One of my least favorite features of this blog site is the challenge of moving photos around, so no matter how organized I thought I was when I started this entry, it's a bit sloppy now... but heck, I just want to share the joy... so here we go!!!
After 7+ hours of driving in our hired Subaru Legacy wagon loaded down with camping supplies (in a major spatial reasoning exercise by my amazing husband) we finally arrived at our destination -
WAIMARAMA BEACH RESORT!!! What a gorgeous day to start out... we were very relieved considering we heard there was a tornado type wind that swept through the day before!!!
After two & a half years, we were reunited with lots of dear friends from our Arise Church family from Wellington who were there holidaying together!!! Thanks, Mike & Anne for inviting us to be part of the fun!!!
The rest of the gang had been at the campground for a week or so already, so they'd scouted out the best places to hang out... the kids loved this creek that ran into the sea. And they were very grateful for the Stanway's new sea kayak.
Pastor John demonstrating what it means to be the greatest in God's kingdom... learning to be a servant! You've got to admit though, that doing dishes is much easier when done outdoors in the sunshine with your other buddies around too!
Helena woke up a bit surprised each morning because we put her down to sleep in one section of the tent then moved her whole bed into the other section with Hunter fast asleep on the airbed next to her... We discovered this technique after a few nights of him crawling into her cot and what a difference it made! Basically they each fell right to sleep without the distraction of the other - a trick we'd recommend to anyone with a big enough tent...
Tony packed his wetsuit all the way from Taipei so he had to use it (at least once).
What a sweetie in her little pink chair all slathered in sunblock... very much a daily routine!
This is what you would consider 'typical' camp food, but really, this was the only day we ate sausages - and boy did they taste great!!!
One night the ladies went out for coffee and dessert at a local cafe (yes, we are camping) while the guys stayed back to hold down the fort, take care of the kids and try their hands at Texas Hold 'Em... and wouldn't you know it, our very own Tony Clark came out the winner!!!
For a bit of variety, we all headed to
SPLASH PLANET in
Havelock North for a day of fun in the sun and the water slides!!!!
Jessie
Trimble was a sweetie and took a liking to Helena which gave me a much needed break every once in a while...
As most of you know, we've tried to keep our kids fairly sugar free (as best as possible)... but goodness gracious, we were on vacation at the beach and it was summer - so Hunter was in hog heaven... my grandma will be so proud...
but I do need to be honest - it's a "kiddie cone"!!!
At some stage in the day, Tony & Hunter went exploring the dry-land attractions with Mike & Caleb while Helena & I searched for refuge from the sun. These guys had a blast together and hopefully there will be lots of 'male bonding' between all of them in the future.
After a great day at the
waterpark, we did a bit of grocery shopping in town then headed up to Te Mata Peak for a healthy dinner of fish & chips and Chinese takeaways... Hunter's truly a Kiwi with a love of tomato sauce.
Te Mata Peak - aka Tomato Peak - offered a spectacular view over the region... what an amazing place!!! Maybe next year we'll plan a run up...
Really... my photos don't do it justice but this place was amazing!!!
And wow... what an end to a beautiful day!!! Isn't God just so creative?!?
Another day we headed over to the 'watering hole' as I seemed to want to call it where I had to put on a brave face just to get my our feet wet in the
freeeeezzzzing cold water!!!
Liz & Jay started the trend in our group... what trend might you ask?!? Well, see that waterfall behind them?!? Yep, you guessed it... we jumped!!!
I felt like a high
schooler again at Beaver Falls in the Grand Canyon... Tony & I did it together and believe me, it really was the only way I was getting more than my feet wet in that icy pond!
After the thrill of the water hole, we stopped by a strawberry patch for a bit of traditional Kiwi
summer fare.
The boys were having a blast...
and we definitely did eat our fair share, though not continually as the sign warned against... we are rule-followers
afterall...
Okay... so Caleb is almost 4 - well, he's 10 months older than Hunter and the two got on pretty well (except when Caleb needed a bit of personal space which Hunter in his
exhuberant extroversion doesn't really understand just yet)... and it was funny because Hunter often tried to mimic things Caleb did.
And yes, more ice cream... this time Aidan is wearing it... too bad Helena was asleep, she missed out on all of it!!!
Well, maybe not all of it...
This was the best spot along the beach... it was a spot sheltered from the wind so it was a bit warmer and the creek offered the kids a place to play in the shallow water. This dog took an interest in us, but didn't want to play 'chase the stick' with Tony, instead he picked up a rock and brought it over to us - he obviously prefers ball-type objects to chase.
Hunter, our very own "Globe Trekker"
(for those of you who watch Travel & Living Channel, you'll know the program I'm talking about).
Meanwhile, back at the campgrounds - we had this little see-saw near our site and the kids were always eyeing up who was there playing... Helena in particular liked to join in the big kids' fun, though she needed a bit of help from her bigger friends.
Caleb's bike... there was one bike and 3 boys who wanted to ride it: Caleb (almost 4), Will (just turned 3) and Hunter (almost 3). You can only imagine the negotiations around this one... but somehow they all managed to get a ride and Caleb was the sharing hero in my book! On another topic, Hunter recently started wearing these footie pajamas that got handed down from Travis - he LOVES them... thus the reason he's riding the bike in mid-morning with shoes on - it was hard going to motivate him to change into anything other.
By January 10
th most of the group had gone back to Wellington leaving us & the Burrows to enjoy the great outdoors together. Hunter, the social butterfly he is, began to extend his circle with the other kids in the campground... good thing we were camped near the bathrooms so he could make his picks easily.
We happened to be in the right place at the right time - the Waimarama Beach Day was a big event sponsored by a local radio station which brought a huge crowd and lots of buzz to the otherwise quiet place we'd been hangign out all week. You can tell we've been living in Taipei for a while because we were happy to have a crowd! One of the activities on offer were rides in the surf rescue boats... so Tony suggested we all have a go...
Anne & I were up for anything that gave us a few moments of time away from the kids... you moms know how that is... and this was a real adreneline rush as well!!!
Sandy sticks... what could be better?!?
One of the other cool things was a demonstration using the new rescue helicopter... the kids were SO STOKED to be able to see, touch and sit in a real helicopter!!!
Caleb was hard to get out of that seat over there... he occupied it for quite a while, but Helena grunted her way into Hunter's seat... she was super keen!!!
This was a lot of daddy time... both of the kids really enjoyed having so much of Tony's attention and affection... I guess that's what family holidays are about, eh?!? Parents may not get as much rest or relaxation as they otherwise could, but kids really get a lot from their parents at times like this... a good thing for us to remember!
Here they are, the champion Burrows bunch!!!
As if eating outside everyday wasn't what we were already doing, one morning we took our porridge to the park for a bit of a picnic breakfast! The kids enjoyed a change of scenery (we enjoyed it too) and it was perfect since it was the day before we had to go home and it was looking too chilly for going back to the beach. This campground was great in that there was this park, the surf beach and the river all within walking distance... I really appreciated the options.
Now here's the part about Kiwi style camping that I was impressed with... the Stanways are absolute legends!!! They brought their own BBQ set up in their own 'section' by a garden mesh fence that they set along their tent and even closed off with a gate to keep their kids safely nearby when necessary... well thought out!!! Not to mention all their stuff -they are fully kitted out! Walking around the campground, one could easily become covetous of all the cool gear available...
but our new tent was perfect for us, though!
Thanks to Tony's dad, we got this 3 room tent as our Christmas present this year!!!
We set up on the same site as Mike & Anne who were also right next to the Trimbles... so we had a great little communal area!
And again, this is where we did most of our dishes - once you got the hot water from the laundry room, you were good to go...
And this was the kitchen... two stove tops, two fridges w/freezers, two microwaves, two toasters... come on, folks!!! Is this really camping!?!? Well, I guess so and I guess this will make it much easier for us to want to come out in the future... forget all those propane tanks and slow campstoves... this is modern camping!!! (well, I should probably mention that the other sites had electricity and people actually had their own toasters, coffee makers, lamps, computers, dvd players, etc... but then one asks - is that a holiday?!? "YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT" is probably the resounding answer you'd hear!)
Time to pack up... after 8 nights of camping, it was time to head back to the big smoke... the boys enjoyed helping.
This was a cool view inside the Burrows' empty tent...
And this was a better view outside it the day before! Notice Hunter's jelly smile... there's nothing quite like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when you're camping at the beach!
So we said our good-byes to our dear friends and headed back up to Auckland via Tokoroa & Hamilton where we caught up with some of Tony's relatives...
Gosh... it's hard to believe that we'll be back 'home' in NZ in just a few months... I hope we'll still look at the beauty that is NZ in awestruck wonder when we return...
Look who turned 3 on Tuesday, January 26!!! 
He's such a big boy now... he's wearing new jeans from dad & Aunty Sasha, a new shirt and his new Thomas the Tank Engine backpack (thanks, Janet) while speeding along on his bike! He really is a good bike rider... and he LOVES it!!!
As part of his special day, Hunter got to go out to lunch with daddy & Edu - just the guys!!! You can tell by that cheesy grin of his he thought this was pretty cool!!!
Not only did he get to eat a cheeseburger and some shake, but they ordered a waffle too!!! WOW.. Hunter was living it up!!!
When I asked him last week what he wanted to do for his birthday, all he said was "eat cake with candles and sing happy birthday Hunter" - so I had a few of his friends come over to do just that in the afternoon (fat chance for a nap after all the preivous excitement). It was perfect timing - 4-5pm... singing, cake eating, opening presents, hugging & thanking, playing with new toys, saying good-bye!!!
He ripped into his presents - our friends are so generous... thanks everyone for the books, coloring book, puzzles and this airport!!! He's been reading and playing with all of it all week.
Hugs for his buddies
And it was a regular Tuna Noodle Casserole Tuesday night dinner, but he was so excited from the day's activities that he didn't eat as much as usual... but we told him he had to eat before he could open the big box of presents that came from California...
These two have plenty to fight over... I mean practice sharing... now...
And to finish off the night, he listened to "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as read by his Grandpa in CA (cool book, mom & dad!!!)... Phew... what a day! What a boy! We really are so grateful for this gift of Hunter!!! He is a joy! He has a great sense of humor and his laugh is contagious... he loves people and tries to make them feel welcome in his home... he's our little man and we love him so much! Happy birthday, Hunter!!!!
Here's something noteworthy... we were heading down south-east to the Hawke's Bay region to go camping... we were in a hurry... but Tony saw this train on the side of the road and turned around so the kids could get out and play on it!!! WOW... a dad stopping!?! This was a precedent setting moment... I'm glad Tony believes that the journey is just as important as the destination in some cases... We'll see how this bodes on future road trips!!!
It was kinda fun to drive again...
and last time Grandad held Helena she was just 5 months old... a lot has changed, eh!?
Our New Year's Day feast consisted of the kiwi staple - roast lamb with all the fixin's! Dad does a great roast and the two of them really spoiled us with a fine meal and heaps of prezzies & things for camping.
Hunter enjoyed helping Auntie feed the animals... until the goats butted him... yikes!
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