He’s Dad to three daughters. He gives his all to connect with them individually. They each have very different personalities, that take a lot of skill and energy to work with! They demand his energy, time, humour and patience – and, most of the time (!), he wouldn’t have it any other way. He gets home […]
Special Days
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 […]
San Francisco’s Pier 39 & our 15th Wedding Anniversary
With three children a visit to San Francisco’s Pier 39 wasn’t something we could skip on. We’d been to San Francisco before and the attractions on the pier were quite the highlight of their last visit. The moment we told them we were accompanying Daddy, on another business trip to San Francisco, they were amped […]
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 […]
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 […]
Things I’m Loving | A Pirate Lunch that rolls on all afternoon…
It started with a treasure hunt, through dinosaur den, bamboo forest and pirate hideout; before quickly rolling into pin the tail on the tic-toc croc and find the gold doubloons in the sand. There was blue jelly with orange boats sailing the high seas, a water melon doubling up as ship and a chocolate cake […]
Loved celebrating four years of our youngest daughter being in our lives!
We are so very blessed to have Alice in our family. She has spent her first four years sharing her happy zest for life with us and bringing us all so much joy. There’s been no need to rush her off to kindergarten when we were in New Zealand, or a preschool whilst here in […]
Birthday celebrations for the man of the house in Santa Barbara!
The first half of this week saw the girls and I home alone, with the man of the house away on business. We kept busy – as always – with a blend of rainbow looming, baking, roller blading, swimming and yoga. We treated ourselves to a meal out in Santa Barbara, prepared a few surprises […]
Can’t wait for the man of the house to be home!
He’s been away three days, but that feels like ages when we’re living overseas and all in the house together every day. The girls and I have kept ourselves busy and are thrilled that he’s coming home tonight (though we’ll be fast asleep when he creeps in around 1am!). It’s his Birthday today and the […]
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 […]
A letter to our dear sensory seeker
Our dear sensory seeking eight year old, how we love you so much. You seek out love, hugs, contact & friendship with such openness; just like your appetite for food is varied and sometimes exotic. You are the one to take the craziest roller coaster ride, seek out thrills and push your body to the […]
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 […]