Why hello everyone! Remember me? It has been a while!
When I was last here it was pre-christmas, I was stressed and a mess. I now return to you rested, tanned and having had one of the most fabulous summers in a long time.
Our summer has been made up of one massive beach hop, with some fantastic new finds and a sprinkling of the tried and trusted. It started local as we were lucky enough to have school close quite early, so we filled our days with exploring the local beaches we have come to truly love. We built stuff, we swam, enjoyed great friends and ate our fair share of iced cream goods. Local has never been so good!
We did not venture too far for our first stop, Tapapakanga. A simple weekend trip made up of some of the best things in life, good food, water, sand, stumbling upon a local dance group performance and of course cousins. Such a great spot so close to Auckland.
Next we took advantage of visiting my family and popped over to Mt Maunganui for a taste of some of the best beach living in NZ. I was particularly stoked that my wee niece could join us. I think she will fit in just fine with the family, she loved the beach!!
At some point N had to return to work, but the rest of us did not let that stop us! The rascals and I promptly set off to Otama Beach to visit with my parents. The conditions were perfect and between Big L leaning to master the waves and having a fabulous natural geothermal pool to soak ourselves in, we had absolutely no reason to leave the water, so naturally we spent about 6 hours a day swimming! I will always have the most fun and relaxed memories of this great beach.
Packed and ready to go again we headed off to a new spot for us (revisted for the friends we went with) Papa Aroha in the Coromandel. And it was divine! Lucky to go with a family with a boat we dined on sea food every night, Snapper, Kawai, smoked mussels, and scallops. All of the rascals managed to catch their own fish and dive to discover star fish and sea dollars all over the sea floor. I even managed to catch a fish! The water varied, some days flat and tropical lagoon like and on others rough and exciting, perfect for a bit of body boarding. Everyone enjoyed sea biscuiting and the men embraced the challenge so much they could hardly lift their arms the next day. We saw sharks (even a little hammerhead!), stingrays and dolphins! We were so lucky to have perfect weather (only about 2 hours rain in a 9day stretch) which meant that we could explore some of the surrounding islands.
All round a fabulous treat!
Camping life very much agrees with our family. We enjoy nature, we enjoy the simple life and we enjoy each others company.
My whole life I have been a 'multi tasker'. I can do a lot in a short time, but I am no longer sure that it is a good thing. In finally getting to spend some quality time with my family I realised that while I 'accomplished alot' in the past year I do not think I have accomplished the right kind of things. So I am resolved to separate my work life and family life, not always an easy task when you work from home, but I do need to do it better. This year is my last year of having preschoolers and I want to embrace it. I want to feel less like I am half listening to them or not likely to ever join in their games because I am trying to work and expect them to 'entertain themselves'.
We have some big plans for our little family this year and for those things to happen I need to be more present.
But over time I have also learned about myself that in order for me to be present in my life I need time to be creative. This past year I have spent alot of time helping others be creative yet not really carving out that time for myself.
So here is my aim for the rest of this year. I want this blog to be a place that keeps me accountable and helps me to keep record. So from here on forth there will be one post a week about how I was present and how I was creative. Neither need to be reinventing the wheel but they do need to be essential to reinventing my interaction with my family.
It has been such a great summer but I also want it to be a great year :)
As we engage with new adventures I want to be able to jump in with both feet.
I want to be present.
Righto finally ready to start my year and it is only.... almost March!!! Oh well better late than never!
Catrien
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Had my own mini beach hop just looking at your gorgeous photos. Thanks!
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