yesterday and tomorrow

Just a super quick update.
Isabelle turned 2 yesterday and we are moving to Melbourne. Tomorrow!
Now back to packing! I'll be back to bloging once we have settled.

Here is a picture of Isabelle with her birthday present from us: a handmade take along suitcase dollhouse with 2 dress-up dolls (Sadie and Archie). It is a very special gift. x

beach fun

I have just realised that there were no posts in February. It does not mean nothing is happening, but rather the opposite, I am too busy with so many things, parenting, household, business...

These photos are a couple of months old already, I took them at the beginning of summer where Isabelle had her first "real" beach experience. She enjoyed it so much, she is so Daddy's girl, loves the ocean, the outdoor and anything and everything adventurous. x

new year's resolutions

I have made quite a lot of resolutions this year and apart from the usual ones I make every year - like being more patient with Dougal or less impulse shopping - I am planning some new, exciting things that could be interesting to you too.

One of them is more blogging - it is still hard to find the balance between Isabelle, business, housework and family (which includes more posts on the blog) and my next big adventure of learning  photography which I am so excited about. I have already started a free webinar on the basics ('Take Your Camera Beyond Auto') and bought two e-books about which I read very good reviews: Getting Out of Auto and For the Love.

Can't wait to practice what I learn. Stay tuned for lots of photos...xx

a morning walk on the beach

The best thing about living so close to the beach is that one can go for long early morning walks on the shoreline. Walk bare foot in the sand for hours from one beach to the other without interruption and there is always a cafe nearby. 

We wondered why we never do it so one morning after Christmas we decided to go for an early walk and have breakfast in a little restaurant on the next beach up from ours.

Well, we don't wonder any more.

Trying to walk somewhere on the beach with a toddler who loves the sea and for whom every tiny object is interesting is impossible. By the time we arrived to the cafe Dougal lost his thongs and had a sore back from carrying Isabelle kilometres in the soft sand (it was high tide) . I wanted my coffee badly and Isabelle just wanted to keep playing.

After saying goodbye to Dougal's thongs I later found them in the sand on the way back. At least they looked like Dougal's and they were his size but all the thongs look the same so we might have taken one of the surfers'. Oh well, he would find another pair for himself. The last one leaving the beach will always be the lucky loser. x

Christmas Down Under

Christmas is probably my favorite time of the year. I just love everything about it. I start the preparation long before.. thinking about the best presents, listening to little hints, finding the right presents without any compromise. I love decorating the house and the tree, wrapping the gifts, putting together the menus, listening to Christmas songs.
In Europe I loved the cold, snowy, white winters, the outdoor Christmas fairs, drinking mulled wine on the ice-skating rink. Here I love that we decorate the Christmas tree early so we can enjoy it for weeks and that because it is hot and sunny we don't eat that much. 

This year Christmas was about Isabelle, celebrating the joy of family life and finding our own family traditions. We had Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (as we do in Hungary) but opened the presents in the morning on Christmas day (as they do in Scotland). It was cold and raining cats and dogs all Christmas day but it was just perfect for spending the whole day snuggling up in Isabelle's new teepee. Talking to both of our families on skype made this day even more special. x