afl grand final

today was like all doug's birthdays and christmases came at once... all his dreams came true... you get the picture. he got to go to the afl grand final. the superbowl of australia. the ultimate game. the one all the boys want to go to.

we got a phone call when we were in samoa, from my eldest brother jared, who managed to get hold of us on mum and dads mobile phone... to tell doug that he had just won a ticket to the grand final, which included flights, transfers and accomodation - and he wanted to give it to him as a gift. no questions asked. he wasn't interested (if you've ever met my brother you will understand... he is really not into sports at all) and knew doug would be, so he had the prize reissued to him. one ticket. the ticket of a lifetime. what an amazing, generous gift. he spent the rest of our trip muttering, "i can't believe it", on the odd occasion. 

so just three days after we got home, off he went again... flying virgin to melbourne. this is how jared actually won the tickets in fact. he has been flying to and from kalgoorlie each and every week since the rest of the family moved back down to perth - so much so, that it put him into the top virgin australia frequent flyers for the year, who they gifted the package, from wherever they happened to be in australia. score.

apparently it was amazing, pre-show and half time entertainment was great, the atmosphere electric. the team he was barracking for even won! he sent me a heap of pictures including this one at the final siren, when the hawks had won! (i watched a little throughout the afternoon and even i, who knows nothing about football, could see that the swans didn't even stand a chance)

not bad for free accommodation hey? doug was thrilled with the room... and the hotel even had a gym and pool which he gleefully made use of. 

my husband claims to not be able to take a photo? after seeing this i beg to differ... showing off that he was flying away yet again, while i got to hang with the kids all weekend... haha

and just for your information... even though virgin weren't handing out business class seats to their competition winners, they did at least give them all a business class meal (jealoussss) which looks pretty darn good in my opinion.

no matter what he does, i am fairly certain he will never be able to pay jared back for this amazing gift and opportunity, one that we probably never could have managed (tickets are hard to get) or afforded (tickets are expensive and flights over the grand final weekend cost a lot). we are so grateful and still in shock.

thank you a million times over! we love you!

not goodbye - see you later!

we left samoa today, and had to say goodbye to my parents... again. i'm not okay with this. but... i am taking comfort in the fact that they'll be home in 12 short weeks and that after that, they certainly won't be leaving for 18 months again. thank goodness.

it has been an amazing 2 weeks with them. exploring samoa, relaxing and not having to live by a clock, having extra hands and hearts to care for my babies... and just basking in being their little girl. i love my parents so much and i have missed them so much while they have been away.

we left for the airport just after 4am, we'd had just a few hours sleep between packing and saying goodbye to people. but somehow we made it. we also made it through the horrendous process of check-in with so many items (blerggggg) kissed my parents goodbye and raced on through to the boarding area.

this is where we discovered that the egg at the check-in counter had seated all 4 of us (not counting joseph, his boarding pass was attached to mine obviously) in different parts of the plane! madeline was sitting by herself!!!! a three year old. i couldn't even deal with it. oh my goodness. i spoke to someone as we boarded who sent madeline up to stand with doug while they sorted it and we all starting praying that they could sort it out. (this is where i feel like i need to specify that virgin runs differently in samoa to other countries. the check-in staff are employed by the airport, not virgin and simply check in passengers and bags. it was in no way any fault of the airline or it's staff. it was simply a mistake made during check-in. also, in the check-in staff members defense, i am fairly certain after checking in 3 cases, 2 car seats, a pram and a cot he was a little flustered and may not have been concentrating that well on what he was doing.)

virgin samoa to the rescue. it turned out the seat next to doug was actually empty. madeline sat in it, the other gentleman was asked very politely by the cabin crew if he would mine relocating so that our family could all sit together. he was very obliging, and we were sorted. phew. another 30 mins on the tarmac while our flight plan was relodged 3 times (only in samoa eh...)  and we were finally on our way. we were so spoiled by the staff. we were given extra food, madeline was slipped some lollies and a free tablet with kids movies and nothing was too much trouble. after such a shaky start and feeling so anxious i could finally relax. i cannot tell you enough times just how wonderful virgin have been during this trip. i would fly with them a million times over.

touch down! we are in brisbane for a few days with steve and niques. our holiday is almost over, but i think i'm okay with it. there's something about being on the home stretch. not long now and we will be in our own beds!