The last day…. so very sad!
We started off this day a little differently than usual… by going out for breakfast. Fourteen of us headed out to the Engine Room Cafe (owned by friends from our church) for breakfast and to celebrate my birthday. It’s our new favourite cafe, and their food and coffee, and everything about them is beyond lovely. If you came to visit us, that’s where we’d take you.
We very much enjoyed the time of fellowship and talking and laughing and memory-making, and it was Aunty Joce & Uncle Pete’s 29th wedding anniversary also, so a bit of a double celebration. Unfortunately my very clever husband brought our camera with him, but forgot that he had left its batteries in the charger at home, so I have no photos of this happy event.
Then back off to the park, for our last day of Easterfest.
Mum and Aunty Joce settled into the Epicentre tent, where they were having a Jazz and Blues showcase that lasted nearly all day. And that’s where they stayed all day. The rest of us flitted between there and the various other stages, trying to soak in as much music and discover as many new favourites as possible.
I think one of my highlights of the day music-wise was Sydney-based band Garage Hymnal. We only went to see them because my sister and I had seen their album in the Superstore (The Easterfest music store), and its cover was intriguing. Yes, we often do judge a book by its cover but luckily it usually works out for us. Garage Hymnal were fantastic and we did end up buying their CD. Amazing passion, beautiful lyrics and very impressive arrangements. You should check them out.
We also stopped by the Bella tent (a special space just for girls – and don’t worry, the boys had one too!) to attend a forum with Melinda Tankard Reist. She is passionate about stopping the sexual exploitation of women and girls, and had a lot of great things to share. Our generation of girls definitely need people like her out there, and that’s for sure.
We also did our official shopping trip at the Superstore. I bought albums by Sanctus Real and Planet of the Stereos, and my hubby bought a Grace Note album. The rest of the family also bought various other albums, all of which mysteriously ended up on each other’s i-pods and i-rivers the next day.
Late afternoon saw us trekking back to mainstage. No big concert tonight, as Sunday night at Mainstage is traditionally home to the Combined Church Service. The unity shown by churches in Toowoomba has always inspired me, and the success of Easterfest is indeed a testament to it.
As always, the church service, which is free and open to all the public, was packed out. Luckily some committed members of our group has taken up all our folding chairs and secured us a spot quite early on.
Sunday night was by far the coolest night of the festival, and we all rugged up and settled in ready for the service to begin.
How cute is Mayana’s warm outfit??! Here she is with Tante Lexi, in her new fluffy coat from Kami, and winter hat made by me, of course!
Mayana was lucky to have both sets of grandparents at Easterfest this year, as Pete’s parents and their best friend joined us at the festival for the first time. 
As I said, the church service was packed - it always is. And as always they did a fantastic job. A team of musos from various churches around the city made up the band, including –for the first time- a rather large combined choir. My mum’s cousin Brendon Walmsley was up their doing guitar and backing vocals also. A message was shared by a local teacher, and the service concluded with a stirring rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’ – which has become a traditional ending to the service over the last five years or so. 
There was no way we were going home early on the last night of Easterfest – we were there for the long haul, regardless of weather Mayana slept or not! She was still wide awake after the service. Pete went to put our chairs back in the car, and Mum, Aunty Joce, Mayana and I went and bought ourselves Devine Donuts (if you ever come across these you HAVE to have one – they really do live up to their name) and settled in to the Chai Circle stage to listen to some easy-listening acoustic bands.
Then we headed back to the Epicentre to catch Simeon – another band I make sure to check out every year.
By this time we were all becoming a little overtired and somewhat silly. This is a normal course of events for Sunday night at Easterfest. But we were still determined to stay put until the final show.
Somewhere around here Mayana *FINALLY* crashed. And then she was out of it for good and stayed asleep until nearly 8am the next morning!
Some of us popped over to watch the first few songs of the Planet of the Stereos, then raced back for the traditional Last Hurrah of Easterfest: The Fancy Pants Ball, with our favourite jazz band, Scat. Each year they have a different theme for their suits – they’ve done white suits (painted with house-paint by the way), newspaper suits, wrapping paper suits and police-tape suits. This year, they each were painted a different colour. And not just the suits this time – they were way more committed and even they were painted!
As always, it was a fantastic show, and the best way to send out Easterfest 2010 with a bang!
So there you have it people: the weekend that is the highlight of my year. I can’t believe it’s over again for a whole year! I guess that’s the good thing though… there’s always another one to look forward to. And next year, we most likely will not be living in Toowoomba, and will be back to looking for accommodation again. A whole new adventure awaits.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little reviews and thanks for indulging me in a little trip down last weekend’s memory lane.
Mayana meets a tiny baby frog. Still in the stage between tadpole and froggy. She was a little unsure. 
Mayana with Nana & Topsy. Content.
Mayana has discovered that she looks hilarious with an orange bag on her head. She puts it on, runs over to the hallway mirror and laughs herself silly at her own reflection. It’s so cute!
Mayana has adopted Pop’s chair. Not sure he’s too happy about it but we think it’s adorable.
Enjoying the outdoor church service at Boondooma homestead on the weekend. We got lots of comments about what a good girl she was.
Mayana’s first taste of damper! She was super impressed, and totally scoffed it down. 
I made Mayana playdough over the weekend. She quite enjoyed squishing it between her fingers, and had a couple of tastes. 
Totally stealing Pop’s chair. He was relegated to the footstool. Sorry Pop.
Mayana has a great love of corn, and she is mastering the art of eating it from the cob.
“Okay Mama, enough photos now!”
The front… painting still in progress
The back of the shed. LOTS of tanks on this property! These ones will be removed to make way for a big back deck. There is a MASSIVE tank under the slab of the smaller shed that’s on the property which will more than suffice for residential use. 
This is the only room that has been started. It will be the loungeroom. On the weekend, Pete, some of my cousins and a neighbour will help Pop install the ceiling.
This is the main part of the interior. It will become kitchen, dining and living space. It’s huge. Really. They’re going for the wide-open-spaces feel.
From the front today. The roof has had its first coat, and Pop’s added the red trim. I thought it looked great before, but the red just really sets it off I think. By the way, the white railings is something the council put in a few years ago because some drunken fool came out of their car and rolled their ankle in the ditch when they couldn’t find the footpath. Makes a nice little entryway, no?
