Friendly Fun

1-Budgy and a penguin do the tango.
2-Explorers spotting land or Lands' End casual clothing models?
3-Playing with the backyard rocket ship (who knew my hubby was an aeronautical engineer?)
4-Veronica, Benson, and Budgy at Oreti Beach.
5-Budgy, MK, and Fret the ladybug chilling on the big chairs (we were sooo close to the ceiling sitting way up there!)

We've been so lucky to have had such frequent visitors lately. After lonely months of anticipation it seems that we've had one group after another since September. Seeing as we're leaving in just a few weeks I'm pretty sure this group was our last...and they were probably the most intrepid of the bunch!

Anyone who travels internationally with a toddler is either crazy or, frankly, crazy. I know that their journey was challenging in multiple ways but we are enormously glad (and impressed!) that after traveling all the way from Wisconsin, battling the flu bugs of the world's not-so-friendly skies and the dairy effects of New Zealand livestock (such midwestern connoisseurs they are!) Benson, Veronica, and their wee toddler Budgy made it all the way to Invers!

John and I have had a crash course in parenting this week. We have been shielded from nothing and it's been an eye-opening experience. It was a lot of fun and very full-on (as they say here, it kind of says it all). I was under the impression that I haven't spent much time around little kids (though I now realize that a little bit here and there in schools I've worked in adds up), but I didn't realize that John's spent even less. It must have been pretty amusing to see us both come to grips with the not-so-glamorous side of family life.

I felt guilty that our friends didn't get to see more of Southland but even on toddler/infirm speed we managed to see quite a lot. Selfishly I loved getting to know each of them a bit more. Even though they're technically "John's friends" I feel like I can call them friends of mine now, too. What wonderful people! The house seemed so empty when they drove off...

I'll miss talking with Veronica, taking photos with Benson, exploring underwater caves with Budgy and a whole lot more. Hopefully we'll get to hang out with them a lot more in the future. Could the Midwest really be beckoning? (Don't freak out quite yet West Coast family and friends but it still is a possibility!)