Pictures from Q2 2020

The second quarter of 2020 has been… different! We’ve been in lockdown for most of it because of COVID-19, so we haven’t had much opportunity to get out and do much.

We’ve been making the most of our time at home though. Both Ellie and Jack have helped me to till and reseed the lawn, Ellie has been busy doing remote learning, and we’ve ventured out of the house a handful of times.

Continue reading “Pictures from Q2 2020”

Ellie has been busy with science kits [VIDEO]

For Christmas, Ellie got a few science-centric gifts. Her aunty Nicola got her an electric circuits set, and we got her a 3-month subscription to KiwiCo’s Tinker crates, where she gets a new kit in the mail every month with a new mini-engineering project.

She’s been having a great time over the last few months playing with them and is loving learning about physics, chemistry and engineering.

Continue reading “Ellie has been busy with science kits [VIDEO]”

Christmas 2019

For Christmas this year, Ellie got a nice little array of gifts.

She had asked for lots of books, since she’s really getting into chapter books at school.

Hands down her favourite gift was something that Santa got for her. Ever since going hiking with Daddy, she’s wanted a hiking backpack with a bladder in it for drinking water on the go. Well, Santa delivered and Ellie was over the moon.

Continue reading “Christmas 2019”

Ellie showing off her painted nails

Ellie gave herself a manicure, which is adorable in and of itself, but then, while speaking to aunty Shelly, she was showing off each finger in sequence. Well, she didn’t quite understand why she found it so funny when she showed aunty Shelly her middle finger.

Continue reading “Ellie showing off her painted nails”

Our first family camping trip

This summer, we finally had the equipment and the support to do what we’ve wanted to do since moving to Portland: go camping.

We were invited by some friends to go car camping with a whole bunch of families, which sounded ideal because there would be plenty of confident hands assisting us, and lots of other children for the kids to play with.

So, off we went. We went to Barview Jetty Campground on the Oregon coast, which was flush with the amenities that would make Martina in particular comfortable, such as running water, flush toilets and hot showers.

Continue reading “Our first family camping trip”

Lilac Days

We had heard about this small lilac garden in Washington, about an hour away from us, that had the most beautiful display of lilacs, so we took a trip up to see them and we weren’t disappointed.

The kids humoured us as us adults walked around, but they made the most of it too, and enjoyed smelling the lilacs, not to mention that we got some adorable pictures of the kids.

Continue reading “Lilac Days”

Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in Portland

We live in the PNW because we love everything about it, and we live that reality out. At every opportunity, we’re out seeing all of the beautiful sites around us.

For whatever reason, in the first two springs here, we didn’t get a chance to make it down to Tom McCall Waterfront Park to see the cherry blossom trees blooming in early spring, but we didn’t make that mistake this year.

We have a lot of cherry blossom trees here in Portland and they’re just a beautiful adornment to an already beautiful city.

Continue reading “Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in Portland”