New Zealand !

We have been in Christchurch, New Zealand for almost 2.5 months, since the end of January. Life seems to have got busier, or at least I seem to have less access to my computer, though that may have something to do with Thomas using it for Roblox and You Tube viewing.

Hannah has started school here. It was strange at first only to have Thomas around all day. It means we are a bit more restricted, as we aim to be back at the house for 3pm when Hannah arrives home. However it does also mean that we are a lot better at getting out of the house in the morning to go and do stuff !

We have been on some weekend trips from Christchurch so far, to Arthur's Pass, Oamaru, Kaikoura and Akaroa. It is very beautiful virtually everywhere, and this isn't really even the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand. It is also very empty. As soon as you leave Christchurch in any direction there are miles of road going through countryside with the occasional small town. In fact on the way to Kaikoura there were miles of road without even the occasional small town !

Tubing

A stretch of nice weather arrived and we zoomed up to the nearest mountain for some tubing. A large tube + groomed lanes = lots of fun !

Out and About Thursdays

We ticked off another item from our Seattle sight-seeing list and went up the Space Needle. We stayed up there for at least 2 hours, maybe a bit longer. There are two levels, and the lower one has a glass floor and revolves once every 45 minutes. We spent a long time sitting on the floor looking at the world go by underneath.

Out and About

We have not been out and about as much in the rainy season, but we have still managed to fit in quite a few experiences - indoor skydiving (a Christmas present for Hannah), stomp rockets, Seattle on New Years Eve, and a dip in the lake on New Years Day (for Hannah and Anthony).

Los Angeles

Hannah, Thomas and I have just returned from a few days in LA. We stayed in a great hotel - The Garland - which had a touch of the seventies about it, but done tastefully ! We spent two days at Universal Studios, quite a lot of it in the wizarding world of Harry Potter ! We also enjoyed the animal actors and special effects shows. It's all very professional, and in November without crowds and heat, quite enjoyable.

On our day off from Universal we went to look at the touristy bit of Hollywood, and then on to the Science Museum (it's free! and they've got a space shuttle!)

And we indulged in some ridiculous sugary treats. Yes doughnuts as big as your head and in that pink cup is cookie dough and ice-cream !

Thanksgiving

Last week was Thanksgiving, so we made an attempt at Thanskgiving dinner, including pumpkin pie (the adults said yes!, the kids said "Mum can I please have the berry pie we bought from the supermarket....."). Excuse the somewhat bizarre array of serving dishes (sprouts in a loaf tin anyone)!

Weekends - snow, hot chocolate

So I have been a bit remiss in posting here, mostly due to the fact that I foolishly decided to try and do Nanowrimo. No I haven't made it to 50000 words. There's a faint hope I might make 25000. However I have discovered that I like writing, and that writing is a good way to learn lots of stuff about whatever it is you're writing about. There are some potential blog posts in my head, which may see the light of day at some point, about what I've learned about home-ed and about learning during our time in the USA.

Last weekend we went to find the snow at Snoqualmie pass, which is about 45-60 minutes from our house in Redmond. The kids were really excited, and it made me realise that this is probably the most snow that they have seen in one place. And that is only after the first snowfall. I am working on getting some skiing lessons in before we leave.

Also at the weekend we discovered the winner of Seattle's most-chocolatey-hot-chocolate competition.

Weekends - San Juan Islands

Last weekend we went to the San Juan Islands, which are about 1.5 hrs drive, 1.5 hrs ferry and a whole world away from Redmond. It was a foggy morning ferry ride over, and still foggy when we found a drift wood beach for our morning construction project. We saw the sunset (and Canada) from Lime Kiln point State Park. The next day Anthony and Thomas went whale watching, whilst Hannah and I explored the rest of San Juan island. For our last day we took an early morning ferry over to Orcas Island and drove to the top of Mt Constitution for an amazing view. We were only on Orcas Island for a day - I wish we could have stayed longer !