weekend pics, a gathering on the sunshine coast

our friend alexia had a milestone birthday over the weekend and she decided to throw herself a big party! so awesome, right?  to celebrate, she rented a great big house for a group of her friends and their kiddos in the sunshine coast.  it accommodated all 21 of us perfectly.  the house sits on a hill overlooking the ocean with a backdrop of mountains.  you could smell the ocean air from indoors. i tell you, i will never tire of our mountains; they are a constant and comforting sight.  and bonus, the house came with a visiting cat... he was big and sweet and calm and i really wanted to take him home with me!

on the first day we arrived it was raining but that didn't matter because all that was on the agenda for the weekend was lounging, cooking, eating, and lazing around.  it was great to reconnect with the special people in alexia's life, with opportunity for conversations about life and raising our children, being silly, and eating well.

when the rain stopped the next day we took the kiddos - all 9 of them - outside for a play on the beach.  how great to have a beach for a backyard!  kai reveled in the unstructured play time the weekend offered us.  at the house, the children were able to run around freely as we collectively looked after each other.  such a treat.

there was an abundant of food.  food is important to this group and we ate well. we even had one night catered for the official birthday celebration.  it was such a fantastic idea.  the highlight for me was the most delicious veggie lasagna ever (thanks alexia!), a gingerbread cake with caramel sauce, and a smoky sausage from oyama.   

i loved it when the kids gathered all the balloons and tossed them from above while we all sang happy birthday.  it was a fabulous moment.  alexia surrounds herself with beautiful (and hilarious) people.  it was lovely to be enveloped in such warmth and fun.

happy birthday my friend! and thank you for a wonderful weekend away.



  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 



 

 

 

 

  

 







sweet, thoughtful, fun and really outrageous prezzies were unwrapped.



the weekend was lovely but much too short.  we could have stayed longer since we all brought enough food for a week :)  to stretch it out, kai and i took a later ferry back home.  before we hopped on (just barely!) we stopped for a bite to eat, some ice cream and a walk in roberts creek.  a nice ending to the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i hope your weekend was as sweet as ours!