Friday, April 16, 2010
It's a song about Callum & P, Easter Bunny & Cadbury
Here is a small bit of the song that the Arthur Street school wrote and sung on the radio that helped them win an Easter Egg Hunt from Cadbury. I recorded this the day the radio station came out and gave the kids their chocolate!
Family Outing for a Flagstaff Tramp
Yesterday we headed out for a small tramp. A tramp in Kiwi is hike. After several u-turns and some distance being driven on a gravel road, we arrived.
Stas had led us all the believe, we would be able to get out of the car, and have a choice of either going tramping, or just enjoying the view. Well, that didn't really turn out to be very accurate. He promised it was only be about 15 minutes, and that was a wee bit incorrect, too.
However, after quite a hike, we did get to enjoy some great views. Climbing up one side of the hill (or small mountain) the view showed all of Mosgiel, a city near Dunedin. We continued our climb up and around the hill/mountain (that Sophia compared to Mt. Everest) and we could see all of Dunedin. We enjoyed a snack and began our hike back to the car. Leah did compare the hike to being equivalent to walking the highest street in the world (one of earlier family outing excursions). I think perhaps she was a little dramatic.
All in all we had a very nice 2 1/2 hour hike, and Sophia went home and took a long nap!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Easter Break- Week 2
Stas is back from his week touring with the students around New Zealand, and we now have one more week of Easter break.
Leah is off to art camp, and Sophia stayed home to do some cooking.
I am a bit behind on the blog, so it is time for me to begin adding more postings!
I have some new postings around April 1- but since they were in draft mode, they did not come to the top of the blog when I finished them.
Leah is off to art camp, and Sophia stayed home to do some cooking.
I am a bit behind on the blog, so it is time for me to begin adding more postings!
I have some new postings around April 1- but since they were in draft mode, they did not come to the top of the blog when I finished them.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Triathlon Completed!!
As most of you know, I have been training for a triathlon since we came to New Zealand. The triathlon is April 19 in Christchurch. After added the costs of registration, motel, rental of bike and bike rack and the 8 hours of driving..... I decided it was too much. Instead, I decided I could to the triathlon in the gym
Today I completed my 300m swim, 10km bike (on the stationary bike) and 3km run (on the treadmill). It was not pretty, but I did it!
I now have my base time, and will do it again on April 19- but it saves our family a lot of time and money!
Today I completed my 300m swim, 10km bike (on the stationary bike) and 3km run (on the treadmill). It was not pretty, but I did it!
I now have my base time, and will do it again on April 19- but it saves our family a lot of time and money!
Easter Fall Break Day 4
Art Camp! Sophia and Leah headed to Art Camp today and they had a fabulous time, and can't wait to return tomorrow.
Leah, our tactile child, LOVES the pottery wheel. She came with clay every where, including on the hood of her sweatshirt! She has started a wooden sculpture, that will take her a few days to make. Today she was using the saw and tomorrow she will work with a chisel.
Sophia, our totally not tactile child, tried to pottery wheel, again. She thought if she tried it again, perhaps she might like it. This, of course, was not the case! She was our child who REFUSED to play with finger paints as a child! She decided it was not for her and moved onto working with a chisel and rubber mallet. Currently, she is making a wooden boat.
This evening we headed to the pool for some fun. Sophia has been addicted to the hydro-tubes and went down them almost 20 times! She will sleep well tonight. Leah enjoyed watching the swimmers and the water polo players!
Leah, our tactile child, LOVES the pottery wheel. She came with clay every where, including on the hood of her sweatshirt! She has started a wooden sculpture, that will take her a few days to make. Today she was using the saw and tomorrow she will work with a chisel.
Sophia, our totally not tactile child, tried to pottery wheel, again. She thought if she tried it again, perhaps she might like it. This, of course, was not the case! She was our child who REFUSED to play with finger paints as a child! She decided it was not for her and moved onto working with a chisel and rubber mallet. Currently, she is making a wooden boat.
This evening we headed to the pool for some fun. Sophia has been addicted to the hydro-tubes and went down them almost 20 times! She will sleep well tonight. Leah enjoyed watching the swimmers and the water polo players!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter Fall Break Day 3
After a lazy yesterday of walking downtown to the grocery store and back, a nap and a late movie, today started out full of excitement!
The girls invited their first guests over for a brunch. Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt were invited for brunch at our house. The girls had done the invitations and did most of the cooking. There were a couple of mishaps with eggs falling down the drain and 1 tablespoon being added instead of a teaspoon, but all and all things went of quite well. The cookies with 1 tablespoon did not survive, and were happily thrown into the trash.
Thank goodness our guests arrived on time, or I think the girls would have raced over and grabbed them! Sophia was to greet them at the front door, but she was so excited when she saw them coming she opened the door and was bouncing back into the living room before they even reached the top of the doorstep!
Leah then promptly took over and asked if they would like something to drink, as they crossed over the threshold. Well, we are at least efficient!
The menu included tea, sausage, eggs, cheese and apples, carrots and hummus, and cookies (biscuits they are called here). We ate in the conservatory and a fine time was had by all.
The girls spent their afternoon taking a class at a local museum. They even came home with two potted plants.
Tonight we will be going to bed a wee bit early, since tomorrow is Art Camp!!
The girls invited their first guests over for a brunch. Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt were invited for brunch at our house. The girls had done the invitations and did most of the cooking. There were a couple of mishaps with eggs falling down the drain and 1 tablespoon being added instead of a teaspoon, but all and all things went of quite well. The cookies with 1 tablespoon did not survive, and were happily thrown into the trash.
Thank goodness our guests arrived on time, or I think the girls would have raced over and grabbed them! Sophia was to greet them at the front door, but she was so excited when she saw them coming she opened the door and was bouncing back into the living room before they even reached the top of the doorstep!
Leah then promptly took over and asked if they would like something to drink, as they crossed over the threshold. Well, we are at least efficient!
The menu included tea, sausage, eggs, cheese and apples, carrots and hummus, and cookies (biscuits they are called here). We ate in the conservatory and a fine time was had by all.
The girls spent their afternoon taking a class at a local museum. They even came home with two potted plants.
Tonight we will be going to bed a wee bit early, since tomorrow is Art Camp!!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Easter Break Blog-
Easter Break started out with a bang, when we headed to the circus last Thursday night. The circus was great, and the girls loved their first circus experience.
Leah says, They were very flexible and they scared my Mom so badly, she covered her face upon occasion. The best part, I would have to say, was the large steel squirrel cages, where there was a man in each cage walking around. One even walked on the outside of the cage blindfolded.
Sophia- My favorite part about the circus was the clown act. They were really funny and talked with whistles in their mouths. There was a girl who stood on her hands, on chairs that were stacked 6 tall!
Friday we went the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a tour and a little shopping.
Leah- We watched a video at the beginning of the tour about the history of chocolate and Cadbury's. We also walked up 57 stairs of the inside of a silo and at the top, they dumped 1 ton of chocolate. It looked like a waterfall! They dump the same chocolate over and over for all the visitors.
Sophia- In the middle the tour was got to have a snack. They gave us a cup of pure liquid chocolate. I had seconds! There is a gift shop, and my Dad gave me $10 to spend. I got a pen, a bouncy ball and a water bottle.
Friday night all the Willamette students came over for dinner, and we played cribbage and bananagrams!
Saturday we headed down the the Farmers Market to do some shopping. We did a lot of sampling. Leah had a lamb kebob, a strawberry, three raspberries, a chocolate boysenberry brownie and a glass of homemade lemonade. Sophia had a lamb kebob, white chocolate bewyberry muffin and a wonderful bowl of vegetarian cumin curry soup. Mom had a bit of everyone's treats!
Next we all went for haircuts. Leah got a trim, Sophia got a trim on the ends and Mom got a haircut. We all look much nicer.
Saturday evening we went to the movie theater to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D. A great movie and a fun time was had by all.
Sunday is Easter and after a family sleepover (last night) we had a lazy morning. Once we finally got moving we went to the swimming pool. The girls went on the hydro tubes, the lazy river, inner tubes, and diving boards! After 3 hours we headed home!
I did see at the pool the clock was an hour earlier than mine. Hmmm... Finally, I asked someone, and apparently it was Day Light Savings Time last night. Good thing we did not have anything scheduled or we were have been late!
Tomorrow is Monday and we will be off for more adventures. We are without the camera for bit, so it will only be our stories to read about!
Leah says, They were very flexible and they scared my Mom so badly, she covered her face upon occasion. The best part, I would have to say, was the large steel squirrel cages, where there was a man in each cage walking around. One even walked on the outside of the cage blindfolded.
Sophia- My favorite part about the circus was the clown act. They were really funny and talked with whistles in their mouths. There was a girl who stood on her hands, on chairs that were stacked 6 tall!
Friday we went the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a tour and a little shopping.
Leah- We watched a video at the beginning of the tour about the history of chocolate and Cadbury's. We also walked up 57 stairs of the inside of a silo and at the top, they dumped 1 ton of chocolate. It looked like a waterfall! They dump the same chocolate over and over for all the visitors.
Sophia- In the middle the tour was got to have a snack. They gave us a cup of pure liquid chocolate. I had seconds! There is a gift shop, and my Dad gave me $10 to spend. I got a pen, a bouncy ball and a water bottle.
Friday night all the Willamette students came over for dinner, and we played cribbage and bananagrams!
Saturday we headed down the the Farmers Market to do some shopping. We did a lot of sampling. Leah had a lamb kebob, a strawberry, three raspberries, a chocolate boysenberry brownie and a glass of homemade lemonade. Sophia had a lamb kebob, white chocolate bewyberry muffin and a wonderful bowl of vegetarian cumin curry soup. Mom had a bit of everyone's treats!
Next we all went for haircuts. Leah got a trim, Sophia got a trim on the ends and Mom got a haircut. We all look much nicer.
Saturday evening we went to the movie theater to see How to Train Your Dragon in 3-D. A great movie and a fun time was had by all.
Sunday is Easter and after a family sleepover (last night) we had a lazy morning. Once we finally got moving we went to the swimming pool. The girls went on the hydro tubes, the lazy river, inner tubes, and diving boards! After 3 hours we headed home!
I did see at the pool the clock was an hour earlier than mine. Hmmm... Finally, I asked someone, and apparently it was Day Light Savings Time last night. Good thing we did not have anything scheduled or we were have been late!
Tomorrow is Monday and we will be off for more adventures. We are without the camera for bit, so it will only be our stories to read about!
Friday, April 2, 2010
TeAnau- home of the glow worms
TeAnau is a great city, with amazing scenery. The hotel we stayed in was just feet from the water, and the view was to die for!
The glow worm caves are in TeAnau, which was one of the reasons we headed over to this part of New Zealand. The caves were rediscovered in the 1940s, and are breathtaking. In order to get into the caves, you have to bend over, and walk through this rock tunnel. The caves are filled with rushing water, limestone, and glow worms. Glow worms (which are actually a maggot) are worms that make web patterns to catch their food. The worms butts glow, to help attract the insects.
After walking deep into the caves, admiring the water and huge pieces of limestone, the cave gets pitch black. We were then loaded onto a boat, and then all we had to to is look up. It looked like thousands of LED lights lighting up the sky. It was quite a wonderful sight!
The glow worm caves are in TeAnau, which was one of the reasons we headed over to this part of New Zealand. The caves were rediscovered in the 1940s, and are breathtaking. In order to get into the caves, you have to bend over, and walk through this rock tunnel. The caves are filled with rushing water, limestone, and glow worms. Glow worms (which are actually a maggot) are worms that make web patterns to catch their food. The worms butts glow, to help attract the insects.
After walking deep into the caves, admiring the water and huge pieces of limestone, the cave gets pitch black. We were then loaded onto a boat, and then all we had to to is look up. It looked like thousands of LED lights lighting up the sky. It was quite a wonderful sight!
Lake Manapouri
This area is on the west side of the southern island. This is truly an absolutely beautiful place!
Cows, Deer and Sheep
Have I mentioned this country is filled with sheep? Well, add deer and cows to that list, too!
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