Around the House in July

Scenes from our home

Jane always wants to be part of anything Rachel and Genevieve are doing. Here she is trying to step right in the middle of all the action.

Why walk, when you can run?

One of Rachel's favorite outfits

Pretty Lady (a.k.a. Gyama)

Jane learns to stand alone. (check out her toes gripping the carpet)

Jane gives up standing practice for a game of count the wipes.

Rachel

Genevieve "reads" a book to Rachel.

Genevieve and Rachel playing in their cabinet.

Jane chewing on a head-light. (Its a silicone head with tiny blue LED's inside. It was a cute little light we found at IKEA. It is pretty indestructable, even for a 10-month-old)

Rachel with yet another of her hair styles. She styles her own hair.

Jane walking around with her wheelie-bug. She can get around really fast now.

Christmas Babies 2010

Genevieve, Jane and Rachel December 2010

Santa Barbara then South Carolina November 2010

On our way back from New Zealand we got to visit with family in Santa Barbara. John and I had not slept more than 30 minutes at a time for the 24+ hours before arriving in LAX. My cousin Isa graciously took us in and revived us for our last leg of the journey. Isa and her husband, Frankie, are wonderful parents to their two sons and it was so good to visit and see their family in action.

John and Frankie "rest their eyes" after our kids undid the living room.

Finn

Isa and John cooking dinner
Thank you for taking such good care of us, Isa!

Fast Friends
Rachel and Zaden had not seen each other since they were both around 6 or 7 months old. It was neat to watch them play together.

Early in the morning at LAX, Genevieve finishes her breakfast. One more flight!

Home at last!!

We walked in the door after traveling for 2 days and the girls immediately dove into their play room as if they had just been gone on a short errand.

New Zealand 14: Going Home

Waiting to fly to Auckland from Christchurch Airport

Genevieve did not want to let go of the special kids fun kit from Quantas. This is on our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles.

Breakfast (or sleep) came at the wrong time. Considering how long we traveled, the time change and the number of flights, Rachel and Genevieve did really well! They ended up eating their breakfast in customs at LAX.

John holds down the fort. What a man!

Jane in her tiny belt that strapped to mine required for takeoff and landing. (only on Quantas and Air New Zealand)

Henry's says: "You're home!"
We were able to visit with family in Santa Barbara, CA before flying east. On our way north from LAX John and I spotted our favorite farmers marked grocery store from San Diego: Henry's.

New Zealand 13: Victorian Fete in Oamaru

The day before we were scheduled to leave New Zealand, a town north of Dunedin, Oamaru, was celebrating their Victorian heritage. I was excited to witness such an event. We packed up the kids and drove for our last excursion. We arrived just after Marisa and Jeremy. I stayed in our car to change Jane's blow-out diaper and feed her while John took Rachel and Genevieve to try and catch the end of a parade. (see the Beck Explorer for more details)
Genevieve sits ready to cheer on competit0rs in the penny-farthing races.

A lot of people wear Victorian dress. Here we are in a wool shop watching a spinning wheel in action.

John tests out a penny-farthing.

These friendly people stopped to talk with us. They asked where we were from and then told us about their experience in North America (Canada). John took our picture with them because they looked so neat. I told the woman how I liked her dress and asked if she and her husband attend this Fete (festival) every year. She replied " Yes! Its sort of our job. He's the mayor of Oamaru." as she pointed to her husband. We enjoyed your town Mr. Mayor!

Stormy weather on our way home

Lupine!! The girls love Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius. It is a story about a lady that sews lupine seeds all over the countryside and town near her house to make the world beautiful. (the story wouldn't be so well received by New Zealand's Department of Conservation. Lupines are invader species.) After Genevieve learned that these were the flowers from Miss Rumphius, she would announce "Woopins!" when she saw them. The lupines from the story are "blue and purple and rose colored" (pink) but we had seen all yellow until this photo. The girls were more excited than ever to see a real, live purple and rose colored lupine.

New Zealand 12: Favorite NZ Destination

Rachel and Genevieve looking out of the Beck's from door. After all the beautiful and fascinating things we had seen, they really wanted to go back to the Dinosaur Playground.

Jeremy and Marisa scaled the rock sculpture. Good climbing!

John shows the girls all the possible directions of the tire swing. Loud squeals and laughter followed.

Rachel, pumping her swing all by herself like a big girl!

Our Honda Fit rental car
John had fun driving on the left side of the road. I kept teasing him about turning the windshield wipers preceding every single turn. (the wiper switch was located where he is used to a turn signal) I was quickly humbled when I drove for the first time and also announced my right turn with a swish of the wipers.

The carseats fit. Just! It was a good thing that Jane was still in a rear-facing infant seat.

Yeah! The 20 minute buckling-in routine.

New Zealand 11: A Drive

We took a drive South from Dunedin, down the coast to the Catlins and as far as Curio Bay. Our first stop: The Lost Gypsy Gallery in Papatowai, NZ. Its owner has made all sorts of interesting contraptions that fill an outside garden. You can view and play with them on a walking tour. He also has many intriguing creations inside of a stationary green bus.

John is powering a television as he peddles the stationary bike. Brilliant!

Genevieve is telling us all about the calf and cows behind her at Florence Hill lookout.

Tautuku Bay as seen from Florence Hill Lookout

Picnic atop the lookout


Photos from Porpoise Bay

Cuddle moment! When you rub Genevieve's cheek, she leans in for some cuddles. The plants behind them looked like giant grass. It made me feel like Frog or Toad from Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad books. (These are the characters of fiction in my mind. We have read the books to the girls so many times)

The girls built drip castles and collected seashells on the beach at Porpoise Bay.

Jane's view of New Zealand. Paradise for a 2 month old.

Leaving the Petrified Forest in Curio Bay. I was following a small yellow bird (center on the fence) but the landscape caught my attention. The forest looks so hardy and thick and forbidding to walk through. After this trip, I got the impression that everything just grows bigger in New Zealand.