If a picture paints a thousand words. . .

The bunk beds are here!! The bunk beds are here!!! We have some excited children because at long last their beds have arrived and they are no longer sleeping on their mattresses on the floor. Mommy will be excited when their cute bedding arrives from Texas :).

Another exciting development this week was the arrival in the mail of the quilts Grandma made them for their dolls. The girls got to pick the fabrics and put them in the order they wanted, then Grandma quilted them. Ellie refused to have her picture made with hers, she was having a day.

Josie with her quilt.

Katie with the front of hers. . .

and the back!

Meggie shows off how her quilt matches her eyes.

We have an indoor, heated pool just up the street from us that we take advantage of often. Here is Meggie being a sweet big sister and playing with Ellie.

Of course we had to try and capture a photo that shows the strength of wind that is frequently blowing here in Wellington - Chicago has nothing on this windy city!!!

The next photo was taken on our trip to the Te Papa museum that I blogged about earlier.

Next are just a few pictures of the girls being supermodels for Miss Sarah. . .

Here are some pictures of the girls on the day before we left Texas - we had lunch with some precious friends.

Hope and Faith made a special trip to say goodbye. We miss our babysitters, swim teachers and friends!!

Josie and her buddy Kate

Lucy, Meggie and Alex

Katie and Maddie

The above picture was taken at Hunter's school, we made a special trip to say goodbye the day we left before heading to the airport.

Bay of Islands

Last weekend Dugs and I went away to the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. It was such a great weekend - we left the girls behind with Sarah and her friend Ashley so they were in very good hands and we were able to just relax and reconnect.

This is a picture of the famous (at leat here in New Zealand) Hunderwasser toilets in Kawakawa. If you are interested in the story go to: http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/photographs/hundertwassers_ultimate_stand.htm

We stayed at a lovely vineyard/bed and breakfast just outside of Russel. Here is the view of the property as you drive up to check in -

After that you drive down a steep and sometimes scary little unpaved road right to the waterfront to our room, called "The Boathouse". Here is a picture in the room:

And here is the view from outside looking back to the room - the room is aptly named because the boat lives just to the right of the room:

The first two days we were there the weather was perfect - I snapped the picture below from the deck where we were eating our dinner and enjoying the sunset.

We went out on a Dolphin Adventure the next morning - but sadly after being onboard for four hours there were no dolphin to be found! I guess we'll just have to go back and have a swim with them another time. Instead we decided it was time for me to brush up on my New Zealand history and went to the Treaty of Waitangi grounds.

This is a specially built Maori meeting house on the grounds. I have seen them in various places around the country but had never been inside, it was very ornate and beautiful and I learned a lot more about the Maori culture while I was there.

Dugs wanted me to include the above photo - it is a picture of a New Zealand burger, minus the onions of course, it was Dugald's burger. Anyway, Whataburger should check it out, it had beets, lettuce, a fried egg, bacon and cheese on it - and the meat of course.

Finally, the above picture is Dugald in front of a Kauri tree estimated to be 500 years old! Wikipedia says the following about the Kauri:

"Agathis australis can attain heights of 40 to 50 metres and trunk diameters big enough to rival Californian Sequoias at over 5 meters. The largest kauris do not attain as much height or girth at ground level but contain more timber in their cylindrical trunks than a comparable Sequoia with its tapering stem."

We braved some rain to get out of the car and walk up to see these ancient trees but they were beautiful and it was worth the effort.

All in all it was a great few days together despite the rain!

Ballerina Girls

Josie and Katie are taking ballet in town. It reminds me of taking dance when I was young - they are doing the Royal Academy of Ballet so they will have exams at the end of the term. Josie was bumped up a level so she isn't taking "Fairy Ballet" anymore, she's doing the real thing, but thankfully she gets to wear a beautiful leotard and skirt for her classes so it wasn't too disappointing.

Katie also has a new "uniform" for ballet. Last week the girls walked to ballet with Miss Sarah since I was out of town - here is a picture so you can see Katie's ballet outfit (minus the Crocs).

Ellie is desperate to take ballet, she will be eligible for Fairy Ballet when she turns three in April.

Here are some pictures of the girls riding. I liked the second place we tried much better than the first. We will have to drive further but I think it is totally worth it and the girls love their lessons. I would like to join them!

Meggie learns how to hold the reins.

It is beautiful in Upper Hutt where they are taking - you can kind of see the landscape in the background.

Katie is all smiles on Sheba.

Finally, I will leave you with pictures of Ellie posing with her new sunglasses.

Katie and the Duck

When we arrived in New Zealand we spent time with Dugald's parents in Palmerston North, about two hours from Wellington, because we couldn't get into our Karori house yet. I blogged earlier about Katie catching the duck when went to feed them, here is the photo -
She cracks us up - whenever we are around a group of birds, whether ducks, seagulls or pigeons, she takes off after them and usually catches one. The other girls thought it grand that their sister was so swift because they then got to pet the duck, how thrilling!

I had to include the above picture because if your computer screens are calibrated correctly you will notice the green tint to Josie's hair. All of the girls were sporting green hair after our time at Aunt Kate's thanks to all the time swimming in the pool. I remember having green hair at the end of a summer of swimming, but mine wasn't quite so bright nor did it turn so quickly. I'm not sure what these Kiwis are putting in their pools. . .

For those of you who may not know - Aunt Kate and Grandma are both award-winning quilters. Aunt Kate has lovely quilts all over her house and here is a picture of Meggie and Katie in front of one. One of my goals for our time here in New Zealand is for the girls to learn to sew and quilt and if I could learn too that would be a bonus!

A picnic on the lawn at Grandma and Grandpa's after a swim and some time on the slip-n-slide.

Here is a photo of Meggie and Katie picking out squares and pinning them to a board for their quilts. Grandma let them choose fabrics and design a quilt for their dolls so they are laying out the patterns here, then Grandma will sew it together for them. Grandma has an entire sewing room which we all think is awesome.

A picture of the big Kiwi in Ekatahuna.

Josie and Ellie just being cute.

Josie and Grandpa enjoy a coffee at the Esplanade in Palmerston North.

The girls splashing in the Esplanade wading pool.

Last night Dugald and I had a date and went to dinner and a movie. While we were at dinner we heard some American accents at the table behind us so as we left we asked the three gentlemen there if they were American. It turns out they were and we had met two of their wives a few days earlier on the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens. Small world! Their wives are here on a fellowship and are working at the Ministry of Education and they are from Vermont. The third gentleman was originally from Tallahassee, Florida. We didn't talk long enough to find out why he was here, but it was fun to hear a familiar accent for awhile:).

Tomorrow I will post pictures from riding and ballet. . .and we still welcome input on the dog choices!

More Farm Pictures

So I've decided to go way back and upload some pictures from Tablelands, which is what we call Rob and Liz's farm in Martinborough. I have to also confess that I didn't take any of these amazing photographs, Sarah did! You will notice the reduced quality of the images that are posted once she leaves, but for now we have some fantastic shots to share with you - hope you enjoy them!



This is Hettie, she belongs to Rob and Liz and is almost 14 which is great news for us because that is babysitting age!!! She goes to school very near where we live so we are hoping to have the pleasure of her company and help on some days after school once Sarah leaves. The girls think all their cousins are marvelous but Hettie was extra-fantastic because she played Barbies with them, whoo hoo!



Here is Meggie helping to make the bread for Margaret's birthday lunch. She helped mix, knead, and glaze the bread and it was absolutely delicious!

Hugh took over the barbeque responsibility with some of his mates watching in the background. The sausages were also perfectly done so obviously the next generation has this cooking thing down and the rest of us can just kick back and relax.

Daddy and Josie were a team for the three-legged race. . .

As were cousin Alex and Katie. I was teamed up with Meg but have decided the photos are us are not so flattering, let's just say Meggie looked good.

Dugald with his mom, dad and brother Rob.

The family eating at the table set up outside because the weather was perfect.

Ellie probably won't be thrilled about this photo when we show it at her wedding, but really, how cute is this?

The cottage where Grandma and Grandpa stay has an outdoor bath so the girls decided they would give it a go - except for sweet Katie who sadly was sick when these pictures were taken.

A bath with a view - isn't it beautiful???

Liz keeps a large organic vegetable garden so we went nightly and picked fruit and vegetables for our meal. Here is Meggie with some strawberries she picked.

Josie getting the carrots.

She was very serious about the whole operation - and you have never tasted sweeter carrots in your life, yum!