Category: NZ

Just across the harbor from Auckland is the small town we stayed near, Devonport. In the middle of town is Mount Victoria, but it’s really just a big hill. We came across it one day on our way home from the beach, but I didn’t have my camera to capture Audrey and Maggie karate kicking their way off the mini mushrooms scattered around the top.

We went back a second time while Audrey was taking a nap in the car just to snap a few quick images. Maggie insisted that she take one of me doing a matching ‘pose’. The mushrooms were incredibly random, the views spectacular, and the sun just warm enough.

Most days we wind up back at our room ready to collapse into a heap of worn out chickens because we can’t quite handle the amount of fun/sun we’ve had. I’ve left my camera behind, intentionally, on a few epic beach trips, which is okay. Just imagine Audrey doing lots of sprints and having no fear and Maggie fake swimming and digging/collecting things. And Barry and I taking shifts of taking deeper/longer swims.

On our last night in Auckland, we shoved some wine and cups in our backpack (a Party Pack!!!!) and walked to the beach near our fake-home. We spent the time collecting nearly 70 pieces of beach glass and watching the sun go down. My kind of date/family time!!

If you asked me what book I was reading on any given vacation, I’m pretty sure I could tell you. I could probably even tell you about some favorite secondhand book stores that I’ve come across in my travels. Where Barry likes to seek out gear to rent, I like to find books to buy and devour.

I still remember needing to leave behind a very favorite book in Australia from author Paullina Simons. I loved it so much, the characters, I wrote a note and left it in the book for the next person that would read it.

It came as no surprise that we’d do the same thing with our girls, find books and gear to bring along on our trip. We found a divine secondhand shop and discovered some books to bring along, for a rock bottom price!

As we were leaving, we were approached by a very friendly old man, with the biggest eyebrows I’ve ever seen in my life. He asked where we ‘got’ our accents from and told us how much he loved seeing our kids, both itching to read their new books, excited about actual paper books.

He shared that he and his wife still read aloud to one another and that they even went to see animated films just to make sure they’d laugh, because laughter, he said, was what mattered in life. He chatted to us quite a bit about life, children and the importance of spending time together.

His name was William and his words found us on a morning where tantrums about simple tasks happened, and complaints about situations beyond our control almost won out. Big, bushy-eybrowed, William, was awesome and his message was even more so.