Quiet Time

Hi There,

The school holidays started with a BANG!
I spend yesterday at Shed10 in the City as part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.
It was a day of WWI nostalgia.  There was a parade, food, craft, singing, Artillery Band music, vintage games and clothing.

Along with all this the 5000 Poppies made an appearance.

We had a table set up where we could spread the word about the project and get the little people to make felt poppies.

It was a great day, tiring but great.  We talked to so many lovely people who all thought our project was amazing.  Feels nice to be involved in something so special.

I will be doing a new tally soon but I think we are over 9000 poppies, so the new target is 18,500 poppies.  One for each NZ soldier who died in WWI.  Not too hard a task me thinks. 

Today I am exhausted so it has been a very quiet day relaxing, making salted caramel slice with Little Lovely and crocheting a new character.  I can not wait to share what I have done and what I have learnt.  

Aww...my hubby just appeared with a bowl of chips to nibble on while I write this, so sweet!  I knew there was a reason I married him 12 years ago.

Take care everyone,

Lxx

Hallo...

Hi There,

After a few hours on the TGV (fastest train I have ever been on) we arrived in Frankfurt.
We didn't stay long as we were on a major mission to get to Poppenhausen which was about and hour and a half away from Frankfurt.

Why Poppenhausen you might ask?  We were picking up a glider and car to take to Poland?  Again why (some people have asked)? As it must have seemed slightly strange for a family of four from New Zealand to travel ALL THAT WAY for a holiday in Poland.

Well... Let me explain.  Hubby had been chosen to represent New Zealand in the World Gliding Championship in Leszno, Poland and so the Little Lovelies and myself decided to tag along.

What an amazing experience!

It is hard to put into words and pictures just what it was like.  It was amazing, it was fantastic...all those good words (and more!) Spending six weeks in the Northern Hemisphere during Summer was a very clever thing to do.  Getting away from the rain and wind was nice.  Getting some sun in Poland was a treat.

Being away from home made me realise just how young historically New Zealand is compared to the rest of the world and how lucky we are way down here.

I also learnt that as a family we travel incredibly well together.  There weren't too many tears and tantrums over ice cream...
I can not wait for the next adventure.  I have the travel bug now.

Lxx

Bonjour!

Hi There,

Paris, oh Paris you would have been even prettier if only the sun had come out.
It was like Winter when we were there.  I am not sure where the Summer was.

But not even rain and a very cold wind could keep us from seeing the sights.  I dragged the Littlie Lovlies and Hubby though The Louvre.  I gave myself two hours and planned what I wanted to see and so went home very happy.  I tried not to go too camera happy in there opting for a more 'enjoy the moment' kind of attitude.  Even with ALL the other tourists in there is was still breathtaking.  I think the other members of the family enjoyed it too.

The Oldest Lovely was desperate to see the Eiffel Tower and he got his wish.  Boy is that tower huge!  You don't realise until you stand underneath how huge it is and it is brown not black which I always thought it was.

We also took a bus tour around the city which was a welcome relief to the poor sore feet.  Not so good though being jet lagged, I almost fell asleep as the bus drove around.

We ate great food and drank yummy champagne (as one does while on holiday!)  A beautiful time was had.

Now off to Germany...Not long till our final destination.  Hang in there with me won't you?  It will be fun.

Au Revoir! 

Lxx

Next chapter...

Hi There,

Right...I really need to get on and get these blogs written.  I have so much to show and tell you all.

Three days after my Nan's funeral we (the family of four) flew out on our OE.

It was a such an emotional roller coaster of a week that by the time we left I was exhausted.  It was incredibly hard leaving my Mum.

As hard as it was life has to continue and so off we went.

First stop...Melbourne with a two hour stopover then a 17 hour flight to Dubai then another two hour stopover then a seven hour flight to London.  My little travellers were pretty good except one suffered from motion/air sickness. I am not sure what you call it but it wasn't nice.  I learnt something about him on that flight.  He loves planes just not being in them!

LONDON

So after 27 or so hours on a plane we arrived in London...squeals!  We hit the ground running literally as we only had 3 days in London before we raced off to Paris.

Day one saw Oldest Littlie (OL) come down with a tummy bug.  Not a great way to start the holiday.  So Littlest Littlie (LL) and myself left Hubby and OL in apartment and we went exploring.

First ever trip on the tube.  What a brilliant way to travel.  So efficient except when it rains and the Piccadilly platform gets over crowded.  But still fantastic.

LL and myself took a visit to The National History Museum.  WOW! What a beautiful building with way too much interesting stuff inside to look at.  We were ruthless though and only went to a few things.  Rock and minerals were high on the list as LL is very interested in these at the moment.  We tried to take a look at the dinosaurs but there were too many school groups in there and the jet lag was getting the better of us. Back on the tube and back to Kensington.  I was very impressed with my efforts in getting us back without getting lost.  I usually lack the ability to navigate correctly.

Such an old building...loved it

That evening OL made a very quick recovery so we trotted off to the London Eye.  I hate heights and that thing got me.  I was nervous the whole way around and couldn't wait to get off.  The Hubby and the kids LOVED IT though!  

Day Two saw us race off to the Tower of London.  This was one of the things I really wanted to see in London, desperately.  My favourite book is the Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory.  I have a massive fascination with anything to do with The Tudors, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. That whole period of English history I love, so actually finally being there was so surreal. I almost squealed out loud.  My kids were very accommodating as we walked around it for about three hours taking it all in, reading EVERYTHING and enjoying the history of it all.  It was just amazing.  

The afternoon was spent walking (some more) to Tower Bridge and then we went on a cruise (our feet were very sore) on the Thames River.  The commentary was funny and interesting.

Day Three we walked some more along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. It would have been neat to go in and have a look around.  I wonder what it is like inside? Even with all the tourists around it was still great to see.  Must be a noisy place to live though with all that traffic and tourists outside.

After we sat and stared hoping (like all tourists) to see the Queen we headed back to a cute little pub called Sherlock Pub for light refreshments.

Our last morning before we caught the Eurostar, Hubby took us all to the London Dungeon.  OH MY GOODNESS that place was scary.  It was great to hear about London's history but people jumping out at you unexpectedly was not good on the nerves.  I held on to LL very tightly.  I was quietly relieved when it was over.

London was an amazing city to visit.  Three days didn't do it justice.  I will have to come back someday and have a better look around, not just London but the whole of England I think.  I would love to hire a camper van next time and pootle around and see it all.

Next stop...Paris.

L xx