We’ve been very much home bodies after our exciting week away in San Francisco, with side trips to Santa Cruz and Monterey. It’s been nearly three weeks since we got back and we’ve been very self contained in the house we’re renting in Santa Barbara, till the end of August this year. The three girls are…
Category: Adventures
A beautiful weekend in Monterey
We drove into Monterey on Friday evening, after a stunning drive along the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco. If time had permitted we would have stopped a while to enjoy the many picturesque, sandy bays. Some of the bays were carved deeply into high cliffs, with difficult access making them even more appealing to…
The Photo Gallery | One Word – Metamorphosis
‘One Word’ is this week’s theme over on ‘The Photo Gallery‘ at Sticky Fingers blog and I’m going with ‘Metamorphosis’, after a magical visit to the recently opened ‘Butterflies Alive!’ exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. I visited on with my youngest daughter, age four. She entered the magical world of the…
My first half marathon – in the bag & for a great cause!
I woke at 5am feeling nervous about whether my ankle was going to hold out for me to complete the half marathon in the beautiful wine country of Santa Barbara, California. I wasn’t just running to achieve a goal for myself, or to take in the beautiful scenery surrounding of the Santa Ynez Valley, but running…
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…
An English Wedding & a reunion of old friends (Part 2 of my trip to the UK)
I have missed so many weddings in England over the past fifteen years living in New Zealand. My dearest friends from school, college and University days have met their sweethearts, walked down the aisle, partied like there’s no tomorrow, all whilst I’ve been wishing for someone to invent instant travel through time. Unfortunately, often laden…
Miss 3 & I visit The Mission in Santa Barbara, California
Weekends are my golden time with my youngest daughter. During the week, Monday to Friday, I have to please all three daughters single-handedly (and Miss 8 and 10 rarely have the same desire to do the same outdoor activities & excursions as their younger sister). So it was that Miss 3 and I awoke with…
LA to UK for 4 days, sans children. A once in a decade trip! Part 1
It was my first trip away in ten years, without wearing my mother and wife ‘hats’. An old University friend in the UK was the carrot and after ten years of at home parenting (mostly as an expat in New Zealand), with only one night away (ever; and that was when I had two daughters,…
Twenty Fourteen in San Diego
We have seen in the New Year from the vibrant city of San Diego, where there is an abundance of attractions, activities and beautiful scenery. There is so much to do here that I already want to start planning my next visit. On the drive down we stopped a night at Legoland California, where all…
An expat Christmas twice over, with some outdoor fun
Any expat will understand that Christmas (that is if it is a holiday that means something to you) is hard away from your home. This year, our first Christmas in Santa Barbara, California, USA, could have been twice as hard – particularly for my British husband and I. We spent our growing up years, till…
A place with no real weather | Prose for Thought
Dare I say, ‘I’m getting used to this place’? Where the weather barely changes – apart from the length of light in a day. Where clouds are cause for exclamation – and rain is a rare, yet welcome, distraction. I’ve come from a place that knows big weather, where a person learns to dress in…
Moments of happiness with friends from NZ on Santa Barbara’s Waterfront
It’s been a lovely week shared with friends. We returned from Disneyland on Tuesday evening and have been enjoying a quieter time back at the house in Santa Barbara. The children have been playing in the pool a lot and we’ve had a couple of trips out and about, including a gorgeous little boat trip…
Disneyland & California Adventures all decked up for Christmas
We visited Disneyland and California Adventure Park at the end of November, everything was decked out for Christmas. We stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and it was breathtakingly decorated for the season. We holidayed with wonderful friends; our neighbours from New Zealand flew over to join us! They landed in LA, after some 14 hours of travelling…
LOVING our New Zealand neighbours being here with us in the USA!
They arrived today! Our wonderful New Zealand neighbours. Our children are ecstatic and it’s magic for us adults to see them all together. Their ages span from three to ten, but all five children (three of them being our crazy girls) are like a little family in their own right. They mix up play between…