Anniversary….
Fourteen years ago today Rich and I got married!
We had met 10 months earlier in Peru. The photo to the left is our wedding day, and to the right we are in the ruins of Machu Picchu. We had spent 4 days hiking up that mountain, getting to know each other on the way, what an amazingly wonderful adventure it was in so many ways!
Two years later this little bundle came along, our family was now 3, and our adventures have continued, how lucky are we!!!!!!!!!!
Now here we are over half way through the spring school holidays, it goes way too fast!
Weather wise it has been one of extremes. At the beginning we had snow !
This was the first snow fall we have had since living here, very exciting, it does not happen often! This was as covered as the ground got and it disappeared quickly, but still it was very pretty 🙂
We wrapped up and went for a hike….
Inside activities meant the Lego and books come out, here is Luca reading poetry to Pica (captive audience 🙂 ). Pica had come down with a fever and was not looking or acting at all like herself. After a visit to the vet we started antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication She is still on antibiotics but does seem like herself again, her energy levels back to normal.
Luca is reading all the Asterix books again, some things just never go out of fashion.
Lego too seems to stay on our dining table each holiday, the kids construct all sorts of things and are unhappy if it is cleared away next time they come and Luca likes to add to it constantly, so for the holidays it stays and we eat around it or on the couch 🙂
Staying over at our place is cozy, but I am always surprised how well the kids sleep and adjust to the space. Luca has introduced Ted to the Lassi recipe he has made up. Dished up for breakfast with Toad in the Hole , it is a delicious and healthy start to the day!
Rich took Ted and Luca to the Museum Dinosaur exhibition….
they had a fun day and were in good spirits, full of stories when they picked me up after work. We then went to pick up a few things I had brought on trademe for Luca’s tree house, a ladder, roofing etc. We had to strap it all to the roof of the car as they were longer than the car and too long for a trailer. It was bit of a mission, we looked like hillbillies driving through town, but we arrived home with all intact 🙂
Then the weather came right and we headed out on a hike. We had not done a long hike for a while, so were all feeling very ready for it! Such a great day and included a swim in the river ! Freezing according to Luca , but it did not stop him going in again and again 🙂
It was really hard to believe that 3 days previously it had been snowing!!!
The Brick Lego show was also in town last weekend , Mahe and Luca headed off to it for the day. By all accounts they had a great time. Rich took them last year, Mahe’s Mum took them this year.
The Dunedin Brick Show is an annual event featuring fantastic creations from LEGO enthusiasts from Otago & around New Zealand. There are loads of LEGO activities for kids & adults from LEGO car racing and tile making to competitions.
Such a cool thing for kids who are into Lego, very inspiring for them.
Also very exciting happenings in Auckland! The eggs I sent up there hatched!!!! Check out how cute they are! They are pleased and have asked for more next time I have a batch and they have a broody hen. It has got me excited for one of my girls to go broody so we can have some more this summer too 🙂
Luca was given the gift of joining Forest and Bird about a year ago, (very cool and relevant gift for Luca, thank you Andrea!!!!), see link below:
This means he is a member of Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) and on Sunday we went on one of their excursions to Quarantine Island. You can see this Island from our property and we have been wanting to get there for ages. It started out as a wet and windy day, luckily improving as the day went on….
you take a ferry across.
Nice to see Port from this angle….
Here is a bit about the island…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarantine_Island_/_Kamau_Taurua
It had been totally cleared of bush back in the 1800’s to use for its purpose and now is being replanted to take it back to its original glory.
This painting was done just after a plot was cleared for the quarantine quarters. You can see how bush clad it once was.
Then as all the building went up and the land was used by the island Keeper for grazing animals, it became almost barren of trees, which of course altered the biodiversity of the island completely.
These below were the original quarters, one for married families, one for single ladies, (single men were sent to Goat Island next door), a dining hall , a church and the Keepers home.
These are the buildings there today…..
The kids had so much fun on the playground, health and safety would have had a field day, but this is island style 🙂
One of the reasons we were there was to do some tree planting. There were about 30 of us there so made for some good planting!
We can see this side of the island from our property. Luca from his tree house will be able to see the tree he planted grow, using binoculars of course 🙂
We also did some hiking and exploring over the island…
After lunch the tide was low and we headed to the beach to do some more exploring and picking up of rubbish.
One of the leaders of the day was a Department of Conservation scientist, (a zoologist much to Luca’s joy), who happily shared his knowledge and passion for the restoration of the island and its ecosystems. There are trees on the island that he planted with his kids, (now all grown up), that are now tall and thriving, he is so happy that there is a new generation of kids eager to carry things on.
Luca has got into Geocaching, such a cool use of technology combined with outdoor activity. For those unfamiliar here is is what it is all about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching
Luca had been talking to one of the other leaders and turns out there was one on the island so she took him off to find it, so nice of her, she sent me this photo when they found it 🙂
It was fun day and has made us all keen to join in the next activity in November.
With summer on its way we have been keen to get an outdoor dining set to be able to eat outside and to have people over for BBQ’s . So trademe again has been my place of choice for the search. I have found over the years buying second hand means you get to see areas of your community you would never normally find or know about, and you can meet some really nice people on the way. Buying this set meant exactly that, a good buy all around….
plus Luca even got to do some geocaching on the way which made him very happy, you just never know where one is hidden, he found 2 that day 🙂
So it has been an eventful few days the weather continues to fluctuate between glorious and rainy but the moisture really helping the garden thrive, the Kowhai laden with flowers this year….
Vida enjoying teetering at the top eyeing up the birds which she is in far too precarious position to be able to catch 🙂
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