They are forthcoming. We are experiencing technical difficulties.

Truth is, my darling husband did not get me the mac I knew I would need, yep need, for this trip, so I am working on the ipad, but I can’t load photos onto wordpress, so we have to work off his computer. It has just been more than enough to function as a caravanning family these past few days. The idea of doing one more thing might lead to the crumbling of our family structure, so we’ll wait another day. Better to be a happy family than an updated family blog. XOXO

A little before 8 am on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, my husband, my kids & I head off on our South Island adventure. As we head out on the open road none of us, save my husband knew what to expect. As he reminded me this morning, I am the ‘second American bird’ he’s taken to South Island. The first time he went to South Island was during high school with his friends Paul W. & Carol. That time it was the three of them, a station wagon and a tent. This time…I reckon will be a bit different.

After a crazy few weeks of packing, end of year activities, Christmas parties and farewells….(okay and tennis too), we are now just sitting in our bums at my friend’s bach (North Island kiwanese for summer home, in South Island it’s call a crib). Originally it was supposed to be me, her and our kids, but when the weather turned bad and her son was invited to a mate’s birthday party it became a family getaway for us. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love my friend Cherie. She and I always laugh our arses off when we’re together. And our kids get along beautifully. But these past few days have been a gift like no other. It’s actually given us a taste of what it will be like on our caravan. Kinda…

To get a true taste of what that would be like, we would have had to jam all of us and our stuff into one room and used that space to cook in too. So no, this bach is not even close to the roughing and toughing it we will be doing in our ‘luxury’ aluminium box, but we have had to relearn to live and work together. My darling husband got to experiment with working remotely with the kids and me in his space. To his credit, he has not barked at us once. Were the roles reversed I think I would have lost it once or twice.

The first day we got here I was so tired that I let the kids go off and play with knives, but by day two we set the travel rules: no television and kids only allowed devices for 1/2 hr at the end of the night. It’s been magic. Yes, my son did drive me crazy with all the noise (talking, singing, mumbling, humming) he makes, but other than that, it has been SO good. We have talked, laughed, and reconnected. I have been impressed with my daughter’s wit and it has given me great pleasure to see evidence of how my son has grown up this year. It has been so nice to just be, just be a family.

It’s nightime, the kids are in bed with their books and I am sitting here on their deck, drinking a glass of red, typing away and I can hear the ocean in the background. It’s magical. Thank you K & C!!!

While discussing storing one of Nuno’s toys…

Nuno: But mom, what if we don’t come back to this country?

Me: The plan is that we will come back here in a year.

Lana: The plan right now, but that can change.

Me:….kid has a point

Almost a year ago we arrived in New Zealand. The agreement was that my husband had 365 days to convince me that New Zealand was the place for us. If he did not accomplish that mission, then the deal was that I could get on a plane with my children and head back home. He could follow us if he wished, but the kids and I did not have to stay.

Well, that bloody school we sent our kids to did the trick. Yes, we have lovely friends and of course our family is great, but we have great friends and fabulous family in the States too, so that doesn’t help us make a final decision. But that school. Damn that school! It was just so wonderful that it made the decision for us.

So here we were with a decision made, but something was still missing and people that something was 1) my dad and 2) ‘Portugueseness’. Yep. Missed the old man and also felt that my kids would be missing out on a whole aspect of my culture that I alone could not pass on to them. This is where my brilliant husband comes in. He suggested we move to Portugal for a year and have one other little adventure before we FINALLY settle down. I couldn’t book the flights fast enough.

So here we are. We have moved out of our house. Everything is in storage (thank you Gran & Grandad), tickets are booked, kids are signed up for a distance learning program (fingers still crossed they’ll opt to go to the local school) but first, yes first, we are going to tour South Island, NZ. We bought a super light caravan. My friend Leanne refers to it as the ‘aluminium box’ and my friend Sarah reckons she got car sick just walking unto it. But I will remain positive and channel all the energy of the caravaners who came before us. Good times ahead!!!

Every Tuesday Nuno has soccer practice at his school. Since my husband coaches & I help get the boys out of their uniforms and into mufti, neither one of us is available to pick up Lana. However since the schools are affiliated there is a taxi that brings girls over to attend the after school program and Lana just hops on that.

When soccer is done, we more often that not load our car up with kids to drop off. One of those kids is a friend of Lana’s, let’s call her Thalia. She comes over to our house and hangs out so that her mom who works at the boys’ school can attend a weekly staff meeting and get some work done. Thalia is a pretty cool kid and she and Lana normally busy themselves with all sorts of fun activities. Even still both my husband and I were quite surprised when this week the girls decided to practice their violins. Which they proceeded to do for an hour. I think I may have heard my husband mumble ‘geek’ under his breath. But the fact of the matter is I know he is very proud of his little girl.

If you have not picked up on the fact that I LOVE Nuno’s teacher, then you have not been listening. She is wonderful. If I had my way, I would sit in her class just to learn how to be a better teacher. Honestly, observing her would become better than any University class. She is that good.

The other day Nuno came home with a completed writing book. The fact is that he has done more writing in half a year of Year 1 (Kindergarten to you) than Lana did in Years 1 & 2 in Australia! This is no fault of hers. She would have loved to have written in school, but that’s not what they did there. Instead, it’s what she and her friends would do for fun, at recess. Can you understand my frustration with her old school and them not tapping into her innate enthusiasm for learning?!?!?

Looking through the book I could not help but smile that my little boy has become a writer. He may not be the best writer, yet. But man, I am a proud mama.

Thank you Ti Ze for giving him the thrill of his life and letting him drive the boat. He loved it so much, he mentioned it again in his book!

I also though this one was cute.

Saturday mornings are usually pretty crazy. As the coach of Nuno’s team, my husband is responsible to get to the soccer field early and set up our goal. As manager-mom, I have to make sure we have everything else we need: Bibs, lollies, certificates, pen, balls and oh yes, two children, one in full soccer gear.  Our team is made up of boys from Nuno’s class, so even though we have not had the most ‘winningest’ season, we do always manage to have a nice time catching up with a lovely group of kids and their families.

Today was our second to last game and I’m not sure exactly what happened, but everything seemed to have connected for Nuno. Right at the start of the game he scored a goal. His first of the season. I was rather chuffed and walked over to the club house to sort out the medals for end of season picnic next week. I came back about 10 minutes later and one of the dads very casually said, “Oh you didn’t miss much, except that your son scored another 3 goals!” What the what? My son? I couldn’t believe it. He was engaged and was following the ball. It was amazing to see.

The second game went pretty much the same way. He and his buddy scored 9 goals. It was really wonderful to see. We ended up cheering when the other team scored two goals. Today was just a nice day on the soccer pitch with a nice group of 5 year old boys. A day I hope my family remembers. Of course I did not bring a camera, so all I could get was this shot of player of the day with my phone.

But the magic of the day did not end there. After soccer we a few of the kids’ friends met us at the house. I had offered to drive my niece home, Lana and a few of her friends to a party out in the country and to take the boys mini-golfing. As we drove out of the city I thought how lucky I am. I mean really. I have two good kids, they have friends, we have family AND we live a life where we can afford a nice truck to drive these gorgeous beings around. I know we often take these things for granted. But I did later call me husband and thank him for providing for us so nicely.

After dropping the girls off we headed over to mini-golf. It’s great spot, way out of town, but not too far from the party. The boys, who are poor golfers, but great cheaters, had a blast. Nuno’s pal even scored a hole in one!

After golf, there was ice cream, then lunch. Yes, in that order;) We then headed back into town and went to the park.

After a good time playing at the park, the boys went exploring. They met this really cool girl who was with her dad and they all played together for quite some time.

Making friends is a funny thing. It’s hard to explain the chemistry, the science that causes two people, sometimes of similar temperament, sometimes not, to get along. But as I sat there watching my son, I could not, but thank God that he is able to sort that magic out.

One concept that still makes me grin is Mufti Day. I had NO idea what that was when I first saw it on Lana’s school calendar back in OZ. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but for those of you who missed it, mufti day is a day when kids are allowed to go in regular clothes to school. Remember, even public schools have uniforms here and in Australia. Typically it’s a fundraising day and the children pay a gold coin ($1 or $2) for the privilege to dress in their ‘street clothes’.

Today, both kids have a Daffodil Day Mufti Day. All monies raised go towards cancer research. The kids were to wear yellow and green. get it, they’ll look like daffodils.