It was during Christmas holidays on 29 December 2017 and Heather asked Laurie that morning, 'It's a beautiful, hot day. What did you want to do today? Did you want to go anywhere?' Laurie replied, 'I don't know, how about a trip to Maleny, to the Botanic Gardens and we can take Wimbledon.'

They both liked the idea and relished in the delight of rhetorically asking Wimbledon if he wanted to go for a drive and the exuberant response that Wimbledon always gives - not just a simple wagging of the tail, but a wagging of his whole body.

Wimbledon obviously was keen so they packed a picnic lunch, and off they went on a family day trip! Laurie thought this trip could pose a great time to pop the question, so he brought the ring along and hid it in the car, obviously unbeknown to Heather.

Laurie drove for the 1.5 hour road trip to the Maleny Botanic Gardens, while Heather provided some sweet road trip tunes. Wimbledon slept the whole drive, patiently waiting for the family to get to the destination to do whatever fun adventure was on the cards. When they arrived, Laurie got the entry tickets and the map while Heather accompanied Wimbledon in his initial sniff of every tree near the entrance.

Once Laurie looked at the map, he knew the place he was going to propose: a replica of Monet’s bridge. He knew that when Heather visited France back in 2008, she visited the house and garden of the famous French painter Claude Monet. He remembered how Heather loved the waterlilies pond and bridges in the garden which inspired his most famous work.

So the trio initially left the picnic lunch in the car and followed the Maleny Botanic Gardens map through the Rainforest and Orchid Walk, through various lookouts, ponds and waterfalls. They settled that the Lily Pond was a good place for lunch and Laurie went back to the car to get the picnic lunch. Laurie cheekily recalls how he intentionally left the ring and lunch in the car at the start of the day so that Heather didn’t get suspicious of a ring box in Laurie’s pocket while they went on the walk.

After lunch, the trio continued their walk around the gardens, making their way towards Monet’s Bridge, with Laurie carefully hiding the ring in his pocket for this last part of the walk. Wimbledon explored and left his mark in the Fairytale Garden before the trio proceeded to the rose garden, the Tree Tops Gazebo, the Pontoon Pond and the Oriental Garden. Laurie still chuckles thinking about how the ring then felt like it was burning a hole through his pocket that whole time.

When they finally arrived at Monet’s Bridge, they took some time to marvel at how the replica was really well done and how beautiful the view was. While Heather was looking in the distance Laurie said, ‘Heather, can I ask you a question?’ Heather then turned around and saw Laurie start to bend on one knee. Laurie was incredibly nervous and feared he would drop the ring into the pond. Heather was totally surprised and remembers thinking to herself, ‘He’s not tying his shoe. He’s proposing- OMG!’

Laurie appeared calm and said, ‘I know we plan on going to France in a few years, but I can’t wait until then when we visit the real Monet’s bridge to ask you this: Will you marry me?’

Heather was so surprised and moved that there just were no words. Due to both being so consumed by emotion resulting in a physical inability to speak while also not being able express anything of what she was feeling through the limited medium of language, Heather said nothing. She cried, simply nodded yes and accepted the ring. Laurie put the ring on Heather’s finger and then asked, ‘So the answer’s yes?’ With the overwhelming rush of emotions, all Heather was able to respond was a whispered, ‘Yes’ before hugging and kissing her now Australian George Clooney fiancé.

Needless to say, Wimbledon certainly approved and was as excited as both Laurie and Heather that day as they proceeded to celebrate with a bit of champagne. The trio look forward to becoming an official family on 5 May 2019.

Italian Honeymoon

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