A Birthday Present...

I mentioned in a previous post that there were 4 family birthdays for us in May. Two of those were mine and DH's.
For my birthday, I celebrated all day, with a morning tea treat of a florentine and coffee at Marche du Macaron, lunch at a lovely cafe, then a pizza dinner ( takeaway) at home with the family. It was a cold night so we all squeezed into the dining room for dinner rather than the more spacious verandah.
DH's birthday celebrations was again a family dinner, but this time the meal was cooked by me and the birthday cake was made by DsD2!

But this post is really about the joint gift that the family gave us...

They all contributed to the fee for the photographer to take a series of photos over the course of 1 1/2 hours. It was the same photographer who took the photos at DsD1's wedding last July; a lovely young lady named Rebecca.
So last Saturday we all met up at Shorncliffe, a beach suburb in north Brisbane. The first photos were of the whole family. Rebecca posed us against the railing above the beach with a magnificent morning sky behind us. Then she broke us into groups...all the girls, all the young parents with the babies, the 'blokes', some individual photos, DH and I, then DH and I and the 4 grandchildren.
I took a few photos while Rebecca was setting up some shots with the girls and the babies...

Then Rebecca moved us all to the nearby jetty, for lots more photos; again in different groupings as well as ones with the whole family all at once.
Our sons in law...

The 'boys' with their babies...

Us girls got a bit of time to relax from all that smiling! Lol 😉😆

The DsD2 suggested to Rebecca that it would be nice to get some photos of the 4 babies...I knew it wouldn't be easy! The term 'herding cats' came to mind! 😕😬. The young Mothers had to work hard, I can tell you! Lol

Hopefully Rebecca got some better shots than us.

It was so lovely getting together as a family for this session; DsD1, Dan and Baby A drove the long trip from Wandoan especially for the photo. The deal with the photos is that the fee paid by our family entitles us to the photos in digital form to do with them whatever we wish. So in a week or so, they should be available online on Rebecca's website via a password.

Sandgate on a Saturday...

Last Saturday, DH and I took a drive to Sandgate, a beach suburb of Brisbane.
In the distance to the south, you can see the gantry cranes of the Port of Brisbane...

The sky was somewhat overcast but we still set off on our walk along the path beside the beach...

I love the way how, in recent years, the lovely old homes near the beach have been lovingly restored...

 The next house is called 'Cremorne' and is a real hotchpotch of styles and eras of architecture...

 Maybe one day it will be restored fully?

DH and I had coffee at a cafe called 'Fish on Flinders' on this street...just across the road from the BCC Swimming pool complex. (And how I did not take a photo, is quite out of character! lol)
As we wandered back to our car, it started to rain...

 Always the gentleman, DH left me to shelter under a very large tree where I stayed dry, while he went on alone to fetch the car...getting quite wet in the process.
I had noticed in the distance, looking south, that there seemed to be some work being done on the old Shorncliffe Jetty, which had been closed for ages. It had been found to be unsafe and locals rallied to get it replaced after its certain demolition. Eventually the Council agreed that a jetty was an asset to the community and that it would be replaced...eventually. So DH and I headed south to Shorncliffe...another lovely Brisbane beach suburb. Well there's not much left of the old jetty...

But we know there will be a new one!

Now while I had been waiting for DH to come back with the car at Sandgate, I was sure I heard a steam train whistle. And sure enough, as we drove past the Shorncliffe station, we saw a steam engine on an excursion...Shorncliffe is a terminus for this line.

The old train was 'parked' and obviously waiting for when the line was clear of suburban trains to continue the excursion.
It had been a lovely Saturday excursion for DH and I too, albeit in Mitzi Micra!  

Many, many years ago on my dad's day off, (Wednesday), my parents would take me on the train ( and suburban trains were steam...it was a long time ago, remember?) to Sandgate. My mother had a box brownie camera and was renowned for taking the occasional blurry photos. Here are some old photos of my family on a day trip to Sandgate...

One day I must try to work out what part of Flinders Pde this is...if the shop is still standing it's probably one of the many cafés. 

My dad obviously took blurry photos too! Lol

My dad loved this area and had the dream of retiring here...sadly he died in his 50s so never achieved the dream. It's a favourite place of mine to visit.