Anniversary Celebration

This past week we spent 3 nights (4 days) in Christchurch with Marco's side of the family celebrating his parent's 40th wedding anniversary! Wow, 40 years... 

40 years is the same length of time that God had the Israelite's wander around in the desert before bringing them to the promised land. There are a few conclusions we can draw from this comparison.  

1) The Israelite's wore the same pair of shoes for those 40 years, surely I can keep the same spouse!

2) If I had to walk for 40 years, I'd probably be a lot skinnier. 

3) 40 years is a REALLY long time :)

So, we went down on Sunday morning and immediately my girls slotted in with their cousins, picking up where they'd left off 6 months ago (having a baby has meant we haven't gone down to see family as much as normal)

On the Monday, we all went to a wildlife center.  Morgan loved it! She got to feed the giraffes and while at first she was a bit timid, she warmed up quickly. 

 Unfortunately, Owen and Addison didn't get quite as close to the action as the others. This is them feeding the giraffes...

 Kelsey enjoyed herself if the animals stayed a safe distance and if Oma stayed close. Oma was very obliging!!

 Master Owen got quite the preferential treatment. This was his bed in our "house" for the week. There was a playpen for him to sleep in, but one of the sides didn't go up entirely and there was no mattress or blankets for it.. so.. the bed worked just as well.

 And of course, everyone had turns holding the newest family member, even if he did always have to have one eye on where his mama was. (Ok, I like it that he's a bit of a mama's boy. The girls have always preferred their daddy and now I finally have one that prefers me.)

 On Tuesday, the men folk took the older kids to the beach for the morning. Kelsey took a bit of an accidental swim! haha! But she was great about it and got up and started smiling right away. However, that ended that trip!! Meanwhile, the women & babies were having a lovely quiet time at one of the houses.. ahh, peace and quiet.

 We had 2 of our dinners catered while we were there so that it could be a holiday for all of us. Here's Kelsey chowing down on the dessert platter on the second night.. Mmmm!

We also taught the big kids a song to sing for Oma and Opa:

Congratulations on 40 years of marriage. May God bless you with many more.. 

First Look-See of the 'Naki

Marco and I took a weekend visit to check out our new home base (or what will be our new home base if we ever finish and sell our house).

We dropped the girls and the dog off at various locations, boarded a plane and headed off for 2 nights of peace and quiet. Or, as much peace and quiet as one can get with a 3 mo baby in tow - but he's sort of attached to his food source, so taking him was a necessity.

It was Owen's first time flying, so we took the customary first picture. However, the lighting was a bit off, so imagine, if you will, that we went for a arty look. :)

As expected, Owen did great in the plane. he doesn't seem to like boarding the plane very much, but then again, who does?! But, as soon as we were sitting and he was eating, he was lovely again. 

We didn't arrive in New Plymouth until 7ish, so, we quickly made up a bed for Owen (I LOVE my safe t sleep that allows him to sleep in a normal bed without costing us extra for a cot).  After a feed and a change, he was out like a light. I also LOVE sleeping babies. :)

 And, after a feed and a change, we were out like lights too. After the customary wine in bed, of course!!

Saturday, we drove. And drove. And drove. 

Over the whole weekend we put 370 km's on the car, and the large majority of that was done on Saturday. (we'd be lucky if we put 50 km on the car on Friday or Sunday). 

We drove through wide roads and narrow roads. flat roads and hilly roads. paved roads and gravel roads. Road with pig farms, roads with chicken farms, roads with houses, roads with ocean next to it.
We drove.

 Oh yeah, and it rained. and it stopped. And then it rained some more.
So, there were rainbows.
We joked that if we were driving somewhere and there was a rainbow it was a good place to live. No rainbow meant bad place to live.

 We did a bit of sightseeing too. :)

 Look, we tried to see the mountain!! (its behind the cloud)

 And through it all, Owen was cute.

 And cuter.

It really was a good weekend for us.
On Sunday we had the opportunity to attend the church that we hope to become a part of when we eventually move. It was good. The pastor was gone, but an elder preached and did a pretty good job. The congregation was friendly and lots and lots of people introduced themselves. I hope they don't expect me to remember all their names in several months time! yikes!
But, we had a lovely lunch with a couple who live on a gorgeous rural property. They have a 5 & 7 year old who they home school (and who are really eerily well behaved - but I'm sure my kids will cure them of that when they get to know them!). Anyway, they also invited 2 other couples around for lunch so it was a great chance for us to get to know a few different people and ask lots of questions.
We eventually had to head home again, where Owen was another pro-star at flying. But, what else can you expect from a "nearly-captain"'s son?! ;)

I think I can now say that I'm looking forward to moving to the 'Naki. it has stores, beaches, places to walk, playgrounds, (i even saw rumour of a mall!). It should be a good place for us to raise our kids, meet new people and make new friends!!

We did however, have a good laugh at the local slogan:

 - really? that's the BEST slogan you could come up with?? it's "like no other". WOW! Owen just had a poo "like no other", you don't hear me bragging about it?? :)

Hobbiton

"hi-ho, hi-ho, its off to Hobbiton we go!!"

Wait, that's not right... oh well. We took a day trip to Middle earth the other day. After all, what else do you do in New Zealand??

So.. we drove 3.5 hours on a slightly wet and dreary day.. to take a tour of Hobbiton in Matamata, NZ
the tour company supplied umbrellas :)

even Owen got to wear a little hat :) 

he's such a little old man!

 So, we heard lots of interesting stories and saw all the little hobbit homes! It was really cool!!  And, of course, we all turned into geeky tourists with the cameras clicking and the rest of us posing!

Jeanette posing in one of the only hollowed out houses

Jeanette & I posing.
The guy in front wrecking our shot was our guide. Had he been a wee bit shorter with hairy feet, I'd have thought he was a hobbit!! :)

Marco, Owen & I posing. 

Jeanette & I posing by the lake with the pub in the background

Marco and I wishing we could go have a drink in the pub! :)

Marco & I being tools pretending we owned a hobbit house!

The day was really fun, despite the weather. But, as you can see, it didn't rain the whole tour, so it was lovely.
I was well and truly tired of driving by the end of the day.. but it was loads of fun. 

Owen did great.. except at the first stop of the night... 

Ok, so we drove for an hour and half and then had our first stop. Marco and Jeanette went to use the loo while I fed Owen in the truck. As I burped him he spit up all done my shoulder. It dripped down my arm, onto my leg and onto the seat. And, as any good wife of Marco should do, I quickly wiped up the seat first, then my clothing. :)

Then, as Marco & Jeanette went to get us some coffee & hot chocolates, I decided to change his bum. Seeing as it was raining outside and I am in fact made completely of sugar, I opted to change him on my lap, using a technique I'd seen a few weeks earlier, which looked SUPER easy. 

Simply place baby on your lap, insert new diaper under old diaper, whip off old diaper using a quick one - two wipe, and voila, new diaper is on.
Reality, is often different for me. 

So, I placed Owen on my lap, took off his dirty diaper. Proceeded to wipe up the poo as quickly as possible. At which point, he proceeded to poo all over my t-shirt. As I began to wipe it up, Owen decided that now would be a good time to pee. He then proceeded to allow his pee to spray all over my t-shirt and the seat of the car. I threw the wipe over his "spout", pulled up my t-shirt (which now has both pee & poo on it), and tried to wipe up the pee on the car seats. 

At this point, Owen decides that he wasn't quite finished. He pooed again. This time all over my nursing tank. 

Packing for our excursion, I had brought 3 changes of clothes for Owen, and 2 full changes of clothes for me. But, alas, I did not bring an extra nursing tank, or even an extra bra. Therefore, I could not change. All my careful packing had been for naught. 

Note to self: its a lot more difficult to change a baby on your lap than it looks!!

Road Trip

We went on a road trip the other day. OK, for most people, not that exciting, maybe even not that out of the ordinary. But for us - this was huge. We have a strange tendency to fly if we're going to go somewhere. However, on this occassion, we did not.
You see, one day, my dear, lovely husband bought some car bits and announced that he was taking his family on a road trip to pick up these bits. oh yippee, I can think of nothing I'd rather do than sit in a car with 2 small children for mile upon mile of curvy, hilly, car sick -inducing road. (Please note the sarcasm in that last statement). But, I ma learning that a husband should be head of the home. And, a husband needs to be treated with respect. So, I agreed.
We packed up the kids one fine Monday morning and hit the road. Mr. Google map told us that our first car bit was to be picked up 289 km from home - a mere 4 hours and 4 minutes away. We hit the road at 8:45 (right after Blues Clues).

Hit our first city just after coffee time, so a quick leg stretch, small walk for everyone by the lake side ("no going in the water, Kelsey!!"), and a coffee and hot chocolate for mommy and daddy and we were back on the road in 15 minutes. Thankfully Kelsey has an iron bladder and didn't need to go althought here was a minor tanty when seatbelts were put back on again!

Back on the road, this time following Google maps directive explicitly as we tried a new road. It was brilliant. No traffic to contend with. Lovely tree lined road, ok, the hills and curves were still driving me nuts, but at least we could go a steady pace. We arrived at our first stop just in time for lunch at McD's. OH joy! But hey, they had an indoor playground for under 3's. Brilliant. Spent almost an horu having lunch - but that's what you do when you drive with kids. Quick stop to pick up daddy's brand "new" leather seats for his project (new to daddy, more dried and carcked than desert sand). And, back on the road again.  By 4 we'd reached Auckland where we'd stay with friends of ours for the night.
3 years ago, Marco and I made a similar road trip to Auckland to see these same friends. That one was spure of the moment.( "Hey.. let's get out of here for the weekend" "OK" and 5 hours later, arrive at friends). This one took 8 hours to drive the same distance and we had accumuatled a LOT more stuff (and people). Since our last trip to see them, we'd had our 2 children, and they'd had 2 more as well - they're latest arrival appearing just 4 weeks prior to our trip. I was about to get my baby fix!! Unfortautnely, I left my camera in the car and couldn't be bothered to get it. So, no pics of our friends. With 7 kids of their own, my 2 "extras" had no problems fitting right in. Within seconds of arriving, my girls were whisked off to various bedrooms to play various games and be amused in various ways. Love it!! By 9pm.. all the kids were tucked in for the night and we could finally have a bit of adult time.
The next morning dawned a bit drizzly and rainy, but no biggie. Kids had a great morning and were suitably worn out by the time we hit the road at 11:30ish. We opted to take off right before Lunch because yours truly had a cravign for Wendy's. And Wendy's can only be found in 2 cities in this country - Auckland being one of them. I have to admit though, mostly becuase we were served by a non-english speaking person who got my order wrong and I was too much a wimp to say anything, we were all pretty dissapointed. Maybe, but only just maybe, my tastebuds have evolved in the last 3 years.

Hit the road and within seconds (ok, maybe minutes) the girls were both asleep. It was rather short lived, unfortuantely, because within 15 km we hit a small town and as soon as Marco started to slow down for an impending red light, Kelsey woke up - that child will not sleep under 30 km/h!! Unbelieveable!!
Thankfully, we had borrowed a portable DVD player from a friend for the trip, so we could zone Kelsey out with some horrible kids movie (which we promptly tried to ignore). It is REALLY hard to ignore Dora, however. Just so you know.

Only had to make one stop on the way home, that was our dinner/supper stop.. and we took our time a bit there and let the kids run around a bit. Again, we're so grateful that Kelsey has a strong bladder. Both up and down, she only went when we stopped. Perhaps, she doesn't know how much control a small child's bladder has over her parents, but so far, she's not exercising that power!. We hmade it home around 8:30. Kelsey was enthralled by the pink clouds during the last part of our trip. i guess its easy to take sunsets for granted, but for her they're very cool.

Highlights of the trip:

• the girls did WAY better than we ever imagined. Maybe we don't give them enough credit, but they did great!
• I got my baby fix in. Such a sweet lovely new baby. Huge thick dark hair. Very sweet. Kelsey also got to hold the baby and was loving on the baby. So nice to see. 
• Marco got his car bits and bobs. To be honest, I don't even know what they all were. Maybe I'm supposed to care, but its easier not to. 
• It was great to catch up with our friends. Its hard as parents with young kids to stop and go away and catch up with people, but its important to do so. I'm glad we did. 
• Marco is starting to finally know more of the words to kids songs. This may not seem like a highlight, but there has to be a positive side to listening to awful kids music for 10 hours. 

That's it. I can think of nothing more. Glad we went. Glad we're home. One more thing crossed off the list of things to do before we go away...