**November 30th, 2013 – realized now (May 10th 2014) that this didn’t publish**
Another adventure with my parents! Katamatura loop walk – it was a cooler day so we didn’t mind doing a hike.
suncreen application. the story of my life.
ellie and charlie
claire found this awesome flower.
seriously – it was so detailed. I loved the little curly pink twists with the tips of green.
Kauri Tree
it was a bit cloudy and overcast.
claire taking her time
if we didn’t have the kids (and it would have been warm) we could have swam in the waterfall pool. not easy with 3 kids
charlie and g. pops.
nana – enjoying a moment of kid free.
another scrapped knee. he has had MANY of these these days.
never going to get me care - says ellie
never going to get me eyee – says claire
and the giggling and laughing continue
the day was heating up so we drove to Whatipu to check out the black sand beach there.
the landscape was beautiful.
the black sand was also very HOT on your feet – you had to wear sandals or they burned.
it was perfect sandcastle sand.
and burying seestors sand. ellie was waist deep.
charlie being kind to claire even after she destroyed some of his castle – the not so fun part about having 2 busy sisters.
claire.
charlie and ellie.
I love watching these 3 together – I think I had forgot how much time you really spend with your siblings. for so many years they are your only playmates. what a sweet thing it is to watch (sometimes a not so sweet thing to manage, but worth it).
claire, ellie, charlie.
bill and I went exploring up the rocks on the left.
it was windy and a little cold so the kids found this fresh water stream that felt warm and were playing in it.
the view looking back from the top.
we returned to find that nana had built the kids a “hot tub” and they were laying in it.
and inspecting a half of fish vertebrae.
nana and g pops tagged out and went to explore.
weyam, being the awesome dad he is, decided to reroute the stream and make a little pool with stream coming back to the main stream.
bill got a back workout that is for sure!
it was sweet because as Bill was building this stream it reminded him of when he would build “fish houses” with his dad and family and they would catch fish and put them in the houses.
the girls were starting to get cold so I brought them away from the water to warm up. this is what they both did. think they were tired?!?!
Bill was so proud because he officially diverted the stream into his new pathway.
the dam he built in its glory – the new stream even had a bit of current.
back on the warm dry sand. E&C put on some dry clothes courtesy of nana and g pops.
ellie and nana.
we drove about 30 min to check out Piha.
trying to get some pictures with the kids.
they never go as you hope they will.
a fantastic day exploring more of God’s beautiful creation.
