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Author: BritMumInNZ
Our week of learning
Documenting our learning journey; with two children learning from home and one at school. Last week I visited the ‘Tyrannosaurs – Meet the Family‘ exhibition (currently on at Te Papa museum, Wellington, till 8 February 2015) with my four and eight year old daughters. It was really fascinating to stand up against a real T-Rex…
The Photo Gallery – Spectacular Halloween at Disneyland!
spectacular (spekˈtak ula) adjective Beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way. Before we left California, we spent a final few days at Disneyland. It was the end of September, but the whole place was bedecked in ‘fall’ colours and pumpkins. In true Disneyland style, it was spectacular. Dazzling shows of colour, light, water, fireworks and…
A stroll to our ‘local’ in Lyall Bay
The Spruce Goose, in Lyall Bay is a relatively short stroll from our home. Since returning back in Wellington we’ve had this restaurant, cafe and bar, on our list of ‘must do as soon as possible’! I was lucky to have a lunch date with a wonderful friend (who writes wonderful poetry, amongst other things,…
Prose for Thought – Halloween
Halloween last year was as it should be – in the northern hemisphere, in autumn (albeit living in Santa Barbara, California, wasn’t quite the northern hemisphere type of Halloween I remembered from my apple bobbing youth growing up in England, UK). It was lovely to be living somewhere where pumpkins were plentiful (as we experienced…
The Photo Gallery | Light
A sunset on a Saturday, at beautiful Princess Bay, on Wellington’s South Coast. The gift of light, in all its entirety – from dawn to dusk and every filtered stream in-between. The luminescent glow of light, reflected off the greenest canopy, in the New Zealand bush. Light filtering through the canopy, to shine on a…
Loving having our creative space back!
There’s a room in our home that I’ve always loved, ever since we first bought the house – back in 2006. It’s the laundry room, off the back of the garage, and is a sun magnet in the afternoon. It’s a large room and a space I’ve always filled with paint, paper and craft materials…
A magic moment at the city gallery in Wellington
An inspiring home-school, Mum, friend invited my two younger children and I to a shadow workshop at the City Gallery in Wellington last week. It was the perfect distraction from the troubled start to our week (I’ll get around to the ‘magic moment’ alluded to in the title of this post after a slight detour…!)….
Five outdoor family loves in Wellington from the past fortnight…
We’ve been back in Wellington, New Zealand, a fortnight and are quickly reacquainting ourselves with favourite haunts. The weather has mostly been conducive to outdoor activities and our children are loving playing with their friends. Here’s five outdoor favourites from the last fortnight… 1. Rock pooling, climbing and beach play at Scorching Bay beach. This…
Autumn | The Photo Gallery
Our last month in Santa Barbara, California, coincided with the start of the ‘Fall’ season (though the temperatures and local foliage were hardly indicators of autumnal weather!). With only weeks left, before our return to Wellington, New Zealand, (just in time for spring) I definitely felt the need to indulge in some autumnal fair before…
We are home in Wellington, New Zealand!
Where do I start?! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of saying goodbye to our life in Santa Barbara, enjoying a last few days in Disneyland California, and then finally boarding an Air New Zealand flight for that final flight home! It’s been weeks since I have written anything on this blog. I’ve…
Frying in Anaheim, California. A Scorchio Weekend!
We were practically frying in southern California last weekend, as the temperature rose over 100 °F (close to 40 ºC). Our main reason for being down in Anaheim was for our 8 year old daughter to see a live game of baseball with her Daddy (she’s really enjoyed going to the ‘batting cages’ and slogging a few balls…
Sunshine weekend | Santa Barbara to Santa Monica
We’ve driven south from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles several times in the past year. One of our favourite routes is along the Southbound California State Route 1, on the Pacific Coast Highway. We always make a pit-stop at the giant sand dunes to admire the scenery and burn off some pent up energy with…
A Magic Moment – seeing Endeavour
His eyes welled up as we walked into the large hanger, the Samuel Oschin Pavilion, holding Endeavour, at the California Science Center. My breath paused. The children stopped moving, momentarily. We stood in the presence of a real space shuttle! This shuttle had been into space on 25 successful missions. It blew my mind to…