April 2010 - Auckland NZ

Back to old pictures!!

In April, after leaving our fabulous cousins (and Aunt and Uncle and Grandpa) in Christchurch, we stopped for a week in Auckland, just the 4 of us. This was kind of an exciting trip for William and I, as it was the 1st time we've really done a "just us" vacation with the kids. What with our extended families being scattered far and wide, vacations are usually family visits (which are lovely in their own right), but it was nice to finally try out being just us on a trip.

Auckland ended up being colder than we anticipated, but we survived! The biggest thing we learned was that, with a 3.5 year old along, dinner had to happen back at our little apartment/hotel. Ria was just unable to eat dinner out after a day of running around. That and we needed to pick just one "sight" to visit, plus a park, and that was what we could manage in a day. By day #3 we'd figured that out, so the last 1/2 of the visit went very smoothly.

Here's Daddy drawing for Ria, while Iain just waits for his food:

Climbing a nifty tree that even Ria could climb on her own!

Fountains are fun, no matter how cold it is!

Funny hair!


Boy + box + grassy hill == FUN!

Penguins

Warm enought to build in the sand ;-)

Iain was playing tug-of-war while Ria enjoyed a sheep shearing show.

Ria in a Tuatara egg:

A composite of Ria and Iain on a lovely Tuatara!

Summer, a day late

WHAT?!

1st day of school today for Iain today (2nd grade). After a summer where the top temperature was 75 F (24 C), today it was 94 F (34.5).

I'm not complaining about the cool summer, it was LOVELY! Although it admittedly didn't feel very summerish....it just seemed rude to immediately heat up to a full roast on the 1st day that we couldn't stick them in the wading pool all day long.

It should be warm for another 2 days, then cool again.

Horses

I was just putting Ria to bed, and I asked her what she dreams about. We'd been reading "Wynkin, Blynkin and Nod."

Ria: I going down a mountain.
Mona: How are you going down the mountain?
[Some confusion as we work on how one answers a "how" question.]
Ria: I riding a horse.
Mona: You're riding a horse down a mountain?
Ria: I riding three white horse!

Then we sang a song about a little girl named Ria who dreams about riding down a mountain on three white horses. ;-)

A few months ago, one of her teachers asked all of the children in her class what they dreamed of, and Ria hadn't answered the question.....now we know ;-).