Wander & Nest

One month into our sabbatical adventure and this week felt the most “normal” so far. Starting on the daycare front – we all absolutely love it! Mara is living her best life playing with friends, dolls, and scooting, we had no idea she knew how to scoot!

We are loving all of the updates and learning what Mara is learning. It’s especially cool that learning milestones, and everything really, is written in Māori and English.

About her love for playing with dolls, one of her teachers said: Mara was again focused and concentrated as she played. Her imagination is clear to see! He tākaro pai, Mara! Mara really enjoys whānau play, and this strong interest is forming a base for her explorations.

My work schedule is becoming much more consistent with early meetings and free afternoons for quiet work. We’re discovering that Christchurch has amazing coffee shops, there are so many cool spots. I absolutely love working in coffee shops so this is perfect for me! I’m starting a list of all the places I want to spend my afternoons. I found the lovely Addington Coffee Co-Op, which is a combination brunch spot, coffee shop, and perfectly curated gift store. The sign on the counter of the shop was one of the best things I’ve ever seen!

No one working double time to make up for people being out, no pretending like nothing changes for the customer when you’re short staffed, no apology for being sick, just an acknowledgement that people are sick and others will try to help when then can. Perfection!

We had a nice lazy Saturday at home. Wylie ran out to run a quick errand, and this is how Mara waited for him. Just postion kidding… this lasted for 3.2 seconds until she flew across the room looking for something else to do but it was still very cute.

We spent Sunday out at the park and in Central Christchurch. Mara loved the trampolines but was overall a little fussy at the park, until she found the water! She splashed around so much even though it was only about 10 C and cloudy. Our next stop was then a laundromat so we could dry her clothes while she snuggled in a blanket with me. Reminder to always bring a full set of extra clothes because you never know when Mara will beeline for a puddle!