So we spent a lot of time just hanging out at the beach. The kids loved going down with Daddy in the morning while Edith was napping and then she would join them with Mommy before lunch and another nap. Eleanor got some gardening tools from MarMar and JonJon for her birthday last year and they make great sand digging tools too!
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| Perfect castle spot |
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| Mine will be next door |
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| Eleanor built her's all by herself. |
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| Happy supervisor! |
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| The rake and hoe also made great sand writing tools. |
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| Big brother love!! |
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| Daddy went to find some shells to decorate the castles. Marshall laid these out himself. |
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| Eleanor wanted to collect her own. |
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| Just a cute photo. |
Daddy also went for a walk and collected some mussels off the rock and even got a paua. Earlier in the morning we had all gone to collect pipis (cockels) but it turned into a bit of a disaster...
Anyway, we steamed opened the mussels and cockels and made a fresh seafood chowder for dinner and minced up the paua into fritters. The kids were just so-so about the chowder, but Marshall gobbled up the fritters. In fact, he ate Eleanor's as well. (Gotta be fast, I tell ya!)
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| Part of the haul and Andrew working on the paua |
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| Paua out of the shell |
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| Chopped up mussels and pipis for chowder |
While we were there Dunedin was celebrating the Cadbury Chocolate Festival and Sunday was Peninsula Day. We tried going to the aquarium as it was going to be super cheap for everyone, but it was closed. So we ended up going to the Royal Albatross Center where we got to see not only albatross chicks, but also old barracks from the 1880's. It was very breezy and proved to be a fun day. A special treat that night was having a friend from Centre College who lives in Dunedin with her kiwi husband come by for dinner!
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| Marshall checking out the big "disappearing" gun |
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| Love the pose!! |
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| Marshall trying to climb up to the top |
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| Eleanor aiming the gun |
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| The best effort at a group shot. Any tips?! Its like herding cats...At least Edith is looking. |
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| Eleanor asked to have her picture taken with bubbie. She is getting so big! |
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| Eleanor took this of Edith |
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| Daddy-daughter shot |
After nap time Daddy would take the big kids down to the "pay-gown" (Marshall-ism) When we first arrived there were workmen there putting in a new see-saw with horses. Then it had to set and then it sit gated up all weekend just tempting the kids before they could use it. We left on a Tuesday and so first thing Monday morning the kids went down to see if they could "go on a horsey ride" unfortunately, they had to wait until the afternoon. When we got Marshall up from his nap I told him he was going to get to go on a horse ride that afternoon and he said, "boo one. Eleno go on red." I had no idea what he was talking about it, but it got him out the door quick!
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| "Eleno" on the red one |
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| Marshall on the "boo" one |
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| Eleanor took Daddy on a ride |
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| Marshall picked up me and Edith |
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| They had trouble reaching the ground with their feet and Daddy was helping them rock. (And because I take a ton of pictures in an attempt to get a "good" one when you look at all of them together you get a movie effect. pretty cool) |
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| After the playground you had to walk home on the beach. |
On Tuesday we had to say goodbye to the beach and on the way home we took a ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway. It leaves from the Dunedin Railway Station. Then we stayed with Mary and Neville (Andrew's aunt and uncle) before heading home on Wednesday.
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| Checking out the tracks from a crossover bridge. |
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| Eleanor took this inside the railway station. |
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| Eleanor performed a ballet dance for us while we are waiting. |
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| "Is that the paparazzi? Please no pictures! Bodyguard Marshall get on that!" |
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| On the train with her ticket |
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| On the train with her snack. Don't take that away or not give it back! |
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| Marshall with his ticket |
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| It was a four hour return trip and Eleanor was tired so she made her seat a bed and took a nap. (If you think she actually slept you have never met Eleanor...:)) |
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| Checking out the view. (OK we were going through a tunnel, but it was the best one and they really though the tunnels were cool.) |
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| See there was breathtaking scenery...:) |
And that was what we got up too over the school holidays.
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