The eagle is flying... the eagle is flying.... Oma has left the nest.

Hello Everyone,

Well it is official we are back down to only 6 in our family.  We already miss Oma so much.  It seems weird not having her chipper, "Good Morning, and how did you sleep last night?" first thing when you wake up...

Now reality sets in for the kids and we are in full steam school mode.  Okay they still get up at 9 and start their day by 10 but it is a solid 6 hours of consistent school work.. reading, writing and creative juices for that time period.  I try to relate it to school but as Tristan says it seems more intense because we don't get recess, lunch is over books and besides my reading out loud and discussions of what he is reading and our thoughts and ideas exchanges there are zero breaks... he is a little behind from Christmas still but is catching up rapidly and I am really proud of his determination to get 6 weeks of high school caught up... He has the same workbooks as everyone else and there is a lot of content and writing assignments to cover... it is a little grueling and we definitely have our moments of silliness and need for a break but he is tackling it day by day.  Learning time management, organization, and setting reasonable goals and checking his to do's off the past due list are bonus skills he is learning for the future.  Alexia is doing great and has been writing her short story that is now 10 pages... we are working with her.  She loves to write and it is a skill to be able to get a short story out.... I love her writing style and always encourage her but learning different styles is really important...

We have had a great few last days with her roaming around Hamilton and Raglan.  We caught up with our cruising friends from Bob the Cat, Dave, Malene, Matias and Lukie and had a great night of home made pizza in their outdoor pizza oven.  They surprised us with having their friends that crewed along with them join us.  It is really great seeing everyone on land and getting to spend time and reminisce about the good ole days.

 We didn't really get a chance to see Raglan for all its glory.  It is known as a surf town and for their fresh fish and chips.  So we headed back the next day for valentines day to meet them at the beach for some surf and boogie boarding.  It was a perfect day, sun, waves and then the famous fish and chips at the wharf for dinner.

Motley Crew

Amaia and Matias... loving the surf

Matias and Amaia .... two little birds with the same big personalities... spells AWESOME!

We were able to take her through the Hamilton Gardens before it started pouring cats and dogs on Monday.  It is a beautiful tour of a bunch of different styles of gardens.  A lovely walk a bout.....

Then on Tuesday the day she was flying out at midnight we drug her around the Auckland Zoo for the whole afternoon making sure she was good and tired for her flight. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the zoo habitats and layouts, and the animals were really active, I think because it wasn't hot and it was a drizzly day... so we really enjoyed it.  As I have said before the kids are really enjoying taking pictures of our trip.  It is really fun to get a different perspective and eye from the shots they capture.

Tristan's Shot....

Then off to a good dinner in Auckland.  We were able to find a place near George (our friend from Shine) and so he was able to join us.  It was so good to see him and the kids just mobbed him.... I could tell they really missed him.

Hugs and love to everyone at home.... Oh and by the way... Tristan wrote on his Blog!  I almost had a heart attack... it was a very nice surprise for the morning...

Heath

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