Babar is a very well-loved elephant in our house and we were ecstatic to hear the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra bring the story of Babar to life on Saturday at Te Papa. Miranda Harcourt narrated the story and held most of the audience in raptures (though many of the very young ones preferred to roam…
Author: BritMumInNZ
Ditch the straightening irons: Dreadlocks reign in a Southerly!
As I write there’s a mean southerly blowing and over dinner SJ asked me who was whistling. Erm, that’ll be Mr. Wind love, he’s a regular visitor to these parts! 🙂 It’s always at this time of year I question why I live in Wellington and start perusing real estate websites the world over. Just…
Officially Spring!
It’s officially Spring – or so I read in the newspaper today. The weather was beautiful this weekend and we treasured every moment. It’s been a rough winter with news reports saying it’s been the wettest on record. After a magnificent six month’s of summer, this winter has been hard on everyone. I reckon treatment…
Sophie the Chatterbox!
SJ is approaching two and three quarters and is such a little chatterbox. She’s an absolute delight to spend the day with and puts a smile on everyone’s face. This week has followed our usual pattern of visits to the library for story-time, swim lesson, play-dates and time enjoying the outdoors. Today, was a day…
‘Wish you were here’ photographs
We’ve received so many beautiful photographs from family overseas this year and all of them very much make us ‘wish we were there’. Life here in NZ is simple, easy and very, very pleasurable. We’ve been here since August 1996 (Dan) and February 1997 (Sarah) with a year living back in the UK (1998/1999) and…
Rain free Saturday!
News break: It didn’t rain on Saturday! Pitches across Wellington actually had players on them. Children danced on the side-lines, cheering on their sporting hero’s (in our case – Daddy O!)… Dan only played half a game (as there was such a surplus of players keen to actually get a game in) – but it…
Heartbreaking news about Spanish plane tragedy
This morning I sat with Sophie in a cafe to have a coffee and a read of the paper (well, juice and bagel for Sophie!) and turned to the ‘World’ section to read in horror of the Spain plane crash. My deepest sympathies go out to all the families affected. It is such heartbreaking news….
A little slice of paradise on Earth….
We are so fortunate to have this on our doorstep in a world that’s full of chaos. Today, was perfect in every way. Walking to Island Bay along the south coast we stopped at Houghton Bay to watch this surfer enjoying his moment of escapism… The view from Island Bay across the Cook Strait to…
Chocolate Frog just gets better!
The Chocolate Frog cafe at Palmer’s Garden Centre in Miramar, Wellington, just gets better! In the play area (on the opposite side of the garden centre to the actual cafe) is a sign that means the world to parents… And for dog-owners… a dedicated area to ‘park’ your dog, complete with fresh water bowls! It…
Seasonally Unpredictable
I’m no meteorologist and if I was then I could explain the seasonally unpredictable weather we’ve been experiencing lately. Wellington, in particular, goes crazy in the Spring – and it’s approaching – with signs from ‘Mother Nature’ and changes in the fashion outlets window displays. I came across a fascinating read on the Met Service…
An Olympian in the making?!
The girls have been very excited about the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Charli’s school are incorporating the games into their classes over the next two-week’s and she came home very excited yesterday. We got on-line and found tons of great print-offs and ideas; from learning the history of the games to modern day events. We’ve been…
Little Kiwi making wise choices
This little Kiwi has been spending time at Te Papa’s Nature Discovery Centre learning how to make some wise choices on her packed lunch… Doing well… She followed up by showing disgrace at the over-packaging of boxed lunches in Te Papa’s cafeteria, commenting to one of the staff, ‘That’s not good for the environment!’. When…
A little ray of sunshine
This week (and it’s only Tuesday) has been all smiles and no tears (except from Sophie when her bicycle helmet unfortunately caught her chin as the strap clicked shut – ouch!). Charli has been thriving at school and I’m so relieved to pick her up and see all smiles. Her teacher is so wonderful and…
Top Family Time and an All Black’s Victory!
Settling into school life is not without emotion at Chez Lee and this weekend couldn’t have come fast enough. Charli was so tired and weepy on Friday pick-up; but she’s definitely enjoying 85% of school-life and on the whole she’s thriving. Nevertheless, I take the rough bits to heart and my health is suffering with…