A quick one

We were heading out to collect the girls from school today. I pressed the button for the garage door and walked around behind the car, expecting Lauren to be following as she always does. I turned and she wasn't there, and I looked up to see her going up in the air holding on to the bottom of the garage door. She was nearly at the top by the time I got there - holding on very calmly and with a bemused smile on her face....
She's a cheeky monkey alright!

NZ Wrap up

My Great Aunty Gladys and Lauren enjoyed getting to know one another

 We spent some time at one of my cousin's homes in the hills, and while we were there he offered to get out his skeet shooting gear for us to have a go. How could we say no to that?!?! We really enjoyed the opportunity and hit a lot more targets that we expected - it was rather satisfying actually. We also had a turn with another gun - the smallest calibre that you can shoot an elephant with apparently....I had a bruise days later to prove that it really has some kick! We took aim at a rather innocuous timber target with a large hill behind for safety. Just one of his many toys.

Eating ice creams at Aunty Elaine's with some of the cousins on our last night

Our last few days were spent catching up with family and friends around Auckland - including a family that I knew from my year living in Tonga over a decade ago. A relaxing way to wind down our time before a ridiculously early start for our flight home!! (why I thought that was a good time to fly I have no idea...)
We'll definitely be going to NZ for another holiday and family catch up - the girls loved catching up with their cousins and we had a ball exploring as a family together. Lots more country to explre I think.

NZ 9 - Rotorua

Philip and Michele, laughing yet again - fun people.

Philip and Michele came and joined up at the unit for a few nights. We spent a lovely day together in Rotorua visiting the 'smelly' hot pools, picnicing in the park and having a few trips down the mountain on the luge carts after the gondola ride up - the older girls were somewhat cautious at first while Lauren was champing at the bit! Olivia was terribly cautious at one point, so I passed her as she was going so slowly...next minute she flew past and was careening her way recklessly down the track with a few bumps and so on along the way. Made her mother proud!!

Apparently the luge carts are one size fits all...Greg managed to squeeze in.

NZ Trip 8 - kiwi country

Cheesy I know, but we had to stop for the photo!

At one of the farms of family friends they have built their own flying fox - a huuuge one.

 Of course I had to have a go of the flying fox to check it was safe for the children - it was sooo much fun!

On our week out of Auckland we stayed at 'The Mount' (Mt Maungaunui) and had a ball together. Lots of walks on the beach (way too cold to swim), walks through the national park, day trips to friends and so much more. The girls loved visiting the farm of friends of our family - they fed sheep, chickens, pigs etc. and saw kiwi orchards up close - as well as more rides on motor bikes and the other usual farm stuff. So nice to see our friends again - the last time was when I was pregnant with Ellen, so it's been a while!

NZ Trip 7

We headed south from Auckland and discovered a fantastic old gold mine area with lovely walks and old mining cart tracks through tunnels in the mountain - a gorgeous little sidetrack on our journey down and a fun way to stretch out legs.

NZ Trip 6 - at the Auckland Zoo

The hippos were having a whale of a time in the mud!

Finally the visit to an old volcano...

We ventured to the Auckland Zoo with my Aunt and some of the younger cousins - the girls all had a good time exploring together, we did actually manage to spot some kiwis in the special exhibit when they ventured out of the dark for us, and then on the way home we stopped for a visit and snack on the edge of an old volcanic bowl - which was something that the girls had put on their 'to do' lists (they are all fascinated by volcanoes). Check out the blue sky - apparently a rare thing in the lead up to our arrival in NZ!

NZ Trip 5

We had a day down at my cousin's bach at Port Waikato - riding the quad bikes, fishing, playing tag, walking dogs, enjoying a BBQ and lots of laughs. Both Ellen and Olivia loved riding the quads and catching their first fish on their own, while Lauren was quite taken by one of the three dogs that were part of the day, and spent a lot of time ordering him around and trying to walk him (or keep up with him). I haven't ridden a quad in years, so it was fun to get back on again, and Greg enjoyed racing around the dunes and along the beach as well. Ellen was overhead by one of my cousins pondering whether Mummy and Daddy would buy her a quad bike, seeing as she's not allowed to have a horse....ahhh - No!

NZ Trip 4

Feeding Patches - Holly's calf from last year's Ag Day at school

Enjoying afternoon tea with Uncle Pat

Michele does the girls hair much nicer than Mummy apparently!

With my cousin Wayne's three daughters - beautiful, talented and some of the loveliest girls you're ever likely to meet!

Cuddles with Aunty Gladys

The main reason for our trip to NZ was to catch up with my Dad's family and some family friends, and we covered most of them while we were there. The girls adored playing with their cousins - five girls and one boy, and even now, that time with their cousins is one of the main highlights of their trip. They also loved feeding the calves and lambs that their cousins are hand-rearing as part of their school 'Ag day' programs - what a fun idea that is! There were also lots of cuddles for Lauren from anyone - the two people here are Uncle Pat and Aunty Gladys, who were rather taken with our littlest lady.