For Beck Fans....

Charlie is so into guitars and dancing now....so cute! Here he is dancing and thinking about playing his guitar to a Beck song. If you listen carefully you can hear him say the name of the song, "Que Onda Guero".... So Funny!!!

Bella is 4!!!

Isabella Mary Dunbar turned 4 years old last week. It seems like just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and our lives were changed forever. She is an amazing little girl. She has such spunk and determination and she is quite clever and witty.
From day one, anyone who meets Bella says that her outgoing, independent, stubborn personality is going to keep out trouble. She won't do anything she doesn't want to do.
I have always prayed that that would be true.


A couple weeks ago, while my mom was visiting, we took Bella and Charlie to Chipmunks, an indoor playground. The kids love it there and were having a great time. There is an area that has all sorts of tunnels and slides and climbing structures that go clear up to the ceiling(a vaulted ceiling). Bella found a couple girls to play with that were about 5 years old. She was following them around and doing what they were doing. She followed them to the top of the structure and girls started sliding down the area which is meant for climbing up. Bella looked hesitant but started to do it anyway. She looked unsure and I told her that she didn't have to do it. Eventually she came down and started playing basketball with a little boy. The girls called her to come play with them again and again she found herself with the girls at the top of the playstructure. This time one of the girls told her to go through the tunnel(Bella doesn't like tunnel slides at the moment). Bella looked back at the little girl and said "I don't want to". The girl yelled and said "Go in there!" Bella yelled back and said "I'm scared, I don't want to" she looked down at me and I said"you don't have to do anything" The girl then pointed her finger at Bella and had a mean look on her face. Bella looked back at her and said "I don't want to" and climbed down the ladder and moved on to something else.

I was so proud of her. That was her first real experience with peer pressure and she handle herself really well. It was hard to witness that because I could see the struggle in her face. I could of gone up there and saved her and yelled at the little girls but I think it was good for her to handle it herself. I just wanted her to know that she always has options and she never has to do anything that doesn't feel right.

What a big lesson for such a little girl! When we get back to California, Bella is going to start pre-school. We started talking about it and she couldn't be more excited. I just can't believe she is so grown up!

Happy Birthday Bella!

Climbing the Steepest Street in the World!

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the steepest street in the world is Baldwin Street. It just so happens that it is right here in Dunedin. While my mom was here we decided to give it a go. We were anticipating a really hard climb, but either we are in better shape than we thought or it isn't as steep as we imagined.

The gradient of the steepest section is 1 in 2.86 giving an angle of 19.3 degrees from horizontal.

There were many other people on Baldwin street while we were there. Some were walking, some were running and others were driving. Mom and I walked and ran the hill. On one side of the street there are stairs and the other side there is a foot path so you can pick your poison.

Once a year they have The Baldwin Street Gutbuster where participants sprint to the top and back again. The current record is 1min 56.06 sec. Also, once a year, Cadbury holds a lolly race down Baldwin St. It is similar to the Ducky Derby, if you are from Santa Cruz. They number Jaffas(a round type of cadbury chocolate) and you can sponsor a jaffa and if your number wins you win! Pretty fun!

I found a book at a local bookstore on Baldwin St. and it showed how you could take some interesting photos by tilting the camera even with the street.

Bill showed the picture to Bella when I wasn't around and she said "The house fell and mommy is running to get help" Bill said he laughed so hard he was crying!

What he didn't know was that I had told her that earlier when I showed her the picture! HE! HE!

Another fun day!

The prince and princess return to the castle...

We visited the Larnach castle for the second time while my mom was here. It was really fun! The last time we went, we opted not to go inside the castle but rather just look around the garden. It was early evening when we went and we were afraid that the castle wouldn't be the same after letting a tired pre-schooler and curious toddler have a look at it! It was gorgeous and warm that day so we were able to spend alot of time outside and really enjoy the spectacular views. This time, however, it was very cold and windy. We did look around the garden but it was a pretty quick trip and then we decided to go inside....

We had a great time! The kids did really well. I was glad that there weren't many other people around so we were able to move pretty quickly throughout the rooms. It was really fun for me because I was able to tell Bella things about what we were seeing and she was actually listening! I wasn't sure if she was listening but when we went into a room for a second time she repeated back to me everything I had told her before. It was pretty cool.

Charlie loved that there were tons of stairs to climb and he wasn't riding in a stroller and was actually walking!
One of the coolest parts was when we got to climb the narrow winding stairs to the turret where we had a view of the whole area. Bella was a princess in the tower, as she was wearing her tiara and had a princess gown on over her jeans that day.
Another fun day in Dunedin!

Charlie(and Bella) and the Chocolate Factory...

A couple months ago the kids and I took a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory. Ever since, Bella talks about it a lot! She would tell my mom all about it, so of course, that was something my mom wanted to do while she was here.

The kids did really well on the tour. I was afraid that they would be bored because they have already heard everything but I was wrong.

One if the biggest differences, this time was that my kids know what chocolate is and so wanted to eat it the entire tour. On the tour you are given chocolate throughout, so that when the tour is over you walk away with 6-7 chocolate bars. I used to pride myself on the fact that my kids didn't know what chocolate was. Halloween candy could always be traded for healthy snacks because they had no idea what candy was. Boy am I in trouble now! Ever since the last tour they pick it out in grocery stores, gas stations and sometimes in our pantry...yikes!

At the end of the tour, we get to go into one of the three cadbury silos. Inside there is a dramatic chocolate waterfall. It is just for show, they don't use the chocolate in their candy. The waterfall is quite loud and last time Bella was afraid. So, this time I warned Bella beforehand so she could cover her ears. What I forgot to do, I guess, was warn Charlie because he was very scared and started screaming. I had to leave the room until the waterfall was turned off.

All in all, it was a really fun tour. The kids got to eat a little bit of chocolate and then we got rid of the rest!

Kiwi's

Ever since we have arrived in New Zealand we have been talking about kiwi birds with the kids. They can spot them anywhere...on shirts, signs, posters, etc. So, when we found out that there is a conservatory in Queenstown that held real kiwi birds we thought we had better go.

When we went to the conservatory, we first listened to a talk on some of the birds that they have there. Kiwi birds are semi-nocturnal, secretive birds so they were not able to show us a live one in the show but we got to see one afterward. Kiwis have the shortest beaks out of any bird! Anyone who has seen a kiwi may find that hard to believe because they are super long. But, when they measure a birds beak they measure from nostril to tip. Kiwis being the only bird to have their nostrils at the end of their beak don't really measure up.

Kiwi's are fairly small birds, weighing between 3 and 9 pounds. One other interesting thing we found out about Kiwis is that Kiwi eggs are proportionately larger compared to the size of the adult female than the eggs of any other bird. An egg may reach one-quarter of its mother’s weight. After the first egg is laid, the male takes over incubation and nest maintenance. Wow! They showed us an x-ray of a pregnant Kiwi. It was pretty cool!

After we saw the Kiwi birds we were able to walk around the conservatory with headphones for a self-guided tour of birds, ducks and some historical displays of the area. It was cute to see the kids starring into the cages, listening to their headsets. Bella enjoyed following the numbers and listening but Charlie thought it was more fun throwing rocks into the water. We didn't see much of the famous Kiwi birds as their area was dimly lit and they were hard to spot. Charlie talks about Kiwi birds and so we were hoping to see more of them.

Charlie and the diggers

Charlie is fascinated with diggers, helicopters, airplanes, trains, any kind of transportation or big machinery. He is really good at spotting them from a long way off. Usually he yells "digger" and then I look around and sure enough there is one. On our road trip we saw a lot of diggers and helicopters. Charlie was in heaven.

On our way down from the ski resort we saw a steam roller in a parking lot. We pulled over for a closer look. When we pulled over and he heard us talk about getting out, he immediately threw down his water bottle and his book and said in a very loud voice "BUCKLE OFF". As soon as my mom released the buckle on his car seat, he was across her lap and out the door. His grin was ear to ear when he got to stand on the step by the door to the big machine. He also sat in the tire and couldn't be happier. It was so cute.

We went on a train trip and at one point the train stopped for about 5 min. It happened to stop right in front of an excavator(a word Charlie can say really well, surprisingly). He was so happy. He kept staring out the window and saying "excavator". It was as if he were in some trance. When he sees a digger he drops everything in his hands and stares! What a boy!!!

Snow Day!!!!

Our next stop on our adventure was Queenstown. It was a two hour drive from Te Anau and we were not ready to get back in the car but nevertheless we started our journey. Bill and I and the kids have been to Queenstown once before and loved it so we were pretty excited to get back there. For the rest of the day we let the kids play, checked out our apartment(a two bedroom with one bath and a full kitchen) and unpacked a little.

The next morning we woke up, had some breakfast and headed for the slopes! It was a beautiful day, perfect for the snow. We bundled the kids up(they looked so cute in the their snow gear) and headed for The Remarkables Ski resort. The road to the resort was a windy, narrow road so we were very glad that it wasn't icy that day. We saw some of the most dramatic views on the way up the mountain. We made it to the top, got the rest of our gear on and road the magic carpet(a moving conveyor belt) to the lodge. The kids really liked doing that! We heard that there was an area dedicated to sledding at this resort but quickly found out that that particular part was not open yet as this was the opening day of the resort. We were pretty bummed but quickly got over it and found a big area of snow off the side to play in. The kids were having a great time trudging around in the snow. Bella kept falling and getting up and falling again laughing all the while. She and I also had fun making snow angels and throwing snow at each other. Charlie, on the other hand, was a little more timid. He could walk pretty well on top of the snow but if his feet sunk at all or any snow touched his skin, he would whine. Bella saw a little girl go down the slopes on skis and decided that she wanted to do that as well. Bill and I took her to the lodge to get skis. He rented skis as well so that he could teach her and ski with her. In hind sight and from looking at pictures the whole thing was a bad idea but you never know until after, right? She was not at all interested in getting fitted for boots. She fussed and whined when they took her boots to fit her skis and pretty much threw herself down when I said let's go outside and go skiing....I mean how dumb are we? We got outside and Bill really tried to show her how to ski but unfortunately Bella had other ideas. I think, in her mind when she put on the skis she would magically know how to do it and it didn't work out that way. So bad led to worse and needless to say she ended up having the worlds biggest screaming tantrum on the top of the mountain. All was not lost, however. Bill picked Charlie up, held him dangling between his legs and sailed down the hill of the bunny slope. Charlie loved it and kept saying "More, More!" After Charlie was through we gathered up Bella and left the mountain. It was a fun and eyeopening experience...

Fiorland Fun!

My mom has been visiting for the past two weeks and it has been sooo wonderful! We have been able to do a lot of traveling and sightseeing. The day after she arrived we packed up the car and started on our first adventure...

We left on our four hour drive to Te Anau at about 10:30 am. We have been borrowing a Suburu station wagon while we have been here which has been great but there wasn't enough room for an adult to sit in the back with the kids. The laws here concerning carseats are such that if all other seats are taken up then you could put a carseat in the front passenger seat. So that is what we did and it worked out wonderfuly. Isabella loved being up in the front seat with an obstructed view of the goings on and now she was closer to the music. Charlie loved being in the backseat next to my mom and I without Bella to bug him!

The drive went well but was way too long, if you know what I mean! We were happy to be in Te Anau, although it was much colder than we were used to, which took a little getting used to. Te Anau is almost straight west from Dunedin, only on the other side of the country. Dunedin is on the east coast of the south island, on the Otago Peninsula. Te Anau is on the west side of the south island and the hub of Fiordland National Park. Milford Sound is the most famous and accessible of the fiords. That was our destination and our main reason for going to Te Anau, the closest town to the sound. We had reservations in a Holiday Park, which has lodges, trailers and tents. We were in a family lodge apartment with 2 bedrooms, tiny kitchen and living area. Charlie slept in a pack n play with Bill and I and my mom and Bella slept in the other room in bunk beds.The kids entertained themselves climbing up and down the bunk ladder which finally had to be made off limits. The holiday park was fairly quiet because I think it is used more in the hotter months but it worked well for us.

We had an 11am boat to catch in Milford Sound so we had a quick breakfast and were on the road by 8:15 a.m. The sun wasn't even up yet so it was brisk outside. The road to Milford Sound is world famous. Every time we rounded a curve in the road, there was another "ah" "ohh" view and a photo opportunity. The clouds were hanging in the valleys between dramatic snow covered mountain peaks, next to lakes and rivers. We had a time crunch, so we got good at pulling over to the side of the road, jumping out, taking some quick pictures and jumping back in again. It is cute how the kids enjoy the scenery with us, saying "Wow" and "Pull over Daddy, there is a good picture". We were the only ones on the road for most of the 2 hour drive. The highlight for the kids was driving through the Homer Tunnel and then stopping at a rest stop where they were able to touch the snow. It was pretty crusty and slippery but it was a new experience for them, so it was exciting nonetheless. We got to the boat launching place in time to buy our ticket, make a restroom/diaper change stop and get ourselves bundled up for the boat ride. As we boarded the boat, Bella marched up to the mate at the end of the plank and said "G-day". She wasn't being silly, just speaking the language as she hears it. On the Red Boat Cruise, we found a great table on the second level of the boat where the kids could see everything outside and that became our spot to come and go from for the rest of the cruise. The hot buffet was all set up when we boarded so we used our complimentory tickets and filled our plates with meats, potatoes, kiwi fruit, etc. No-one ate much because as soon as we were underway, the scenery was more exciting than the food. Our boat cruise wound through the fiords where sheer cliffs met deep blue water, waterfalls cascaded down the rocks, and the snowy peaks created a dramatic backdrop that was almost too beautiful to take in. We had a small outside viewing area near our table and went in and out as new scenery came into view. Sometimes it was very cold and windy out there so we wouldn't stay long. That was also our favorite lookout place because the railings were childsafe, unlike some of the other decks where we had to keep a good grip on little hands. The highlight for Charlie was when the groups of dolphins would swim near the boat. Charlie called them sharks but he enjoyed watching them. Bella's favorite part was when the boat went up close to a waterfall and she and I were out on our deck and got sprayed by the mist from the gushing water. We were both laughing so hard and Bella kept yelling"my hair is so wet!!" We cruised out until the fiord opened up into the ocean sea, and we turned around and sailed back. It was just long enough and we all had a great time. We started the drive back to Te Anau but this time stopped for longer times to take pictures and enjoy the sights. We stopped near a bridge and got out to walk the footbridge across the river. The waters edge was dense with forest and ferns. We soon realized there were biting knats too so got on our way as fast as we could. Charlie was soon asleep but we stopped at a rest stop so Bella could play in the snow. This time it was sunny and the snow was perfect for packing. Bill helped her roll some big balls and make a snowman. This was all a new experience for Bella and she loved every minute of being in the snow. Bella is one of those kids that doesn't seem to feel the cold so she was running and falling and rolling and tasting (oh yes, that was one of the first things she did). Bill and I had fun playing with her and enjoying her excitement. It was sad that Charlie slep through all of the snow fun. We almost woke him up when a man came out into the clearing where they were playing in the snow and said they may want to move as a helicopter was going to land. Sure enough, minutes later, a helicopter landed right in front of us, two men got out with some supplies and the other man, who spoke to us, got in and it took off again. Charlie is crazy about helicopters and he missed the whole thing. Later that day when we were back in town, a helicopter was parked at the side of the lake. We stopped the car so Charlie and I could walk over for a closer look. Charlie was so excited and felt very special when Bella had to stay in the car with Bill and my mom. He said, "Just Charlie" as he climbed out of the car to go with me.

It was a wonder fully busy day full of fun and excitement! We went back to our holiday park, got to bed fairly early so we could continue our adventure the next day......