Love is in the air

I'm very excited but a touch nervous about being MC at a wedding for two wonderful friends... I cannot wait to suit up though and give this roll my best effort... I just love it when two wonderful people find each other and just know they want to be together... It is indeed a perfect day for such a perfect event...

Aussies be proud... Just watched one of the best Australian movies ever...

Who has seen The Dressmaker? An Aussie film from 2015 (I think) which I strongly believe we should all be very proud of. It has a very grown up Kate Winslet as leading lady who has shown she is very much moved on from her role as Rose in Titanic. It is a film like this which makes me proud to announce Kate is one of the best Australia has as an actor at the moment (even though my wife has correctly informed me she is British born and raised)… See Kate is so amazing that we Aussies should adopt her as we have so many overseas talents. The supportive cast in The Dressmaker is also outstanding with the idea of the remote country town with a dark secret successfully reflected. My favourite character in the film would have to be Hugo Weaving though... Genius...

This is a fantastic film which takes its viewers through a true roller coaster of emotions... At times a very dark film it is certainly not one for the feint hearted. My wife and I watched it on a romantic night in... It was not at all what I initially expected it to be but The Dressmaker did not disappoint and was thoroughly enjoyed by both of us. One that all Australians should be proud of.

Easily five stars... Certainly not cursed, Kate and the rest have a true gem on their hands... I'm also proud to know that this wonderful film is based on the novel of the same name... Something I'll be looking for on the shelves of my local library expecting a juicy read...

A perfect Spring weekend

September has come to an end with a run of beautiful, sunny days here in Southern Australia... With a Public Holiday just around the corner it was a great opportunity for Casa de Law to have some family fun...

It all started with a touch of nostalgia as we put on a classic, Uncle Buck with John Candy for Friday Family Movie Night... Still the fun film I fondly recalled it to be although as an adult I got a lot more of the humour which went straight over my head all those years ago when I first watched Candy in action... All the kids and my wife and I laughed in all the right spots (usually a good sign)... I think it helped too that the Home Alone kid was also a star performer... Both of my daughters are massive Home Alone fans...

Yesterday we all climbed aboard our KIA (nicknamed The Death Star by friends) and whizzed off to the seaside town of Victor Harbor. Since our school holidays have just kicked in there were a few people out and about. We found a cool playground perfect for all of our kids (aged 8 to 39 years) with the biggest kid of all climbing to the top of the climbing frame to play catch with the other three. Probably not the safest thing I've ever tried... Soaking up the sun and breathing in the sea air made me thankful we did not just decide to hang around home... A wonderful start to this stretch of holidays for the kids. To finish off such an epic day we sat down together (minus Master 12) and watched the kids film The Little Vampire... I was surprisingly pleased with this fun film... We have scheduled it as one of our school holiday activities and am glad to know it will be a great film enjoyed by all ages... Master 12 bad luck, you missed a good one this time and all because it looked 'cringey'...

Today (Sunday) was another massive day, a fine way to finish off September... Firstly we jumped back into the Death Star and headed off to the little town of Wellington for their annual Strawberry Fete. Now we have wanted to attend this event in the past but have missed it every year. This time around though we made a special effort since there is a lot that has happened recently to make people cautious about buying and eating this delicious fruit. I'm glad we went and wolfed down a plate of yummy strawberries, cream and ice cream... Anything to help the farming families... The rest of the fate was not quite what I expected but the classic car display was interesting for me and the animals that you could feed and pat were awesome (especially the teeny, tiny, fluffy, little ducklings... These were the favouritest thing for my daughter Miss 8)... From the fete it was back into the KIA and jetting off back to Murray Bridge to the markets... Lots of sweet smelling things (like massage oils and candles) and yummy things to eat (like jam tarts, cheese cakes, pies, bacon and egg sandwiches... My stomach is growling just thinking of them)...

After this we were supposed to head off and see two wonderful friends who have asked me to be MC at their wedding... After such an exhausting morning though our afternoon trip was put off and I got to do mowing the lawn (weeds) instead (my favourite job ever... NOT)... Thankfully the mower needs a tune and it stopped and would not start again about halfway through the job... Sadly this only means I have to finish off tomorrow... Oh well... What are days off for...

Hope you are all enjoying your final few days of September too. Our October is looking jam packed... Bring on the family fun... Casa de Law is going to be a very busy place...

One for the fans... The Laws... Go to the Movies!

Teen Titans has got a movie and the funniest part of the whole thing is the movie is all about the Teen Titans trying to get their own movie... It is definitely one for the fans with all the usual wisecracks, jokes and silliness you would expect to find in a regular episode of this show.

The kids and I thought it was a good laugh while my poor wife took a cat nap or two during the hour and a half viewing. What I love is just how much this show does NOT take itself seriously on both the small screen and the big screen... This was most evident in the cameo appearance completely unexpected and done with humorous charm...

It was a great morning at our local cinema and a fun time with the family, a great start to a family fun Saturday. Team Law... GO!!!

Happiness 15 years on

What makes you happy? What makes you smile, gives you the warm feeling inside that reflects beaming from your insides out? For me it is celebrating success either my own or that of friends, family, colleagues... Love too, young or old, the love of a friend or that of a parent for a child, the true love of soul mates just happy being with each other...

Last night I was beaming with that happiness as my beautiful, darling wife and I renewed our vows after 15 years of marriage. In a wonderful twist my gorgeous girl had an amazing vision of inviting girls to attend our celebration in their wedding dresses or bridesmaid dresses... A room full of brides in white... In an even bigger twist we had white dresses but not all of them were brides...

My eyes last night were only for one in white though whose dazzling smile lit up the room all night long, just as beautiful as the day we were wed. Fifteen years on our lives have changed somewhat but nothing will change how we feel for each other.

We have many people to thank for making last night such a special one... From my wife's sister and her husband who thought we would be good together to the local cake designer who whipped up a delicious combination of yummy mud cake and delightful cupcakes (some that tasted like Christmas) to the local Club staff who made our night such a stress free breeze... So many friends and family to thank for coming along and joining us... Finally a specially thank you to my sweet angel for all the stress, preparation and for just being my amazing and beautiful girl... I'm still smiling...

Blog number 200... Knights and VR rule on a very windy day at Mannum

What a wonderful weekend... Saturday saw a trip up to Woodside where my wife's mum and dad have settled to be closer to family. It is a beautiful new house they now have, easier to manage and is looking more and more like their home the more moving boxes are emptied... It was great to be able to help out with tuning the TV and shifting some plants round the back... Tired but happy trip back to Murray Bridge just in time to join my brother-in-law for his boardgames night... This was an opportunity to try my luck at a few unusual boardgames that I had not played in a while. Ben has a few of the classic family games (like Cludeo and Monopoly) but also has a quite expansive collection of other titles (classics as well as the unusual) so a games night at the Crook house is always loads of fun. My luck was not found in the universe this time with me hanging on to a second place while almost losing all my colonies... I did come away with a win though with a combination of dinosaurs and werewolves in a faction card game called SMASH-UP... In between the games there was time to sneak in a cuddle with my youngest niece, the extremely cute Olivia... Based on last night alone I would say Uncle Tim is either boring or very comfortable. I had the knack to put sleepy, grumpy Olivia off to the land of nod... A little rocking and a bit of humming and she was out like a light.

Today was another awesome catch up with family Crook as we spread our wings and hitched a ride with the blustery wind all the way to Mannum (approx. 30 minutes from Murray Bridge). Mannum is another township located on the River Murray, smaller than Murray Bridge, Mannum has between 2,000 and 3,000 people. This Sunday so happened to be the date of a Gaming Expo at the Mannnum Showgrounds, a display of all things medieval, computer/console/board game related and film related. The sword play tournament was amazing to witness (those guys dressed as knights fight hard and fierce) and the Virtual Reality set up was pretty cool too... I beat my son at the old NBA arcade game but lost out at Super Smash-Bros... Thanks as well to the bloke who gave me the complete and utter back story of his Warhammer 40K army displayed in all its glory. Looks like a fun two and a half to three hours of tough battling but too costly for me... With the number of new boardgames I saw today that I now want to play I don't think I'll ever get the time for Warhammer even if I ever did find the extra cash to invest... One can only dream... Thanks to my mate Benny and his introducing me to the Warhammer novels I could hold my own with this expert as he explained the game and his combination of differing factions... His fluff (army's back story) was an interesting one and helped to pass the time while I waited for Master 12 to finish his VR...

All in all a great family weekend... What a way to round off my first 200 posts...

Happy birthday tooooooooooooooooooo Miss 11

Our middle child has now turned 11!! In typical Law style we have already had a massive sleepover pamper party, intimate family celebration (including day out with Mum... chick flick... lunch out...) and finally we have a small gathering coming up (home made pizzas... yum!) to finish off marking this occasion. It has been fun watching this beautiful young lady grow up, getting so tall and yet still so innocent... Looking forward to seeing where the next 11 years takes this sweet daughter of ours.

The other thing that is on our minds at the moment is a happy gathering we are planning to celebrate our 15th Wedding Anniversary. If we pull our crazy idea off my darling wife and I will be throwing the funnest bash that the Bridge has ever seen. It doesn't bother us that our actual anniversary was in June. It is taking us a few extra months to throw it all together. I for one cannot wait for August to roll around...