Things I’m Loving – Visitors to Welly from Napier!

It’s been a lovely week of new friendships. We’ve had Jen, and her son Billy, staying with us all week from sunny Napier (though she tells me they’d seen nothing but rain for the past couple of weeks). Wellington has only thrown them one seriously typical weather day – the rest has been calm with a good dose of sunshine moments too. It’s been lovely for our family to meet Jen and Billy. The children have very much enjoyed their company too. Billy (at 16) is amazing with the young ones and I suspect little Alice will be asking after him next week.

So, here’s to blogging and new friendships! Definitely something to love!

Our homeschooler, Sophie, has enjoyed being a tour guide this week – accompanying Jen and Billy on a few trips around Welly (with young Alice loving the tours too – as her side kick – and me relishing the change of routine and excuse to escape domestic duties on the home-front and drive around to all Welly’s best spots).

Meanwhile, Dan was working hard at the office and Charlotte being an amazingly motivated school girl – getting up before anyone else in the house to the sound of her 7am alarm, waking up her Daddy, and getting out the door for school at 8am. The only problem is she struggles to wind down at night. By Thursday morning (after not getting to sleep till 10pm each night!) she was shattered and there was no way she was going to manage a day at school.

Still, she’s happy and working diligently for her upcoming Intro 4 American Jazz exam on Monday. I enjoyed the treat of sitting in on her mock exam practice on Sunday avo. I’d forgotten how disciplined dancing was (brought back memories of my own ballet and modern jazz dancing days!). I sat watching with a straight back, not daring to move. As any proud Mumma, I wanted to beam a huge, proud smile… but tried to be a little restrained – so as not to distract Charlotte (with the occasional full grin and wink!).

She’s doing great at dancing and is such a creative soul. Her artwork is stunning (we saw her latest, as part of a display, on Wednesday) and gives us great joy. Her singing is a delight to listen to as well. She’s also preparing for her first ‘speech and drama’ exam. She sang ‘My Favourite Things’ from ‘The Sound of Music’ as a solo in front of the whole junior school the other week – but she didn’t tell us about it till afterward (she felt her performance would be better if we weren’t watching!). Thankfully, we hear her singing all the time, so we weren’t put out – but very proud of her confidence indeed!

Sophie has been a happy home-schooler lately too. She was thrilled with her new science kit arriving this week and spent a day doing experiments and learning about different ways of measuring. Our house guest Billy enjoyed helping Sophie with her learning one evening too.

On Tuesday, Sophie, Alice and I caught up with one of our most inspiring home-school families in Wellington – who really gave me the confidence (amongst other bloggers I’ve corresponded with) to pursue natural learning with Sophie. It was a chilly day, but we rugged up, nice and cosy, to meet at the Chocolate Fish in Shelly Bay.

Wednesday was a day of showers, but no wind – so we took Jen and Billy to the ‘Weta Cave’ on the Miramar Peninsula and enjoyed a play in the rain at Scorching Bay (I wrote a blog post about our lovely day, ‘Wet Wednesday in Welly‘).

Thursday, the weather threw a true blue Welly day of gusting winds and heavy rain. It was definitely a museum day! I was fortunate to have my friend and nanny, Frances, round for a few hours on Thursday (otherwise I would have had to stay at home) – what with Charlotte home from school – and Sophie not so keen on a trip out. I enjoyed a rare morning of one-on-one time with Alice showing Jen and Billy a little of our favourite spots in Te Papa (though with Alice is was a whistle stop, high speed tour!). I was lucky not to lose her – she runs from one thing to the next with such enthusiasm – completely forgetting that I may not have noticed her move!

But the sun is only ever a few days away. That’s the up side of living in windy Welly – it keeps things moving… including the sulphur smell from the Mt Tongariro volcanic eruption earlier in the week! Mt Tongariro is one of three major volcanos in the central North Island, sitting alongside Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe. The mountain had been dormant for 115 years – the last series of eruptions began in November 1896 and lasted until October 1897.

So, volcanic eruptions aside, spring is beginning to give us a hint of things to come. I took Alice and Sophie for a quick visit to Welly Zoo on Monday ‘avo and the daffodils made me feel very chipper 🙂

But there’s still a cold nip in the air morn and night! Hope you’ve had a great week x

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I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life,
there is always something you can be thankful for…. no matter how simple it is.