27 December 2011

Travelling Tales: Christmas in the country

Christmas Eve
I wouldn’t have thought it possible after one day that we could forget the busyness of our city life, but forget we did! With a combination of water fights, ball games, hanging out on Poppa’s dirt mound (which has been renamed ‘Noah’s hill’), bike rides and walks in the serenity of the country, broken only by the odd moo or neigh, or the noise of a tractor making hay bales.

















After dinner, we sent two little elves outside to make sure Santa and the reindeer had a welcome awaiting them. Then we settled in for cuddles around the TV before the two little elves reluctantly rested their eyes for a short while.



The only downside of the holiday is that the littlest elf figured out pretty quickly how to escape his Ready Bed, sleeping bag and room to come in search of mum and dad at 3 am and 5:45 am Christmas morning (followed by 1am and 6am Boxing Day morning and 4am/5.30am the next day). Grrrrr….it’s a good thing he’s a cute elf. And he’s been waking his big brother up too…I can see a few hard yards having to be put in when we get home to try and get back into normal routines…but for now we’ll just have to go with the flow on the holiday!

Christmas Day
So the day dawned somewhat earlier than we might have liked, but it was hard not to catch onto the enthusiasm of the little people, and to watch their faces light up with delight on several occasions. One of the most loved presents unwrapped during the day was a Hot Wheels downhill racetrack, with many spirited races held throughout the day.


My brother Sam and partner Alesha joined us before lunch with their two cutie pie doggies Izzy and Pete. Noah was petrified of the dogs to begin with (as always!) but warmed up quickly, and by the end of the day was following them around and begging to see them again.




A mid-afternoon walk in the sunshine helped walk off our lunch before sitting down to indulge again in a veritable feast of baked ham - Mark’s contribution, and Spanish Mini Vine Peppers and Garlic Prawns with Chorizo - my contribution care of two Ruth Pretty recipes from my recent Christmas cooking school experience – and wouldn’t you know making those dishes got me another tick on the Summer Bucket List….yuss! And there was more of that delicious mulled wine made and inhaled during the day too!


Boxing Day
No trip to Nana and Poppa’s would be complete without a pilgrimage to the Hamilton gardens, which is simply one of our favourite spots in this part of the world.






















In hindsight, it might have been a good idea to bring along a change of clothes­, but we certainly weren’t about to hinder their fun, and it was a warm day so it hardly mattered!

Hope you and yours are having much fun and good times on your Christmas break too!

4 comments :

Leonie said...

beautiful photos Meghan!!! and the ones of Hamilton Gardens are simply stunning!
Hope you enjoy your holidays!

PaisleyJade said...

STUNNING photos! Looks like an amazing Christmas in the country.

Dee said...

awww, you make Hamilton look so lovely!! haha

(actually i thought that at the end...what i was thinking the whole time before that was, i think there should be another Maloney baby in 2012.../wink!)

XO

Brigitte said...

OOOooooo feeling very homesick after viewing those stunning photos! Where about in the Waikato are your parents? That's my old stomping ground and I agree with Dee, you actually make Hamilton look stunning! ;) Probably because it is huh?
Looks like you had a fun Christmas with yummy food and quality drinks (that photo with Monteiths beer got me salivating..)

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