Laura's Birthday

Only a month and one week later, Laura followed in Katie’s footsteps to leave the glorious age of 21 behind and enter the ripe old year of 22. Conveniently, BJ’s sister Tayte was also celebrating a birthday—leaving her teenage years for the big 2-0. This made the evening’s festivities double the fun. Two birthdays and coincidently our last night in Brisbane gave us good reason to party.
BJ treated us to a morning of rock climbing and abseiling along the cliffs of the Brisbane River with great views of the skyline. Despite her moaning and complaining, Tayte surprised us all with her athletic abilities. It was hard to take her seriously since her outfit consisted of 80s-style, bright yellow aviators and blue plaid man-shorts.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent preparing for the Hollywood character-themed party. We decorated the house for the occasion with a red carpet, popcorn, and other festive goodies. Dallas and Bede spoiled everyone with homemade satay chicken kebabs, wings, and wontons. Our costumes involved a lot of hard work and preparation: BJ was a Jamaican bobsledder, Katie was Joe Dirt, Tayte was Gogo from Kill Bill, and Laura was Fat Bastard. Let us rephrase this—BJ was in black tights with a lucky hard-boiled egg, Katie had bogun facial hair and a makeshift mullet, Tayte looked Asian, and Laura wore a fat suit and chewed on a rubber chicken for [more] effect. As the night wore on, Tayte and BJ’s friends showed up with costumes ranging from Baywatch’s David Hasselhoff Baywatch and the milkmaid from Monty Python. It is necessary to mention that Laura and Katie ran the beer pong table with an undefeated record.
The party was a success and it was hard to believe that our time in Brisbane had come to and end. It had become our home away from home. To the Hamptons: again, I don’t think we can thank you enough for your generosity and hospitality. Thanks for making our time here so special.