Home sweet home

The feeling I get after landing back in NZ after being away and seeing Joan and the girls is one of my absolute favorite things and makes it a little bit easier to be away from them so much. This time was a little bit different after flying back into Auckland from Taupo but every bit as special - I was greeted by the girls with their amazing painted Welcome Home artwork and had a lovely big hug and a few tears before heading to the car and heading home.

This trip home was very much about giving Joan some much needed support with the girls and with life in general. Looking after the kids alone while I have been away is a huge undertaking, which is not easy and it is something I never take for granted so wanted to spend as much time as possible with the girls, while also giving Joan some time to herself.

The day after getting home was Joan's birthday and we managed to book into Advieh in the city for an amazing middle eastern style lunch and a couple of celebratory cocktails. Food was incredible and it was just so nice to be spending time with Joan again. Joan rounded out the afternoon with a massage and I went and picked the girls up from kindy and school, which was perfect.

I also managed to squeeze in an all too brief overnight trip down to Hawke's Bay to see the whanau, which was awesome. Everyone and all the kids came round to Mum and Dads place for a pizza dinner and long overdue catch up. It was just a shame Michelle couldn't make it but she was working. I also found out that my sister Claire and her husband Phillip are expecting their 2nd child, a brother or sister for Audrey, which was so cool.

Joan also surprised me with a half day fishing trip out of Whangamata, which was great despite not having much luck with the actual fishing. Such a beautiful part of the country and our skipper was great, so we will definitely go back and do a full day with him chasing bigger fish next time.

One of the absolute highlights of this trip however was the Maraetai Beach School book week parade. All the kids at Scarlett's school went to school dressed as their favourite characters from their favourite books, so Scarlett went as the witch from Room on the Broom, and looked amazing. The cool thing was the the kindy next door was invited to the parade where all the classes in the school assembled in the school ground and then paraded around so everyone could see their costumes. This meant Frankie could go as well and I volunteered to be a parent helper for the kindy kids because I wasn't missing this for the world. In true Frankie style, she went a little off piste and decided she was going as the tooth fairy, which was super cute. The costumes were all super creative and really impressive, just another reason to love Maraetai Beach School.

In what is now becoming a bit of a family tradition , and after how successful the last time was, we booked into the Cordis for a mini overnight staycation again. We spent our 24 hours in the hotewol (as Frankie calls it) swimming in the roof top pool and spa until we all looked like raisins, chilling in our awesome room, eating afternoon tea in the club lounge, eating ice cream for breakfast and generally just having a blast - the girls absolutely loved it again so looks like we wont be stopping doing this anytime soon, and I'm 100% fine with that. Mum and Dad quite enjoy it too - ha ha

After more time spent at the beach and just hanging out with everyone, my time at home was coming to a close so I took the girls on a special shopping trip to Botany. I then proceeded to get fleeced for the next couple of hours in H&M, Starbucks, KMart and McDonalds but the girls came out with some beautiful clothes and we got to spend some quality time together - it was a blast.

This trip home was an all timer, there are a lot of things I miss while I am away and I got to see, hold, hug and do so many of those things on this trip, which I am so grateful for. Leaving NZ is never easy but my cup was well and truly full after this visit, which does ease the pain a bit.

So after our customary coffee and amazing almond croissant at the airport , Joan and I said farewell yet again and I was off back to Saudi. This part never gets any easier.Leggi altro