Riversdale

It seems that summer has arrived in all its glory - we've had some beautiful days lately!!

Our sweet friends the Sheppards invited us to join them for a few days in Riversdale at a beach bach. Of course the girls and I jumped all over it - sand, sun, friends - we're in!! I also aim to see as much of this beautiful country as I can while I'm here so I was happy to rearrange our schedule for a last minute trip.

We drove about three hours from Wellington to get there - with a few stops along the way.

Stopping for groceries and ice cream in Masterton - the kids also had a good play at an amazing park there.

It was a beautiful drive, as most in New Zealand are, and we arrived about 4 pm in good spirits and ready to hit the sand. The weather wasn't great so we just had a look and got ourselves unpacked, sorted out dinner and whatnot. The bach had a sleep-out where the girls (Meggie, Katie, Josie and Pippa) started the night, but as it was separate from the house they soon freaked out and decided that having an adult around wasn't such a bad thing. So, we rearranged ourselves and tried to re-settle everyone and eventually we did all get some sleep.

The next morning it was raining when we woke - we were getting off to a slower start anyway being as we were a tad tired. Alison had an idea for a great game - I can't remember what she called it - but basically everyone contributes to the writing of a story. First everyone writes on their paper describing a girl. After they've written their sentence they fold the paper over what they've written and pass it to the next person. Once everyone has the new paper - with the first line folded up - everyone adds a sentence describing who she met. . . and so on until you have a story. Meggie loved it the most, of course, as she is my little storyteller.

Alison gives Josie a hand.

Meggie is on it - she loves this stuff!

Katie adding a bit to one of the stories.

Pippa reading out the sheet she ended up with to the group.

Once the rain stopped we ventured out in the mist to walk the beach. We saw a lot of these beautiful but mean creatures - jellyfish. They were all over the beach and the lifeguards were driving around in a four-wheeler and collecting them.
If I ever get a beach bach I will paint it very bright colors - I love it!



This is Monty. He did very well being the only boy amongst all the girls. He's Josie's age and tons of fun - I mean look at that face, how cute is he?
He thought it would be fun to step on the seaweed his sister was pulling along the beach as though she were walking a dog.
Which led to some serious fun - the girls decided to wrap him up in it.
Kids + Beach = Fun even without sun!


I was missing Dugald though so I wrote him a little love note.
The view as the sun came out on our walk back.
Still a little gusty - but the mist is clearing.
We got home, the children changed out of their wet clothes and had some lunch, then we headed out again in the glorious sunshine.




Thank you Sheppard family!! We had a marvelous time.

Meggie and Charlie

Meggie cantered without hands - but on a lead - last week at her riding lesson. It was pouring rain outside but we were nice and dry in the arena. Katie took the week off but will be back next time and hopefully I'll remember to get some video of her too.

Fairy Trina Show

Another fun-filled, busy week at our house! We had a beautiful day earlier this week and went out to the beach with friends - no pictures because I forgot my camera but it was lovely. We bid sweet Lucy (above) adieu - she's been babysitting the girls since we moved to Karori and has been such a blessing to our family but she's now in Denmark studying for a year and we miss her already!!

The girls got to perform with Fairy Trina in the Botanic Gardens yesterday - Ellie and I watched the show and she was enthralled!

This video is long but it features Meggie, Katie and Josie. Meggie was a lion, Katie an elephant and Josie a tiger.

After the show we headed out to riding - Katie couldn't ride because she had a sore on her leg so Meggie got a private lesson and cantered without her feet in the stirrups and with her arms out for the first time (still on a lead though).

This weekend is a holiday in Wellington but it's a grey and rainy day today so we are enjoying hot cups of tea, board games and American Idol. Hope you are having fun too!!

Napier

I know it's been ages since I last posted - we were away for a bit, we have a lot going on here at home, and my heart has been so heavy with all that is happening in Haiti that I just haven't taken the time to write.

Last week we had a wonderful trip with our friends the Burts in Napier. We drove up directly from Wellington on Monday and soon after we checked in to our cabin in the holiday park the rain started. As we crowded our 12 selves into one of our two cabins for dinner and watched the weather girl forecast rain for the next six days we were discouraged to say the least!

The next morning when we awoke to a bit of sunshine we decided to take advantage of it and load the children into our respective (matching) mini-vans and head to Splash Planet. It was a trifle cold but they were insistent on swimming. Sadly the rules said children under 6 must be accompanied by an adult over 16 which meant the daddys had to take one for the team and get in too. Marianne and I set up camp and watched over the food while they all froze!

It didn't take long for everyone to return hungry and shivering so they got dressed and we had a picnic lunch before heading off to enjoy the other fun activities at the park.
We rode trains, drove mini-jeeps, played on many playgrounds and played putt-putt and it was delightful.



The camp where we stayed was great too - lots of fun stuff for the children to do. There were trampolines, a pool, a bouncy pillow and a playground. I don't have many pictures because I hardly ever saw them - the adults enjoyed playing board games while the kids entertained themselves, delightful! Our girls learned how to jump rope - a schoolyard skill they hadn't yet mastered - here's Josie in action with Katie and Corinne spinning.
We also explored beautiful downtown Napier and saw some of the art deco buildings. We spent a lot of time in the museum learning about the 1931 earthquake that devastated the town, seeing pictures and hearing testimonies of the survivors, it was all very moving - especially given the situation in Haiti.




I was thrilled we got to one vineyard while we were there since the region is known for making some nice wines. The kiddos played outside while we adults enjoyed the tasting.


We also went strawberry picking - and with eight kids picking you can bet we brought quite a few home with us!

The Burt's eldest daughter is 14 and therefore old enough to legally babysit, so we left her with the children one night and had a very relaxed and enjoyable fine dining experience sans children. We did most of our cooking in the cabin while we there but we did head out to Antonio's for some amazing pizza one night and we took up half the tables in the restaurant - crazy!
Another afternoon we had snacks at a bakery and the owners were nice enough to let the kids check out the action in the kitchen.
It was a really lovely week and we got to stop in Palmerston on the way home and see Hugh and Margaret which is always a treat. I thought they were very brave welcoming 8 children on a rainy day but as always we were warmly received.

I came across some this post written by a former missionary kid who grew up in Haiti and thought it offered a different and unique perspective, click here if you are interested. Blessings! xx

Orongorongo Track

Having had success a few months back with our short tramp on Johnston's Peak we decided to give it another go - this time on a longer walk a bit further away. We drove out to Wainuiomata, about 40 minutes away, to do a four hour walk called the Orongorongo Track.

The girls were pretty darn cute in their blue sun hats!
Ellie got to ride on Daddy's back for a lot of the walk - lucky her! She'd ride half an hour, walk half an hour, ride, walk and so on. The big girls walked the entire way with their backpacks and were full of energy.

Here we are an hour in, Ellie obviously on her walking portion.

The final bridge before reaching our destination.

We had a picnic lunch and the girls had a bit of a play, then we were off again for the two-hour walk back to the car.



This was our most ambitious walk yet as a family and it went very well so we've decided to try some more this summer. I think it was hardest on Dugald and me, and we could use the exercise! We really had a lovely afternoon together and got to enjoy more of the beautiful New Zealand bush so hopefully we'll do it again soon.

Happy 2010 everyone!! xx