Last year just before we traveled to America I realized that Meggie and Josie's American passports had expired. Unfortunately I realized it too late to do much about it and they travelled on their New Zealand ones. It caused a little bit of a hassle as we entered the country so I made sure to get their passports renewed before we travel this year. The US consulate that deals with passports is in Auckland, and because they are minors we couldn't renew by mail and both parents needed to appear with them, so off we we went this week.
The drive to Auckland from Wellington is 9 hours but we broke up the trip with a stop in Palmerston North for lunch, then a night in Waitetoko at the family bach. The girls LOVED the bach! You can see Lake Taupo from the house and it has a nice lawn to play on and they thought it was divine. The house was a bit cold but Dugald built us a fire and we warmed up nicely. We enjoyed sleeping late and playing games and just being together.
We arrived in Auckland to a warm welcome from Kate, Ant, Ben and Wills. Kate invited us to stay with them again which is always a treat. We had a lovely dinner together before heading off to bed for a fairly early night. Sometime after midnight Ant appeared in our room to say there was a fire in the attic and the fire department was on the way! We jumped up and got dressed, checked on the girls and waited for the trucks to arrive. Apparently Wills (who was sleeping upstairs) had smelled smoke, poked around and saw flames in the attic. Thankfully it was easy enough to extinguish but the fire department still did a thorough check to find out what had caused it and even had to tear out part of the wall to gain access.
Surprisingly Katie and Josie slept through all the commotion but the rest of us had a rather exciting night!
The next morning it was off to the consulate for our 10:15 appointment. We arrived just before 10 am, went through security where they took our bags and phones, and then waited for 2 and a half hours for our interview. Ugh.
The US Consulate in Auckland.
We planned, baked, decorated and looked forward to the arrival of all our special guests for hours.
Mommy had a little incident with the cupcakes when the "fan bake" setting on her oven proved too powerful and they all emerged lopsided having had their tops blown off. Who knew? Thankfully neither the honorees nor the guests were too put off by the funky appearance of dessert.
Josie and Ellie headed to the dress-up box about an hour before the party was to start and emerged looking absolutely fairy-tastic!
Soon all the guests began to arrive - along with the most special guest of all - Fairy Trina!! 
Fairy Trina was a gem - she immediately had the birthday girls join her and be, as Ellie says, "in charge". (Today, two days later, Ellie is still reminiscing the glory day of being "in charge", she told me she wished Fairy Trina would come every day so that she (Ellie) could always be in charge. Watch out world, we will be unleashing a powerhouse in a few more years!)
Fairy Trina told amazing stories, passed out fairy dust for the granting of wishes and organized some fun games. All were enchanted.
Pass the parcel was definitely the favorite. . .
But Musical Statues was a close second. I loved watching all the dancing, those little fairies have some moves!
After all that fun it was time for a quieter activity so Fairy Trina painted faces - and first up were the birthday girls:
We ended the party with cupcakes and other fairy food. We are so grateful that in the short time we've been here in New Zealand we've been blessed with such fabulous friends that celebrate our special occasions with us, we love you all!
This is the view from a walk Meggie and I took recently - we climbed up Wright's Hill behind our house. She's a gazelle - I was huffing and puffing. Anyway, she's updated her blog so click here, or just click Meggie's blog on the sidebar, if you want to check her out!! xx
Each and every one was well-received, when you are five I think most things bring you joy. She especially loved the princess decorations hanging from our light fixture (thanks Dr. Ann).
We went to see "How To Train Your Dragon"in 3-D which may not have been the best choice as Ellie was scared for most of it and asked me to take her out about 2/3 of the way through. We went with our sweet friends though and they came over after for dinner and very pink cupcakes to celebrate our girl.
It's hard to believe when we arrived here Ellie-belly was only two, such a little one. She had a hard time with all the changes but I have to say she's always had her strengths and they've remained the same -she's confident, determined, smart, eager and independent. I think she may be Prime Minister or President one day! She brings us so much joy and we are thankful to have her and look forward to seeing how she grows and develops over the next year. xx
We arrived in Auckland to a warm welcome from Kate, Ant, Ben and Wills. Kate invited us to stay with them again which is always a treat. We had a lovely dinner together before heading off to bed for a fairly early night. Sometime after midnight Ant appeared in our room to say there was a fire in the attic and the fire department was on the way! We jumped up and got dressed, checked on the girls and waited for the trucks to arrive. Apparently Wills (who was sleeping upstairs) had smelled smoke, poked around and saw flames in the attic. Thankfully it was easy enough to extinguish but the fire department still did a thorough check to find out what had caused it and even had to tear out part of the wall to gain access.
Surprisingly Katie and Josie slept through all the commotion but the rest of us had a rather exciting night!
Of course Holly came with us, she sat patiently outside while we ate at the cafe and then frolicked with the girls in the water before plopping down for a rest beside Kate.
After a fun afternoon at the beach we returned home and Katie helped Auntie Kate make homemade pizzas - delicious. We were all sorry to say goodbye the next morning and look forward to our next visit!
