed

I'm a last minute nerves sort of a person. I felt great all day until we were in the cars on the way to the ceremony. At that point my heart started beating way too fast:) When I walked in and saw the garden decorated, all our loved ones all in the same place- all for us, all dressed up after their long trips to get there it felt so surreal. The whole thing was just so beautiful.

 I got to the front and couldn't believe how calm Benny looked. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it much here before but since a bit before we met Benny's struggled a lot with anxiety. Its held him back from a lot of things we've wanted to do but hes been working on it and has improved so much over the time I've known him. One of the things he was always worried about was standing up in front of everyone to get married. This has been a fear I've heard him talk of for years. The week leading up he was very quiet as i'm used to when hes getting close to an event hes worried about. I was nervous myself about if he would be ok but he more than did me proud. It definitely turned out that I was the nervous one!

As soon as I started my talking part which was all repeating what the priest said I felt completely fine though. Our priest is a really nice guy and the man behind him holding the cross happened to be my old art teacher from school!

The whole day was more beautiful than I could have imagined. I really was sick of organizing but it was sooooo worth all the phone calls, to do list and expense. Id almost say id do it all again it was that worth it but i'm glad I don't have to. Benny and I were always joking saying 'well you'll be stuck with me forever because i'm NOT planning a wedding again!' It was amazing but i'm quite happy its done now, life will seem so relaxed now without wedding planning! 

Afterwards we had photos. We had some taken in the garden, at the beach, at the local park with big old trees and last but not least- one of the main thing Benny talked excitedly about a lot prior to the wedding- with the wedding cars. We were very lucky to be able to use some fabulous cars from our brother in law and his friend.  We wont get our photos back for 8 weeks but in the meantime my facebook has been going crazy with people uploading photos of us from there phones or cameras which is where I got all these photos from.

 I was soooo worn out pretty much from straight after the ceremony. It doesn't feel like I did anything much that day but I think it was just from nerves, how full on the week had been and just the business around me. I really wished I could have pressed pause, had a nap and then pressed play again but I made the best of it all and later got a second wind and got some energy back

 my brides maids all looked gorgeous and were so incredibly helpful leading up to the wedding and on the day. Between them they thought of all the little details that id forgotten about. Oh and the not so little details! We were just about to get into the cars when one of them realized we didn't have our bouquets. Few we thought, it would have been a shame to get there without them. In we went to get them and under them in the basket were the rings!!!
I'm so grateful for all their help and just had the best time hanging out with them and getting fussed over

my awesome maid of honor/best sister ever

 The groomsmen had a great time too, I love seeing Benny having a laugh with his friends. They looked great in there matching outfits. I was having trouble finding him throughout the night though (oh there he is, nope its Jonno, there he is- nope it Charlie etc) At least he didn't have trouble finding me though. He was impressed with what I refer to as my 'pom pom marshmallow dress'.

 here's me and my girls knackered having a rest while the guys had photos

 The weather was blue skys, just a tiny breeze, absolutely ideal

 We had a great time at the reception, good food (I chose a regular ol chicken schnitzel for my wedding meal, because i'm fancy like that. Best chicken schnitzel ever id have to say) great company and although it was a bit of a blur going so fast I got around to spend time with almost everyone and got so many well wishes.
That night I don't think my head had ever been so pleased to hit the pillow. It was a big and rather overwhelming day but an absolutely fantastic 'first day of the rest of our lives.
Oh and after our amazing weather, the next morning I woke up to pouring rain which confirmed to me that the dried up garden, perfect weather and how smoothly it all went was truly a bit magical.
I'm very pleased to be Mrs. Murphy, its all been a lot of fun so far!
And off we go on our honeymoon in a few ours!

2 days until...

I'm getting married on Saturday! I'm so excited!
I've had lots of moments looking forward to all the phone calls and organizing to be over and its such a good a good feeling being past most of it and so very close to the fun beginning!
Everything is looking just as I dreamed it would. Or maybe better
There is just one rather major issue. The garden we are supposed to get married at has bad drainage. On Wednesday we went for a look expecting that it would be dry as it hadn't rained much. It had a puddle in the middle of the grass. We thought, that's fine, as long as we don't get any more rain we can work around it. The rest of the garden looks fantastic, the leaves have grown their spring leaves and flowers and the grass was looking better than last time. Um yeah.... I woke up to rain this morning and its rained quite a bit since.
So were crossing our fingers but thinking we'll end up at our back up spot instead. I'm disappointed but oh weal.
It will still be great. I'm still marrying my best friend, having a great party, eating yummy cake, dancing the night away with my favorite people and going on a holiday so  there's still a lot to look forward to!

 Everything's boxed/basketed up ready to go. All the little bits and pieces I've slowly got together

 Instead of cut flowers I decided to do something a bit different. I painted little terracotta pots and planted them with petunias, alyssums and lobelias. I love that they will last longer than the night. I've never bought cut flowers in my life so these seemed more 'me' and there will be take home gifts for some of my fellow gardeners:)

They're all done and looking pretty, all ready to add life to the tables. In loving walking past them all lined up together, they make me happy:)