#anettingnewzealandadventure: The Nettings Do NZ

Breaking news this week: Caleb is on the hunt for a new surfboard, Kensley has taken a bottle everyday since my blog last week, and yes, she is still in her bassinet!

I need to start keeping notes on my week because I’m having a hard time recalling what went on Monday and Tuesday – I guess nothing too remarkable! On Wednesday, Kensley and I met up with Julia and Lucy for a walk around Hagley Park and coffee. On Friday, we went back to our mom and baby fitness class, which I was really happy to return to. Kensley has been having her best nap of the day at the same time of the class so I hadn’t been going, but I thought I’d give it a go (with some major encouragement from Caleb) and see how she did. It was nice to chat with other moms so although Kensley only napped for 15 mins (instead of her 1.5-2 hrs at home) she wasn’t a complete disaster during the day so we will return! Caleb took his gals out to a patio late Friday afternoon for beer and early dinner. Spring has definitely sprung in Christchurch – the temperature was in the high teens to low 20s all week which had our moods high and craving a patio. Once Kensley was settled into bed we then started our Central Otago Pinot Noir tastings. We had Black Thistle 2015 Pinot Noir ($23.99) with an aged gouda and some other “pick-its”. This wine was delicious and just damn good! We tasted black cherry and Caleb noted flavours and “charcoal and smoky”. We give this wine 4.5/5 – yes, even Caleb is giving a 4.5! We actually had their Marlborough pinot noir as well a few weeks ago and also gave it a 4.5!

On Saturday morning, following our latte bowls and walk through the botanical gardens, I left Caleb and Kensley for a glorious 14k run! I love those two more than I can express but it certainly felt great to have some me time! After my run, our little fam jam packed up the car to head to Sumner Beach, which is 10k south east of us. We wanted to check out this area and Caleb wanted to give surfing another go! To my surprise, when we arrived on the beach we were greeted by Michael. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to have gotten a number last week! Caleb met this guy last weekend surfing. Kensley and I had seen them chatting but we had no idea there was an exchange of digits (actually just names for a facebook add). Anyways, Michael has been in NZ for 5 years, originally from the UK and might just be Caleb’s NZ surfing bro. They did their surfing thing and Kenz and I walked the beach and played in the park. Sumner definitely has a more posh feel than New Brighton Beach. Following the surf, and Caleb concluding that he needs ANOTHER (bigger) board – we headed to a surf shop to check out boards. We then had some fish and chips (still nothing that compares to Akoroa) and THE BEST coconut milk ice cream EVER. Probably the biggest news of the day/weekend though is that I drove home from Sumner! It was my first time driving in NZ and I’m happy to have gotten it over with. I was creating more and more anxiety about driving on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car, as the time went on. It really wasn’t a big deal once I got behind the wheel but I certainly do think it'll take extra concentration for a while.

Caleb felt like Sunday would be his last opportunity to get skiing so he went to Mount Olympus, which is about 130k west of us. He says the ski season is definitely coming to an end, as the snow was getting pretty sparse. He also found it a long way to go because it took about 2 hr 15 mins to get there as a lot of the drive was on very rough dirt roads (see pics for vehicles ppl use to drive up there). I think it was worth it because he found some pretty yummy meat pies on the way, which he brought home! Kenz and I went for a walk and then met up with Liz and Harriet. We went and sat in the botanical gardens while Kensley played on her blanket and Harriet ran around, returning for an intermittent squeeze of Kensley, which was pretty darn cute. Harriet actually even shared her muffin with Kensley. Yes, my 5.5 month old is eating muffins; she’s seriously an animal and wants to eat anything and everything! Liz brought a bottle of wine and some plastic wine glasses so we enjoyed a glass of wine in the park. I guess it’s a “thing” (an awesome thing) that you can legally drink in parks and on beaches here!

I really feel like Kensley has turned a leaf this week and is becoming a big girl. I have no idea where this came from but she doesn’t seem as baby-ish to me. As I mentioned, she is eating everything we offer her, and yells/stares us down for the things we don’t offer her. She received a great gift in the mail this week from her friend Kate. Kate is about 3.5 weeks older than Kensley and her mom, Jaime, has been my pregnancy, postpartum, fitness, everything-baby mentor. As I laid on my couch during early pregnancy, puke bucket in hand, begging Caleb to smother me, I would watch Jaime run by my window with her cute baby bump and feel inspired – I knew we needed to be friends! Jaime is basically me, but blonde and with two kids; so she knows what she’s doing and lets me copy everything! Anyways, they very kindly sent Kensley a “lovey” to use in her bassinet, so when she moves into her crib she will bring her lovey with her and [fingers crossed] the transition may go easier! She cuddles and sucks on it, so I’d say it’s a hit!

This weeks successes:

Kensley continues to eat and drink from a bottle

Caleb is working more independently

Caleb has a surf bro

Caleb discovered a 40k bike loop he thinks we can do together

We discovered Sumner – I want to spend A LOT of time here!

I drove!

Spring has sprung in Christchurch!