Kiwi Life

I breathed a sigh of relief after I was finished with my third student teaching placement - but it was only brief, very brief. My next task was to work day and night to finish my university assignments and THEN clean the house top to bottom before Erin, and Ethan arrived just a few days later. Not sure why I bothered (with the house cleaning that is!) because after only a few hours the house was again turned into a pit of rubble with toys, food crumbs, and luggage. ha ha!

Ethan arrived on his 1st birthday -

Luca and I baked him cupcakes with airplanes lollies on them

We have been talking about the arrival of Aunt Erin and Cousin Ethan for weeks now, so Luca was thoroughly prepared, and picking them up at the airport was a b-i-g event. In preperation for their arrival we had been reading books about airplanes and airports, so Luca was quite knowledgeable about it all "Mommy, where is the air traffic control tower? I can't see it?!" He was over the moon when they finally got off the plane - and I got to get my first look at my little red headed cutie nephew.

Opening Ethan's presents. The first night was spent sharing gifts and goodies.

We've enjoyed showing Erin and Ethan a glimpse of our lives - each day has been eventful, showing them the best of the cheap and free. City Library, swimming pool, hiking, playgrounds and parks, visiting farms, the beach, showing Erin what 'coffee group' gatherings are all about, indoor netball, cheap beauty school facials, walks to the store, and all of our daily rituals that seem so boring to us, but are new and different to them.

We hiked to our nearby "private" playground.

Erin even had a go at carrying Ethan in the backpack.

No New Zealand trip would be complete without a rural farm visit. Luckily our good friends Carla and Mars can help us out in that department as they are dairy farmers, and live out in the middle of nowhere....with other farmers! We love visiting them, and Luca will talk about our visit for days. He always looks forward to seeing the animals, riding the quad bikes, and watching mommy squeal as she is dared to put her hand in a calves mouth....ha ha.

With Ethan checking out a few of the new calves.

NZ has had horrible late spring weather, and many of the lambs have died, and the dairy farmers have been having to give feed to the calves because of the soggy grass - costing the country millions of dollars. Great...as if our dairy prices weren't expensive enough already!

Ethan has enjoyed 'learning' from his cousins. He's mastering the art of walking and his father, Matt, I'm sure will notice the difference when they are reunited in just over a week. Ethan has also been trying out a few new foods while he has been here. Luca has been a good playmate for him, and Wyatt loves watching both older boys. We have to keep an eye on Ethan, because when we aren't looking, he likes to come up to Wyatt and take his toys and food. Mostly his food.

Rub-a-dub-dub, 3 men in a tub