Late Nights and Lazy Mornings

Summer nights and the girls are usually asleep around 9 o’clock. Thankfully, they sleep till nearly 9 in the morning, so hubbie’s been having to set the alarm clock for work – for the first time in nearly 5 years!

We’re really loving the evenings and the stress free mornings. There’s such a sense of family harmony with no pressures to be anywhere at a set time.

My morning’s are spent getting the bags packed for the beach. Ensuring all the essentials are included – sunscreen, water, hats, towels, togs, change of clothes, beach-toys, food… On other days we’re happy to enjoy the garden and picking fresh strawberries and tomatoes. The garden is beautiful with all the sunshine and of course the constant need to water the plants gives ample opportunity for frolicking in the water (and keeps the laundry room busy with the need for fresh towels!).

Sophie’s love of face-painting continues. This morning she wanted to be a leopard:

With Charlotte home from Kindi the girls have increased their sisterly bond and I’m not looking forward to Charlotte starting school in July! Sophie will miss her big sister so much and I know their relationship will change. It will be even more important to give them quality time together. Charlotte will probably be increasingly more interested in playing with her new school friends and I’ll need to give Sophie opportunities to make friendships of her own. Though I don’t want this to drive them in different directions entirely.

I’ve been completely slack on taking photographs over the past few days and have cursed myself for not having the camera on me or loaded with charged batteries! The other day we spent hours at Houghton Bay, watching the surfers and enjoying the walk back up through the valley via the playground. Yesterday we were at the Zoo for 3 hours and Charlotte got up close to native spiders (not poisonous), a blue-tongued reptile and a tortoise. The playground next door whiled away another hour and still the girls were full of energy; so they went charging round the adjacent running track.

Today, we enjoyed a beautifully lazy morning before heading down Lyall Bay and then later we played at Houghton Valley playground. Bedtime came around 9pm and I’m tucking into a beer waiting for hubbie to bring home a curry!

I’m not thinking about term starting soon. My parents are currently in the US on their way to New Zealand and we’re looking forward to a week in Taupo with them: where I’m going to leave the computer alone and spend hours catching up with two of the most influential and special people in my life; my dear Mum and Dad.

Visits from them mean the world to us. I recently met two mother’s who’ve moved to Wellington. Both of them had newborns and a toddler. I was very impressed! They’d only been in Wellington a matter of weeks but had already discovered the wonderfully welcoming nature of the locals.