How to assemble a port-a-cot

Step 1: Pour yourself a large glass of wine (Expert tip: keep the bottle close!).

Step 2: Wrestle the port-a-cot from the ‘handy’ carry bag, and remove the piece that is wrapped around the main frame (Expert tip: do NOT discard this piece - that is the MATTRESS!).

Step 3: Take a very large sip of wine. Breathe deeply. Repeat.

Step 4: Shake the frame out and attempt to click the sidebars into place. Fail miserably.

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!

How to travel with toddlers

We’re off on an end-of-Summer-holiday this week; the four of us are heading to New Zealand for my dad’s wedding, and to catch up with other parts of the family.

I probably should have included a question mark in the heading of this post because, to be honest, I have no idea how to travel with toddlers! The last flight I took was just the Stuntman and I, when he was a pre-walker, and he had a lovely time being smothered in red lipstick kisses by the LAN flight attendants while I sat and had a relaxing cup of tea. 

The Stuntman making friends on our last flight