I've heard a new one!

"He was up at sparrow's fart"

This means that someone was up at the crack of dawn. 

We walked around the crater lake near Pihanga with Quinn's class. The first picture is a Koru spiral. The second is Pihanga and the green crater lake. 

Trump is the butt of every joke. Even here. 

Kiwis love their coffee - and I love their coffee too. Flat whites at a cafe are my go-to favorite. It's funny because there are true espresso machines for espresso based drinks at tons of shops - including Mitre 10 (like Home Depot) and even gas stations. 

At home, Kiwis drink their coffee in many forms - espresso, "plunger coffee" (French press), instant is very common, and even coffee bags like this one!

On Quinn's school camping trip tonight. We are staying at Memorial Hut on Mount Ruapehu. 

The kids are having a blast. While they were playing hide and seek I found out something! Kids here count "1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi..." just like in the states! Mississippi! You're world famous!

And then this giant spider was in our house. 

I saw this at Mitre 10. Don't show Chris, I think this might unlock a new fear. 

Christmas is weird in NZ. Decorations are mostly your typical items/ themes (snow, reindeer, evergreens, etc) despite it being in the middle of summer. The Christmas decor at Mitre 10 was right next to the chilly bins (coolers) and jandals (sandals). 

The kids and I started a Couch-to-5k program 2 weeks ago. I haven't run regularly since college! It's been really nice. It's beautiful in the evening after dinner and the kids keep me in good company. 

Clark rode his bike to the grocery store down the street to get a few peppers for dinner last night. It was nice to know that this was safe and that this is so common here, even Quinn wouldn't have been stopped running an errand like.