Yarra Valley

For our second day with Bill and Cath they had planned a little roadtrip out to the Yarra Valley. How exciting!
Our first stop was at the Dominique Portet Winery.

We started with a wine tasting session:

And continued with lunch at the same place:

We then continued to the TarraWarra Estate Cellar Door, for another wine tasting:

This winery was, also, located in really pretty surroundings:

There was also an Art Gallery on site, but as we turned up just before closing time we didn't have time for both. We could still enjoy the sculptures in the garden though, really pretty.

A great day out in the countryside that finished back in St Kilda with a visit to their local, where we found their son Eddy, who was one of Lucas' best friends when they lived in Abu Dhabi.

So of course we had to send a photo to Lucas!

In the meantime

While we were away having a good time in Lisbon, my cousin Johan and his family were having a good time in Abu Dhabi!
Because of changes in Nathan's schedule and our trip to Lisbon happening earlier than initially planned, we only ended up overlapping with one day before we left. Ah well, we made the most out of that day!

Then they stayed in our apartment, which meant they had access to the pool and the beach; even some old toys and Swedish books; and could cook their own food some days, which made their holiday easier.

Johan and Beatrice have been to visit us twice before in our old house, but that was many years ago. This time it was with the addition of Ralph, so their choice of activities were slightly different.
They went to the National Aquarium, to the desert to ride camels, and to the Louvre Abu Dhabi to explore the Children's Museum, amongst many other things.

It was also Bea's birthday, which got celebrated on the beach! Happy Birthday!

Next time you come, we promise to be home!

Zzzzz

We furnished our first house all in one go when we arrived in Abu Dhabi those 10+ year ago. We had made a mood board in advance, discussed different options and made a shopping list for IKEA. Our first day here, we spent 7 hours in IKEA, and a few days later when everything turn up - it was like a pop-up house!
We got big 180x200 IKEA beds for everywhere, both in the guest room and in our room. (And in the kids' rooms, although we updated both their beds throughout our time in Haya Compound, as they grew out of their initial set-up).

Nathan had been complaining for quite a while that he didn't sleep well in our bed anymore. Our mattresses had probably done their job, and it was time to look for something else.
He refused an IKEA bed this time, so we spread our search a bit further. We went to Dalma Mall, where we had found there was a lot of different bed/mattress shops. Although buying a bed is really difficult! How are you going to know if a bed will be comfortable by just trying it for a few minutes..?!

Anyway, we ended up ordering a new bed in an even bigger size than the previous, 200x200. As Nathan was going on an overnight when it was going to be delivered, we decided to dismount the old frame and sleep on the mattresses to make sure the new one could be placed right away. Quite cosy actually, a bit like camping!

Ha ha, we ended up "camping" for over a week, as the bed delivery got delayed because of the storms. Finally though, it arrived! Behold our new blue dream!

I have to admit, I have not immediately started to sleep like a princess, it seems like my body needs to adjust to the new mattress? Or maybe I new new pillows too? Ah well, at least it's bigger..!
I am so pleased with the overall feel of this room now. We decided to go for a really big new rug, to cover most of the room. It took six people to roll it out and place it, but the end result is so cosy!

The old bed frame will be taken over by friends, but we decided to keep the mattresses as they will be useful for when having visitors. In the meantime, to store them, we made them into a daybed in one corner of the upstairs landing (the laundry/training space). So a bit of change both here and there in the house!

366 in 2016 - December

Here it is, the very last and 12th movie of 2016. I've done one for each month, with 10 second clips from each day. (Most days... I admit to have missed a few here and there.)
You can find them all in the 366 in 2016 category here on the blog.

And as we bid farewell to another year - I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2017!

366 in 2016 - November

Here's the November compilation of 10 second clips. A little bit of everything, from Zumba to baking to Coffee Mornings - to NZ, of course!

366 in 2016 - October

The October movie - with Dubai friends over, Octoberfest, Thomas here, Linnea's birthday, my Tour Guide course, a Dubai day, UK visitors and much more.

366 in 2016 - September

366 in 2016 - August

This year is going by really fast - can you imagine we are already two-thirds done!
Here's the month of August , a lovely summer month spent mostly in Sweden and Denmark, but with the beige return to the sandpit and school just in the end...

366 in 2016 - July

The month of July started back home in Abu Dhabi with our last two sets of visitors for this year (I work in school years). A few days into the month we were off to Sweden on our summer adventure, and so far we've done Sports Camp, Stockholm and adventures around Skara. Enjoy!

366 in 2016 - June

Turns out I was a bit slack in June, and missed doing my little film clips a few days. But here is what I did film in the month of June to the sounds of the new hit song by Shakira. You will see Grandma here again, turtle releases, A&E visit, trampoline park, Midsummer celebrations and different everyday happenings - enjoy!

366 in 2016 - May

So here's the monthly video summary. The month of May saw us go pearl diving, dogsit Emma, go boat tripping, watch the Eurovision Final and have visitors from Brunei together with all the other everyday things going on.

366 in 2016 - March

Third month of the year and here's the March movie. I've started to add short captions for each clip.
This month you get to come along to rugby, to fuel the car, to IKEA and to CrossFit amongst other things. Usual happenings.
We also had some very unusual weather, so for three days in a row I was filming that! We did the Colour Run, Linnea had a Sports Day and I took part in a Zumba Master Class. Grandma came for the first time, Uncle Jason was here; and then we took off to Scotland at the end of the month. Enjoy!

366 in 2016 - February

So my project continues and here's the short movie from our month of February, about 10 seconds from each day. This movie takes us through International Day at school, a trip to Paris, Waitangi Day, several visitors, birthday celebrations and much more:

366 in 2016 - January

This January, I started a few small projects, to get my creative juices flowing a bit again. Some of these projects I choose to keep to myself, at least for now, but I thought I'd share this with you.

Every day, I film a short, max 10 seconds, clip of whatever we are up to that day. Some days it can be something unusual or special, some days just everyday happenings.

I will put the clips together to short movies each month, and here's the month of January, which started off in Sweden, took us through a couple of birthday celebrations, a rugby tournament, doggy training and more:

(Movie only seems to work in Firefox, not Safari for some reason...)