How we spent our summer holidays

Getting ready to do this recap has got me feeling all kinds of whoops! Looking back at our summer holidays, I realise I should have written this post ages ago. Not only have I forgotten a lot of what happened, I have entire days where I know we had fun outings, but I don’t seem to have any photos…whoops. Usually I try to pull our camera or my phone out towards the beginning of the day, because I often consciously make a decision not to take photos…a decision that’s a lot easier when I know I’ve already captured a few that’ll help remind my little family in later months and years of the fun things we do together. Sometimes that doesn’t happen though, and hey, that’s totally okay.

As we’ve done a few times, we split up our two week holidays into a week away and a week back in the city. Somehow a full two weeks did not feel like long enough this time round! All the same, we got some extremely fun times in, and it was magic spending so much time with Hayden and Amelie.

A week at Wonderview

We started our summer break up in the country, heading up on the 22nd to get ready for Christmas and settle in for the week. We spent a good amount of time with family this week; on Christmas Eve Hayden’s parents joined us for a few days, and on Christmas Day my parents, one of my brothers, my sister-in-law and my two nephews came over for a day of full family celebrations.

Following Christmas we relaxed! That is what Wonderview is for and what it does best. We got some beach time in, enjoyed some al fresco dining, visited our favourite local cafes and enjoyed playing with our new Christmas presents! As is our standard protocol in the country, once Amelie was in bed Hayden and I spent pretty much every evening having a spa together and just chatting. Hayden had brought his bike, so he got some cycling in, and I had my yoga mat, so we weren’t complete sloths…not completely anyway.  We also did some planning for the next round of landscaping – it never stops!

A week in Auckland

We spent the second week of our holidays back in the city. Over New Years Auckland tends to virtually empty out, giving it a whole different vibe. We’ve made an effort the last few years to spend the first week of January back in Auckland to catch the first week of the ASB Classic, but this year, for the first time I remember, the tennis started the following week. Honestly, it made Auckland quite a bit less fun! We made up for it by unofficially extending the holiday even when we returned to work, and spent Wednesday evening watching tennis…it still counts as holiday I feel!

We made the most of the week, with day trips out to Takapuna for beach time and an anniversary lunch at Regatta, over to Waiheke Island, and downtown for lobster rolls, and of course we celebrated New Years with our friends.

We also headed over to the Shore to spend some time with my brother and sister-in-law who couldn’t make it to Christmas, and ticked another thing of my 101 in 1001 list with a trip to Waiake Beach! I grew up at Waiake and my little brother still lives there, but I haven’t been there in years. It was amazing how much had changed and how much was still the same and I loved showing Amelie the beautiful place I grew up in. Way too many photos below of our day out in Waiake…apparently I feel rather fond of it!