52 days to go......

We've been marking the days off the calendar as we count down to our trip to the States.  Just 52 days to go now, wow!!  So much has been going on around here, over the last few weeks, and yes, it's still raining!  Craig has taken a job in Sydney, he is super excited, and flies out on the 17th of August.  We won't join him until after our trip, it's going to be tough on all of us, but will let him get settled at the new job.  

Hunter and Mackenzie both started swimming lessons last week.  They did so great, Hunter goes Tuesdays after school, and Mackenzie goes on a Saturday morning.

And of course, an update on petrol prices, they've actually come down 3 times in the past week, for the first time in 5 months, so we're back to $2.06 a litre.

And the beat goes on.....

The Kids went back to school yesterday, and life is getting back to normal.  I'm trying to get back into the routine and as you can imagine, it is super quiet around here, luckily I still have Kingy Bing to keep me entertained.  The break from school went quickly. We had fun in the sun the first week, managed to visit the beach, and the park, even took a trip to the botanical gardens with my coffee group and the kids got to run around and feed the ducks.

The 2nd week of the holidays went well.  Hunter went to a Rugby camp for 3 mornings with his buddy William. Unfortunately the rain returned, so it limited our activities a little.

League was rained out on Saturday, so we made a spur of the moment decision to go to snowplanet, an indoor snowdome.  You can check it out at  www.snowplanet.co.nz.  It's a really neat set up, with a restaurant at the bottom of the mountain with a huge window facing the snow, so I sat in there with Kenzie and Kingston, and some hot chocolate (mmm yummy) while Craig and Hunter took to the slope.  It was very cool to watch them, and Hunter was awesome for his first time on skis, way better than I was my first time!  I didn't get any pictures unfortunately, but he really enjoyed it.  William had a sleepover that night, and on Sunday we took the kids to the Museum, to see the new Secrets exhibit, it was pretty interesting, and all the kids, especially Kingston loved it. 

It's July already!

Wow, so it's july already, time to update what's going on in New Zealand.

We had our friends, Todd and Michelle,  visit from Detroit last week. It was really good having them here, and their little girl Maekirra is just a few months older than Kingston, and they were too cute together.

The rain has finally stopped.  I feel like it's been raining forever, and today the sky was bright and blue and the sun was shining. The kids are on holidays at the moment, it's their winter break.  Now you see why I want the good weather to stick around.  Hunter went on a trip today,  to the sky tower with the YMCA holiday Programme, he had a great time, he has been wanting to go since he was at preschool, when he was convinced he was going to marry his little girlfriend Dana up there.  

Craig is in Sydney at the moment, checking out some jobs and hopefully deciding if we'll make the move across the ditch.

Petrol prices went up again today! $2.18 a litre!!! It's madness I tell ya!

Our Seaworld Trip

On Wednesday the 18th of June, me, mum and the 3 kiddos drove down to the Gold Coast, I had gotten a great deal for the Seaworld resort, so we decided to stay the night there and spend Thursday at Seaworld.  After checking in we went to meet up with my brother Chris, who lives just 5 minutes away.  He came back to the resort with us and took the kids for a swim, while mum, Kingston and I hung out in the spa.  Then we checked Hunter and Mackenzie into the Kids Club, while we went to dinner.  They had a blast, playing games, painting and watching movies, they had dinner there too.  Meanwhile we enjoyed a peaceful dinner ourselves.  I picked them up around 8, and we were all tired and had an early night.

The next morning we had breakfast and waited downstairs in the lobby to meet Zoe from Sesame Street.  Hunter wasn't too interested but Mackenzie loved her, especially since she was dressed as a ballerina - and Kingston thought she was pretty great too.

We checked out of the hotel and I let the kids buy a souvenir from the giftshop.  Mackenzie of course chose a dolphin necklace, Kingston who was asleep by this stage had a plush dolphin toy chosen for him, and Hunter got a set which included various marine animals and a boat.  Then it was time to board the monorail and head to Seaworld.

First off we headed to Sesame Street Beach to ride some rides.  King was still asleep, but Hunter and Mackenzie had fun.  Hunter wasn't too keen on the Big Bird bounce (pictured) he got quite pale and felt sick, so didnt ride that again. 

While Nana and Mackenzie watched the Sesame Street show, Chris and Hunter rode some more rides, and Kingston woke up in time to catch the end of the show.  He really enjoyed seeing the characters singing and dancing.  Next up was the dolphin show.  We all really enjoyed it.  By this stage Hunter was dying to see Shark Bay.  We spent alot of time in here, and it was definitely Kingston's favourite.  He loved seeing all the "fish."

We split up to do a few different things, Mackenzie was dying to do the Bermuda triangle or as she calls it "volcano ride" and she picked Chris to ride with her.  Hunter remembered it from last time and no way was he going to ride, needless to say Mackenzie was terrified, and probably won't ride again.

Hunter and Nana enjoyed the 4d movie though, and so did Chris and I when we took Mackenzie later, she was brave and said she liked it.  

Finally we were all getting tired and hungry and it was time to head home.  That was the quietist drive ever!  We all had a great day, the kids love Seaworld and can't wait to go back.

Home from Brisbane

Yep, we are home.  Our trip was wonderful.  The kids travelled well as usual.  They really made it easy on me. The weather was great, and we all had alot of fun, and ate lots of yummy food.

I got to check out the shops - LOVE those winter sales! 

Hunter learnt some new league tricks from Kellum, and Mackenzie got her ears pierced.

Kingston was Kingston, he kept everyone entertained with his crazy antics and learnt a few new words. 

The Price of Petrol

It seems the price of gas is reaching record highs, with no sign of slowing.  We breached the $2 mark just weeks ago, and doesn't look like it will stop there.  It's scary. The government is making a killing, they tax us twice, I'm waiting for them to step in to help people out during these hard times, especially being an election year, but so far nothing.  Today we are paying $2.10 per litre - thats $7.50 per gallon.

The June Update

So here's a few pictures of the kids I took this week.  Its crazy how fast they are growing!  As always they are keeping us busy, and are lots of fun.  

The Kids and I are off to Brisbane on Saturday to visit with my parents, for my birthday next Monday (the 16th)  We are all very excited, I'm a little nervous about flying alone with the 3 of them, but I've done it before, and they do all travel well, so hopefully it'll go smoothly.

The weather should be better there, and Hunter and Mackenzie have put in a request to go to Seaworld.  I managed to convince Mum its a good idea and found a great deal on tickets and a room at the Seaworld Resort.   I know we'll all have a great time, and as always there will be an abundance of pictures!                           

                                           

So as I mentioned, Monday is my birthday.  I'll be 30! I feel really good about it, although it seems like just a few years ago I was celebrating turning 21, now here I am, married, with 3 kids, and acting all kinds of responsible. 

This term seems to have flown by, when we get back from Australia, the kids will only have 2 weeks back at school until their Winter break.

That means 2 whole weeks off, hopefully I can 

come up with some fun things to entertain them.

Mackenzie has another disco at her kindergarten coming up, the kids are still talking about the last one, they had so much fun, even little Kingston got to show off his moves on the dance floor.  He loves to sing and dance, actually they all do, and are very cute together.

We have just over 3 months to go until our trip to the States.  It's going to be a wonderful trip and we are all really looking forward to it, we have lots of fun activities planned, including a visit to Disneyland.  Hunter has been marking the days off the calendar as we count down. As of today there are 98 days left! That time is going to fly by!

And I guess that's all there is for now, stay tuned for a trip report and lots of pictures when we get back from Brisbane.