Friday, September 16, 2005

Who's that stepping on my foot?

Can you identify this paw?



Leave me a comment.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

More on NZ

Many of you have asked to see more photos from my adventure down under, I think I finally have all of the technical bugs worked out and will attempt to share some of my adventures. This post will be photo - intense, but I have downsized all of the pictures greatly so hopefully they will not take too long to download.

One thing that amazed DH and I was the incredible foliage and fauna in New Zealand. This is the view from the loft at Majacraft:

It's a kiwi farm! Who knew that kiwis grow in trees? We took this photo for DD, who absolutely loves kiwis.

And this is a photo of the tangelos growing in trees along the drive leading to Majacraft:


Who wouldn't want to go to work in such a beautiful area? Remember, these photos were taken in Winter/early Spring.

Did you know that ferns can grow in trees? Evidently, in NZ they do:


After the awesome visit at Majacraft, we stopped by an historic village where the local spinning and weaving guild had a store. I purchased some merino from local sheep, but have not photogrphed it yet. There was a cute sign that I momentoed (is that a word?):

Kiwis are the national bird in NZ. I don't think we saw any.

Next we drove a little further south to the town of Rotorua. This town/region is famous for its geothermal properties. Evidently even the smallest motels have private, naturally heated mineral baths, in the rooms. We walked through the Kuirau Park, which is a public park that was created after a 15 minute volcanic eruption on Jan 26, 2001. Amazingly, there were no injuries as mud, steam and debris was thrown 200m into the air. DH had fun with is fancy camera trying to get a shot of the bubbles:


This was my reaction to the smell:

I bet every rental car that gets returned in NZ has an interesting odor. I wonder how they get rid of it?

A few days later, I ventured to the dead volcano called Rangitoto. This is the view of Auckland from the ferry:

The volcano:

And proof that I did climb to the top:

My personal trainer, Robert, would have been so proud of me. It was painful. It was steep. It was so totally worth it.
The ferry ride home included a stop at the lovely town of Deavenport, which has a wool shop. How do I know this? Proof is in the pictures. Unfortunately, I am all out of pictures, and if DH is reading, I can't get to the server again! HELP!

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Greetings from NZ

Guess where I went yesterday?


I have the world's greatest husband. He drove over 3 hours through windy, country roads, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD, through a thunderstorm, so that I could do this:


And meet some of the coolest people in the world: Glynis and Owen Poad:


It's totally amazing how you can be in the middle of anywhere and still be able to use your credit card. Isn't technology incredible? I will leave you, dear readers, with a touch of suspense. (DH wants his computer back). Can you guess what I bought?

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

What a GREAT Grandma!

Today we took Great Grandma to the airport. We all had a wonderful visit. The kids especially enjoyed all of the time she spent playing with them. Take a look at how sweet they all are:

This officially completes the great summer of visitors. What will I be doing with all of my spare time, you may be wondering? Maybe this...

(click on the photo to see a larger picture of Angela's wheel)
I suppose it is also time to start preparing for the triptriptrip. What knitting projects should I bring? I'm thinking lace - leave your vote in the comments.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Happy Birthday Dear Teddy

Dear Friends and Family,

Here are a few pictures just for you...



We went the old-fashioned route and played games from my childhood (which my grandmother had played when she was a girl). Classics such as airplane races (ok, so the kids had to assemble them out of styrofoam as opposed to folding their own), and the classic - drop a clothespin from your nose into a jar. Funny how not many people know this one. Thank you, Ingrid, for making me feel like this was a normal game to play!



Last night, as I was laying in bed reading with Teddy, he let out a great sigh and exclaimed, "I had the best day! I can't decide which part was my favorite!". And all you dear readers and people who know me well can just hear that internal sigh of relief that every mother has known. I guess I can say that the party was a huge success.