Lambs

We have done a lot of driving since we've been in New Zealand. And everywhere we go, we always see fields of sheep. And every time we drive past these sheep, we always say we want to go pet their fluffy fur! Well, we finally were able to do that! Our Bishop and his family have just gotten 2 new little lambs that their son is helping raise for a school project. They are their family pets. They let us come over and meet their little friends and help feed them their dinner. The kids loved it!

Army Bay

Father's Day in the States is celebrated in June. Father's Day in New Zealand is celebrated in September. We had visitors on the June Father's Day so we decided to celebrate it when New Zealand does. But, we didn't realize that it would fall during the time I would be in Alaska with my family. So, we picked a day and decided to honor Cody. He started his day with homemade cinnamon rolls and doing his favorite activity, mountain biking. Then we picked another local beach to explore…Army Bay. And it was gorgeous! We packed a picnic, bundled up, and headed a few minutes away to check it out. The weather was beautiful, a little chilly but sunny. Army Bay beach was a nice and quiet beach with a great small grassy area, soft black sand, an awesome climbing tree, and gorgeous view. We made ourselves comfy on our blanket in the grass and watched a wind surfer practice, our kids wander in the sand and throw rocks into the sea, and our little monkeys climb the cool tree playhouse.

We headed over to Shakespear Beach also and explored. This will be a great place to visit in the summer because this beach has tons of grass and public bbq areas. We saw beautiful red looking parrots and peacocks and lots of sheep. Shakespear Park has this awesome huge picture frame with a gorgeous view behind. We had fun posing and making perfect pictures!

We finished the day off going on a date to a local Thai restaurant with some friends. And the evening was complete with Cody's favorite dessert, chocolate satin pie =) We sure love the man of our home!

Arkles Bay

Our Saturdays have been cold and wet lately so we have to get creative with our adventures. Cody went mountain biking with friends in the morning and I had church meetings in the afternoon, so we tried to squeeze in a little adventure in that small window. Plus, Ethan broke his arm (yes…again!) so we didn't want to do anything too active yet. We live on a peninsula and are surrounded by tons of beaches. We still haven't visited all of our neighboring beaches so we decided to check one out. We packed a picnic and drove a few minutes to Arkles Bay beach. Apparently this beach has a lot of orca activity but we didn't see any creatures besides seagulls. The seagulls here are prettier and nicer than the ones found in southern California. Cody and I love to sit back and watch our kids explore, wander, and play on the shore. Gavin is especially fun to watch in his groove. He could be out in the sand and water all day long! It got a bit windy and chilly so we drove to a nearby wharf and checked out the boats.

On Sunday, we went over to our friend's house that just got a sweet little puppy. Our kids fell in love! They really really miss our dog so it was fun to let them get their dog fix. They keep begging us for another dog, but luckily our answer is easy because we rent =)