#anettingnewzealandadventure: The Nettings Do NZ

There isn’t a ton to report on week 30 other than it was a really nice family week. It was a hot in Christchurch until the weekend when it cooled down a bit, which I loved! We had Caleb quite a bit this week due to some logistics at work and I will never complain about that. One afternoon we took Kensley to the awesome city centre library. She loved exploring the children’s area: the toys, the books, the other kids and the space in general. Kensley and I also saw Julia and Lucy for a play date in the gardens this week. Caleb was on-call Friday night and, although I prefer to have him around, I will never complain about a quiet night to myself once and a while.

Saturday we did our typical boat shed latte morning and got our workouts in. Then we checked out the art gallery down the street. We’ve been to the restaurant there for drinks on the patio a few times but haven’t actually stepped in. It was nice to see some New Zealand art (The MOMA is was not) and have a slow paced day. We went to the gardens and let Kensley do her favourite thing, explore. They are the perfect place for her, huge areas of green space with trees and she seems as though she could crawl all day while we are there. She laughs as she moves around from grass, to dirt, to trees; she eats daisies and gets mouthfuls of dirt when I’m not quick enough; she approaches and waves at strangers and loves playing with her shadow. She also has been photographed by multiple asian tourists – seriously, at least 10 times we’ve been approached to have her photo taken. It’s a bit bizarre to me but the people seem very genuine. Saturday night we had Mary over for supper and wine, which felt long over due! I feel I’ve seen very little of Mary but she’s been traveling quite a bit and we’ve had visitors. She brought over an Australian Shiraz that we all enjoyed with our curried lentil nachos. Then (because there were three of us and one bottle is not enough for three people) we got into a bottle of Villa Maria Merlot/Cab Sauv for a little taste – this was middle line that they produce and we liked it more than their lower line.

Sunday morning Caleb and I got out for a 40k ride through the port hills and Sumner while Kensley hung out with Sarah. It was seriously the perfect morning for me. Us out together doing something active, stopping for coffee, no rush and knowing that Kensley is happy-as-can-be with Sarah. In the afternoon, K and I met Mary in the gardens where Mary and I enjoyed coffee/tea and Kensley explored. Then later in the day, Caleb, Kenz and I met Mary at The Noodle Market that has been happening in Hagley Park over the past 10 days. It was mediocre (and expensive) at best but we enjoyed sharing some plates and it was fun to get out!

Kensley keeps becoming more fun. My friend Katie has always said that each stage seems to get better with babies and it’s so true. I’ve never thought Kensley was a hard baby but she just keeps getting better and better (even with a few rough afternoons due to getting her first top tooth). She is so happy to play and explore. She loves combing her hair, my hair, and kiwi and rudolph’s hair (two of her toys). She has thrown a few more things out the window, both of which I was able to find on ground level. She loves to start dancing when we wants us to sing songs and is even getting some actions to head and shoulders (only seems to know her head and toes despite how many times I show her shoulders and knees) and other songs. She is mimicking more sounds and is pretty darn close to saying poppa (I think she maybe has said it) and says “blue” for blueberries. She loves brushing her teeth. She picks out her own books to read now and has some favorites. She pulls out her hair clips and her hair in her face seems to bug me more than her. Her newest animal sounds are monkey, duck and sheep. Her second top tooth, left top, is just about to pop threw.