Whangamata

We ended up having a lovely day after cyclone Pam made her way past NZ. We woke up to it still raining so we decided to spend one more night in our beautiful hotel room just in case Pam was hanging around a bit longer.  This put a little damper into our plans but we managed to fill the day nicely once the sun came out at 11:00am.  We had a bocce tournament and I'm happy to say that I am the proud champion. We played some tennis to which I can honestly say I need to take lessons.  Then we enjoyed a hike to the Wentworth falls and ended our day with a donut and some shopping. The surf was too rough from the storm so we could not enjoy the beach but it was fun just watching the waves crash against each other.  We are on our way to rotorua tomorrow.

As we wind down our stay in NZ I thought I'd share my top 10 funniest things that have happened thus far.

1- losing my bikini bottoms while boogie boarding with Braden. Good thing they were around my ankles because I'm sure he wouldn't have helped me look for them!!!

2- seeing blue penguins waddling under the cars in the parking lot.

3- witnessing a New Zealand traffic jam... Sheep jumping over cars and running to the next pasture.

4- the first two weeks watching Derek walk around the car because he forgot which side the steering wheel is on.

5- seeing the windshield wipers go on and it was not even raining...again, Derek trying to signal but instead turning on the wipers.

6- walking along the beach and wondering if the boys noticed this beautiful young woman take her bikini top off before jumping in the water.... You bet they did! They waited to react until we were passed her.  One of them asked; " mom, why would she do that? Why would she do that in front of her boyfriend?" We laughed and laughed.

7-  Mud head! The name given after someone locked the car keys in the trunk.

8- Me yelling the /s/ word on the shotover jet ride but only after warning the kids that mommy may say a bad word if she is scared. They thought that was super funny.

9- This is one up than a tent! Is what we named our one night accommodation in Hahei vacation resort.  Literally it was a garden shed with a bunk bed and double bed in it.  Not what we thought we booked but we laughed and made the most out of it. The boys agreed that mom and dad weren't ready to camp in a tent yet.

10- I almost stepped on a seal! I screamed and pushed carter out of the way. The three boys said I over reacted but I'm happy I didn't say that /s/ word again:-)

And one more, 11- Thea calling me her Canadian mama. Ever so sweet!!!!


Carter has a new email if you want to contact him thru FaceTime or mail.  Cartergeens9@gmail.com