Super long, jam packed, amazing day

Today was amazing. We got up and had some breakfast and then headed up another five hours to get to the top of New Zealand to Cape Reinga. It was a long haul, but it was also really beautiful. 

There were so many people there it was crazy. I had no idea that it would be that busy. I remember going there when I was a little girl.

It was really windy, of course. So it made for some pretty funny pictures.

We had to wait our turn to be able to stand by the sign post as there was a big line

But we were patient and waited our turn.

It was really unique and fun to be at the very top of New Zealand and the views were amazing.

 I love this little dot showing us where we were at the time. Right at the very very top.

Then we headed down from there to grab some lunch at this local beach just down the road. It was really nice.

After that, we headed to the Sand  dunes and it wasn’t as windy, which was awesome. I didn’t go down any of the hills, but everybody else did and they had a blast. Luckily, we have bought some boogie boards with us so that we could have fun.

Poor Emiko was a little sick and so this picture is her coughing until she threw up, but she was kind of laughing so we were all laughing and it made for some pretty neat family photos. 

Here is the walk up to where we were meant to go. 

Here we are having lunch straight after being at the top of Cape Reinga. 

Then after we were finished at the sand dunes, we went to 90 Mile Beach and wanted to swim and be there because it’s such a wonderful beach.

It was pretty good and the beach was really nice and the water was great, but it was really windy

We had to brace ourselves in the wind

Here’s Dru 🖤 giving you an example of bracing ourselves in the wind. But we still managed to have fun and enjoyed ourselves for what it was. I wish we could’ve seen it imperfect weather but not all things can be perfect.

Always getting the hill click pictures from Takeshi 💛 and the different seasons.

I took a time lapse of our drive up to the northern part of New Zealand.

I didn’t wanna get my feet Sandy and so Dru 🖤 took me across the little river. This was on the way back down from the sand dunes.

Here are the kids having fun sliding down on the boogie boards on the sand.

Then we saw some wild horses trying to get to 90 Mile Beach. That was pretty awesome.

Here’s Dru 🖤 drying out his clothes because it’s so windy at the beach.

Some more wild horse sightings

This was pretty amazing that Yuki 🧡 captured this but when we were up at Capereinga. , it was so windy that Kishi threw the steak and it came back and he caught it. Isn’t that amazing?

We travel back and we’re pooped, but it was just the best day ever and I’m really glad that we did it. 

Goodbye Tok, hello up north

Boxing Day we said our goodbyes to everyone. Knox was the hardest. He had been our awesome companion for the week and we missed him when he wasn’t with us. I’m so glad he stayed with us. We love him. 

We then traveled for about five hours straight up NZ. It was beautiful 🤩 and the kids did really well. They’re used to car rides and it wasn’t too windy. So that was good. 

The northern part of NZ is always so beautiful and I’m glad we were able to show our kids parts of it. 

First stop was to my friend whakarongotais place. She lives about half an hour from whangarei. It was so so good to see her. 

She looks amazing and we cooked ourselves some dinner and set up camp by her. Absolutely stunning place. 

We were grateful to have mums tent. It for us perfect. 

Look at that view. 

We were so grateful to have this spot to camp in. 

It was a great night catching up. I’m glad we finally got to see each other after more than two decades. So crazy. 
 

Christmas Eve and Day

Christmas Eve and day was great. 

Above is what the kids opened up on Christmas morning. And they were grateful for it. I love my kids for that. 

Emiko took lots of pictures on her nice camera which are on the computer that I havnt put on here 👀 I guess I should do something about that!??? Maybe I’ll add them when we try to figure that out. 

I never forget the reason for the season which is my and your savior Jesus Christ. 

Family Christmas pic. 

Dior took these pics of her family. 

Then she took these wonderful pics of our whole family together on Christmas Eve. 

Everyone had a really great day together. It was beautiful. 

Christmas Day we went on the jet ski that Bevin had. The kids had tons of fun. 

It was nice to get out. 

Masaru spent Christmas with Finley family as Kristins family were sick and he wasn’t invited by any other family to be with them. That made my heart pretty sad. But it’s the way adult life is. 

I’m grateful for having Christmas with mum and my family. It was nice. I’m also grateful for people who love my kids. 

 

Simple day

 

Just on our walk today I saw this guy. 

Today was simple and we hung out together. We worked out. 

Then we went shopping together in Rotorua and taupo. It was a great day together as a family 

Diors bday

So for Diors bday we all gathered at the strawberry farm to pick strawberries. But they had closed it for us which was a huge disappointment. But Bevin brought chocolate and we brought some strawberries and dipped them in the chocolate and ate them. It was fun. 

We then headed to the beach and swam and hung out and ate. 

She always likes to go to the beach and get wet for her bday. So we all did that for her. 

We found this weird jellyfish. It kept the kids entertained for ages. 

I’m glad Knox was with us. 

Striking a pose bro 😎 

Love Diors dress she wore. 

Love spending time with this cute girl Forest. 

Cute te Ramaroa 

It was a fun day for the kids and us. Grateful that Dior was born.