Month: September 2013
Country Kids in California
Driving up the West Coast of California, north from Santa Barbara, we made a pit stop at a place in the country called Avila Valley Barn for a ‘Fall’ experience Californian style. The youngest of our family was the most enthralled. She tore into her roasted sweetcorn with the appetite of a cowgirl that had […]
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
A little bit of loving and an action plan
It’s a strange feeling living in a place without commitment, with three children in tow. It’s all very well saying, ‘Live in the moment,’ but to really immerse in a place one has to put out a lot of energy. Whilst nurturing friendships in our country of origin, we also have to open up – […]
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 […]
Decisions made & always some things to love!
What a crazy couple of weeks we have had here. We’ve finally settled into the house we’ll be based in for a year. It’s very pleasant here – the climate, the people, the environment – tick, tick, tick… but after spending over a decade of our lives making New Zealand our home, we don’t have […]
Silent Sunday
The Photo Gallery | ‘Selfie’
Sunshine smiles in California. This is me looking happy on a good day. A day before we started to try and integrate two, of our three, children into a new school, in a new country. A day after getting a lovely new vehicle to cruise around town in – a sunshine red VW Convertible. A […]
Missing our life in New Zealand
As beautiful as it is here in Santa Barbara, California, I’m missing so much of our home in New Zealand. People will say I’m ‘nuts’, since much of New Zealand is currently experiencing full on spring storms of destructive proportions, whilst the climate here is very easy to live with, but I love the ‘wild’ […]
Silent Sunday
Prose for Thought | The anxiety of separation
Her face was just like all the rest, on pick up time at three. The adrenaline that had twisted thick, buried for a spell. The anguish of the morning, the torment of the night. The constant torture of anxiety, that steals family time. It even creeps upon us at weekends, when we’re trying to forget. […]
Prose for Thought
This week my ‘Prose for Thought’ contribution is derived from trying to settle two of my children into a new school, in a new country. Progress is slow and painful. My husband and I feel like we’re going through the early weeks with our first child all over again – such is the extent of […]
So grateful for this man!
It’s been Father’s Day in New Zealand (and a few other countries around the world) this weekend. Seeing as the man of the house is father to three New Zealand born daughters we decided to celebrate his awesomeness this Sunday, here in America. I reckon, for most parents, the best mother’s or father’s day is […]