Week 5

On monday, Greg left for Australia for an entire week (visiting his brother, going to have awesome weather).. That means I'll try to do a bit more to help Kim.

Today I had an aftershock for the weekend. Tired as h*ll and after our visit to Annie and Isobel I fell asleep in the car =S Apparently I wasn't the only one who was tired, because Grace had one of her screaming days.. After a little rest in her room, she was a lot happier and we could finally do some playing and painting..
We made a few father's day gifts and we hit them in Greg's bag.. Hopefully he likes it..

Btw, the picture with the stickers on our nose.. That's our "cheese" face! =D

Since Greg left, things have been a bit hectic.. We were all tired, the weather was not very great (to say the least) so we were all cramped inside.. Everyone was grumpy, screams everywhere (sometimes even Jack's) and not much positive energy to be found. Kim was trying to find a good balance between work and hanging out with the kids, but the kids were so tiring that she couldn't get much done.. She was around a lot, so I couldn't do a lot (which made me feel a bit more sad because I really want to help, but with mum around, they don't let me). In the end, the week was exhausting, we tried to make the days a bit upbeat with a new tent, a movie-date with the minions and as soon as the sun came out, a bit of fresh air!

So honestly, I was somewhat happy to go on a weekendtrip with the girls. Grainne, Lotti, Audrey, Laura, Caro and I were heading South to Dunedin (focus on "ne" so you say Denieden) to have some sort of goodbye-party for Caro. The weather wasn't really promising.. But who cares ;)

We started driving (two cars unfortunately) and made our first stop at the Moeraki Boulders (didn't pay the 2 dollars, just drove a wee bit further and enjoyed our walk on the beach). Cool to see how nice and round they are.. Never seen that before! Still don't really know how this happens, but it looks sweet!

After that and a few U-turns we checked out a small (smallest I've ever seen) lighthouse and went on a seal/penguin-search. We spotted a head of a penguin (the rest was covered in the bushes) and heaps of seals. At first you're glad to see just one, but the longer you stare at the rocks, the more you see.. Even tiny baby-seals... Still sooooo adorable!
And then we saw them on top of the hill, in the grass.. Just laying there... I wonder how they even get up there.. So big, so not-athletic..
We weren't even by the car when all of a sudden it went from sunny to pouring rain..

Luckily we had a long ride ahead of us and by the time we got to the town center of Duniden, it was a lot better. Checking out the mall, getting some booze and back on the road to brighton for our B&B with Janine and Ross (Seaview Beach Bum Bed & Breakfast, owned by the youngest older people I ever met). And what kind of B&B! An amazing view (on the island where they got married in 20 minutes 'cause otherwise they wouldn't be able to get back of) and a gorgeous room. There were 3 rooms, but the bottom one with the super view screamed out my name.. And there were two double beds, so no biggy.. Room enough =D

Tea was so yummy, but by that time I ate so much and I didn't want to be rude, so I started feeling really sick.. I end up spending the night in the room and missing all of the drama. The positive thing was that by 8.30 the next morning, I felt well rested and could go out for a talk and a walk.. Weather decided it was going to be a lot of talking, because it started to snow!!! (AGAIN?!)

By the time the girls were up, I knew a lot more about Ross, Janine and their trip to Vietnam (lovely pictures). We took our time and got on the road again. Our first destination was the steepest street in the world. We managed to get all our energy together and walk all the way up (cars would have never survived that). After that we had another stop with amazing view, seals and no penguins and a quick visit to a gift shop that has christmas decorations all year round =D A lot of tired people in the cars, but I got to spent some more time talking with Caro (see you after a three hour drive in Belgium or Germany!)

By the time I got back, all I could do was eat some take-away food, watch a horrible movie (happened in real life, ugh) and fall asleep in a flash.

Ow, less good news, Jack had a lesser moment and was taken to the hospital. Nothing severe thank goodness, but it made me feel very worried and a bit crappy that I wasn't there for Kim.