For Meggie's 13th birthday way back last August I had promised her a weekend away, just she and I. Finally, the first week of January, we were able to make it happen. As a parent I don't have as much one-on-one time with each of my children as I would like - in fact, it is very, very rare - which made this time with Meggie so special. I loved getting to know her away from her sisters and getting to spoil her a little bit and let her know how very proud I am of her and how much I love her. She is an amazing first-born and such a blessing to me, it's hard to believe we are only a few short years away from her being out on her own. I cherish times like these!
We didn't venture far - I got a great deal on a Wellington hotel on Wotif so we stayed right in town. Our first day together was spent shopping and I booked an appointment at Bobbi Brown for Meggie to have her makeup done. She is absolutely a natural beauty and hasn't even asked to wear makeup, but I wanted to do something that would make her feel special and grown up and I think this did the trick! She looked beautiful after - the pictures don't even really do it justice. She didn't have on a lot of makeup, just enough to accent her beautiful eyes and cheek bones. Since then she's only worn the lip gloss and mascara a handful of times - we're saving the rest for a school dance or other special occasion.
We also had a lot of fun dressing her up - we hit the jackpot at Country Road!
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| We bought her this dress, but those are my heels she is wearing! |
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| The color was beautiful on her. |
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| Doing a daddy pose. |
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| We tried on the same spotty shirt but only bought one - for her. |
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| All dressed up in her new jacket and shoes. |
We started the next day with a morning pedicure for Meggie while I toddled off and got us some breakfast from a nearby cafe. After that we headed out to Wainuiomata - about 45 minutes away - to do some horse trekking.
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| That's Meggie ahead in the blue shirt. We had been on the horses about 5 minutes when we started going through water and cantering soon after. She LOVED it. |
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We both had a great time riding - I was proud of myself for not falling off and for not letting on that the cantering was terrifying but Meggie was a happy, happy camper. She loved every minute of the ride and only wished it had been longer!
For our last hurrah before returning home we went and had delicious crepes for lunch.
Then we popped into Animates to get Chloe a birthday present - which she was very, very excited about.
Our time alone together was short, but it was magnificently sweet and I'm so glad we did it. I am amazed at the person Meggie is and who she is becoming and what a privilege it is to have her as a daughter. She was so gracious and grateful and grown-up all weekend. I can't wait to do this with each of the girls as they turn 13!!
