L&P (Lemon & Paeroa) is an iconic soft drink here. “World famous in New Zealand since 1907”

It’s a lemon-flavored fizzy drink that was originally made with naturally carbonated mineral water from the town of Paeroa in the Waikato region (the region we live in).

 Quinn had a friend from school over to play today and they decided to pick some lemons from the tree in our yard and make lemonade. It turned out very tasty!

Living in a country where the beach is never more than 130 km (~80 miles) away and in a town sitting on the edge of an amazing lake, means water safety is a priority.  Quinn had swimming lessons at school for the last 2 weeks. This is in addition to the regular school pool use they have during Terms 1 and 4 (warmer months). They traveled each day to the local community pools (heated outdoor pool or indoor pool) and worked on swimming and water safety. On the last day, they worked on life jacket safety and how to handle a boat that capsizes. Quinn had a lot of fun, and I love that this is a part of school for the kids here.

 Bekah came home excited to share about her data disc project. Her little blurb about the project was published in the school news letter - she was so proud! 

She also got moved up in her maths group which made her feel extra good about her week. 

Clark made a balloon-powered car in his physics class today. He really enjoyed the project and was excited to share it with us when he got home. It made it all the way across the kitchen!
 

I’m really enjoying biking to and from work each day. Sometimes I listen to Spanish podcasts or audiobooks (gotta maintain those Spanish skills it took me so long to obtain). Sometimes I use this app called FlowTunes and choose some lyric-free music tho enjoy. In the mornings, I prefer EDM so biking feels like a spin class or a video game. In the afternoons, I like to choose “cinematic piano music” so I can pretend I’m the main character in a movie doing something important at the climax of the movie. 

Am I weird? Of course, but I have a lot of fun being this way, so deal with it.

Bekah and I enjoyed a moon halo tonight when we made an after-dinner grocery run. It was stunning. 

I love the way that my family has been able to experience other cultures while we’ve been in New Zealand. All three kids start their days at school with a karakia, which is a traditional Maori chant/prayer that is meant to help set intentions. We start our work meetings with a karakia too.

Sometimes I hear Bekah or Quinn singing Maori songs that they’ve learned in school. Bekah even joined the kapa haka group at her school. She was very excited to learn poi, which is a performance art where you swing a weighted ball on a string as part of a dance.

 We finally found Bekah a bike (not this statue one, obviously, that’s just where we met to pick the bike up from the seller) so that’s 2 down and 1 more to go. 

Mt. Tauhara

 We took a walk through the botanical gardens in town this afternoon. The views were spectacular. There’s also a tradition of hiding painted rocks throughout the trails in the gardens. If you find one, you can either rehide it or take it to “the snake” in the gardens and add it to this long line of painted rocks. 

We walked all the way to Clark’s school (kura) from our house. It’s about a 50 minute walk, but he’s hoping to get a bike soon so he can bike there some of the time rather than taking the bus.
 

 This little praying mantis accidentally hitched a ride on our partially line-dried towels into our dryer. He ended up in the lint trap and was still alive! I guess the advantages of a heat-pump dryer (lower temps) extend to saving lives. We released him back onto the wall of ivy in the backyard.

 We were out looking for bikes for the kids and Quinn really wanted to stop at a bakery for a delicious slice. (Slice is a breakfast dessert. It’s like a bar of brownie. Common varieties include ginger slice and caramel slice). I was waffling about going out because we had talked about getting dinner or lunch out this weekend. She dropped it for a bit, but just a bit later she said, “That bakery over there looks like a good place to get a flat white…” The girl knows me. 

Clark told me today about something he was doing in maths. MathS. With an S! Yes, we are adopting some Kiwi ways for sure. 

Quinn calls everyone “bro” and does a Kiwi inflection on her questions that I can’t explain in a written format, but it’s adorable. 

Me? I’m trying out “sweet as” and “hard as” in casual conversation. 

 There are far fewer stop signs in New Zealand than in the U.S. Many intersections simply have give way signs - or even just a triangle drawn on the road - indicating that you don’t have to come to a complete stop if it’s not necessary. 

I always notice this most when someone behind me lovingly reminds me with a tap on their horn…

 I met up with a local ED nurse practitioner who moved here in December from the states. We had some delicious coffee while sharing about what life has been like recently. Our families have become friends and it’s been nice to have other people who are going through similar experiences with an around-the-world move. I’m grateful to have friends here to share these things with.

 

The girls and I went horse riding on Saturday as belated birthday fun for Quinn. We had a great time on an hour long trail ride through the “enchanted forest” with our horses: Harlen, Tirangi, and Moko. The forest was pretty neat. We also enjoyed some incredible views on our way home - stopping at 3 different scenic lookouts as we made our way along the edge of the lake back home. 

 I took a 1/4 day off work to see Quinn’s hockey game yesterday. Her games are always between 3:30 and 5 and I don’t get off until 5. I love that everyone at work was so excited for me to catch her game. By the time Bekah’s game rolled around at 6 PM, it was getting pretty chilly, but the girls played great. I love seeing their skills and confidence improve week by week. 

 We get a wonky box of fruit and veg in the mail every week. It’s produce that otherwise might be wasted because it’s a little weird shaped or whatever. I love getting it in the mail and it encourages me to eat more produce. 

 Mountains… volcanoes… either way, they are beautiful.

The kids tried crumpets this week. I’m not sure if this is even really a NZ thing or just a UK-influence thing. Bekah said they taste like a bready-biscuity thing and the texture was a bit like a pancake…

 

I went into the break room for afternoon tea and saw this on the counter. I started laughing at the thought of “everyday cheese” and had to explain myself to my coworkers. The idea of “everyday cheese” is just so funny. You know, it’s not fancy cheese - just everyday cheese. 

It was delicious, by the way. 

We went to Huka Falls for a tramp. It was a lot of fun and only 15 minutes from our house.

 

In New Zealand, “giving someone a chocolate fish” is a bit like giving a gold star… except you actually get a chocolate fish. 

I bought a suture practice kit because I haven’t done sutures in years. Our nurses do amazing suture work, but it is a good possibility that I will need this skill here. I loved suturing in school and during my brief stint in urgent care. Honestly, kinda looking forward to getting this skill back. 

Clark’s art from term 1

#crossingguardlife