Project Life Catch Up : Week 27

Good morning and welcome to Project Life catch up fortnight. This is what happens when you get seriously behind and then have a massive catch up push in your Project Life album. These weeks have formed the beginning of album two of PL for 2013. I am confident I will only need two albums a year and I am comfortable with that amount of real estate dedicated to our daily lives. With me likely to start work again next year this will probably be a much more detailed album than future efforts.

Week 27 was a bit of a transitional week for us. The first half of the week was full of the usual, school, work housework activities. On the Friday night though, we hopped on the plane for a two week trip back to New Zealand to catch up with family and friends. It also happened to be the week that my husband turned forty.

The layouts for this half of the year are definitely very minimalist in terms of their presentation. I purchased the Dear Lizzy, Amy Tangerine and Maggie Holmes' mini kits and have used them almost exclusively with a few stickers and labels from my stash. I have found that the three collections mix and match really well and keeping my supplies limited has really made the process much faster. I cannot rave enough about the Persnickety Prints 3 x 4 rounded edges photos. Having the photos all cut to size and ready to go has saved me so much time. I am definitely going to be sending batches of photos off there in the future. The shipping cost is reasonable and definitely worth it in terms of the convenience.

 

The second half of the layout shows Scarlett helping our gardener at the building we live in. What it doesn't show is that both she and I were drenched from head to toe after she got a bit cheeky with the hose. My phone was lucky to survive that particular adventure. I have also included a shot of the playground at Changi Airport that we love for tiring S out just enough to sleep on the plane almost from take off. We have a couple of shots of family welcoming us to Christchurch Airport. Our plane had such terrific tail winds that we landed an hour early beating everyone to the arrivals hall. It was a nice chance to relax with an excellent cup of coffee and enjoy the sunshine. Fortunately my dad only lives ten minutes away! 

The first weekend home was flat tack. We had lunch with some good friends and their children. It was lovely to catch up and let the kids run wild in the playground afterwards. We had a great dinner with my Dad that night. Sunday included a much needed hair cut for me and celebrating Tet's birthday with a surprise party organised by some of our dearest friends. 

I am nearly totally caught up with Project Life (well to the end of September - I need to sort photos and place an order with Persnickety Prints) so I am hopeful that I will have some new layouts to share soon.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a 40 hour trip to Bintan  as a lovely break to the regular weekend routine. It was a really relaxing break and even though it was short we all feel so much better for it.

Short Break in Bintan

Bintan is our go to spot if we feel we need a weekend away. It is only 45 minutes away by ferry and the ocean is generally flat as a pancake (an important consideration for those with sea sickness issues...that would be me). 

We always stay at Nirwana Gardens. It is not the flashest resort on the island but it is the closest to the ferry terminal (an important consideration when your 20 month old struggles to stay in her seat for more than 10 minutes), comfortable and right on the beach.

Scarlett loves it here. There are usually loads of children, a really big baby pool that is only 50 cm deep, lots of delicious food and the beach. Did I mention the beach? Scarlett is a BIG fan of the ocean.

 We were really lucky with the weather. Sunday and Monday were beautiful and sunny but it did rain on Tuesday morning before we left. We still managed to get out onto the beach though for Scarlett to paddle and collect some sea shells. Scarlett was really keen to wear my hat to keep the sun off rather than her own.

 It  certainly did keep the sun off but I think hers was a little more appropriate.

The other thing that Scarlett loves about Bintan is that there are elephants there. At least 8 and  very friendly ones at that. We spent a considerable time watching the elephants giving people rides. It was a really exciting time for Scarlett and we enjoyed watching her get so excited. She is still a little small to ride the elephants herself as there is nothing at all to hold onto.

 We all came back from our two nights away feeling well rested and happy with our choice of destination. The next holiday planned is when Scarlett and I return to New Zealand for Christmas. Sadly it is a bit longer than 45 minutes to get there, and there is way less space to run around.