23-26 May 2014: Charleston, South Carolina, USA

21 Feb-2 March 2014: Whistler, Canada

Third year in a row...just shows what a fab-u-lous place Whistler is!  Love it.  Again a 10 day trip and staying in the village - only way to do it.  Literally a 5min walk to the ski lifts and straight onto the slopes. 

This year's partner in crime was again Terries, with Sera, Alex (and Alex) dropping in for a quick 5 day visit. 

Below are the photos to prove what a wonderful place this is, and the amazing slopes we had the run of over the 10 days.

18-26 January 2014 - Brisbane, Australia

What a wonderful way to have a family reunion - the wedding of my little sis. She and Mike finally decided to tie the knot and the great thing about this is that my two adorable nephews - Dash and Kylar - will be there to witness it (and be able to remember it as well)!

Family reunion
We all live around the world, so I flew in from New York, Geoff from Boston, Jason from London and Mum/Dad from New Zealand. We stayed in the same apartment and had 9 days to explore Brisbane, catch up with each other and to be part of Pen's wedding. Really enjoyed the time together and getting to see a lot of Pen, Mike, Kylar and Dash.  Just a shame Geoff got extremely sick and couldn't enjoy the visit like he hoped.

 

Sightseeing in Brisbane
We did have quite a few days to sightsee around Brisbane which included the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and the city center.  It was quite hot during the days so we didn't end up doing too much, but enough to get a sense of what the city is about.

 

Pen and Mike's wedding (21 January)
A gorgeous sunny day, radiant bride, two very overexcited boys, and an eager groom!  It started off with a registry wedding where the two boys were the ring bearers. Very cute seeing them playing around and being 'boys' during the ceremony! We all headed out to the park for photos and then gathered for a drink and cool-down before heading to the dinner venue. Everyone was chatting outside where the drinks were being served, before going into the restaurant for a delicious meal and beautifully written speeches from the bride, groom, friends and family. The day went off without a hitch (well, other than the hitching of bride and groom) and its certainly one I will remember with very fond memories.

 

Just a shame that the Lind family reunions don't happen more often - who knows when the next one will be!

23 Oct-2 November 2013: Puerto Adventuras, Mexico

Turning another decade older meant trying to find a way to celebrate it in style....which ultimately ended up as a vacation by the beach, in the sun (mostly), and with the good company of friends (and great cocktails)!

I ended up choosing Mexico (Riviera Maya) as it was close enough to New York and not too expensive.  Inviting two close friends meant that only fun times were ahead.

Puerto Adventuras (the resort) was about 45mins from Cancun but far enough out from the main tourist hub so as not feel too hemmed in.  Mind you, it was all inclusive, but funny enough the majority of people in the resort were from South America, not North America or Europe.

For 9 days I scuba dived, lay on the beach, ate, took shelter from the daily afternoon downpours, and just chilled out (with the occasional massage and trip to the gym).  Didn't take much to unwind - especially with Terreis and Jane there to help in the endeavor!!

Turning *0 wasn't such a hardship and I certainly enjoyed the time with two very good friends!  The scuba diving was also very diverse - especially the cave diving.

So here's to turning *0 and celebrating it in even greater style!