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