The twentieth year of marriage is one of the big milestone anniversaries. Over the past 2 weeks, Mark and I have been reflecting on the commitment to a lifetime of marriage the two of us made on April 1st, 1990.
In some respects I think back and can't believe our beautiful wedding day was actually 20 years ago.... and then I look at this photo taken of us just last week and I can see the 20 years written all over our faces - LOL.
Aahhhh... those creases are merely laughter lines and we are quite obviously very happy people!!
We've been planning our anniversary celebration since late last year and in a strange twist, we broke with the traditional romantic getaway (we'll have that later) and decided on a family holiday. Our children after all are the product of our marriage, so it seemed only fair they got to join in the celebration.
So where do you suppose this family of 4 seachangers went for a mini holiday?
For a touch of city life, traffic and SHOPPING we headed to the
GOLD COAST
We stopped in at beautiful Byron Bay, both on the way up the coast and again on the way back home. We love this crazy town. This bus looks like it is straight out of one of my hippy paintings. The psychedelic double decker 'Magic Bus' is the funkiest way to get from Byron to Nimbin. For anyone who knows what Nimbin is famous for, you'll understand why the bus is painted this way.
Among other things, Byron is famous for being the most easterly point of Australia. It has gorgeous beaches, unspoilt hinterland, and a somewhat relaxed lifestyle.... very relaxed!!
We did some fabulous shopping here but did have to sit around for awhile...
and this is why!
I think the 10am should read '10 ish' as we were sitting outside the shop at 10:30 with still no signs of life!!
Our bare foot hippy chic 'Princess Jess' pleaded for us to leave her there. These were her people.
Once on the Gold Coast we did all the usual things..... walks on the beach
swimming in the 2 resort pools
Naturally the kids had to do the theme parks.
They are advertised as having the BIGGEST. TALLEST. FASTEST. most spine-tingling, heart pumping scream rides in the country, which translated meant this mummy was merely there to carry the bags.
Mark and Jess braved the claw!
Then we struggled to get the girls away from the kangaroos....
and this is why!
I think the 10am should read '10 ish' as we were sitting outside the shop at 10:30 with still no signs of life!! 
swimming in the 2 resort pools
...that is until they realised they could be cuddling koalas instead!
After days at Movieworld and Dreamworld we squeezed in White Water World too.
So the theme parks were for the 'kids' (of which I include Mark). For me, we shopped. Oh how we shopped! I didn't buy everything on my list but I did put a decent dent in it. Already planning another shopping trip to the city [giggle].