After an amazing week in Disneyland California with our friend Frances, visiting from New Zealand, we returned back to our temporary home in Santa Barbara.We made a pit stop at Universal Studios Hollywood – where it was great to see New Zealand spinning on the globe outside the park – and gave Frances a chance…
Author: BritMumInNZ
The Photo Gallery | Happy – Finding ‘Happy’ at Disneyland California!
Guess where we are? Known as ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’! Disneyland! This visit I am the happiest I’ve been visiting Disneyland California, and it’s not just because of the dashing man by my side (though of course he is a big part of the reason!). It’s also because our Miss 4 has finally reached the…
Country Kids – more like ‘Spy Kids’!!!
Okay, last weekend we had a blast. I turned forty in style, celebrating in Santa Monica, California. My daughters LOVED the beach gym that brings the community and tourists together for some active fun. There were some serious gymnast types, flexing muscles on the ropes and swings cirque du soleil style. I was in awe…
Loving turning Forty in Santa Monica!
My Facebook feed was flooded with lovely messages of ‘welcome to the club’ and ‘forties are the best’ this weekend. It’s been like reliving turning eighteen again, as I’ve watched friends slightly older than me party into their forties and then, last weekend, it was my turn. It was a fabulous weekend away in Santa…
Silent Sunday
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Country Kids | Active snapshots from our week
Sharing some active snapshots from the past week of my three active daughters… Swinging in the garden under a shady tree, with friendly lizards and birds for company – Climbing at the playground, with the agility of monkeys, the enthusiasm of bees chasing pollen, and the confidence of feeling comfortable in their own bodies –…
Writers Workshop | Easter
This Easter we are far away from our home (though home, for my husband and I, is forever split between the UK and New Zealand). By home, I mean our literal home, the property we own and have lived in for eight years. Our little patch of New Zealand, on Wellington’s south coast. The place…
The Photo Gallery | A Favourite Place – South Coast, Wellington, New Zealand
Less than fifteen minutes walk from our home in Wellington, New Zealand, lies the stunning South Coast, encompassing Lyall Bay, Princess Bay, Houghton Bay, Island Bay and Owhiro Bay. The bays are met by the shoreline, which gradually rises up into the hills of Wellington. The hills are dotted with houses, balanced out with lush…
⤠Paper towel art, birds, snails, ice-cream, wine-tasting & running!
A few things I’m loving from the past week… ⤠Colourful paper-towel art – dipped with fascination, in food coloured water; observed in awe, as the paper towel absorbed the colours; unravelled with surprise, as the pattern was revealed; put out to dry with love and a toy animal, to stop the breeze blowing away the…
Weekend Fun Carpinteria & Santa Barbara
Some family weekends are golden and this was one of them, the highlight being a delicious meal at a local restaurant (Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro, Montecito) with all three daughters behaving charmingly. It was an impromptu meal out (often preferred to a scheduled, overly anticipated evening) and the love around the table was brimming over…
Let’s Go Ride! Miss 4 & Her New Cycling Adventures
She’s got pedal power and she’s not afraid to use it! She’s done her practice ‘miles’, with cycling around the house and down the lane. This week Miss 4 decided she had what was needed to make it from the house to the village, and back, on her wheels (with a stop for a bite…
What’s the theme tune of your life?
This popped up in my Facebook feed and I’ve had so much fun looking up the tunes that were number 1 in the UK charts on some of my Birthdays (especially apt with my big 40 approaching this month!). Check it out and enjoy reminiscing on ‘What’s The Theme Tune Of Your Life?‘! When I…
Things I’m Loving: Orcas, Art, Running & Cake!
I’m joining in with the ‘Things I’m Loving’ linky over at my friend Meghan’s blog this week – celebrating those little things in life that shine. Sometimes it’s the things happening before my eyes, that fill my heart with love, like coffee, wine, or watching my family devour strawberries coated in chocolate… Other times it’s…
Signs of Spring in Santa Barbara (where the seasons aren’t easily identified!)
This is my first experience of spring in Southern California. I’ve spent the past decade or so seeing in spring in New Zealand, whilst the northern hemisphere starts getting their autumn / winter fashions out and decking the halls with holly. This will be the first time in several years that I’ll see Easter in…