New life begins for us in Auckland

The kids have started school.  The school year in NZ goes from January (late?) to mid December.  So our "summer" in the US was a little short (2 weeks) before getting here and starting right back into school (mid year).  And part of school is wearing a uniform and I LOVE it.  Of course, how cute they look helps with that.  This is them getting suited up for the first day.  They have blue wool jumpers (or sweaters) over button down shirts.  They have knee high socks that fold over with a maroon stripe.  And Sylvie chose the coulots (long shorts) over the skirt.  At least she had that option.

The have great teachers and love their school and new friends.  It seems as if they have been there always.  It is weird how they just jumped right in with no issues.  I think the build-up to the move and new school was harder than the actuality.

And ice cream for the first week of school was called for.  This is the local shop in the village near our house.  

We are able to walk to school and to the little village very easily from our house.  There are a few hills but nothing too steep.  The kids use their scooters and it goes really quickly.  I am having to wear my running gear in the morning as I get a little jog.  They are way to fast for me to walk.

 This is the view down the hill to the village with the ocean beyond.  It is very scenic here and it feels like being on vacation.  It has a beauty feel to it and is very relaxed.  And the winter here is like spring in Seattle but with less overcast.  The weather changes a lot and quickly.  But there is way more sunshine here than Seattle in winter which I am loving.  I actually have to wear a hat because I am getting a lot of sun.  That is not something I have had to worry is about.

View of the beach and boardwalk from the village.  And this is in winter.  Light jackets is all we need.

Not everyone is impressed with me taking photos.

And the kids are loving playing on the beach after school.  We don't make it down everyday but I am trying to go once a week.  I won't ever get tired of this view.

In our back yard (or garden) we have some tropical plants that I love.  This is my favorite at the moment.

There is a little park (or reserve) near our house.  It feels more like a tropical forest than a park.  And there are native birds that have really beautiful songs.  There is the Tui and Bell Bird that I have heard (and really the only ones I know).  We sometimes get Tui birds in our trees by the house.  They are able to copy the sounds of other birds and people.

This is one of the views on our walk to school.  This is looking north.  That is where the sun tracks as we are on the southern hemisphere.  It is hard to sometimes wrap my mind around all the things that are different.  It is a nice short walk to get ourselves moving to start the day.  We are enjoying the start of our life here.