We decorated our Portland apartment and found ourselves a tree. Presents were wrapped and ready for packing to take home. Before we left for the airport we each opened one as a wee pre-Christmas treat. Then we were off..
..first stop - a few hours in San Francisco before..
..the long haul to Auckland.
From Auckland to Wellington, where the wind was reliably blowing, and the view was as beautiful as ever.
It felt wonderful to be back in New Zealand where the pohutukawa were blooming. Christmas was spent with family in Kapiti.
We spent time at the beach, and caught up with friends before heading to..
..the Hawkes Bay for New Year. Friends visited and family stayed, and we remembered how much we loved this part of NZ.
Along the the way we visited cousins, rode their farm bike, and then all to soon it was time to drive south..
..to Kapiti. We stayed with D and D, where we relaxed and..
..Turtle helped grandma mow the paddocks. Then it was time to start packing for 'home'.
On our way 'home' we stopped in Rarotonga for a few days.
..made coconut boats. And all too soon it was time to pack our bags (again) and head 'home'. With eight (!!) hours in LA we headed to Santa Monica to kill some time. And of course while there we visited..
..the Apple Store. And before we knew it we were back in Portland which felt comfortably familiar. A week after arriving it was..
..Turtle & Mu's 10th Birthday! We celebrated with a homemade pavlova which was a huge success. And R and I felt awestruck and proud of these two wonderful, crazy, creative boys in our lives.
And now we have been 'home' for just on two weeks. The boys have settled into school, and are learning (with a reasonable amount of success) to ice-skate! I am still waiting for snow - we missed Portland's one dusting - but there is always hope. R has been away for work once already, and our holiday feels like it was ages ago. Now R and I are organising ourselves for TED 2010 early next month, and we are busy planning our next family adventure.
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