A very special Monday..

Most Monday nights, we have a small group of very good friends come over for dinner. We all take turns cooking, which is a great break for me, but I love seeing what crazy things everyone makes. Anything from fondue to pork hocks, or coq au vin to spaetzle. It gets a little out of hand some nights. After consuming a ridiculous amount of food, we game. Like the geeks and nerds we are. 

But most of the time, the boys are already bathed and in bed and only hear of the stories of the dinners, or via leftovers. But on Labour Day, everyone came over early and got to hang out with H&W. They loooooooooooved it! And they loved the BBQ everyone pitched in for. 

Willem  trying on Aunty Jess' boots

And not everything had bacon! See!!

Aunty Jess having some boy-time.

Thanks guys for making our guys' day!
Love you all!!! xx

School holidays... Again.

It can be really hard to deal with school holidays and two crazy boys. But we manage. Playdough, drawing, outings to the dog beach, reading, playdates, baking. It's exhausting. There are those days when you want just five minutes to yourself, and it never seems to come. 

A key thing I've discovered the last couple of weeks though, it goes back to the early days when the boys were just born. The rule of - sleep when they sleep. Yep. That's me. With the new skills of playing for a bit of time on their own, I can do a bit of tidying. When they are running after each other down the hallway, I try and prep dinner. When they nap, so do I. Well, for about 15 minutes if I can. It's heavenly.

Faery crowns and playdough on demand.

Handsome Jake hanging with the boys this week. Great fun!

We've been all about routine for a long time. And now that routine is changing slightly. Time for a bit of change. I don't think I'm quite ready for that!
xx

A short afternoon to Waikanae

One of Jacob's best friends lives in Sydney with his beautiful partner and their, now, TWO kiddos! We got to meet the newest edition this past weekend out in Waikanae! 

Hello Ollie!!!!

Such a happy and handsome little man! The boys were a little curious about him. Willem especially. Sorry Willem, no little siblings for you! You'll have to make due with the "cousins"! 

We had a lovely time and it is always so nice to see so many lovely people, I always feel like I'm part of their family and that makes me feel incredibly special, even though it's usually chaos with our boys around.. So thank you!!!

And how could we all not love a picnic lunch for the boys and Eden!! (Thanks Sue!) They LOOOOOVED the chocolate yogurts! Hopefully, next time, Hendrik will actually use his spoon!

xoxo

A family weekend away - Castlepoint

The boys have had their first overnight, New Zealand road trip! I had tried to plan the drive out around the boys naps and it worked like a charm! They were happy and chilled out most of the ride.

We met up with the some of the clan in Masterton and had a lovely walk around Queen Elizabeth Park, with some good playground time, and some lunch. It was the perfect point to stop.

 Such beautiful weather, such beautiful autumn colour. Swans, ducks, acorn whistles and apples.

Another hour or so driving, lead to this...

Photos do not do it all justice. The rest of the weekend was rainy and windy, but still fantastic.

I am so proud of our little men. I wasn't sure how they would go with the long drive like that. But they were so great. I can't wait until the next road trip!

Merry Merry Christmas one and all!

What a lovely holiday we have had here in Wellington! Christmas Eve day was spent waiting for Jacob to finish a short work day, listening to christmas songs, and reading The Night Before Christmas!

Christmas Eve was pretty icky weather, rainy most of the day, gusting winds, but Jacob being a brave cook, headed out to the BBQ for some tandoori chicken and an oven roasted terakihi for the fam. Odd combo, but so yummy!

Our first whole fish! Love it! And I think we'll be seeing more of them! The rest of the evening was getting ready for a lovely Christmas... Washing hand-me-down wooden blocks, decorating chalkboard toy boxes that Jacob built, drinking wine and snacking on mince pies.

So, the next morning...

Then off to Auntie Lisa's for an amazing day of feasting, beautiful weather, and warm family fuzzies...

Santa Etta

Silas opening a rather important gift from Opa

Monkeys all around!

Hendrik loves his monkey!

Timmy may be a bit over Christmas...

Cheese of the addictive variety

Etta's Adventures in Cheese Appreciation

Opa and Silas

Yes. Turducken.

Layer upon layer upon layer....

Thank you Lisa, Paul and Jeremy for an amazing meal!

And somehow I ended up on the wrong side of the camera. A rare sight.

A little playtime before...

... an beautiful Christmas dessert!

We hope everyone has had an amazing holiday filled with joy, love, family and the warmth of summer!

xo