Loving it - week 30

The school holidays are dragging on, it seems like a lifetime ago that Mila was actually in school! But the school stationery arrived yesterday, so that's a sign that it is nearly drawing to an end. 

Mila spent a few days down in Wellington with her grandfather and cousin recently and came back to us on Monday, red-faced but happy.  She informed me that it was much cooler in Wellington and trying to sleep hadn't been nearly as bad as she was finding it back home. 

To help Bug get over the pain of being left behind (her time will come when she is eight) Ben and I put a leetle extra effort into keeping her occupied back here in Auckland.  We made it to the zoo on Saturday and lasted a few hours before the sun got the best of us. 

Highlight was definitely the kiwi, we are pretty sure we saw two of them doing the wild thing right in front of us! It was kinda hard to tell though, there was lot of feather pulling and then running around.

We also tried out the new waterpark in Waterview, but by then we were all dying from the heat, so beat a path back home for ice blocks and sprinklers on the front lawn.

That night we went to Burger Burger for dinner. I had fish, Bug got chicken and Ben got beef.  All of them were pretty epic, as were Bug's fries. We also got potato skins, but the truffle oil was a tad intense for me.  Next time, I'm trying the broccoli.

Sunday saw us travel up to Orewa to catch up with Sharon, my step-father's wife. We had cheese scones and coffee before heading down to the beach for a swim. It was great, despite Juno swallowing half the ocean. 

Sharon gave me some of John's things- photo albums and also a photographic series he did when he was still able to get out and about after he retired. I already have one of his photos on the wall, so am currently in the process of figuring out where the rest should go. I need a gallery space!

So as you can see, a lot to love this past week and all of it to do with family....awwww sweet.

Here's some other highlights....

* Made it to yoga (yay me!)

* Lost one kilo

* Watched a cool mini series called And then there were none (watch it if you like Agatha Christie)

* Caught a glimpse of an Orangutan at the zoo

* Managed to throw some crap out (props to Ben for tackling the garage)

* Had pizza from Sette Bello

* Got Olive a cat door

Winning!

Catching up... big time

So I think I must be up to about week 27 or 28!  It's been a pretty busy holiday period for us, we spent lots of time away in Tairua, Coromandel Township and Cambridge, Actually, by the end of it, it was almost a relief to be home! Well, almost....

Anyway, I'm gonna let pictures do most of the talking here and use words to fill in the gaps.

Christmas Day was pretty ace... a slow, leisurely start with brunch up at Ben's parents with my dad in tow.  Then we worked on Christmas dinner and has a few drinks in the sun before everyone, my girls included, turned up for presents, turkey, salmon, Christmas pudding, salads, drinks, pumpkin pie and well, you get the idea.

After that it was down to Tairua where we hung out for a few days, enjoying some epic sunshine and day tripping to Whiti Farmpark (June-bug got bitten by a miniature horse!) We also spent time down on Ocean Beach and had a sandcastle competition.

It was back to Auckland for New Years at Simon and Vivs, which was really cool.  I got to see my cousin Dave and his wife Helen, who I haven't seen in way too long. New Years is also a time for making resolutions, of which I have fricken tonne, but I'll save all those for another post I think.

Next up on the holiday to-do list was a camping trip in Cormandel with Simon, Viv and Luca.  It was pretty cool, but I did kinda struggle.  We were a little ill-prepared, even though we felt like we'd packed everything bar the kitchen sink and we literally could not squeeze another thing in the car. Our air mattress was a deflater too, so that kinda sucked.  But whingeing aside, the holiday was fun.

The kids had a total ball, running around making friends, in and out of the water and in and out of the tent. I really liked the evenings- making dinner and then having a drink as the sun went down, was pretty damn pleasant.

We had a couple of day trips as well- we went to the Coromandel Mussel Kitchen for lunch one day and the next day we headed to Waterworks, a kinda hokey theme park hidden in the bush.

After camping came Cambridge, We spent a weekend here and then left the girls behind for a week of fun with their nana.  While we were in Cambridge Ben and I went to the Hamilton Gardens and tried to not to wilt away in the heat. We also hit the farmer's market and trash-to-treasure, where I scored a new apron (as you do).

So there you have it, my summer holiday done and dusted.  I said i'd let the pictures do the talking, but clearly I lied, because I just wrote a novel!