Muy bien!

We had such a great day last Saturday. First of all the weather rocked the house - it was warm with no wind and we got out of the city and into nature. We went to Staglands, which is a wildlife park about 45 minutes outside of Wellington. Ondine had been to the zoo this last week twice, so all around it was an awesome week for frolicking with animals for her. The place is really nicely laid out and pays lovely attention to detail - and just like the zoo - you get really close to the animals. In fact at Staglands, you are few fences at all and many chances to hold and pet the animals.

See Brad's Flicker site for more shots too

But the highlight of this amazing Saturday was the organic blueberry farm we stopped at on our way back. Yet it wasn't the blueberries that sent us over the moon. It was the MEXICAN FOOD we had! Yes, believe it. The farm is run by David, a Mexican, and his American wife Mandi and their son Sam. David's mother Rosita visits for half the year from Puebla, brings her own ingredients with her, and runs a mexican cafe each weekend while she is here. I swear to you that the chilaquiles Brad and I had were as good or maybe even better than anything I've ever had before - in the US, Mexico or Central or South America. We met our friends Carrie and Cory and their daughter Bethen (who is 4 months younger than Ondine) at the farm and they introduced us to the owners. Carrie and Cory lived on a farm across the river before Bethen arrived and Carrie still has horses she rides and takes care of on their old land. They actually have a big teepee that we all might put up on the land for an overnight one day - cool!

Anyway, the oddest thing has been how much Spanish I've spoken since I got here. Totally unexpected. About three weeks ago I met Gina from Colombia (who is married to a Mexican working at the consulate) with her kids at the museum who told me about "Arco Iris" (rainbow) - a Spanish language toddler group. Sadly, I went two weeks later but didn't find them -- apparently they were in some other room that I didn't discover. Anyway, I ran into another mom (Inez, from Argentina) at the zoo who is the head of the group and told me they are on break until next week. I will report back on that once we go. So in the last month, between Gina, Inez and David, I've been chatting in Spanish more than I thought I would the entire time I would be here. And the most amazing news is that director Guillermo del Toro is now confirmed to direct the two Hobbit films, so will be living here for about 4 years - and hopfully bringing lots of Mexicans with him! I should have never stopped speaking Spanish to Ondine!! When I do now, she can get frustrated with me - but I will persevere.

It felt really, really good for us to get out of town, into nature, on a beautiful day and eat amazing food with friends. We needed that.

Hasta lluego!

Belated B-day Post

As you all know from the earlier post, Papa turned 70 this year (unbelievably!!!). My sisters, mom and I all worked our tushies off to give him the surprise party of his life - and we did! While we were at their place in the desert before we left for NZ, my entire family plus many of his close friends snuck in to their house while he and my mom, Jerry and Charlene were at the Indian Wells Tennis matches. He walked in to a home filled with family, friends and margaritas. We all had a grand time, even the head honcho himself said he loved it - which was a big relief since he had told my mother never, ever to throw him a surprise party. I think his biggest surprise was how much he enjoyed it. Hats off to my sisters and mom for all the hard work and excellent party planning - and thanks to all who made the effort to get there.

And the best part for us, selfishly, was that we got to spend fun time with our family.

With Nana at the park! Ondine will ride side car to Gus any day.

Wow! You can watch TV in bed??!??!


So a guy walks in to this bar, see...


deWitt deCaussins in the sun

Kimberly and Patrick goofin' at Mario's
(photo courtesy of Marisa Sladek - thanks sis)

We love you Nana and Papa!

Cab-i-oke

This is a back-blog. As many of you know Brad and I left Ondine for a night with my folks and drove to Vegas. We went to see "O", Cirque du Soleil's water show. It was cool but I for one am fully sated on Cirque du Soleil for a looong time. Maybe I am just jaded or maybe I've seen too many, but I thought I was going to say "wow" a lot more than I did. The whole pool/stage is fully impressive though.

We did go out to eat and see the strip as well, and like everyone else, took a taxi back to our hotel. The minute we got into this cab, the driver said, "HI!!", asked where-to, and then cranked the stereo blaring a quintessential Tom Jones, "It's not unusual to be loved..." and preceded to sing along at the top of his lungs to it. Before we knew it he was singing along to hit after hit and around block 5 I said something to him and he replied, "I love the cabioke!". I said, "karaoke?" He said, "NO! CAB-i-oke!!" and with that pulled out a rather large microphone and cued up another song (I actually can't remember what it was - I was so awestruck) and handed the mic back to ME to sing along. Of course I HAD to sing along!! But I barely could because I was laughing so hard. We got some of it on my cell phone videocam but hell if I know how to get that downloaded. It was such a Vegas moment. Unforgettable (except for the exact songs and some lyrics).

We also had a lovely suite and quite a nice sleep. Ahem.

(This one is courtesy of Brad)

Shit, Parrots and the Zoo

Ondine and I went to the zoo twice this week. The weather has been good so it was great timing to see the animals out sun bathing and in clear view. The Wellington zoo is pretty decent and reminds me a bit of the Oakland Zoo.

This morning we met up with our friend Carrie and her daughter Bethen. We brought a gift for Bethen from the states and I keep forgetting to bring it with me whenever I get together with them. On the drive to the zoo I realized I had done it again. I yelled out, "shit!", and my little parrot from the back seat said, "shit!" too.

Mark the day. First echoed curse word. Might just be the first of many I'm afraid...


(I kept laughing at the bear exhibit as I couldn't help thinking about Anchor Man, and kept envisioning Steve Carrell hugging and playing with the bear in the moat)

Big buurd! (looking at pelicans)

Monkey. Where is?

Miss you Esther

April 23rd marked 12 years since we lost Brad's mother to cancer. Every year we buy red roses for the house to honor her memory (she loved them and often drew them near her name in letters and such). We miss her dearly.

Aha!

Now I know what Ondine had! Because now I have it! Sadly, yes -- I am now with fever and sore throat... but the sun is out and we will head to the zoo to take advantage of the rare and stunning weather. Will take the camera and post shots of our trip at a later date.

Communication and Other Slowdowns

Sadly, our sweet Ondine isn't feeling well this weekend and has been feverish off and on. She may also be teething... or she has a sore throat... hard to tell but it seems her mouth is in pain. And then again it might also be due to the face plant and bloody lip she got at the slide day before last. Perhaps she really knocked her front tooth. Either way she has been waking crying inconsolably for some time before settling down again. When the boob doesn't even work, we know she's really OFF. Aww.

I have been trying to post videos and some photos with other narratives but this dial-up connections is jacking me. It just takes too long and then doesn't work. So I've decided to check in without a photo again.

We're starting to really miss all of you and since the internet phone isn't hooked up, calling has not been easy enough. I did however just buy a phone card that allows us to call the US for 3 cents a minute from a land line, so we we'll be making some calls out soon! Then I realized I hadn't explained the time situation yet, so here it is: we are currently 19 hours ahead of PST. The easiest way to calculate what time it is here is to jump to your tomorrow, and then subtract 5 hours. To us, you are yesterday plus 5. So now for instance, its nearly 4pm on Sunday, making it Saturday at 9pm for (most of) y'all. Get it? NZ has its own daylight savings time as well (and similarly adjusted it as did the US this year... which makes me uncomfortable in a way... like congress controls time now too?? WEIRD.) so this will change throughout the year. Stay tuned for changes - I'll let you know.

Also, Brad and I are both using Instant Messenger (IM) on Google, plus I also have a Yahoo account. So look for us to chat - it works really, really well actually (get in touch if you want to but don't know how). Thankfully, it seems to be something my crazy lo-speed connection can handle. I tend to be available mornings and during Ondine's nap times, which translates in to lunch and dinner times for most of you - roughly.

Get in touch! We miss you and love hearing from you.

Gotta go!