Everyone was awake early so we decided to get going and head into Alberobello before the crowds of tourists arrive. It was a very picturesque drive through the Valle d’Itria and we arrived in Alberobello just after 9am and got a park closest to the Trulli zone. Alberobello was declared a World Heritage Site by … More Day 4 – Alberobello, Locorotondo and San Vitto dei Normanni
After a good night’s sleep everyone was feeling well rested and ready to go this morning. The kids played a spot of table tennis before heading into Ostuni, about 30 minutes north of the villa. Ostuni, known as the White City, is a city built atop a hill with whitewashed houses and is visible miles … More Day 3 – Ostuni
Upon arrival into Rome we cleared immigration. Unfortunately the minimum age to use the electronic gates here is 14 years old so we needed to stand in the queue but it moved fairly quickly. Once through we collected our bags and walked to terminal 1 where we are catching our next flight. The check in … More Day 2 – Rome to Seranova, Puglia
It seems like only yesterday we were on the plane to Houston, and yet here we are about to fly to Italy. We had an early-ish start to the day, always liking to be at the airport early. ? The bags were closed up, beds made and a last wipe down of surfaces complete before … More Day 1 – Christchurch to Rome
Mark finally has his sabbatical to take this year so we’ve been spending time trying to decide where to go. The kids are definitely still jaded from the last trip and the girls in particular just want to stay at home. Unless he uses the sabbatical he loses it so we need to go somewhere. … More Next Trip is booked
12 March marked 18 years married for Mark & I. As it fell on a Sunday we decided to head out for dinner to celebrate on the Saturday night. It’s great the kids are now big enough to look after themselves so definitely saves some money not having to pay a babysitter. We headed to … More Wedding Anniversary
The girls were straight back into it with school starting on Monday. They had to wear their formal uniform so Sophia had to wait until day 2 to be able to wear the skirt – a big deal when you get to year 9. TJ had a mentor meeting on Monday for about 10 minutes, … More Back to school
With about 4 hours left on our flight, there was an announcement no one ever wants to hear “we have a problem”. Flooding in Auckland had shut down Auckland Airport and they were diverting our flight back to Rarotonga. We had no real information other than just that, so a lot of people were frustrated. … More Day 49 – Rarotonga & Home
I finished packing all the bags this morning and Mark, TJ and Sophia loaded the car up. We then headed to the Boot Barn as Greer had been wanting some Cowgirl boots since Dallas but we told her she has to wait until Houston. They had a huge array of clothes and boots to choose … More Day 48 – Cowgirl Boots & Science Museum
A relaxing start to the day as everyone needs some rest before heading home and straight into school/work (well except me – I’m looking forward to some warm days by the pool!). We went to Town & Country Village, an open-air shopping centre to find somewhere for lunch. It was not quite what we had … More Day 47 – Packing
Today was a really miserable day, it rained most of the day and there was a tornado watch so it seemed the best thing to do was to go shopping. We therefore spent most of the day at the Galleria Shopping mall. For dinner we had a reservation at The Original Ninfa’s, the best Mexican … More Day 46 – Shopping & Mexican
To finish off our tour of space attractions, today it was the Houston Space Centre – “Houston we have a problem”. We had pre-purchased our tickets and were surprised at the lack of security. There were no metal detectors, they did a very cursory check of our bags and asked Mark if he had a … More Day 45 – Houston Space Centre
An early start to finish the last bits of packing, sort everything in the house and get to the airport. We arrived in good time and found a porter to help with our luggage as there were no trolleys and no way we could lug everything ourselves. We had to pay for 2 additional bags … More Day 44 – Houston
We had a lazy morning before heading back to the outlets for lunch and to exchange a pair of shorts for Mark as he had picked up the wrong size. Fortunately, they did this without any hassle. On the way home we went to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. This is a 220 … More Day 43 – Packing and ESPN Wide World of Sports
We arrived at Discovery Cove about 8am and checked in. We had booked a Cabana but they don’t open until 9am so we had breakfast first. Discovery Cove is an all inclusive resort (with some additional extras like the Dolphin encounter or cabanas). Pre-Covid the breakfast was buffet but it isn’t at the moment – … More Day 42 – Discovery Cove
Today was TJ’s birthday, and for the first time since we left this part of the world he was celebrating it in the correct time zone – it is hard to believe he is 15. He opened his presents and once everyone was ready we headed to Hollywood Studios. Mark took TJ to get his … More Day 41 – TJ’s Bday, Star Wars, Blizzard Beach & Topgolf
We were up early, drove to the park and at the gate to Citywalk by 7am today. It was a much warmer 11°C when we left so no jackets and we all opted for shorts as it was going to be a nice day. Citywalk security were a bit late opening but they co-ordinate the … More Day 40 – Universal, Disney Springs
An even earlier start to the day today to try and get closer to the front of the line. We arrived about 7am and only a couple in front of us, although we had trouble with the fingerprints when entering which delayed us a bit. That said, we were onto Hagrid’s Motorcycle Adventure ride much … More Day 39 – Universal Florida
An early start to get to the gates of Islands of Adventure well before the early opening time of 8am. When the gates opened we headed straight to Harry Potter World and the Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ride. The theming is done really well, and our 30 minute wait before boarding went pretty quickly. … More Day 38 – Universal Islands of Adventure
Everyone slept in this morning and then we told the kids we were taking a mini break from our vacation and going to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal. The way the “fast pass/VIP” works at Universal is it worked out cheaper for us to stay at the hotel (where you are eligible … More Day 37 – Universal City Walk