New Zealand - Take 3

I can't help but feel guilty. Here it is almost the end of October and I still have yet to finish blogging about our adventures that happened in July. Along with having the hunt of a lifetime, we also managed to do some snow skiing on the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Being able to ski in another country was on my bucket list of things to do in life...thanks to this wonderful trip, I can now say that one is crossed off the list. From my previous posts you might remember that we had some issues with wind and weather. For the first part of out trip, the mountain was closed due to lack of snow and windy conditions at the top of the mountain. Around day 6 or so, that changed and the weather cleared and allowed the mountain to open. The girls were excited to see snow and give snow skiing a try. That excitement would change a little bit, but that is another story for later on. Soooo day 6, about 9:00 AM, we loaded up the car with 4 adults and 2 kids to make our way to the slopes.


After an hour drive and a slight argument with some snow chains (which the men won!) we made it to the top of the mountain. I should have known when Ashtyn refused to turn around and take a picture that she was going to refuse a few more things before the day was over :)

                                                 Those were some tiny little snow boots...

                                               but they fit perfectly with these tiny little skis!

All smiles and ready for her ski gear!

First and only lesson with our ski instructor. All smiles!

Mom watching Kenyon during her lesson. Ashtyn playing in the snow, with the skis that were supposed to be attached to those cute little feet. Ashtyn got out in the snow, got the skis on and literally went about 1 foot before promptly throwing a fit and demanding that the skis be removed. Oh well...she was/is only 3...maybe in another year or 2.

Whoopsie :)

All good dad! I got this!

Going down the bunny slope with mom. Just as much for me as it was for her. I counted...it had been 15 years since I had been snow skiing. Good thing is it is like riding a bike...it all comes back to you :)

Kenyon and I did the bunny slope about 3 times, before she asked if we could go up the lift to the top of the mountain. I asked her twice if she was sure, and let her make the decision for us to go up. She handled the lift like a pro. Skiied right up, hopped on the seat, sat really still while we rode it up and then skied right off like she had been doing this her whole life.

After about the 25th fall coming down the mountain, Kenyon decided she was not so sure this skiing thing was for her. At one point in time she asked me if I could carry her down the mountain, or if she could walk down the mountain. We had to have a few talks coming down, but in the end she made it and promptly asked to go sit with daddy and Ashtyn in the clubhouse.

Skiers extraordinaire!

A Kea. The world's only mountain parrot. The only true alpine parrot in the world can only be found in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. They feed on everything from vegetables to carcasses, and evidently what ever skiers leave behind. In 1986 they were placed under full protection as their numbers had dwindled to less than 2000. They are still protected today.

Woo Hoo!!!!! I would say that just about rounds up our New Zealand adventure. I still need to move on and post our trip to Cairns, The Great Barrier Reef and Hamilton Island. Not to mention there will be gymnastics competitions, carnivals, and ballet recitals coming up. Oh my...

New Zealand - Take 2

In the words of Ted Nugent, one of the main reasons we traveled to New Zealand was to "Whack 'em, stack 'em, and pack 'em." I quickly found out as I posted some of these photos on facebook, that hunting was much more acceptable in the eyes of our family and friends from Texas than that of SOME (not all) of our friends in Australia.  Oh well...

To say that our hunting trip was a success would be an understatement. The amount of animals seen as well as of the quality of animals surpassed what I had expected. On day 1, the hunters spent time shooting the guns they would be using to hunt. Australia has very strict rules on bringing guns into the country. Due to these rules, when we made the move, we left all our guns back in Texas with family. Since Dad and Belinda were coming to Australia after our New Zealand travels, it made more sense to borrow the guns of our guide. So, hunting actually started bright and early on day 2. You could feel the excitement as the hunters took off. It ended up being a great day. James started off the good vibe by taking his Red Stag.

In most of the pictures, the Stag has his mouth kind of open, like he has something to say. I very lovingly gave him the voice that Bill Murray uses in Caddyshack...and proceeded to pretend that he actually talked. "Hey guys..."

Day 3 of hunting yielded Belinda her beautiful Red Stag. Great rack huh? :)

Day 3 also meant that James added to what will be our future wall hangings. There was a story behind this guy. This fallow was at the top of a gorge when James made his shot. And then....he fell down the gorge...butt over rack...a few times. Now imagine the facial expression on James, watching this animal "roll" down the gorge. His thought..."Don't ruin you rack!" Luckily the fallow finished his acrobat routine with no damage done.

Dad took his fallow on Day 4. 

The final day of hunt was something that everyone had been looking forward to for the entire trip. This last day meant Tahr and Chamois hunting, up the mountain by helicopter. We had been waiting the whole time to be able to do this.  The weather had to be perfect in order to get the helicopter up the mountain. The helicopter could take 2 hunters, the guide and the pilot up the mountain at a time. If you managed to take a shot and kill, then they would tie the animals to the helicopter, load everyone up and come back down. It was an AWESOME experience. James and dad did the first trip followed by Belinda and myself. 

James and his Tahr.

Dad and his Tahr. Dad actually shot first. They then left his animal, and went after James' animal. After James had shot they came back around to get dad's Tahr, take pictures and tie the animals to the helicopter.

Ahh... Sammy the Shammy. Yes, I named my chamois. Have never hunted the way I did for Sammy. The helicopter takes you up, drops you off and you take your shot while laying on the ground. My heart was pounding. And I will forever have a hunting story that can "grow" every year...

"There I was. In 6 feet of snow. All you could see were my eyes. A blizzard had come in and I could barely see. My feet and hands were numb in the cold, and I had given up after being up there ALL day. When all of a sudden THERE HE WAS...just kidding. It would make for a good story though.

This was what Belinda and I got to see as we made our way in the helicopter to the mountain. New Zealand scenery is breathtaking. 

After the hunting was over, the girls got to take a ride in the helicopter. They loved it. Kenyon wore the  headset so she could talk to the pilot.Ashtyn was a little confused. She had watched the helicopter bring down dad and grandpa's animals, and then she watched it bring down mine. When we landed, she wanted to know where her animal was. Maybe next time Ashtyn. :)

Bringing the Tahr down off the mountain.

My girls and Sammy.

It will be awhile before we get to see the animals again. So far, they have yet to leave New Zealand and make their trip across the ocean to Texas so they can have their Doctor's appointment at the Taxidermist. 

For the animal lovers out there...the next post will be full of snow skiing and the tropical portion of our holiday with no animals being harmed. Except for the parrot I wanted to kill for trying to eat my Texans hat...once again, kidding. 

New Zealand - take 1

A long long time ago, in a land far, far away...

No, seriously. Originally when I started this blog, I had every intention of actually keeping up with it on a regular basis. If I had to grade myself on handling the project as  it was intended, then that grade would be a big fat F! Does not bode well for me going back to school and making good grades, does it?

I thought it was time to get some of those wonderful New Zealand photos posted. On July 7th, our little family boarded 2 separate planes and headed off on our New Zealand adventure. It was a long day of travel. It did not have to be, but instead of taking a late night, direct flight from Brisbane to Christchurch and end the day with an hour and a half drive to our resort, mama came up with a brilliant idea of ALL DAY travel. Seriously, you would think I was a beginner at this. Our little family left the house about 7:30 AM to catch our 9:30AM flight out of Brisbane to Auckland (3 hours). We then sat in the Auckland airport for a few hours, so we could wait on our next flight to Christchurch (2 hours). Only so we could arrive in Christchurch in the dark. Then load 2 kids, 4 bags of luggage, 4 carry on's, 2 adults and a partridge in a pear tree...just kidding...Into a lovely Toyota 4x4 and drive in the rain to get to our beautiful accommodations. The place we stayed really was like a little piece of heaven on earth.

When we woke up in the morning...this was our view off our balcony.

When we woke up our first morning there, James and Ashtyn took off back to the airport to pick up dad and Belinda from the Christchurch Airport. Kenyon and I took a walk around the resort and discovered horses, the golf course, the mountains, the workout room and the BEST chocolate chip muffins we had ever had! YUMMY! Oh...and the coffee was pretty good too. The coffee ended up being important as it never seemed to warm up above 3 degrees celsius, which is about 37 degrees fahrenheit. I throughly enjoyed the cold. It was a nice change from the very mild winter that Brisbane has. On July 9th, all the fun really began...

The hunters on their first morning out. Once again, it was about 2-3 degrees with some gale force winds. You went running out the door and the wind pushed you back inside. I would say the hunting trip was a HUGE success and enjoyed and cherished by all. I have decided my next post will have all the photos of the animals...I figured that way I can keep all 7 of my followers interested and hopefully coming back for more.

In case you doubted the outside temperature.

One day while the hunters were ridding New Zealand of an animal or two, the girls and I headed off to the river. The girls loved playing with the rocks and throwing them in the river. I don't know...future discuss thrower maybe?!

Posing while on our gorge walk.

The beautiful Rakaia River.

The girls made friends with some four legged animals. Of course it always helps when you can bribe the horses with some apples.

Pete and Repeat. Before this trip I never realized how similar in dress my dad and my husband are. It was actually kind of cute :) James and dad are standing in the clubhouse of the resort, not long after James had picked dad and Belinda up from the airport.

One of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. That would be Grandma BeBe and Kenyon rolling down the hill onto one of the golf green's. Honestly could not tell you what hole they were on, but I can tell you they were the only one's playing that hole.

Remember when I said that the temperature stayed about 3 degrees? In that temperature we decided what better time than to take a jet boat ride on the Rakaia River. That cute little oompa loompa in front is Ashtyn. The jet boat ride was awesome! Funny, now I don't even remember how cold it was. Jetting around the river was great and fast! Sometimes you felt like they were going to throw you up on the river bank. Good time was had by all. Kenyon had a huge grin on her face the whole time. I am pretty sure Ashtyn was smiling. She was so bundled up, all we could see was her eyes.

We stopped halfway and took a group picture.

One day, all the hunters took a break from hunting and we headed into Christchurch for a day at the Antarctic Exhibit. We learned about penguins, experienced the snow room (snow actually fell as it would during an Arctic snow storm), and got to read about and see the equipment used on expeditions to the Arctic.

My cute little family waiting for the 4D movie. Yea...all smiles now, however that was not the case after the movie got started. The seats moved, you got sprayed in the face with water, wind blew through your hair, bubbles fell from the ceiling (snow), and at one point in time a really mean looking seal appeared to be coming at you. Needless to say Ashtyn wanted OUT. Even now, if we are going to the movies, she will ask you if water is going to spray you in the face and will the seats move.

We did manage to make her happy again by learning some penguin facts.

Kenyon and her little penguin buddy. For the first and only time ever, Ashtyn pretty much fell asleep during every car trip she took while we were in New Zealand. 

Just a few pictures of the scenery to end this update with. This was sunrise coming over the mountains on day one of the hunt. I took it after the hunters had left. New Zealand was a beautiful place.

This pretty much sums up the scenery we were lucky to see on most of our drives in between towns.

I promise to have another post or 2 with more New Zealand photos and stories. Stay tuned for animals and stories of our ski adventures. I feel so far behind...New Zealand, Cairns, The Reef, Hamilton Island...we have been lucky and blessed to see and do so much this year. I would like to say that I will be better with updates, but I don't want to make any promises that I wouldn't be able to keep :) So how about I promise within the next 7 days to have another post about New Zealand. Hope I can earn an A on that assignment! :)

The Saenz Family has been staying busy...Well at least the youngest members of the family have been. Between school, ballet and gymnastics the girls are keeping me busy during the week as a shuttle service and keeping our entire family busy on the weekend with recitals, road fairs and gymnastics carnivals. Kenyon just started taking gymnastics twice a week now and is continuing with her ballet as well. Ashtyn is still in gymnastics and has asked if she can play tennis and soccer. I am not sure where the tennis bit came from, but she understands that you have a "stick" and you have to hit a ball over a "wall" (net). Our only free day is Monday, so I guess it is about time to fill that time spot as well :) I asked the CFO of our family if it was time for my annual raise. I got my raise in the form of a big smile and a laugh. I might have laughed as well and then done a teensy weensy bit of shopping on line, that my loving husband is bringing back to me all the way from Houston. It is a good thing he loves me!

It has been awhile since I posted anything, so there is a smorgasbord of photos included in this post. Just to bring you all up to date on the lives of our beautiful daughters.

This is actually a picture from Easter weekend. We were on a walk through the rain forrest on Fraser Island. I just really enjoyed this picture. The only draw back is you can not see how tall the tree actually is. Now onto what has been going on...

Kenyon had her athletic day at school. The morning was filled with sack races, egg races, tug of war and then ended with a running race. As you can see Kenyon was all smiles at the start of the day.

The incredible, edible egg race. Pure concentration...And yes, the egg appears blue. That is because it is actually an oval piece of wood. Makes for easier clean up when the egg falls off the spoon.

Tug Of War!!! Pulling with all her might...

Taking a break to smile for mommy...

When the other team gets pulled over the line, Kenyon and Olivia go down as well...but they WON!

The day ended with a running race. Kenyon was racing against 6 other girls. She started off strong...

and ended even stronger! She won her race. Mommy was sooo proud!

Ashtyn kicked off the gymnastics portion of the weekend. She had her gymnastics carnival first. She was very excited. All she wanted was a medal. Kenyon had a medal and Ashtyn was determined to get one as well. All smiles and ready to go ...

Not really sure what you call this, but the idea was to lie on your tummy and then roll in and out of the cones.

This would be called the opossum. She does it so well...

Just hang'in around...

Ashtyn's favorite part of gymnastics every Tuesday is the rope swing. I am pretty convinced that she could spend an hour doing nothing but swing as fast as she can on the rope swing.

Ashtyn was supposed to be doing "in's and out's" One jump with you legs together and then one jump with your legs apart. I am pretty sure that is what she was doing, but the picture I got shows some wild and crazy leg movements going on.

Trampoline jump...

Balancing Act.

After she was finished with all the stations, she got her face painted and finally got her medal.

So proud of that medal and walked around all day with her face painted as a cat.

Now, onto Kenyon. I did not get very many pictures of Kenyon at her gymnastics carnival. We were seated kind of far away and took the wrong camera. Did manage to get one of her on the beam.

And of course one of her striking a pose after finishing a little beam routine.

The same weekend all the gymnastics was going on, Kenyon was also dancing on stage at the Racecourse Road Street Fair. This was her and her little friend Ella practicing the day before the fair.

James did manage to get a few of Ella, Kenyon and Phoebe on stage during the fair. The did their Hippo dance from December and it was very cute and they were a huge hit!

After Kenyon was finished dancing, we got her changed and headed off to enjoy some of the street fair. Kenyon and Imojen on the little ferris wheel.

Ashtyn and Harper after petting all the baby animals.

Air Ashtyn on the bouncy house.

Kenyon on the slide of the big kid bouncy house.

If there is someone with face paint within a 5 mile radius our kids will find them and demand a picture be painted on their faces.

Now Ashtyn...She does not always like having her picture taken. She was having none of photography business...so I had to wait till she least expected it... That would be our little dolphin eating some fries.

This one I just had to include. We have slowly been getting ready for out trip to New Zealand. We were really lucky and had some friends who had some snow suits that the kids could borrow. The colors are bright and the suits scream 1990's...however I figure this way I will not miss them on the slopes and of course the best thing is they are FREE!!!!!!!!