Getting to Know You

Soooo, no photos this time, sorry!  I know, I know, you are totally disappointed that you are spared my sub-standard photography skills for this one and only get to read my sub-standard writing, but here goes.  Super quick post all about ME (insert eye roll!).

1.  I totally miss American food.  It seems to be the one thing that I cannot get a fix for here.  Nothing tastes quite right.  I miss all kinds of American food and Americanized food ie. Mexican, Indian, German, Italian, etc, etc, etc.  New Zealand has all those categories of food but none of them taste just right to me.  Even Diet Coke tastes a little different.

Funny story that this reminds me of...Once when JJ and I were in Spain we were becoming desperate for something that tasted somewhat like home.  We had been super adventurous this trip and eaten everything from tripe to shark to elk to blah, blah, blah and now after several days (that JJ spent very, very sick) in the mountains we were hungry for anything American tasting.  We found ourselves in a Chinese Restaurant chugging cans of orange Fanta like it were mother's milk.  Seriously, we drank at least ten between the two of us.  I don't remember if the food was good but the Fanta? The Fanta was ah-mazing!!

2.  I hate to stay in a house overnight without another adult.  Like seriously HATE to.  When I lived alone I detested it.  I have had plenty of practice staying alone (cough, cough, overnight call for JJ for the last couple of years) but I have never gotten over hating it.

JJ was in Christchurch this weekend.  Hated it!  The kids and I all slept in the living room and truth be told, I didn't sleep much.  I watched You've Got Mail, Annie Hall, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.  It was something of a Meg Ryan and/or New York love affair of a night for me.  Made me miss Manhattan, especially the upper west side!

3.  I am married to a brain surgeon and I HATE blood and guts.  I could pass out when I cut myself shaving.  I mean it.  Having little boys who say things to you like "Mom, you know that finger I smashed in the door?  The nail just came off in my mouth.", makes me want to throw up a little.

I adore when my husband will talk to me about his job.  I will never complain about that, I completely love it.  There are times though that I am sure I think more about what he has done to some poor soul's skull far, far longer than he does (I get to do a XYZ procedure this week where you blah, blah, blah -- I am still thinking about this nameless, faceless person after all their hair has grown back!).

On a side note, AJ1 asked JJ if he had to cut any little boys heads off last week at work (WTH?!)!!

4.  Recently I was told that a kiwi told her friends the following about me, "I think she's a Republican but she still seems cool.".  I remember once not long after college having lunch with a few of the philosophy profs and having this discussion about how the older I got (I was like 22 and a total woman of the world) the more left I found myself.  Well, heck, I was raised in small town Indiana, where did I have to go but to the left!

I find my politics now more along the lines of common sense and not sending my babies to war -- EVER.  I tell the boys that we are pacifists and occasionally play a little Tobi Keith in the car so I can remind myself that Americans still kick ass (I have to pay homage to my roots).  At least I still seem cool, even if I'm a Republican (or something).

That's my little slice of heaven on earth for tonight.  I will return soon with a post where the photos will knock your socks off (we went to Coromandel today!).  I should say, before I go, that I am really, really grateful for the blessings that have been given to my family.  This adventure is amazing but JJ and the AJs are the real deal and we could be Memphis, TN or Houston, TX (probably my least favorite places in the first-tier world) and I would still feel like I have it all.

Cheers!

PS I am a total redneck tonight as I forgot to put any sunscreen there this morning and then wore my hair in a bun to discourage AJ3, who was on my back, from pulling it.  That thin ozone, intense sun thing here is FOR REAL -- ouch!

My Number One Son

First of all, I would like to apologize to AJ1 for not posting this sooner.  I posted for your brothers before their birthdays and I hope that you will understand that this week has been extraordinary (as in extraordinarily hard).

I was totally unprepared for all of us to get very, very sick and have to stay home the entire week and pretty much forgo food (including cake).  You told us unprompted that you had a good birthday and I pray that it's true.  Ironically, this is the closest we have ever lived to the beach and the first time we didn't celebrate your birthday there.  The next nice day that we have I plan to take you to wade in the surf and play in the sand as you love so much to do!

Since your birth we have lived in five different houses in two states and two countries.  You have adjusted each time without a hitch.  Your Daddy has worked so hard for our family during your first years of life and I have depended on you to help keep my sanity at home.  I am proud to say that you have risen to the occasion!  I know I couldn't have done it without you.

You are my little clone.  Sure, I see your daddy in you every now and then but the truth is, I see photos of you that could be me and me that could be you.  I find myself in your body language and pray that you will end up being far more coordinated than I.

You are also my clone in attitude, speech and demeanor.  It amazes me that each time I think, "Where did he come up with that one?", nine times out of ten it's directly from the way I have acted, said something, responded to you (the other one time out of ten it's from Thomas the Tank Engine in case you were wondering)!

You call your grandparents by the funniest names!  Your father's parents are called their first names and my grandparents are called Grandma and Junie!  I hope you always do this as I find it endearing and cute!!  You call your cousin either "cousin" or Elvin.  I cannot wait to find out what you decide on for Aunt S' soon to be born baby.

You are the best big brother.  As soon as you became a brother you wanted everyone to know.  At twenty months you would introduce AJ2 to anyone around and then you did it again when AJ3 came along!

You build tracks, race trains and teach your brothers every step of the way.  I will never forget when you were just a toddler and you would wake and sit with me each time AJ2 woke to nurse over-night.  Then there was the time that at not quite three we caught you carrying your very newborn brother down the hall like an expert!  I thought Mamaw was going to have a coronary!!

You are a natural leader and have taken that role in each activity you participate in.  Currently, at Play Centre they joke that it's because you sound like you are straight off the TV (difference in accent) but I know you have naturally gravitated toward this since, well, forever.  Being a leader can be rewarding but also very hard, although I dread the difficult times, I know you are strong and can handle them.

You have the ability to decide what you want and the patience and determination to see it happen.  I find this a frustrating trait that we share as I am sure you do as well.  We lock horns and dig in our heels and I fear each time that you are learning to negotiate too quickly for me to keep up.  I learned these same tools from my Papaw Jay and can remember watching him and cataloguing the tricks of his trade.  I wish you had the opportunity to know him, the two of you would have gotten on like gangbusters!

Soon, I will not be able to keep you with me all the time, away from much of the rest of the world and I am dreading when that time comes.  There is so much of the world that I want to show you but also a huge part of it that I want to keep from you and I know I cannot.  I pray that I am giving you the tools to cope with those pieces of humanity and nature.  I also pray that you stay safe, healthy and close to your brothers, your father and me.

Happy, happy birthday my dear, sweet boy.

So Much to Say (so little time)

I'm not a huge Dave Matthews fan (even having lived in Charlottesville) but his lyrics have been ringing in my head recently, "I find sometimes its easy to be myself, Sometimes I find its better to be somebody else".  I definitely have both choices here where we are making a life for ourselves.  I must admit, I am finding it easier to be myself than I have in years.

Mamaw left almost two weeks ago now.  It was hard but we made lots of plans and have been busily ignoring the fact that we miss her!  We have been working on staying on a tight schedule, inviting friends new and old into our home and indoctrinating ourselves into the institution of family life in New Zealand.

First, I want to finish our vacation.  We loved Wellington.  I would highly suggest a visit if you ever get the chance.  We didn't have much time there but we stayed in a posh hotel downtown and visited the Te Papa museum.  It was glorious!  Windy Welly proved to feel a bit sophisticated and showed us a great time.

Next we went to the Muriwai Gannet Colony.  It was a really lovely idea that JJ had.  The family went for a walk on the beach and then the AJs played on the playground.  JJ treked to the look-out point and then traded so Mamaw and I could go up alone.  I think it was literally the ONLY time alone I have had with my her in a good long while -- probably four years!  I realized it and I loved it.  The view was beautiful too!

Surf school is in!  I will be attending one this summer and I cannot wait!

We took the boys to see Blue Mountain Mystery at the cinema.  We were the only ones in the entire theatre and the boys were all entranced!  We followed it up with a trip to the MOTAT (Muesum of Transport and Technology).  We let them have cakes and juice at the cafe, climb onto a diesel engine, watch an automated train go through the same area of the central plains that we had just visited, and ride on a tram to the aviation museum and back again.  My children were in seventh heaven for sure.

One Dark Night When We Were All In Bed, Mrs. O'Leary...

I steered our family toward Napier for our next night/day of vacation.  Napier is in the Hawke's Bay region located on the Eastern shore of New Zealand.  I was keen to see this area because it had been leveled by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in classic Deco style that still stands.  I read that it is lit at night with neon and looks beautiful in its glory.  We arrived at dusk and rented a very standard motel room.

Blurry photo of Napier at night.  It's the best I got.

The room housed two sleeping spaces.  One in the main area with a queen size bed and sleeper sofa and another with two twin beds.  There was a generous bathroom with shower and separate whilrpool tub and a small kitchenette in the area that also served as a hall.  It was a newer construction and had a great balcony as well.

We left the boys asleep with my grandmother and went to dinner at the Masonic Hotel just up the road. I had an uneasy feeling.  I worried the entire time we were gone.  I was spooked by the crashing waves (it is too dangerous a beach to swim at and the wave CRASH into the shore LOUDLY). I was spooked by the seals at the National Aquarium moaning in the night.  We kept walking around town after dinner looking for another drink (we sound like alcoholics probably, but we had only had one glass of wine in a wine region we were not familiar with and wanted to try more).  Nothing was open on Friday night at 10pm, I wasn't impressed with the architecture as I had hoped to be (I had imagined it to be all Rand's The Fountainheadesque and it was much more subtle) and I was spooked by the emptyness of the town.

I am not comfortable leaving my boys with anyone.  I was moderately coming to terms with leaving them with one specific sitter in Charlottesville.  A young woman in her mid-twenties who was a responsible, professional, business owner (not in the child care business) who was married but had not begun a family yet.      I would still worry pretty much the entire time that I was away (and I totally trust Cari).  I will leave them with my grandma and not really worry.  That is about where it stops.  JJ has not ever cared for all three boys at one time by himself.

We got back to the hotel and everything was fine.  Everyone was asleep and we fell asleep ourselves too.  Morning came early and I needed to contact the states for work quickly before the business day was over.  My cell was dead and I needed to go to the store before we began our day so I left everyone and headed across this little town to the Pac 'n Save and use the car charger to make my call.

When I returned, I was met at the door by a moderately upset JJ.  My first thought was, this place smells like candles, hmmm.  Ooops!  I had innocently set a bag of supplies on top of the stovetop hob (I made a mental note to make sure the hob was turned off at the wall switch -- everything is on a wall switch here -- so that even if it were turned on at the knob it wouldn't heat up).  At some point in the night Mamaw looked for the light switch for the hall and must have flipped the switch to the hob.  After I left to run my errand and make my call, AJ2 was caught playing with the hob knobs and a FIRE broke out!!

The fire department was called and the alarms went off evacuating the entire motel (which was at capacity).  Thankfully, JJ found the source, put it out before any real damage was done and dealt with the hotel manager etc.  In classic fashion, JJ then made all of us breakfast and we ended up missing our check out by thirty minutes.  It was hilarious!!  The poor manager tried to be passive aggressive with me when I paid but in my classic type-A American way, I stopped her dead in her tracks.  I understand her frustration, but come on, I was having a seriously bad day already!

We finally packed up and headed over to the National Aquarium and to let the boys play at the beach and ride their scooters.  I never got to see the seals, I was tired and getting cranky and we hit the road again with our sites on Wellington as a final destination.

The Adventure Continues...

We stopped the first night of vacation (we never made any reservations) at a little motel in Taupo called the Oasis.  It wasn't anything fancy but it had two bedrooms, a living area and a full kitchen, a steamy pool, sat right on the lake and it was immaculately clean (and really reasonably priced).  AJ1 fell asleep before we arrived so JJ and I donned swimsuits and took AJ2 for some rare two parents with the middle child bonding time.  It was fantastic to swim in the brisk night air and AJ2 was so, so happy!

Morning came early for mamma and the two big AJs (like 4:30 am early!) and I was that much more grateful for the living area of the hotel.  A bit later everyone else got up, JJ and I took the two bigs swimming and we were on the road again!  We headed out to Whakapapa and National Park.  What. A. Drive.

A Kiwi friend of mine talks about how she feels rather immune to the beautiful scenery here.  I cannot believe that these beautiful mountains volcanoes wouldn't affect anyone who sees them each and every time.

These photos may (or may not) look familiar, this was the set for Modor in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the area around it was used to film the Hobbit earlier this year.  It is also (and probably more importantly) a world heritage area.

I have not touched at all on the Maori (I apologize, I do not know how to place diacritics in blogger) people in New Zealand and I am not going to now except to say that there is a beautiful legend that I have read that is associated with the Maori and these mountains.  If you are interested, you can read it here.

Once we got up onto the mountains we had planned to go tramping but with the recent eruption, many of the  crossings were closed and we decided to move on.  Little did we know, our trip would reach the apex of excitement the next morning!

Family Firsts

We embarked on our first  vacation as a family of five.  In fact, we hadn't been on a family vacation since AJ1 had his first birthday (we spent that time at the Outer Banks in North Carolina).  AJ3 celebrated his first birthday at home and we headed out the next morning.  

We decided to do an old school driving vacation this time.  JJ and I both grew up with this kind of vacation with our families.  Junie and Mamaw would often load us all in the car (when I say all, I am serious, I can remember one trip to and from Florida, a twenty hour drive, with three teenagers, a pre-teen and Junie and Mamaw in a SEDAN!).  JJ's parents would often go on state and national park adventures.

Recently Mt. Tongariro spewed a good bit of ash and rock and we just had to see it ;)  We headed out for the central plains.  We spent most of our first day driving but made it to Rotorua in time to visit the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.  It was reaaally beautiful.  As usual, I was totally impressed by this little piece of the world but I was also totally impressed with Mamaw.  At 78 years old she pushed a pram through this park, up and down hills and then walked up and down hundreds of stairs.  I am so very grateful that God blessed me with such an amazing, amazing person who loves me.

I am a total nerd but I LOVED seeing this geothermal unit (and would have loved to investigate more).  I couldn't help but find myself wondering all about it's production, costs, efficiency, etc, etc, etc.  This is a no nuke country (I think of all the "No new nukes at North Anna" bumper stickers I read in Charlottesville).  You can take a girl out of the markets...