2-6-14

Waitangi day is a New Zealand holiday commemorating a day in 1840 when a group of British representatives and over 500 Maori Chiefs of NZ came together and signed a treaty. Many people recognize this as the beginning of New Zealand as its own country. Although it did not become a national holiday until 1934, it has become nearly a weekend of festivities here. Since it is a public holiday the boys were out of school so we decided to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast together and then head over to Onehunga for a game of mini golf. Both ideas were a hit and we had a blast learning to play golf there especially since we had the course all to ourselves. We ended up playing 2 games because the boys were having so much fun. The best part was watching Brooklyn try to hold the club properly to hit the ball into the hole. He came up with some interesting tactics but in the end he was only 15 points away from Bailey and I’s score, so not half bad. The boys were so cute; by the end we were full of giggles and ready for lunch. We had a quick picnic snack and headed back home for lunch. 

2/7/14

It was a pretty normal day I the morning just playing with Brooklyn before swimming lessons and then doing a bit of cleaning in the afternoon. After dinner with Nicole and Kent, Thomas came by and picked me up and we went over to Mt. Eden for a walk in one of the reserves there; then we just laid there looking at the stars for a while and talking before he took me back home again.

2/8/14

Since Nicole and Kent were both out of the country I looked after the boys so we went to the One Tree Hill Park and Sina caught up with us while we were there. Bailey wanted to walk to the “Skate park” so he took us all on a bit of an adventure looking for it. After ages of walking we finally ended up at the destination however, it was not a skate park in the literal sense. More like an area where people sometimes use skooters and skateboards but in any case, we had a great time. It was nice to chat with Sina and we all went for some Ice Cream afterward.

2/9/14

Bailey had a birthday party to attend so while he was climbing some rock walls, Brooklyn and I went to the Sprinkler Park on Dominion Rd. and the St. Lukes Library. After picking Bailey up we all ate some lunch and went over to the Rocket Ship Park at Mt. Albert Memorial Reserve. They had a wonderful time swinging on the swing set and playing hide’n’seek.

2-10-14

Kent came home and surprised the boys before school. They were so excited to be able to see him again after the week of absence. Brooklyn and I went to playgroup, where we painted and played some new games as well as the normal red car, tricycle, and playing in the kitchen in the child-size house.  After playgroup we ate lunch, played on the trampoline and then we went to pick up Bailey from school. After dinner with Kent I went out with Thomas and we walked up One Tree Hill in the dark. It was pretty cool to see it at night but honestly it is much better at night. Thomas and I had a great time chatting even though we got eaten alive by the mosies.

2-11-14

I took Brooklyn to  Montessori while Bailey and Kent biked to school, then spent the day cleaning, working on my journal, reading my book. After my appointment I met Annabel for lunch and we celebrated her fantastic news. She made it into the Nursing Program!!! I’m so happy for her and she is going to make a fabulous nurse with her caring personality and love for people.

2-12-14

It was a normal day with the boys off to school. At night I decided to go over to Zumba in the park again and Thomas picked me up afterward for a movie back at his place.

2/14/14

So I’m going on my first ever Valentines Day Date so I’m pretty excited. Thomas has been asking me all kinds of questions but insists he wants everything to be a surprise which honestly just makes me even more excited because I love surprises! J I really like him and things are going so well. I hope tonight turns out well and I can’t wait he comes to get me. Today Brooklyn and I made pink heart shaped rice crispy treats as well as some super cute valentines cards which was super fun! Bailey didn’t want to participate but that’s alright. I feel like a little girl again with how excited and giddy I am getting but I think that is a good sign and just makes it all a bit more fun so I’m so glad its happening! Thomas was so surprised at the fact that I have never had a valentine and I said well we’ve always either broke up or started dating before or after valentine’s day so it’s just never happened… hahah

Valentines date was awesome! So he arrives and I attempt waking up my outrageously long driveway wearing super tall heels. He accidentally locked his keys in his car. It was hilarious because the whole time I was thinking I would totally do that haha. When his mom came to the rescue with the spare key he gave me the classic single red rose with a box of chocolates which I took inside before we left. We headed off into the city and attempted to find parking which took ages. We ended up having to walk a while which made me glad I brought some sensible shoes as well. Thomas and I went to Monsoon for dinner. We had some champagne with sweet and sour chicken for him and seafood lettuce wraps for me with chocolates for dessert. After dinner we walked around the city and talked for a while before we went back to his house and watched Failure to Launch, ironically. It was a great date and even though it was cheesy and full of mishaps we really enjoyed each other’s company and had a lovely time. After the movie he dropped me off at home.

2-15-14

Travel Expo with Ashley was on the agenda today before we headed off the Lantern Festival to celebrate the Chinese New Year. I was amazed at the number of places and loads of information that I got there at the expo about traveling to places all over the world. Its going to take me ages to go through it all but I personally like having a paper or pamphlet in front of me before I travel or do something rather than just info online. After the expo Ashley and I dropped the car off at my house and bused into the city, where we met Megahan, Chanteay, and Ricarda at Aotea Square before walking over to Albert park for the Lantern Festival. I was completely amazed at not only the number of lanterns but also the types. There were dragons, traditional lanterns, house settings, and tons of other warriors and Chinese style lanterns. While we were there we watched a Jujitsu demonstration and a Chinese cultural dance performance. We also were able to try some Chinese delicacies such as: Squid on a stick, corn on a stick, melon with ice cream on top and pot stickers! All were delicious. Finally besides getting to see the Chinese cultures and some pretty sweet lanterns we got a taste of what it probably feels like to be in China. It was so packed with people at the festival; there was no concept of personal space at all. Overall it was a really cool experience. Afterward we got some ice cream and parted ways as we all caught our respective buses.

2-16-14

After being out the night before I woke up bright and early for Thomas’s Swim meet competition in Henderson. So I spent the day watching him compete and cheering him on from the side line. During the mid-session break we went to the mall and did a bit of shopping after catching a bite to eat there in the food court. After the meet was over we walked around the reserve near the pool and crashed a jazz concert in the park next to the river. Finally, my stomach took over and we had to head back home so I could get some dinner.

 2-20-14

I took Brooklyn to MOTAT, Museum of Transport and Technology, this morning and we had a blast going around the tram, seeing the airplanes, boats, trains, and other motes of transport throughout history/ here in Auckland.  There were a couple of interactive sites where he could make music or sounds using unique items such as PBC pipes, or frequency meters. His favorite part however was definitely the Tram for sure though. We were sitting there waiting for it to start and he’s looking out the window and all the sudden we hear the engine start up. I was in the middle of saying something to him and he stops me and says, “shh…Kelcee the tram is starting!” (Exasperated that I was not intently paying attention to the engine). After Motat we tried to have lunch at the duck park and feed the ducks there at western springs. Unfortunately, I think the ducks are used to being fed there so when they came swarming around us Brooklyn got very frightened and we had to leave immediately. We headed back to the playground at Motat and had lunch there, (since there was a fence and no birds could get in there).

Nicole took over Brooklyn when we got home so I headed out to meet Annabel for Lunch. We decided to head into New Market and go to Doolan Brothers, an Irish Pub that served wings. You would not believe how hard it is to find wings here. I had no idea it was an American thing until I tried to ask someone where the closest wing shop was. Apparently Buffalo Wild Wings has not gone global yet or at least has not made it to New Zealand. We had a wonderful time catching up and then she dropped me off just in time for me to take Bailey to swimming. After swimming we ate dinner and I headed over to Thomas’s house for movie night where I met the other 2 home-stays which he has living there at his home. One girl is from Thailand and the other I believe is from Japan. Both are here in NZ studying nursing and getting certified here as well as already competing certification in their own respective countries.

 2-22-14

Although the sky was a bit dreary the Au Pair link following flocked to the ferry building so we could all hike the Rangitoto Volcano! It is dormant of course at the moment but it has been said that if it were to activate once again the entire city of Auckland would be destroyed, which is saying quite a lot because it’s suburbs extend for quite some time in all directions past the CBD. Saying that though, it does make sense because Rangitoto is basically a central island in between the northern and central shores of Auckland city. One other captivating thing about Rangitoto is that it is purposely untouched/uncultivated so the habitat and ecosystems there on the island are basically undisturbed creating a view of life before as well as blend into modern day plant life. To answer the question that everyone who is reading this is thinking, no I did not feel like I was on lost and stuck on a deserted jungle island. It was amazing however to check out the sweet Lava rock everywhere as well as caves and luscious green vegetation. Since there was so much moisture in the air from the rain we were literally soaked just from walking in the humidity, not to mention the loads of stairs we had to climb in order to reach the summit. Luckily when we reached the summit it started to clear just for a little while so we were able to get some decent views of the city skyline.  On the way there Gina, Ashley, Alex, and I stopped in and explored a few small caves. Thanks to Bailey I had a sweet bright blue headlamp that he let me borrow for the day. The caves were quite small but we still enjoyed them thoroughly. After eating lunch and taking some photos we all headed down the volcano back to the Ferry Terminal to wait for our ride home. From Rangitoto you could spot the Sky tower, the North Shore Bridge, Waiheke Island and another random island that no one could name. Rumor has it that the island is privately owned and no one is allowed to visit without the owner’s permission. My immediate thoughts were, dang! I wish I could own my own island! Haha.

  Ashley and I bussed back to my house to shower and get ready before we headed into Ponsonby for dinner at Mexicali will Thomas, Tom, Gina, Lucy, Roxanne, and Alex. After we got some grub we headed over to Western Park for the Auckland Gay Pride Parade. Let me just say I love gay people! They seriously have the best strongest personalities and they’re just awesome! We saw loads of fabulous drag queens all dressed to the nines and drag kings as well. I was actually completely surprised at the amount of community businesses with floats showing their support in the celebration. Anyways, we had a blast there then began the craziest night ever all thanks to my lovely boyfriend. Everyone wanted to go out so he decided the 4-stop-shop was the perfect idea for this occasion. For those who don’t know the game it’s where you go from the top of Queen and K road to the bottom where the waterfront clubs are. Along Queen Street there are 4 Liquor stores and you buy 2 shots in each store. There were only 3 stores open tonight luckily, but that still meant we all had around 6 shots in us by the time we got to the bottom of the street. Some interesting conversations were had as we went down the massive street. We headed over to Cassette, the “teapot bar” and ordered 3 teapots which we shared between all of us. After the teapot bar we headed down to O’Hagan’s Irish pub which is where the real party began. Then we danced all night to the best song ever, haha (if you didn’t get the reference it’s to a song from One direction band, not that I’m a fan but they are pretty big on the music scene at the moment), no but there really was a great mix of music and we had a blast dancing and singing. 

 2-23-14

I slept in late and headed out to meet Annabel for Coffee around 10ish. We had to take the car into the city so we went to her mom’s place to eat some breakfast then took the dog on a walk to the park while we chatted and just relaxed a bit. Later we headed over to St. Luke’s shopping center for her to get her nails done and I was looking for a smaller purse. Instead I found a long maxi dress with a gorgeous exotic print on it which after getting her opinion I simply had to purchase. It’s so cute! I seriously love hanging with Annabel. We always have a great time no matter what we do and even if it’s nothing, we just enjoy each other’s company. Plain and simple but it really is hard to find genuine people like her these days.

I met Thomas in the afternoon for a movie at his house then headed back home to my place to hang with my Host family for dinner.