Wanting to show Anna more than just Wellington, we figured Queen's Birthday weekend was the perfect opportunity to have a mini-holiday with our dear friends the Burrows' as well! Win-Win-Win!!! We packed up after soccer and headed north...
It was a bit cosier in the backseat than usual. We drove up to Porirua to meet the other car-lot at our favourite (easiest) eatery then caravanned together to our first stop - Levin! We decided that we'd take a slowish trip up and stop to play so that it was more enjoyable... we did a little car swap and continued north!
We hired a great house - 4 bedrooms plus 2 bathrooms... the girls stayed in one room, the boys shared a room, Jen & Tony got a room, Anne & Mike had a room... which left Anna to enjoy the warmest, most entertaining room in the house! Not to mention the most popular...
After a leisurely breakfast - we headed up the mountain on what was the most AMAZING winter day ever!!! There wasn't enough snow to really get into it, but we had fun playing around the parking lot...
Well, the kids managed to find some snow... they loved it! The started throwing snowballs at the dads on their scooters... miraculously no tears or accidents... After lunch, we decided to go for a walk up the trail to the frozen reservoir.
Ohhhh... did I mention that it was an AMAZING day! We could see forever...
After some fun on the mountain, Anna and I walked through town to meet the rest of the family at the park (what else do you do with five energetic kids?!?). We had a tasty dinner and a competitive game of Qwirkle while the kids were in bed. It was a fun night and a memorable weekend.
Early Monday morning, Tony and Hunter went for an adventure walk... then we tidied up the house and headed out for some fun along the ride.
First stop - the Ohakune carrot!
Second stop - the Army Museum in Waiouru!
Third stop - Playground in Levin!!!
We had a great car ride - we heard lots of reports about Anna's favourite memories, foods and what she'll miss most about NZ. It was a really fun way to end a wonderful month together.
She treated us to dinner at Gasworks - which was a treat for me after having prepared two big meals to feed the masses over the weekend - so we had our last family meal... ohhh, good-byes are not easy.
Okay and this was it... after re-arranging her overweight luggage at 4:45am - this was the end of the line for me. Anna was on her way back to Taipei - leaving with us huge smiles and warm memories! Come back sometime, sister... you are always welcome here!
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