#anettingnewzealandadventure: The Nettings Do NZ

We had a good week hanging out around Christchurch. This week Kenz and I had a few play dates with Julia and Lucy. We met them and Hannah and Isabelle at Abberley Park on Tuesday for some play in the kiddie pool. On Wednesday, Kenz and I had Lucy over while Julia visited a friend nearby. Kensley and Lucy were super cute. Kensley was showing Lucy her toys and they were trading water bottles. I love watching them play together. Lucy isn’t crawling yet so if Kenlsey would crawl away, Lucy would make some noises and Kensley would make her way back. In the afternoon, we made our way over to their place for a swim in their little make-shift backyard pool. We were seeking out opportunities wherever we could to cool down this week because it was HOT! On Thursday, Kenz and I met up with Kayla and had a great visit/lunch with her. Truthfully, I was feeling bit lonely this week; not because I don’t see people but because I miss easy conversation with people I know well but Kayla definitely solved this for me!

We were back to our groove on Friday: pizza and wine. Since we both dream about the amazing wine we had from Villa Maria, I bought their pinot noir ($26ish on sale for $19). It was nothing special, we give it 3/5. On Saturday, we did our typical boat shed latte bowls and walk through the gardens. Then Caleb and I traded off: I ran then he biked. In the afternoon, we went to get Caleb’s Coast-to-Coast run gear checked. He has to have all of the kayak, run, and bike gear checked over before race day and on race day. They are definitely strict; the medical tape in his first aid kit wasn’t wide enough so we had to replace it (the guy had measuring tape). The concern is, weather can turn pretty quickly where they will be and it’s pretty isolated terrain so if an injury occurred they want you to be equipped while you wait for help. Then Caleb, Kenz and I had an early dinner and beer on a patio (Kensley basically ate half of my meal - fish from my fish tacos). On Sunday, Caleb did a practice kayak down the river with a group and we had Sarah babysit in the morning so I could do a run with Liz in the Port Hills. The rest of the day was pretty quiet and we were happy to have Caleb home in the late afternoon. He still doesn’t feel great about the kayak but I think he’ll make up for it on the run and bike come race days. The Coast-to-Coast race (this is for you, Bill) is a multisport race from the west coast to the east coast of NZ (finishes in Christchurch). It can be done in two days or one, as a team or individual. Caleb is doing the two day individual. He says the one day is for hardcores, I guarantee that if he does it again, it'll be the one day :p. It starts with 2km run off of a beach, 55km road cycle, then 30km mountain run (then 2-dayers stop for the night). Then 15 km road cycle followed by a 70km kayak which isn't too hard but is really hard if you don't know how to kayak :P and then finish with 70km ride into New Brighton Beach in Christchurch. We struggled to figure out how I would be Caleb's support person with Kenlsey, and we decided that logistically it was going to be a huge pain, so for a fee, he's joined a team that will transport his gear and have it ready for him at each spot. It has alleviated a lot of stress for us both so it was worth every penny!

Sunday also marked Kensley’s 10-month birthday! Where has the time gone?! In some ways it definitely feels like it’s been 10 months but mostly, it’s flown by! Each day she is doing something new: mimicking sounds and faces, pointing to things we say (tree, butterfly, bird, star, moon, nose, teeth etc), climbing the stairs and scaring the heck out of us, new dance moves, singing to songs, crawling faster, pulling herself up into standing more easily, and playing hide and seek. She understands things, more and more each day and is really starting to be able to communicate with us through some signing and pointing. We think she is starting to get some upper teeth – more drooling and we think we can kind of see them? Stay tuned. She also is down to feeding only in the morning and before bed, which gives me hope for my weekend away in a month!