Catching the Magic

Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!

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Alice

Sunshine Monday at The Chocolate Fish

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, Art, Charlotte, Learning & growing, Sarah, Sophie

Sophie, Alice and I spent four hours today hanging out at the ‘Chocolate Fish‘, in Shelly Bay, Wellington, with a lovely unschooler friend and her two amazing children. The children all enjoyed each other’s company so much, that my friend and I enjoyed a lovely chat. I even found a moment to do a quick […]

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Week in the life | Sunday

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

Our first ‘garage sale’ has been and gone, with lots of preparation and sorting out – but only a few customers (we only told friends). Nevertheless, it was an amusing exercise for Charlotte and Sophie – with long, detailed discussions on garage sale etiquette and how best to sell, a sharing out of the float […]

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Things I’m Loving: Laying Low!

April 14, 2012July 4, 2022 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Alice, Art, Charlotte, Loving & Not Loving, Sarah, Sophie

Midnight on Thursday Alice was sick – I thought it was just the spag bog (quite a rich sauce), but it’s now Saturday morning and she’s still not holding down much. She must be getting some fluids through – as she’s not being sick straight after drinking (and she’s breastfeeding too), but every two to […]

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Easter Saturday Sunshine in Wellington!

April 8, 2012April 9, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Life in action - Videos, Sarah, Sophie, Special Days

Wellington put on a show for Easter Saturday. It was an incredible day of sunshine and no wind. Perfect for entertaining Auntie Claire and enjoying some action in the outdoors. We enjoyed an action packed day on the waterfront. She went out on a kayak with Sophie, whilst I kayaked with Alice. Out on the […]

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Things I’m Loving: My sister is here!

April 5, 2012April 5, 2012 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Loving & Not Loving, Sarah, School hols, Sophie

After nearly five years she’s here! I felt dazed when she appeared from behind the sliding door at arrivals on Tuesday afternoon. She was like a mirage. It’s taken me till now, Thursday, to truly believe she’s real and not a figment of my imagination. The first day I kept touching her, but not really […]

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The Gallery: At Peace

April 4, 2012 BritMumInNZ 10 Comments Alice, Dan, photography, Sarah

In the reflection of the mirror, at the top of the stairs, I stopped to stare. Carried in my arms, my baby once, now a little girl talking, jumping and dancing. So caught up in the world around her, fighting off sleep, not wanting to miss a beat. She’d succumbed to sleep, finally surrendered, sat […]

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Dolphin Fishing Frenzy Off Wellington’s South Coast!

April 2, 2012April 2, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, photography, Sarah, Sophie

© Sarah Lee, 2012: Dolphins off the coast at Houghton Bay, Wellington At midday today I checked into Facebook, after a morning of house-work, home-schooling and minding by industrious and mischief making two year old. The news that a huge pod of dolphins had been sighted off Wellington’s south coast flashed up before by eyes […]

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A fitting end to daylight saving

March 26, 2012March 26, 2012 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Garden, photography, Sarah, Sophie

Sunday 1 April signals the end of daylight saving in New Zealand. Clocks wind back one hour and night will fall around 6.30pm. So, one week before the nights draw in, we went to the Botanical Garden in Wellington for some music and grooving as dusk drew in. Eagles tribute music from ‘Life In The […]

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Weekend snaps

March 19, 2012March 19, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Life in action - Videos, Sarah, Sophie

We welcomed home our man of the house on Saturday, after he’d been away in Melbourne on a business trip for a few nights. Charlotte & Sophie made beautiful banners to welcome him… We had fun at Seatoun School Fair on Sunday – and Alice was SO happy to get a ride on ‘the rocket’ […]

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Happy Leap Day this Wednesday 29th February 2012!

February 29, 2012February 29, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Sophie

We didn’t catch a frog today, but we did watch, ‘The Princess and The Frog‘ and dived off the stairs into a ‘pool’ of cushions and blankets like frogs. We did eat green jelly – yummy 🙂 and we talked about French people eating ‘frogs legs’ – which led to a session of learning to […]

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Things I’m Loving: Since Alice Turned Two

February 28, 2012March 2, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Alice, Loving & Not Loving

We’re just into the (ahem) ‘Terrific’ Twos! So far…. so good (I’ve gone and tempted fate now – I’ll be blogging about the mother of all tantrums tomorrow!). Staying on the positive side I’m going to share a few cute moments (which could also be seen as frustrating, annoying, a lot of work, never ending […]

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My three little lounge lizards – an update

February 27, 2012 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Alice, Charlotte, Sarah, Sophie

I’ve had the delight of my three little lounge lizards all being home on Wednesday and Friday last week (as Charlotte – Dear Daughter 8 – is a bit tired with the start of the school year – lots of testing and goal setting). It’s been so great to have Charlotte home with us, as […]

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Have you had your pancakes?!

February 21, 2012 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Alice, Art, Baking, Charlotte, Sophie

Sophie asked me for pancakes for breakfast, again. She’s been asking for days. I keep making promises. I keep breaking them. Oops! But today, I pulled out my wooden spoon and whipped up some batter and fulfilled an overdue promise. It wasn’t till mid-morning I discovered it was actually Shrove Tuesday today! I found a […]

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Cake, candles and ride-ons for Alice’s 2nd Birthday

February 17, 2012 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Alice, Special Days

Two years ago Charlotte and Sophie met their baby sister Alice. They came to greet her in their favourite dresses, sensing it was a very special occasion. Alice had arrived into the world like a dolphin greeting the sunshine – pivoting around as she sprung out of the watery womb of her beginning into air […]

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