day four in New Zealand

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to tell you about our last four days in New Zealand. Well first, we got here on a cold Sunday morning around 9am. Shaun picked us up in Christchurch and it was cold and wet. On our way home it started snowing and it seemed like Christmas. So much so that mommy sang a couple of carols. It was really funny. We unpacked the moment we got home and I got to see my room. Its really beautiful and had lots of fun things for me to do and play with. (thank you Mrs. Gregan/Shaun's mom, and Miss Mandy/Shaun's sister) While mommy unpacked I had a nice hot bath in a super big bathtub with some bath toys. It was hard to climb out because it is SOOOOOO C-O-L-D! No heaters here just a big fire place to warm the house. It has taken some getting use to remembering to shut doors to keep the heat in but we have finally begun to feel warm :) After getting out of the bath I got dressed and played in my room for a little while while mommy finished unpacking. After our long flight we had quiet time to relax. I was so tired and cold that I curled up in a ball and fell asleep around 2 o'clock and didn't wake back up until 5 o'clock the next morning!!! Around 5/6 mommy found out I had a heating blanket and then I was warm warm warm!

Monday: In the morning (5AM) we got up. Shaun started the fire and we had breakfast. When it was light outside we went to the grocery store in Timaru (about 30 minutes away). It took a little while to pick out what we would all like to eat. Then Shaun had mommy drive home in her first driving lesson. She did ok as long as she didn't have to turn. :) Basically it was a day of errands and I was really tired still. We had dinner at Shaun's parents and I met them for the first time. I was yawning all night and fell asleep by the fire soon after dinner.

Tuesday: This was our first tourist experience. We went to the small town, Ashburton. I was lots of fun. I got to go shopping and chose to buy some colored clay. We had lunch there and Shaun bought a new tv because his died the day before. We were gone all morning and early afternoon then mommy drove us back home. (scary--hahaha) I played with my clay for hours until dinner. Mommy says I was super creative cause I made lots of fun boxes and shapes...even people! It was lots of fun. Mommy made us dinner and I was so tired that I went to bed right after again!

Wednesday: Shaun had to work today so it was just me and mom for the day. It was our first adventure in Geraldine. We walked to town (about 15 minute walk) and bought some post cards to send home...if you want a post card email mommy your address!! I made mommy go into lots of shops to look around. It was so interesting we even got to go into a hardware store which is my favorite! They had fishing rods and soccer/footballs, and balls for rugby. I am saving up to buy a ball cause they are expensinve here...if I save my weekly budget for a two weeks I will be able to get one. Then we went to Robbie's Cafe' where Mrs. Sharon's mom works. We had a delicious lunch there and took our chips to go for our walk home. Chips are what they call french fries here. They were super hot and yummy. You can even have different flavor salt sprinkled ont them like chicken flavor. YUMMY! We started on our way back home and stopped at the town museum for a look inside. The museum was so cool. This kind man showed us around. my favorite part was the old fashioned organ. He even let us play it. We had to pump the pedals lots of times and pull different knobs to make it work. On the way home we stopped at the park and played for an hour. I met a little boy named Alex who is almost 4. We played tag and did flips on the jungle gym bars. Mommy even hung upside down but she got scared and got stuck there for a few minutes. Then we came home and had quiet time for an hour while mommy took a nap on the couch. I have been reading lots here and am almost done with the second Percy Jackson book! Mommy didnt feel really good when she woke up but she got up anyways and pulled some clothes off the clothes line and did a load of laundry. While mommy made a list for dinner and got dressed for a run I heard some girls playing outside and decided to investigate. I met two girls named Helen and Amber. We played for about 10 minutes then they had to go home. Mom and I went on a run around town to the grocery store for tomatoes, onions and green peppers. We finished our run and mom and I hung the laundry on the clothes line outside. They don't have dryers here. It was fun learning to do it. Shaun's sister Mandy stopped by while I was playing in the yard and mommy was finishing hanging clothes. This was my first time meeting her. She is really really nice. When we came inside we talked for a little while then we split a wishbone. She won. Shaun got home from work and we made dinner. It was yummy. Spagetti and garlic bread. Then I went to bed. We get tired really early here!

Thursday: Its been a lazy day so far today. Writing our blog and now going to get dressed and start our day. Hope you are having lots of fun back home. Lots of stuff to do here in New Zealand so we are going to let you get back to what you are doing and we are going to set out on another adventure.

Love Mommy and Izzy