Christmas in Santa Barbara is a wonderful place to be, with sunshine and blue sky by day, and a festive feel by nightfall at 5pm. Every tree trunk along State Street is snaked in white fairy lights, the shop windows and restaurants are decorated with class, style and an abundance of sparkles. There is nothing […]
Santa Barbara
Feeling Festive | The Photo Gallery
It’s been so many years since we’ve celebrated the festive season in the northern hemisphere. It took me well over a decade to adjust to celebrating in the southern hemisphere – and just when I thought I’d finally done it… I went and jinxed it! Spending Christmas in Santa Barbara is a wonderful ‘best of […]
Burning some rubber with the kids on the Santa Barbara waterfront!
With three children constantly at home it’s not easy to fit in exercise (well, not in the way I’d like – though I do get plenty of movement cleaning up after them and running around playing crazy games… and moving the wine glass to my mouth…). This week, with friends visiting from New Zealand, we […]
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 […]
Things that have made me smile this week in Santa Barbara
Love the girl that wants to give her Mamma flowers, whenever she sees an opportunity to pick them… though in many a situation I have to urge her not to pick them! Love Autumn here in Santa Barbara (though it’s the warmest, sunniest one I have ever experienced in my lifetime!). The days are definitely […]
A week in reflection: Moments to love & be thankful for.
It’s Friday. The weekend is nearly here, which means family time with the man of the house. It’s so much easier to keep all three of our children entertained when he’s at home. As much as I am enjoying having the girls all at home, I do have moments of feeling like I’m being held […]
Happiness is RAIN for Kiwi Kids in Santa Barbara, California!
We arrived here in early August. It’s nearly Halloween, end of October, and today, for a couple of hours, we had PROPER rain! We’ve had a couple of hours of attempted rain only once in the past three months. This was real rain, that created hundreds of circles on the surface of the swimming pool, […]
Weekending It! All action!
Having the man of the house home at the weekend gives us family time to get out and really explore this place – and we certainly had an action packed weekend of it! Whilst the rest of us were barely awake he headed off for an early morning paddle board, returning back mid-morning for a […]
Miss 3 takes her Chumash Indian book and puts it into practice
I’ve been reading a lovely book with Miss 3 about the way the Chumash Indian people used to live in Santa Barbara ‘The Chumash Through a Child’s Eyes‘. The book compares their life to our modern day life in a lovely way that young children can comprehend. On one page is a Chumash Indian child […]
Prose for Thought | Gliding in with the Fall
Autumn in Santa Barbara is not like any autumn I’ve ever experienced. It feels like summer, minus the long, light evenings. But there is still a change in the air, however slight it may seem to this British born lass, used to living in windy Wellington, New Zealand, for well over a decade! There are […]
Gems of family life in Santa Barbara
Two weeks into staying in the house we have leased for a year we are beginning to feel a little more settled. We are finding our way, had friends round for drinks (all be it friends from New Zealand that are also setting out on this new journey with children in tow), been out for […]
Silent Sunday
New country, species and discoveries
We’ve seen the groundhogs, (also known as woodchucks), playing peek-a-boo, we’ve stopped in our tracks as a little (or not so little) lizard dashes across our path (or up a wall of the house) and we’ve noticed the colourful, varied birdlife and numerous damsel-flys and dragon-flys. Living in a new country offers great opportunity for […]
Things I’m Loving
Merry-go-rounds and sisters Sunshine and convertibles Pretzels and chilled drinks Shopping areas with architectural flair Sea creatures and an inquisitive child Water fountains and wishes New cafes, tastes and children who are willing to try (at least two out of our three are!) ____________________________________________ Joining in this week with the wonderful Meghan of ‘The Adventures […]