The McD's do... Ramsgate Organic Foodie Markets

We love going to the Ramsgate Organic Foodie Markets, it is one of our absolute favourite things to do on a Saturday. Held in the grounds of Ramsgate Public School, it has all the elements of a perfect day – delicious food to eat, beautiful fresh produce and ingredients to take home to cook with, gorgeous things to admire (and sometimes buy), live music, and a bouncy castle with a well-managed queue. Everyone wins!

The Stuntman having a go at hopscotch at the Ramsgate Organic Foodie Markets

 I especially love it as the market stalls have a real focus on wholefoods, and there are loads of things that I can eat! Sometimes when we go out there is absolutely nothing the Stuntman and I can eat (needing dairy and soy free as a minimum), and it is so frustrating!

The McD's do... Mission Bay, Auckland NZ

After our nightmarish flight from Sydney, I was pretty pleased to finally arrive in Auckland. My mum is from NZ, and her parents, sister and a few of my cousins live in Auckland, so we had lots of family-time planned. Mum (Nanna) was also in Auckland for the week we were there, so it was lovely to spend time together.

We had booked an apartment through Airbnb for the week, in Mission Bay, which is a popular seaside suburb of Auckland. Having never used Airbnb before we were a bit apprehensive, but the apartment was clean, tidy, and in a fantastic location. And half the price of a hotel, with all the comforts of home! We were directly across the road from the water, and a short walk to both Mission Bay and Kohimarama Beach (known as 'Kohi'). I even managed to find a cafe at Kohi beach that served almond milk coffee, so I was a very happy mummy.

Mission Bay, Auckland NZ

Flying with an 18 month old AKA the Flight from Hell

The one and only cute moment of our journey

So I don’t know if I jinxed myself by being so worried about flying with my toddlers, or if it was just always destined to be an horrendous experience. As it turns out, I was completely justified in my pre-flight concern because the entire journey was a freaking NIGHTMARE!

My kingdom for a shower

How did you spend your night? I spent mine boiling the kettle 37 times to fill up a bath for D after football. This really must be love.

Our effing hot water system has died and, as renters, we are at the mercy of our real estate agent and their contracted plumber to sort it out. Even though I called and emailed the real estate agent at 9am on the dot to request an urgent repair, they didn’t send a plumber out to the house to have a look until after 4pm. And then, of course, the useless plumber couldn’t fix it, and needed to call someone else to come and assess it. Tomorrow, obviously, as it was well past 5pm before he figured out he couldn't fix it. So now I have to go into the office tomorrow, having not had a shower in three days. Thank goodness for max strength deodorant and dry shampoo is all I can say. I’m sure my colleagues feel the same way.

The kids don’t care about being clean, so they’re OK with this new no-bath arrangement, and, to be honest, there’s nothing a packet of baby wipes can’t clean off those two (as long as I'm not serving spag bol for dinner). But there was no way D was getting into our bed after a sweaty game of over 35’s football (soccer) without some kind of ablution. Bless him, he did ask if I wanted to use the leftover lukewarm bath water after him, but, as much as I love him, sharing recycled bath water is not on my list of things to do as a married couple. 

If the hot water is not fixed by tomorrow evening I might need to start knocking on the neighbours’ doors with my towel and shower puff in hand. That’s one way to get to know them better I suppose ;)