#anettingnewzealandadventure: The Nettings Do NZ

We had another regular week around Christchurch seeing friends and hanging out, outdoors. The weather is really spring like, one day up to 20 and beautiful flowers are starting to bloom. Kensley got a little cold which I wasn’t surprised about because everyone at daycare had a snotty nose this week. We had Mary over for dinner and we started getting into our wine tour wines: Greystone Sav Blanc did not disappoint and then we moved onto a pinot noir we had in our cupboard from previously. We planned our last weekend away this weekend to Tekapo and Liz, Andy and Harriet joined us.

Caleb had a late OR on Friday afternoon and Liz also had to work late so Andy and I took off early with the girls. Unfortunately, this had to be Kensley’s worst car ride ever. She was miserable and cried off and on most of the ride. Other than when Andy and I were singing children’s songs. Of important note: we hit a Wallaby on our drive, which is a fricking kangaroo type thing! I was so thankful we were in a big truck and Andy didn’t miss a beat: “well, you’re going to die”, was his reaction. There was no damage to the truck. Nonetheless we made it, got the girls settled and had a good drink while we waiting for Caleb and Liz to arrive (who saw our dead wallaby). I made homemade pizza for everyone and we enjoyed a great bottle of Californian Zinfandel that everyone seemed to love.

Caleb REALLY has wanted to see Mt Cooke while we’ve been in NZ and so on Saturday morning, despite a crappy weather forecast, he and Andy made there way to Mt Cooke village. Mt Cooke is the biggest mountain in New Zealand. Their hope was to attempt to do a day hike there but unfortunately, the weather was awful so they didn’t make it far. They got back much earlier than expected and Liz and I went out for a short run. Otherwise, Liz, Harriet and Kensley and I played at the park, walked around the little town and went to a café. They were great company! Kensley was loving Harriet and Harriet was giving her hugs and kisses. Kensley even attempts to say her name but it sounds like a throat clearing. Liz and Andy made a great dinner on Saturday and supplied some awesome wine, an Australian bottle called Caravan Petite Sirah. They didn’t think it was as good as the Zinfandel from the night before, and it was definitely different but sooooo damn good that I don’t think I agree. We have so much wine to finish before we leave in less than two weeks but I feel like I need to have this one again! I actually just tried to search if we could get it in Canada but it was taking too long so I’ll check later. We had a great drive back on Sunday (sorry you got the crappy drive Andy!) and had a chill day at home/going to the park with Kenz.

This week Caleb has also successfully sold his mountain bike and kayak! We have basically everything posted to sell so wish us luck! Kensley is saying more words and her previous words are getting clearer “up, out, down”. She calls the doll Caleb bought her “little girl” but it doesn’t come out as clear as that (lillillilgrl). She loves to imitate people running. She’s getting much more stable on her feet, stepping over things easily. She has been going up and down (backwards, feet first) for a while but now wants to try to walk down the stairs as we would so she needs to be watched closely. Most days, she is still a bear for a short period after her afternoon nap. She loves to help me do the laundry, bringing me the clothes out of washing machine for me to hang them.