Swingingly well again & we’ve been out enjoying countryside & beach.

Everyone is well in the family again and all the girls have been back at school for a good week and a half. It was brilliant to get some sunshine this weekend to really keep those feel good vibes swinging!

We headed out to Worser Bay to take our puppy for an off lead gallop on the beach (he’s like a miniature horse in full race mode!) and of course have a blast on the ‘big swing’!

It was the first time in ages we’d been out all together as a family on a Sunday morning. With winter weather and illnesses combined it’s been quite a rough few months (our holiday in Singapore over the winter school holidays, in early July, has felt like a distant memory).

I felt like I was beginning to lose the plot by the third week of having a poorly child – or three – home from school (mostly down to not getting out on my regular runs). When we finally saw the light returning at the end of the tunnel we headed away for a weekend in Martinborough to inhale the country air.

The girls enjoyed blasting around the quiet streets on scooters and bikes.

They also had fun identifying the flowers in our garden over there, using an app called, ‘Like That Garden‘.

And they decided to take our rabbit, Fudge, away for the weekend with us too! He appreciated the lush green grass to nibble on!

Whilst our animal friends enjoyed the outdoors we enjoyed some fine refreshments at the gorgeous Vineyard Cafe at Margrain Vineyard.

After returning from Martinborough the girls had a couple more days to full recuperate (with the Monday and Tuesday being teacher only day) before heading back on the Wednesday. We were so pleased to see three smiling faces on school pick up that we celebrated that very evening, with a family meal at Majestic Cuisine.

Hubby and I enjoyed our own private celebration the very next week – with a lunch date and walk on Wellington’s south coast, whilst all three girls were at school.

We lunched outside on the deck at ‘The Bach‘ overlooking the stunning south coast of Wellington, before taking our dog for a walk at the Red Rocks Nature Reserve.

It was a stunning day, with a northerly wind blowing the white caps of the waves back as they rode into the coast, and the white snow capped peaks of the seaward Kaikoura range, on the South Island, visible on the horizon.

It’s so great to have everyone well again and the lighter evenings are bringing a real life to our spirits after the dark, shorter days of winter. We feel really excited about daylight saving commencing in less than a fortnight and spring days rolling into long summer nights.

Plenty more hours in the day to enjoy gorgeous coastal and country walks, time out on the kayak and running by the bays, and evenings to sip at a chilled glass of wine, watching the colours of the sky slowing changing, with the warm glow of the setting sun.