The Nettings Do NZ - Week 39 and 40

This week was off to a good start as we counted down to Easter and our next getaway.   Kensley and I went over to Julia and Lucy’s to celebrate Julia’s birthday.   On Thursday we had Mary over for wine and homemade pizza.  I buy wine based on how much it is on sale so a few weeks ago I found a bottle that was on sale for $19.99 from $44.99.  Crazy right!?  Anyways, it turns out it was a Californian Pinot Noir called La Crema and none of us were wowed by it – it was good but not $44.99 good.  Kensley’s sleep regression (screaming bloody murder for her naps and waking up super early) continued until Good Friday, when Caleb’s vacation started.  He gave me the morning to run and have some time to myself.  He put her down for her morning nap and BAM – no screaming and she slept an hour and a half.  WHAT THE HELL!?  Daddy’s touch just snaps her out of everything. 

On Friday, we did our version of Easter.  A few little treats for Caleb and I and eggs filled with raisins for Kensley.  She thought she hit the jackpot!  Then we had lunch at Lucy and Gordon’s.   Gordon is one of the ortho staff and Lucy is his wife who has been so kind to me.  It was really nice to visit with them.  Caleb went for a quick surf in the afternoon and when he got home we were left to deal with a power outage in our apartment.  The rest of the building was fine and our property management team was completely useless/dismissive/rude but Caleb got it sorted out.

On Saturday, we packed up the car and started our west coast adventure.  We planned on stopping at Arthur’s Pass for a small hike with K but it was full on pouring so we continued on to our AirBnB in Kumara.  A super small spot with not much going on but the rain let up enough for a walk on the beach.  On Sunday we made our way to Franz Josef Glacier.  Unfortunately, due to a recent storm, the road to access the hikes to the glacier was washed out.  We were able to do a very small hike with Kensley to attempt to see the glacier but we only got a quick glimpse of the bottom due to the clouds.  Let me tell you, it wasn’t worth the screaming Kensley did.  She started falling asleep in the backpack and super mom here, woke her up so she would sleep in the car after the hike.  Big mistake.  She was pissed and screamed the remainder of our walk.  She did sleep in the car though, and that meant no pukey pukey!

We stayed at a random lodge that night called “Mt Adam Lodge” and there was a bit eerie feeling.  We were the only ones staying there so it felt a bit cold and abandoned.  It had beautiful views of the mountains and the owners had a farm next door so Kensley got to visit with some cows and sheep, which made her SO happy. 

Monday we made our way to Hokitika, which was my favorite stop.  It helped that the weather was perfect.  Caleb thinks his favorite place in NZ!  The west coast has a really cool and different feel.  As you cross to the west there is a very distinct change in the landscape.  Everything is green and lush and full.  It really is rainforest like! 

On Tuesday, we were on our way home with a quick stop in Arthur’s Pass for Caleb to do a hike, Avalanche Peak.  The day was truly perfect so it was a must to take advantage of it (and kill time so Kensley would sleep on the super windy part of the drive).  I through Kensley in the backpack and we did some walking around, played on the grass and had lunch.  Since Monday was a holiday, Kensley went to daycare on Wednesday, which gave Caleb and I the morning together to go for a run and have a nice lunch together.  When Kensley got home, we said our goodbyes and Caleb went to Timaru where he was working his first real job!  He was a locum for the group down there for 4 days. 

Thursday morning Kensley hung out with Sarah while I went for a run and had brunch with Mary.   The plan was that I could have Sarah a few times while he was away working, but go figure, it’s been the only weekend Sarah was unavailable!  I was mentally prepared though and things were going well but on Friday, Caleb decided he missed us (seriously!) so Kensley and I drove to Timaru Saturday for the night.  I was a bit stressed about driving the 2 hour drive with K along but she rocked it and we didn’t have to stop at all.  We loved spending the day and night with Caleb, and lucky for us, there wasn’t much going on at work so he got to hang out with us.  Oh and back to Friday, Kensley and I saw Prince William who was visiting Christchurch.  He was literally 100m from our place, out of his car.

Kensley was a great little traveler and sleeper over our holiday.  We’ve been waking up some mornings before.  We have sorted out our routine each travel morning to get on the road for Kensley’s first nap by 915am and it allows us to each get a run in!  She was only carsick once, mostly because we timed her naps as best as possible with the windy roads.   She is getting stable on her feet and is keen to walk but has some work to do.   She can get 1-4 steps in before she falls.  She loves her books and has started saying parts (“ZA” for pizza and “UG” for hug) of her favorite book “The Hug Machine”.    She says her own version of “I love you”.  She also says “bib bib bib” and reminds me when I haven’t put it on her. 

Week 41 may be one of the BEST because Gina arrives <3!  Kensley has even started saying her name (Geeeee) in preparation.

My people! 

Sweet shirts from Nana!

Cuties!

I can't handle her in these glasses 😂

"More" dada

She never stops

The easter bunny is AWESOME!  and so is my new easter book from Nana and Poppa!

A pit stop on our road trip to see one of Caleb's Coast to Coast transitions (I think where the kayak started)

Crazy hair

Family shot at Kumara beach

Yummmm

Walk in Franz Josef

Another family shot

We should've been able to see the glacier from here...

Happy girl!

<3

Hands up for Hokitika!

Always exploring

Sporting her Christmas sweater from Grandma!

Remember when she wouldn't sleep in here?!

I'd rather colour my lips and the table.....

So when did she become a little girl?!

No hands!

Prince William

The Nettings Do NZ - Week 38

There isn’t a whole lot to report on this end for this week.  Work, work, work and more work for Caleb and baby, baby, baby, plus more baby for me!  We had some play dates and went to a little birthday party (Alice).   Kensley also entered into a sleep regression (? teeth ? missing daddy ? who the heck knows).  Right on schedule with Caleb working all weekend which made it a long and painful weekend for me.  When I wasn’t coping well in the middle of Sunday night, Caleb who had been working all weekend and had less sleep than me, let Kensley sleep on him.  His selflessness definitely made me work harder to snap out of my “poor-me” funk.   I realized this weekend that as much as I like his help on the weekends with Kensley, I also really depend on having him and his energy around to recharge me.      

Autumn has arrived here.  The mornings are cool but getting up to the mid teens in the afternoon.  Insert my struggle to dress Kensley here!  It’s ongoing with each season; yes, I realize it shouldn’t be rocket science.   Autumn is my favorite season in Canada and it feels the same here. But this cool weather brings up the issue of heating our apartment that will present in the next few months.   Heating and cooling homes in New Zealand is very interesting.  The units in our building don’t have a heating pump – that means no heating, other than little space heaters that don’t do anything unless you sit right next to them.   Kensley isn’t going to be sitting still next to a heater.  We will be wearing a lot of layers at home during June and July!  Thank you Granny and Grandpa for Kensley’s awesome new winter sleep sack!

Kensley went to daycare as usual this week.  They say she still has her “moments” where she becomes upset.  I think this is less related to me not being there and more likely because she isn’t sleeping great there and more so, she isn’t getting the typical one-on-one attention that she’s used to. 

Kensley is having fun attempting to walk around.   She no longer wants to crawl.  She wants to hold our hands to walk, walk with her trolley or around furniture and she stands at the back of her stroller and walks while pushing it along. She is testing her balance and so proud of herself when she stands independently.  If we don’t clap for her, she sits down and demands clapping by clapping for herself until we join in.  She has taught herself to crawl down the stairs this week, previously had no interest when we’d try to teach her.  She loves to eat with her fork.   She turns on the washing machine and dishwasher. 

Wild girl!  Note the Winnie the Pooh on her trolly, Ella, our fave barista, brought this back from Japan for Kenz.

Off on an adventure

Natures playground!

Just climbing a tree

Go girl, go!

<3

Caleb used to carry K around in this hoody as a newborn so he tucked her in as a 1-year old

I've always skipped homemade pizza night when Caleb works but now I have someone else to enjoy them with!  This was the first pizza night for just Kensley and I!  She ate two pieces (mushroom, red pepper, spinach, onions).

Needs some work with the spoon....

Over dressed her big time for this 7 degree morning....

That smile....

The Nettings Do NZ - Week 37

I’ll try to stay focused on the entire week but, really, all I want to do is talk about Caleb and I getting away on the weekend!   Monday was K’s typical day at daycare and Autumn and I went to Godley Head.  On Tuesday, we said goodbye to Auntie Autumn!  We had such a great time with her, good chats, good food, good wine!   Prior to her leaving, we were talking about how little interest Kensley has in walking and then BOOM she grabs Auntie Autumn’s hands to walk.  And this has continued all week – she is finally interested in walking!  We spent the rest of the afternoon on Tuesday hanging out with Jacqui, Hugh and Walt.  The rest of the week I can’t really recall what we did, but I prepped for Kensley’s weekend at Sarah’s and our weekend away!   The ortho group had a mountain biking day on Friday, in the pouring rain, so Caleb made his way to Arthur’s Pass to join them.  A total of 5 of them biked out of approximately 40. 

On Saturday morning, Caleb and I packed up Kensley and all of her supplies to drop her off at Sarah’s.  Then we drove 2 hours southwest to Hakatere.  Caleb planned out the perfect hike and camp for us.  We hiked into a very remote cabin for 2.5 hours.  It was a pretty easy hike.  Thankfully, Caleb took it easy on me after two years of nothing comparable (pregnancy and childbirth were way harder than any hike could be though).  We dropped our bags at the cabin and explored some more for a few hours.  Then we tucked into our cabin, Caleb cooked us some supper and we enjoyed a yummy bottle of wine!  We had Blue Rock Pinot Noir (2016) $49.99 and we rate it 3.5/5, although it was a bit hard to appreciate because we were freezing.  The cabin wasn’t heated so it got chilly but we were prepared for the cold.  The next morning we were up early (naturally), enjoyed some breakfast and coffee and started our trek out.  It was a great hike out; we were both high from the fresh air and the baby free time!  On our drive home we stopped for a nice relaxing coffee and snack. 

How was Kensley!?  Well, when we picked her up she was happy to see us; she smiled, said “Dada” and then carried on playing at Sarah’s.  As we expected, she had a great time!  Sarah and her family said it was a perfect weekend.  There were no tears and she slept great.  That made our amazing weekend away even that much sweeter.  Yes, we missed her and were eager to see her, but was it EVER nice to just be us again!  It was such a success on all fronts that I’m already planned our next night away!

Mom and Dad's night away!

Look what I can do!

Godley Head

Hey Ma, look at me and my buddy, Walt!

Too close, Walt!

Exploring

First night in two piece pyjamas!

Caleb checking out if our car can make it through the ford - it did!

Our hike

Our hut!

Forgot a corkscrew! 

Heaven!

<3

Just a little road block on our drive home....THOUSANDS of sheep!