mishmash

june likes "up down(sounds like 'gaow')"
at onemana beach - huge ship playscape behind me
btw, stephanie you're not getting your hat backjune likes to run at us on the beach
and we have to clear her head - "go!"

bikes at bach - june road in the "bakpat"
again, steph you'll have to wrestle june for the ergo

venturing toward opotere - lots of forestry fun

how to make your own tuatua fritters

gather tuatua mussels as they wash up from their seabed at opotere beach or

do tuatua dance* over seabed and hunt them out
*this involves wading out in waist deep water and digging your heal into the sand while doing 'the twist'. attempted at ruakaka. only dug up sand dollars. bummer.

allow to sit in shaded salt water for 12 hours so sand is spit out or
4 hours if you just can't wait

obtain other ingredients: flour, egg, milk, parsley and spring onion*
*coincidentally one of june's new favorite words (onion) and flavors

steam those suckers open and pluck from steamer as they open.
NO PHOTO, sorry

ask your husband to remove mussels from shell and debeard them.
NO PHOTOS, please

mince mussel meat and mix with thinly sliced onion, parsley. mix up batter. altogether now.
NO PHOTO, sorry

fry in hot oil of your choice and top with lemon mayo.

wow! i just made food from tiny animals (bivalves?)
i collected from the sea. good on ya!

note to self: consider food styling before devouring half the meal

finally...vacation !

first off let me say that it rained and winded all night long. heaps mate. we're rather homebound today. so maybe blog updates will be many. maybe not. depends on whether or not i get off the sofa and try to make that lemon syrup cake i just purchased ingredients for. or just eat brie and 'french stick' all day. i guess the brie's gonna run out. i've got a back up of edam just in case. speaking of food and relaxing...

sunday-friday we stayed at a friend of a friend's bach (pronounced batch as in 'bach'elor pad - but really means family holiday home) in whangamata, coromandel (pronounced fangamata - all 'wh' words are 'f's'). whreaking kiwis. anyways, it was whantastic. 

mere blocks from the beautiful beach. perfect weather. gorgeous retro-inspired home. grapes and raspberries ripening on the vine. and NO internet connection. it felt like vacation at last! lots of laziness: magazine reading, recipe trying, beach adventuring and just good old fashioned family time. easy living just like the bach was meant for. 

june had her own little table at which to eat her meals. 

she kinda loved it. good morning!

after much 'happy face' prodding - this is what we got.

one punky grubby munt.

so there was this hole she was sitting in and we just filled it - quickly, before she got freaked. and then we added legs. i really wanted to make an octopus but time didn't allow. sand burying at 20 months is still scarey, apparently.

another great spot for breaky - at the bar on the deck.

a few weeks back

june's been amazing at spotting a short person within a kilometer radius. her desire to be with 'littles' is obvious. i wish i had a photo of every encounter where june befriended a stranger. i have become accustomed to her outgoing social nature, but admit that it can cramp my longing to be quiet and alone and read a magazine - for once! please junejune.

up in the northland june had the distinct pleasure of meeting and playing ball with a young, naked, and french traveler named paul.

paul tries to seal the deal. june coyly awaits her first french kiss! at matakatia post sunday market face painting episode. she's a pussy cat, btw.

rainy day at auckland aquarium.
i didn't know june could hold her breath that long...

oh my gawd mom! NEMO!
much smaller in real life - disappointment sets in.

photo essay: a day at taupo bay

alphabet song, ELMO + spanish lesson

the most beautiful beach in the world

henderson bay

june finds her calling

first backpackers stay

meadows, muriwai and morning

'purple penny royal in sheep paddock' or

'view from our balcony'

this one is really for qainta

muriwai beach overlook

june contemplates gannets

morning milk watching chooks

orewa beach. low tide. kite surfers.

because qainta told me to

it's HOT. and i'm lazy. or just super relaxed. auntie qt is bored with my lack of posts and b/c she's all pregnant'd up with no place to go - this one's for you.
ps. june misses you! her new aunties don't hold a candle to you!

paul showing june the rails at ocean beach in whangerai heads

in ruakaka - june in uncle bubba clothes.
shorts were my brother's a few seasons back.

june got a pine needle tail at wenderholm regional park

wenderholm

just in case you don't believe we are in new zealand

i may post a few more tonight/tomorrow. someone refused a nap today so pop pop's out driving and crying, i'm sure. it's nearly 5 o'clock here and we were hoping to see friends this evening. looks like june had other plans.

she and i attending a market in whitoki this morning. it was a garage sale. i keep thinking markets will include fresh foods + baked goods but these are harder to find. june acquired a baby stroller (which she's been wanting for a looong time) and another doll to add to her quickly multiplying kiwi collection. they are all rather funky.

we are leaving our safe homebase of silverdale tomorrow to go up north to the bay of islands and then further north to ahipara/kaitaia - maybe northnorth tip at cape reinga. i find it magical up there and am super excited about the change of scenery. we're still debating our next biggish road trip - east cape to gisborne or great barrier island.

what else can i babble about?
i've perfected scone baking and am having a minor love affair with mate tea.
oh, and it's really hard to embroider on the beach while playing with/watching june. that girl loves her some beach.

new words: dog, duck, beach, teeth, go, stop, bee (which refers to all flying insects), that, and eesh - but we don't know what that means although she says it all the time. i think i do too, actually.

xoxoxo