24

 Last Saturday was my birthday and I had a fun weekend to celebrate I had a lunch at my Oma and Opas to  celebrate. We had lots of my favourite foods, pancakes, waffles and chocolate coffee birthday cake. I don't get too Adelaide to see my family often enough but when I do its always special even if its just for the day

 My cousin Madi organised for us four (AJ and her bridesmaids;) to go for a girls night out to a 'virtual wedding'. It was like a wedding expo but it was set up like an actual wedding with actors getting pretend married. There were lots of table settings and decoration ideas and it was good fun having drinks and nibbles while looking around

 The girls made a toast to my birthday:)

 My favourite thing at anything wedding related is always the photography. OK so my favourite thing at any event like this is the photography

there were so many gorgeous flowers

We loved this cake with the little Dutch kissing kids. Our mums family comes from Holland so this cake was extra special to us

 Me and lil

 Unfortunately this desert bar was only display;( lots of great ideas though

We had the nicest time and then I stayed up late chatting to Madi until we fell asleep, probably mid sentence.
Sunday night Benny took me and his parents out for tea to our favourite local pub.
I think I like being 24 already!

Our Morgan Engagement Camping Trip

 When we got engaged we didn't really want to have a party so instead Benny had the idea of going camping with our parents, sisters and their families instead so that they could all get to know each other better.

Ray (Benny's dad), Benny, Terleah (Benny's niece), Jason (Benny's brother in law)

Definitely a good idea and definitely very us. We were waiting for fire ban to end and then for a weekend that suited everyone and last weekend was that weekend.

We left Friday morning and had the long weekend at this camping spot along the Murray River. Benny's family have always camped here but their favourite spot was being used so this spot was a new one and nice too.

My Dad, Tegan (Benny's sister) My mum, Ray, AJ (my sister)

 This was the one and only yabbie we got

Terleah with her Nanny Sharon (Benny's mum)

Dylan (Benny's Nephew)

 It was adorable how incredibly grotty Dylan got playing in the dirt and old fire coals with the dogs. I meant to take a picture of him on the first day when he was FILTHY!:) Bennys parents white Labrador Jasper got named 'top deck dog' because of his habit of sitting in dirt after a swim resulting in a thick layer of mud on the lower half of him. By the end of the weekend we all looked forward to warm showers at home

 The sunrise was beautiful. On this morning I was woken by a kookaburra (Australian native bird). It sounded really close so I poked my head out of our swag and it was in a tree right next to me. Of course as soon as it saw me away it flew but it was great to see it up close!

 Benny and his dad love fishing together

 We made lots of damper. This was Jasons damper, it was by far the best!

 Terleah caught her fish. This was her second fish! She carried them around for ages, she was so proud

 The kids had fun jumping out of Dads van

 lots of fun!

 and of course who doesn't love whizzies?

Its an awesome spot and we had a great time

my second adventure to Rankins Hut

When I was about 12 our friend Lindsay first took my family and our good friend Miff to this hut that he has been going to since he was a kid. Its such a beautiful spot in a valley surrounded by green hills. We all had such a great time and have been wanting to go back ever since

On the weekend we finally got back there! It was just as awesome as we remembered. It was so fantastic arriving and seeing things almost as we remembered them from all those years ago. The hut is from the 1800s and makes us imagine times long passed. The original family that lived in it had 11 children in the small 2 room home

When we arrived we met Lindsay's brother Phil and his 2 nieces. We all sit and chatted and as the sun began to disappear behind the hills the fire was built up to keep us all warm

 I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful old bits and pieces in the hut and was glad to take some photos. I remember sitting by the fire reading last time we visited. So many good memories came back as I looked around.

 This is the bedroom. We slept in it last time but this time we all slept in tents or swags. I can hardly imagine how the original family managed to all sleep in this little cozy room

 I love the wooden dividing wall. All the walls have names carved in them by visitors over the years

 In the afternoon we all went for a drive up the highest nearby hill to see the view. To get to and from the hut and around the hills you need a 4 wheel drive as its all very steep and rough terrain. Lindsay's son Callum helped him drive and we stood in the back of his Ute hanging on to the roof racks! It was a lot of fun

 We also went to look at a different little hut that Lindsay likes to stay at. I liked the cute wood stove

 Here's the view from the biggest hill

 Lindsay and Callum

 A old lantern lit in the evening

 For tea we made "flame grilled spaghetti". The coals were taking too long to cook so we built up the fire 'a little' maybe a little to much but it definitely cooked quicker!

 Callum had fun piled up high in the back of our 4WD while Benny was packing.
He's a cutie and so full of interesting big words that keep us entertained. I wish I had his memory

It was a little sad to leave the hut but we will go back again soon. We only stayed overnight but it didn't feel like a short visit because we had so much fun. Quality time over quantity always wins