A slight change of pace

The whirlwind that was Jeni and Jacqui touched down Friday night and left Monday morning - for a weekend that swept us up in their unaffected charm and forever present laughter.

Trying to fulfil jeni’s wish, expressed in her shout, “I want to do everything” as we walked around the resort on Saturday, proved difficult because of the weather. In between bouts of rain, however, the two Js threw themselves into whatever they could find.

 

They jumped into the inflated water wheel, aiming to beat the record of 50 revolutions, which had just been set by two young boys. 

The attendant yelled out to the boys who were by then canoeing past, “I think your record’s safe”. Our bubble girls only managed one, but made up for it with joyful screams that made us laugh easily in response.

On to Mini Golf where their own unique style made for an entertaining game filled with antics, dancing and more laughter, especially in dodging all the animal poo.

 

 

Luckily, they’d each brought a huge bag filled with clothes, as we did a quick change and headed back for cocktail hour – or in Jacqui’s case, Mocktail hour.

Sunday saw them hiding from the rain in Maroochydore’s Sunshine Plaza, pulling in a great shopping haul that was later displayed at dinner.

Dinner was a buffet, which I suspect was originally invented for people like them. I stayed at home sick with a cold in bed (damn) but Jon assured me that they did him proud, each going back on numerous occasions with undisguised glee. The dessert counter certainly got a workout I hear, as evidenced by their proud displays later of how much their bellies had grown in just two hours. (I still think they’re both incredibly skinny, but what would I know!)

Somewhere in the weekend they had an hour’s downtime with a trip to the Day Spa – a relaxation massage for Jacqui and a body scrub followed by a manicure for Jeni. We sat here savouring the silence, but also looking forward to their return, knowing we’d get their own special recount, full of fabulously funny and irreverent observations. We weren’t disappointed.

 

It was a delight to spend time with these two wonderful young girls (oops – young ladies!) Ever since they were little, they’ve had a special bond. They might not speak to each other for weeks or months but when they get together, they’re inseparable, laughing at the same jokes, talking in the same way and finishing each other’s sentences- and sometimes, I suspect, knowing exactly how the other is feeling.  Lucky them.

And lucky us for having such a lovely daughter and niece – and especially lucky that they came to stay at our Sunshine Coast retreat, even if it did rain and the time pass all too quickly. 

We loved their energetic interruption to our ‘old people’ routines and the joy that came from being in their company.