Wellington City put on a great show on Sunday to welcome The Queen Victoria on its maiden world-cruise. The city buzzed with the sound of helicopter rescue displays, tug-boat rides up to the cruise liner and a warm feeling of welcome. We enjoyed a fabulous day on the waterfront. Charlotte experienced a new first: dinghy […]
Sarah
A Week of Celebration
I’m feeling great and I’ve got my ‘mojo’ back (uh oh, best be careful now!). I always find the first year after having a baby my sex drive takes a total dive; what with all the extensive breastfeeding, sleep deprivation and recovery time (I don’t have easy births!). But, thankfully my hubbie is the loving, […]
Having a blast – long may the summer roll!
It’s been a crazy few days of sunshine. We had a blast at ‘The Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ in the Botanical Gardens on Sunday (got some great video-clips, but no time to string it together tonight!). Charlotte loved singing along to the music and Sophie enjoyed wandering around the rose garden and riding on the ‘rocket’! […]
Late Nights and Lazy Mornings
Summer nights and the girls are usually asleep around 9 o’clock. Thankfully, they sleep till nearly 9 in the morning, so hubbie’s been having to set the alarm clock for work – for the first time in nearly 5 years! We’re really loving the evenings and the stress free mornings. There’s such a sense of […]
Visiting Silverstream
Good friends, Marrisa, Michael and Bethany moved to Silverstream, in the Hutt Valley, set in beautiful rural surrounds. It’s another stage in their new life in New Zealand and today we visited them. It was so wonderful to see them making their new home their own. All their belongings have arrived from the UK and […]
Welcome Back Good Friends!
Our dear friends, Avril (left) and Lucy (right), have both recently returned to Aotearoa after a few year’s working in Australia. We have missed them so much and having them back is the best news. We spent Sunday afternoon catching up and enjoying the stunning sunshine and blissful warmth. After a mammoth BBQ we walked […]
A Blogging Break: Tons to Report!
Chez Lee has enjoyed a blogging break due to good weather, no Kindi, the arrival of our beloved pianos (resulting in lots of late night jamming sessions!) and making the most of the light evenings. It’s so brilliant not having to be out the door by a predetermined time and family harmony is so much […]
Whilst hubbie’s away :(
It’s not often Dan’s had to go away on business since the girls were born; but times are a changing and thankfully they don’t give me too much trouble these days. He’s in Sydney for a few nights and so we went for a family breakfast in town before he headed off. The girls went […]
Jamming all weekend… and for a lifetime!
We can’t thank my dearly departed Grandmother enough. She’s brought music to our home in a way we could only have dreamed about. Our pianos arrived on Friday – a classical upright to fulfill my love of the traditional; and for Dan a digital piano with all the bizz for him to compose a masterpiece! […]
Surf girls in the making? Can we keep up?!
We watch in awe at the youngsters doing their exhausting surf life saver training at Lyall Bay beach. Knees on surf boards, bodies bent over, they paddle out, round the buoys in the distance, back to shore and out again… and again. Their energy is incredible. Watching them makes me feel old – and I’m […]
Going to regret this in the morning!
Happy New Year!!!!!! It is officially 2008 here in New Zealand. Current time is 2:03am and we’ve sunk a bottle of French champagne and a bottle of Kiwi bubbly… the children will, no doubt, wake far too early and we’ll be seriously groucho parents in the morning (oops, tis already the morning). But here’s hopping […]
The Stunning Kapiti Coast
On Saturday we drove up the stunning Kapiti Coast to MacKay’s Crossing, Queen Elizabeth Park, Paekakariki for the ‘Anything Vintage Vehicles and Machinery’. It was a stunning day of sunshine and fun at the fair! With pony rides, merry-go-rounds, bouncy castles and wonderful entertainment the stage was set for a perfect day. The beautiful trams […]
Daddy’s Home for the Holidays!
With New Year’s Day and the day after being public holiday’s in New Zealand, Dan has taken off the few days between Christmas and New Year (only three!) and has a good week and a half off work all up! Yah! After the rainy Christmas Day the sun returned and the reason for the lack […]
The Earth Rocks in New Zealand
Living in New Zealand there is always a feeling of being literally close to nature. This morning I watched powerful waves rolling out onto Lyall Bay Beach; this evening, I felt the whole house shake in a major after shock of a 6.8 earthquake more powerful than the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake. It was centred 50 […]