Landon's Birthday Party

Hi Everyone. Here are a few pictures of Landon's 6th Birthday party. I can't believe he is 6! We had a Transformers party. Alison did a great job ... she had 2 of Cecily's friends come to help out. She split the kids into 2 groups with stations and activities around the house. The bouncer outside was lots of fun. My only regret is I didn't ever get to jump on it! I had to include the picture of Amelia in Biscuit's cage ... she loves to climb inside. Also notice Landon plugging his ears as he was blowing out his birthday candle ... he didn't want everyone to sing Happy Bday to him. He's so funny.

Farming in NZ

These photos are for Dad. There are a lot of farms ... and a lot of sheep! 4 million people live in NZ, but they have 48 million sheep! They also have lots of deer and elk farms! They export the meat to Europe and the antlers go to Korea and China for traditional medicine. I was so surprised to see this! They don't really hunt deer and elk in NZ anymore except in very few places ... all of them have been captured and are farmed.

One Laned Bridge!

We were so surprised at how many bridges were one lane in NZ! First of all, you're always on a two-lane road except in the bigger cities where you might actually have a 4 lane highway. But I was so surprised the first time I came up on a one lane bridge! You have to watch the signs ... one side has the right away so that side has to yield. Some of the larger bridges have small turn outs in the middle for cars to pass if 2 cars get caught on the bridge. That only happened to us once.

More NZ Scenery Pictures

Milford Sound

This is in the Fiord National Park. This is by far the most beautiful place I've ever been. We took a boat up the sound, out to the ocean and back. It rained in the morning, which added a special touch to our visit ... Waterfalls! The kids counted 165 waterfalls! The pictures just don't do this place justice! They pulled the boat up to a couple of waterfalls that came from glaciers up on the mountains. You can see that the raincoats came in handy!

Miscellaneous NZ

Whale Watching in Kaikoura

This was so cool! We went out on a boat to see some Sperm Whales off the East coast of NZ. There is this special area where an incredibly deep ocean canyon exists. The currents create the perfect feeding ground for whales and lots of sea life. The male sperm whales in this area live here for 40 years before they ever leave to mate! We got to see Tiaki and Little Nick, plus a big group of dusky dolphins (over 150). It was incredible to see them in the open water. The dolphins were swimming all around and under our boat. It was so neat.

Franz Joseph Glacier

We went to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. It was so beautiful! There are only 3 glaciers in the world where they lead into a rain forest then drain into the ocean and New Zealand has two of them. We were just a few miles from the coast. We took a helicopter ride up to the top of the glaciers and got to get out, eat some snow and take a few pictures. You can see that it was so bright. It was amazing how big it is!

NZ Sunset

What an amazing sunset! I think I could win money for these pictures :-). Me and Amelia went to watch the sunset on the ocean in a city called Greymouth on the West coast of the Southern Island. It was breathtaking!

More Amelia

Our little one is growing up so fast! She's so much fun. She calls herself "amemia".

Amelia Putting on Makeup

She got into Mommy's makeup bag and went to town

Feeding Ducks & Antartica Penguin Preserve

We got to feed lots of ducks and gulls. We also went to an Antarctic preserve, rode one of the transport vehicles (better than a roller coaster! They can climb a 45 degree angle).

New Zealand - Campground

NZ is so beautiful!!! I took over 500 pictures! They don't do the scenery justice. However, here are a few to share with everyone. We rented a motorhome and stayed in campgrounds (it's the best way to see New Zealand). Many of the parks had these big air pillows the kids could jump on and bike/carts to rent.