Sunshine adventures

Q left for Europe this week so Kahu & I headed up to QLD to see the Whanau and to hang out in the sun.

Aunty Tintin decided the monkey should start toilet training

It's not going as well as we would like!

Kahu is LOVING hanging with his cuzzies - no matter how old they get they still make time for the little guy

Uncle Jay is the man of the moment for Kahu 

Gorgeous weather has meant plenty of fun in the sun. We headed off to moloolaba beach today with the Dixons. 

Loving the sun kissed holiday so far !!?

Kiwi love

Back home after 2 weeks in Christchurch with family and friends.  We took Mum with us and while it was a bittersweet first trip home without Dad we had a lovely time, eating too much, drinking more, laughing, crying, celebrating whanau and all things kiwi.  The little guy was utterly spoilt by all the rellies and beguiled all who met him (of course).

The boy all ready to take off from Sydney. 

Baby Lena and Uncle Q - My cousin Tissy's gorgeous baby girl who wasn't that keen on cuddles with me but was loving my hubby.

Uncle Toms' 60th party was a chance for the family to get together and have a drink or 3. Lots of excellent food, mums lethal punch, great music, some serious dancing, karaoke & way to many laughs. Much better pics on my canon - so check out Facebook for a NZ album soon.

L-R - cuzzies in the garage, cuzzie selfie, Mel & mum, Tissy & I 

L-R - black coven Mel, Binnie & I, me and one of my bestie's Dottie

Visiting good friend Angela & Simon & hanging out with her little guy Benson

Q & I took advantage of Nanny staying with us and had a little overnighter to Wellngon to stay with friends Tim & Ramon.  I had forgotten how fab the capital city is - awesome coffee, great shopping, awesome cafes, and excellent shopping.  Oh and my gorgeous god-daughter and niecey Courtney lives there. I love that girl!!!

L-R - Wellington airport (Tolkien town), a gigantic Gollum, Flight coffee at Hangar cafe, with Courtney

L-R - Q & Tim looking out to sea, in front of Maranui cafe, Moa sculpture in Greytown

L-R - with my love in Martinborough, a Kiwi dairy, Chocolate Fish cafe (very kid-friendly) and a choc fish drink - yum!

2nd week in CHCH was spent catching up with old friends, wining & dining, chasing good coffee, checking out the rebuild, hanging with the family, eating a few kiwi delicacies, escaping the rain, playing at parks, and shopping. Pretty fab actually

L-R - beautiful GFs Rachael & Sheree, kiwi-fruit cheese cake with pineapple lumps, signage, banana moo-shake at the market

L-R - whitebait fritters delish!!!, park fun with papa

L-R - Bavarian hotdogs, my 2 babies, another bestie Mitch, my boy the b-ball player

Back in our home and not looking forward to work on Monday. I'm hoping holiday memories will carry me through the first week at least.

I love my hometown but had a couple of shaky reminders of what my family and friends deal with constantly. Hubby and I felt 2 earthquakes - one sharp jolt in Wellington, and a longer rolling one in CHCH - have to be honest, I didn't love it. 

The reserved stoicness of the CHCH faithful humbles me. 

Arohanui Otautahi xxxxx

Life lately

It's been a while between posts but we have been busy busy busy. Trips to Sydney to see friends, packing up our little flat to move back to our newly renovated house and having Nanny come to stay.

Kahu got his first taste of rugby mania hanging with his cuz Mana, Uncle Blair and Aunty Binnie- he's not really used to such displays of passion over sport but given his Kiwi background he probably should get used to it!

We showed Nanny the delights of Costco - where everything including the trolleys are over sized.

And moved back into our new house post Reno. Lovely new kitchen but still in a state of unpacking several weeks later. Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing and already I would make changes if I could have a do-over!  Loving our new entertainment area tho - wall mounted TV with no visible cords, yay!!

As an add on we decided to get the house rendered. I resisted but I'm glad Q won me over. I love the way it looks. We're going to pain it in the summer, not sure what colour as yet but I'm totally checking out other rendered houses for inspiration.

Part of the house makeover has my boy in a new 'big boys room' with very cool wallpaper. I'm quite proud of myself getting this world map up on the walls. Just don't look too closely at the names matching up in Africa.

Nanny love - that is all!

Sometimes it freaks me out just how quickly my baby is growing up- he totally looks older than 2and a half here! Clearly he was having an in depth conversation with his BFF Lolly and like his mama he likes to be quite expressive with his gestures.  That's my boy :-)

Long weekend love

A long weekend means trips to the park, playdates with besties, takeout coffees, cafes, walking Titus, eating outside, playing 'airplanes, copters & wrestling' with Papa, watching episodes of Newsroom with the hubby (loving this show), baking muffins, market shopping and lazing about.

Pretty perfect really.

Of course we did take advantage of all the sales and did a bunch of shopping for the newly renovated home,  (should be moving back in 2 weeks - yippee!!!), and were still deciding on white leather for a couch - are we mad to be thinking white?

To finish off the weekend I'm heading off to see Gatsby at Dendy Premium with Lu & Shirley tomorrow. 

Thanks for making your birthday a holiday Queenie!!

Remembering Dad

Today marks 1 month since my Dad died.

One month, 31 days, some 245 hours since he took his last breath and drifted away.

And even though those last months and days were pretty tough on him, he remained stoic and conscious of us all to the end.

What a champion.

Heres some things about my Dad:

He cooked the best roast pork and crackling on the planet - no question!

He could feed the neighbourhood and one more to dinner was never a problem. No-one went hungry in our house and there was always a place at the table, and a bed if you needed it.

He thought he could sing like Elvis Presley, and loved to tinker on a guitar even though he didn't know that many notes.

He could fix almost anything and would spend hours tinkering in the garage on cars.  Right up till weeks before he died Dad was still my 'go to' person for any DIYQuestions. He knew all about our current renovation and gave me lots of advice.  I hate that he won't see the finished result.

He worked multiple jobs to give us everything, we never missed out on anything, played all sorts of sports, went on all sorts of trips, had all the right clothes and gear to keep up with all the other kids.  It's only now that I have my own family that I have some small understanding of the sacrifices Mum and Dad both made so we could have everything.

He loved being a Grandad.  And his grandkids all adored him. Without question.  My boy talks about his 'Grandy' all the time and I hate that Dad won't be around to see him grow up but he will,always know who his Grandad is, and he always know how much he loved him.

He adored Mum. No question. Loved up till the end - how great is that?!

I miss you Dad. I will miss you every day, every single day.

And I know that I didn't say it enough, but you were/are the best father ever.

I love you



Photos of Dad - wedding day, dad & the monkey, family, grand kids, hanging with Grandy

Hello June

It's the 1st of June.

Finally May 2013 is done.

In May I lost my beloved Dad, my gorgeous mother-in-law Joan 2 days later, and we miscarried a much wanted, already loved baby.

Complete and utter crappy month.

Rather than dwell on the when's, how's and whys -I'm choosing to look forward, strive for positivity & know that better days are coming.

I have an awesome family. No doubt! I have amazing friends, and a loving husband and son. I know I'm one of the lucky ones.  There is much to be thankful for.

Yet grief is tricky.

It creeps up on you when you're not looking, hits in unexpected places, and knocks the wind out of you.

I cry a lot. I rage even more. Quinton struggling with loss of his own mother bares a lot. Bless that man.

Good days and Bad days. 

May for all it's horror, also has many days of celebration. Mum, Dads, Qs and my sister Cynthia's birthdays, Mother's Day (yay!) and our wedding anniversary. 

So not so terrible usually.

A genuine thank you to the wonderful people in my life who are always checking up on me/us, who send messages of support, and offer an ear for when I need to vent - which is often.  Your value can never be measured.

I told you I am one of the lucky ones.

So today after a month away I'm blogging again. I'm saying goodbye to May - I'm moving forward with a smile.

Seriously!

Pics of the little people lighting up our lives - and one of Q and I on anniversary night.

QLD - yippeeee

Today the monkey and I left Daddy at home and flew to the Sunshine Coast to see the family.

Kahu is 2 so he now has his own seat - just as well as my boy is no light weight! He was very well behaved, which may of had something to do with the treats I packed, but I prefer to think he's angelic (yeah right!)

Kahu loves his Aunty Tintin, Nanny & Grandy, and his cuzzies, and of course having lots of presents to open is the icing on the cake.

Were here for 5 days - yippee!! Gotta love a long weekend.

Weekend in pictures

Injuries aside it was a busy weekend of friends, baking cupcakes & macarons, the Disney Live show with Lola & Lu, dinner dates with the BFF, birthday cake & play in the park, market shopping with a clean-shaven hubby (ooh la la it's been at least 2 years - weird!!!) & lots of family cuddles!

Loving it.

Blowing kisses, The little chef, Ankle injury, Zumbos macarons from a box

Dancing with my BFF, Mesmerised at Disney Live, Tigger & friends

Fruit at market, The monkey & debearded hubby, More fruit, Kahu loves a coffee

Hot date with my BFF, Cupcake & Juice break, park play