Friday the 29th!

We are on our last day here in Hamilton! We have enjoyed the city and all the parks! Luke likes the Zip lines that each park has. The kids are adjusting to lots of walking and trekking!

We have swam in Hot Pools, gone to Raglans (twice!), vivited with the Taylor family from home(they are SO grown up!) , discovered take aways and yummy fish 'n chips. Raglans was a highlight as the kids loved the waves and splashing. Next time I will remember a change of clothes. The beach was a back sand and it went on for ever! The tide was out and we could have walked all day! Ellie managed to scrape up her knee really good (and tear her pants) at a skate park and the kind lady at the Raglan info centre was helpful with a bandaid.

We hope to get a cell phone today as well as some wetsuits and a Chiily bin- a.k.a. a cooler! I hope we don't get too lost on the way to the Warehouse (wal-mart). Love to all.....

The BUZZ-Mobile! (Our CRV)

We have wheels and are on the road! It has been a bit of an adventure for sure! The wrong side of the road and round abouts everywhere! We try to avoid traffic and night time.

The kids all fit inside fine- occasional bickering- we try to fix that with playgrounds and LONG treks to town. We hope that all our luggage will fit inside- could be interesting...

We have enjoyed our time in Hamilton and will be leaving in a couple days!! Hugs to all! Teresa

We made it to NZ!

We here in New Zealand! We arrived at the Auckland airport after a 14 hour flight that went really well! The kids all slept enough and watched a few movies. It was not as bad as I thought it might be!

We arrived in the dark at 6 am- pretty cold here- still winter- which is a bit of a shock after a HOT summer at home. Our good friend picked us up at the airport- thank goodnes- we were tired. We lasted for the whole day until about 7 pm- Luke fell asleep in my arms- even with food around- he didn't eat! All the kids were awake by 5 am, but were in good shape.

We are certainly cold here- it will take a few days to adjust. I'm glad I packed some warm clothes- hope I have enough. We have found a vehicle to buy and will get it on Tuesday- a Honda CRV- should be a good one.

We are off to Raglans tomorrow for the day- hope that the rain will not be an issue. It has been a WET winter here- rain!

Take care and thanks for reading. I hope to post some pictures once I can get our computer onto the internet!
bye for now....

At the AIRPORT!

Go figure- we are finally here- still does not seem real at all!

The kids are so excited- we'll see how long that lasts- 14 hours is a long time!

We had a great time at the coast- Crescent beach, Vancouver Aquarium and time with family.  We did  the final pack and found out we still needed a few backpacks- so more shopping.  Luke was NOT impressed!

We had a good farewell to my parents!  No tears were shed in our presence- but I'm sure my mom is still crying as I type- sorry Dad!  The kids had fun having G'ma and G'pa seeing them off!

Bye for now!  See you in NZ!

T

We are on the move.....

We finally got ALL our earthly possessions loaded and STUFFED into s 20' container- minus the piano and my antique wardrobe. We moved everything on the hottest day of the year- 38 degrees. The kids were as good as they could be- by 4 pm we jumped into the river- fully clothed- to cool off! Ellie was the biggest help as she assisted me with all the lifting.

Then after we got the house and shop clean it was time to say goodbye. That was a hard one. We worked hard on that farm and went through a lot as a family. After a few tears it was time to go. The kids were not sad about leaving- they were just happy to go on a trip!

We stayed at my parents for a couple nights as we went packed up. We got all our bags for NZ into their house and realized that we had WAY TOO MUCH STUFF! So we down sized- lots.

Now we are at the coast getting ready to leave on Wednesday! YIKES. The kids are so tired. I heard Luke ask the girls if they wanted to play his new game- he called it- GO ENTERTAIN YOURSELVES ! I guess he has heard that line a few times in the past few days!

I hope that we will get some beach time and family time in Vancouver before we go!

Love to you all!

T

The House is PACKED!!

This is the view from one of the places we are planning to stay in NZ- a good motivator for packing.

 We got the whole house packed and stuffed into a 20' container yesterday!  The kids did amazing as they helped carry boxes and items!  It was the hottest day this year-- so the kids and Keith jumped in the river to cool off at 4 pm!  We put the last box in at 9:30 pm and came home to a house that echoes!  We are all on the floor now- foamy beds.  The house seems weird empty, but I am so glad that we got it done!

We now have a little more time to see friends and family- but there is still the big clean-up to do and packing for NEW ZEALAND!  We are finally getting excited.  We plan to travel light- but the home schooling books are going to make that one a little tough.  

One more week until we leave.  I hope that we can get everything wrapped up and settled before we go!  The plane won't wait for us!

love to you all!