29 January 2012

the holidays are coming to an end

one more day, and school will start again. here are a few photos of what we were up to recently. mainly i have learnt to slow things down, meaning not aiming to go anywhere near a shop with 3 children (!), and just going for walks, going to playgrounds and parks, staying home and baking, working in the veggie garden, a few friends around but not too many, and just being. this new technique was more successful than planning too many activities.

i have learnt that less is more, and keeping things simple makes everyone happier.

playing with friends



picnic in the woods



and lulu going shopping...

22 January 2012

our trip to wellington

this weekend we went to wellington, the capital city of new zealand. it's a 4 hour drive from our home. 3 kids in the back, slow traffic, so we had a few interesting moments... we stayed with our friends rob and lou, we spent time with karen and toby (nick's brother and his girlfriend), we visited te papa, the zoo, toby's house, a great cafe by the sea, we went to the movies, ate at a mexican restaurant.
it was a great weekend, i love wellington, it's such a cool city.


on the road









wellington



toby's garden




wedding dresses exhibition (from V&A museum in london) at Te Papa - a chance to win a $2000 new wardrobe - maybe next time!


cool retro cafe by the sea

15 January 2012

morning fun

this morning i took my kids to the park. we met our friends hannah, alexander, evabella, ethan, noah, soul, and bruno. and we had fun! we played on the playground, we fed the ducks, the kids played under the water sprinklers and all around the park. and then we had a picnic. i really enjoyed spending the morning watching the kids have fun, spend time with my friend hannah, and just be. it was relaxing and enjoyable. that's one of the things we want to do more often, instead of running to the (op)shops and then feeling guilty of spending money and crowding our houses (even if we loooove doing that!!), dragging our kids to places that are not really for children after all. you read it everywhere and it's true, it's the simple things that give you the most pleasure often. don't you think? have a look at the pictures, this park is a wonderful place and we are so lucky to have it only 10minutes away from our homes. ps: there aren't photos of all the boys because they just disappeared as soon as we arrived and only reappeared when we left!