Punakaiki

Maya feeds the wild life.

I really liked the way that they set up the viewing paths around the rocks. There was still a lot of vegetation and as it curved around you would have an entirely different view.

Everyone needs to let off a little steam once in awhile.

Mom and Dad proved themselves to be great roadtrip companions and it was a lot of fun for the girls to spend the time with them.

Ed is the backpack king. Look how much he loves it!

I know this is late but I thought I would go ahead and post some pictures of some places we have been able to visit in New Zealand that are outside of Christchurch. This is during the road trip with my parents that we took up to the northern part of the south island and back down through the west coast. This is Punakaiki, aka, Pancake Rocks. We were there during low tide so the bursts weren't huge but the views were still grand and the formations unique. We had a really good time with my parents and we were lucky to have some nice baches to stay in during our travels. This place was a really nice cabin with views of fields of horses and the sea at the same time. Papa Georgio and Grandma Penney found a fun little walking trail that the girls loved and went on several times. Maya found a cool little "dock" to throw rocks into a pond. I can't believe we have only gotten to go here once during our stay in NZ. Such is the life of a student I guess. We look forward to coming back and being able to spend more time in places like this.

Ed's sleepy face. We always managed to get into places late so it was fun for the kids and us to wake up and see the beauty that we were sleeping in.

You can't see it in this picture, but in "real life" at the edge of the green you can see the ocean. Farmland meets the ocean, absolutely spectacular.

I couldn't resist an action shot.

Maya makes a wish.

The girls beat these horses in a race-no problem. Maybe they felt slow after Maya fed them all of those apples.

Storm hits South Island after North lashed

LATEST: A body has been found in a swollen river, children are trapped at a school, flights have been cancelled and a town has lost power as wild weather sweeps the country.

Given the headlines today and our impending travel plans, I thought I should check the weather forecast. This is what I saw.

Although I had read the article, I still had a "hmm" moment when I saw all the rain on this little NZ map. It is supposed to taper off through the weekend so Monday should be all go.

EEEEEEEEEE

One of the things Mark and I really thought was hilarious when we first moved to NZ was how they added "eeeeee" to everything. For instance, just now I recieved a response from my Trade Me Auction #347298 and it stated, "Please advise of pick-up addy". I admit it took me a minute of quietly mumbling to myself "addy...addy...addy...ADDY!" Address. Of course! I shared this with Mark and it only too him one "addy" and he LOLed big time. Sometimes we like to just try to name all of them. Now that I am writing this I am having a mental block to all of them. I know I will mispell all these because after 5 years I really have no idea how to spell them. Is it an -ie or -y-who knows and does it matter? Kiwi friends please advise and contribute to the list.
Skippys-Corn Flakes
Kiwi-New Zealander
Kindy-Pre-school
Addy-read above
bikkie-biscuit
lolly-candy
chippies-chips
barby-bbq
chilly bin-cooler
sickie-take time off work
greasies-fish and chips (I know-I haven't the foggiest)
Hokey-Pokey-sea foam candy
Pokies-slots
dodgy-bad and unreliable
cuzzy-cousin
footy-rugby
skivy-layer shirt
cardy-buttoned-up-the front sweater
skiddy-can't remember
relly-relative
sunnies-sunglasses
Uni-University-College
crickey
hoody-Hooded Sweatshirt
telly-television
wellies-galoshes
wally-clown, loser
pinky bar-chocoate covered marshmallow confectionery
twisties-cheese flavoured twists
nappy-diaper
fizzy-soda
dummy-pacifier

Anyway, some of my interpretations are probably wrong. I have to admit I have often felt quite ditzy because I have had to give Kiwis this vacant look as I try to interpret what they are saying. Even though it is all "english" I have been lost often. Not so much now, but when we first moved here it took a bit of getting used to. I was one of those parents that had to wait for my child to come home and interpret for me. In a small way it was worse than being in a non-english speaking country because there was this element there that I should be understanding what they were saying but I often didn't have a clue what certain things were. I think for awhile I sort of shunned having to talk to the other parents because they often had no idea what I was saying or talking about. Strange times, but very humbling and it gave me alot to think about.
Maybe they do have these in America but I had not had to deal with them before-I remember having to call other parents and ask what it meant when the kids were able to have a mufti day or what coulottes (I don't think americans used them much after 1943-or more likely I had been sheltered from them in sunny CA) were. It is funny now that I can look back on it all. It has been interesting for me to finally understand things that have been thrown around America for so long that their origin became vague. Again, this could be my own ignorance but there are many nursery rhymes that I have had "a-ha moments" wtih since I moved here. To actually get to eat hot-cross buns, or a pie that you can eat with your hands that wasn't a marie calender chicken pot pie, see a paddy cake pan and partake of a sweet-mince tart were all new experiences for me. So thanks NZ for the enlightenment and all the "eeeeeeeeeeee" I love it, I really do.
P.S.
Thank you T&J for the tee. I only wish that you had given me it like 5 years ago. It is all coming together now...

Birds

The Weka known to one (you know who you are) as the mythical NZ wingless chicken. Lucy actually got a few sweet shots of this one when we went to the Pancake rocks. She followed one for sometime but I can't be bothered trying to track it down.

This little cutey is Mark's favourite. They are common outside our house and are tiny tiny.

Can you see the bloodthirsty look in its eyes? This is when it was kicking up grass and getting ready to charge at me and do who knows what. Luckily I was faster and under good cover...

This little fantail is often outside of our windows eating the "compost" that we throw out of them. I also often seem them in the bird sanctuary and in the little tree outside our window.

These are also often outside eating our "compost" that did not make it to the bin.

Maya and I see at least one of these on our walk to kindi.

Pukekos. A bit of a pest but I really like them. They have such great colours and their little pukekolings are really really cute.

Okay, leaving NZ post number two. I figured since I was into the wildlife thing with my running post I would go ahead and run with it LOL LOL LOL LOL. Sorry, sometimes the LOLs just come flowing out-ya know? Anyway, birds. That is the next of my posts. These are all common and even pest-like but they are a part of what I will remember. I took these from some guy that visited NZ and claimed their preservation of bird life was appalling. I was appalled at is apallation of NZ but his pictures were just what I needed for this post so I am willing to look the other way. I did feel inspired to take a picture of this family of black swans that I came across on one of my recent runs. I was amazed to see these baby swan lings or whatever you call them in the middle of winter. I ran home to get my camera as fast as I could. Mark told me to grab the telephoto, "No time!" I panted and ran out the door. Yeah, the telephoto would have been nice because I suddenly realized just how close I was going to need to get to get a good shot of the swan family. I got down real low and moved slowly all national geographic like. I was doing alright until that swan started after me. I ran and I ran fast but I knew they could do the whole half fly half run thing and I was scared. I got home and grabbed the telephoto but it was too dark and my hand unsteady so it all came out blurry. I decided it was an experience and I tried so I will post the picture that I risked my life for. Anyway there are many more interesting birds but these are the ones that they guy had that are most familiar to me. Not all are unique to NZ but nevertheless they are part of my experience. Thanks birds.

Running

I am one of those strange people that really enjoys running. I am not particularly fast or fit, but I like the way I feel afterward-the runner's high as they call it. Running really makes me feel like progress towards fitness has been made instantaneously. Lately, I have been struggling a bit. I am still managing to run a few times a week but I am not getting that good feeling anymore. My "last chance NZ diet" consisting of Indian food, fish and chips, store-bought biscuits, homemade biscuits, cadbury chocolate, natural confectionery/allens anything, souvlakis, and whatever else you can think of, has taken a toll on my systems and I am feeling really really yuck. Running was kind of the 'undo" button for my poor eating habits but the "undo" button seems to be broken. My heart feels noticeably sluggish. It isn't that healthy slow beat of a low heart rate it is more like the slow beat of arteries that are filled with rubbish. I struggle to run now and it is not freeing at all. I hurt, my lungs hurt, it all hurts.
Be that as it may, I was sorting through some photos and as part of my "Going to Miss New Zealand" series that I will start posting, I came across pictures of my running loop. I need a loop because I get super lost otherwise. I love my running loop. It goes through a bird sanctuary right next to my house called Travis Wetlands or as it is known in the Berg household-The Swamp. When we first moved here, we showed the girls where Shrek lived to keep them interested in the long walk. There are several things I love about my loop. Year-round I love how my loop has several different surfaces and views. It is cheesy, but I like to keep the level of my music down so that I can still hear myself running. I get to have the steady thump on the pavement and then transition to the crunch of gravel, the slosh of mud then go to the hollowness of the wood planks then back to gravel and then pavement. It is motivating and interesting to have the change and it is oh so nice on my knees. I love how in spring I can smell the honeycomb and around every corner is new life. I have seen baby black swans, fuzzy baby blue pukekos, families of duck, horses and cattle. The nice thing about a loop is that you can go around as many or few times as you want. So, if you have made it this far into my post you now get to indulge yourself in the pleasure of looking at my boring landscapes of my running loop taken earlier this year-autumnish so it isn't quite as lush and green as it can get. I regret not getting the pictures of the "fairy forest" part but it was too shady. Enjoy or not.

Blasted Ranch Rush

Okay so I did it, I went to a game forum to find out how to beat the Ranch. I can not win this stupid game. In my defence I did skip over the casual game and go straight to the expert mode. "How hard could it be" I thought to myself. Real hard. I used to like to do these time management games because I could succeed in these games where I could not in real life. Now I am failing in my virtual time management as well. I don't even want to play it anymore if I can't win. Alright, I will give it one more chance or maybe two-TOPS. Here is my ranch when it was looking cute and successful. Just because I have become a gamer does not mean that I have changed my position that games are huge time-suckers taking away time that is much better spent elsewhere. I am now just an addicted hypocrite. I blame Mark's dissertation and Big Fish.

New Postings

Lucy's class blog is really taking off. They made some really cute stories with recordings of their voices. I think Lucy did an exceptional job. She is the third and the last reader, she really gave it a lot of expression. You can hear and view her story about Tane and the Stars here. Feel free to leave a comment because the class likes to read comments from abroad.

Aida, inspired by Lucy's class blog has added a few humorous and interesting posts to her blog, Tra la la.

Maya and Ed did not do any blog-like activities today.

A Day in Town

Maya's Fudge Snowman

Mark and I have just about come full circle here in NZ. When we first moved out here we participated in Kidsfest and now as we leave-Kidsfest 2008. Our first year we did kite making and Argo rides and for the past few years the girls have enjoyed participating in Fudge Spectacular. The fudge cottage provides the children with malleable fudge that they can sculpt into whatever they want and decorate with candy. The first year Lucy won first place for her Spongebob sculpture. I was equally proud of Aida who built a huge pirate ship out of fudge and really maximized using as much fudge and candy as possible to fill out the piece of cardboard. Lucy's spongebob was adorable but it only took up a quarter of the cardboard. Since then the kind folks at the Fudge Cottage have decided to allocate each child the same amount of fudge and a small pile of candy. It has been a couple of years now but just as this was our last year, Aida managed to pull a third place this year and in addition to her sculpture she received a certificate, a bag of flavoured fudge, and a bag of lollies. Go Aida! Lucy and Maya (who was not quite the age requirement, but we heavily rehearsed her saying she was indeed five in a variety of circumstances) decided to go with building Fudge Snowmen. They were very cute and just so you can all share in the joy of Fudge I took some pix.

Lucy's Fudge Snowman

Aida's Fudge Flower

It was such a beautiful day in town so Ed and I too the liberty of going for a walk around the Botanical Gardens while the girls played with their fudge. Here are some photos of Ed and the fountain at the entrance way and a shot of Christchurch. I was lucky because some very naughty child was reaching under the gate and pulled out her hand to reveal her entire forearm and hand were covered in duck poop. Lucky for me, a child of mine would never do such a thing... I was glad I saw this little mishap because the mom of the offender was prepared and did not freak out at all. They cleaned her up and went along their merry way. I am one of those that just leaves the house. No nappies, no food, no wipes, nothing. I would have completely freaked because I would have had to wipe the duck poop off onto my jeans. It doesn't matter how many times I have had to bum a nappy off of someone at church, I still fail to go prepared. So thanks to this prepared mum, I was sure to make certain Master Ed did not try to touch the water.

Load Container-Tick

Well, the container is gone as well as a bulk of our stress. It is something else to pack your life away into little boxes. It was a lot of fun to dumpster dive for boxes and to go through everything. I love boxes and it all started off really well when I had matching boxes that I could stack nice and tidy-like, then it all went crazy and before I knew it there were Cheezle boxes next to the Cadbury Almonds and the tidy box world I had created had morphed into a horrendous pile of mismatched boxes. One thing I have had to admit to myself is that I fit the profile of a hoarder personality. I can see how it all happens. Some hoarders start off because they are actually very tidy and organized. The problem ends up being that you have to find just the right place for everything and since that can sometimes take time-a shelf may need to be cleared and carefully labeled with a Brother labelmaker (just to throw out an example-purely hypothetical...) piles are created. Mark learned this about me quickly into our marriage that I had a habit of pulling everything out of cupboards and drawers onto the middle of the floor and then walking away. The task was simply too daunting. When I did get back to it, my colour coding and sorting would only enable me to fit 1/3 of what was previously in there so piles remained. The piles don't annoy me as much as a untidy drawer or closet. It is like I have x-ray vision and I can see through the walls into chaos.
Anyway, this....trait of mine really slowed down my packing pace. Everything had to go into just the right box and be with all the right "friends". All boxes had to be completely sealed off to the best of my abilities. For some reason, lamination by tape flaps made my mind feel like it was THEN that my cardboard box was transformed into something waterproof. I know it wasn't and why would it need to be anyway? It all was going into the water tight Kien. Again, my crazy mind couldn't help but imagine that when my stuff is shipped "overseas" as they say, my boxes would be bobbing up and down freely in the ocean like ice-cubes in a bowl and hence, would need to be waterproofed- easily achieved by taping off just the corners and flaps. None of it makes sense and in the end, I had to just start chucking things in to get it done. Now I am dreading unpacking because things aren't properly sorted. I really need to channel my energies away from neurotic obsessions to things that enable me to be more productive.
Just a quick thank you thank you thank you to family overseas helping organize the cross-country move, and to all the friends, neigbours, and missionaries that helped tidy our trashy yard, baby-sat my sick kids, and fed our starving family all weekend long. I don't know if I could have done it on my own. I am thankful for times like these when I am completely humbled and I can realize how utterly selfish I am when someone is moving. I never help in any way. Sure people survive and they look like they are doing okay but when the load is lightened it is so much better. So once again-THANK YOU! Oh and also we have received some really awesome parting gifts that were extremely thoughtful and absolutely perfect. I am a horrible gift giver so these thoughtful gifts were much appreciated and a bit of a wonderment for me. My lack of gift giving skills would be an entirely different post. Please forgive me for my poor grammar and spelling mistakes, I am really struggling with any sort of smarts at the moment. So, here are the pix...
The girls' new sleeping arrangements. They are most unimpressed with the accommodations provided but as Kurt would say, so it goes... Since this picture, the quilt was packed :).

The loaded container. See, plenty of room to spare! Can you see how uniformed boxes would have looked so much cuter?

I told the kids they had to go to the neigbours for one final day and that they were absolutely not to step inside of the house until we were done and then we could be completely done with packing and I could stop being "Freaky Mum" to them. They quickly complied and Aida even took the time to write "Kids R Banded (banned) 12:15+ - 5:15. They did it too. It is nice to be done.

Kien Hung

Well the Kien Hung has come and gone. I have a slew of pictures to document the big event but I thought I would just start off with the ones when it was first dropped off. Lucky for us we had great dry weather for the weekend. The Kien Hung provided a lot of entertainment for the girls. Aida especially enjoyed hanging out on the top of it. The kids also gave it a go as a dancing theatre and a sport court. It really was a shame to have to fill it up. We reckon a container would make a great playground. You could put a fireman's pole to slide down as well as a slide. Inside you could have an art station, family corner, picnic table, sandbox.... Anyway it was fun. Mark has decided he would like a giant remote control like the truck operator had to lift the container off the truck. It was like a supersized atari double joystick that he hung around his neck. Mark would use his to control all the blinds in the house and try to get the girls to do things the first time we asked, but that would also involve some implanted microchips and they may be out of our price range... Thanks for the help Kien.

Heebie Children

So lifelike...

Tha Guts

I can scarcely remember the last time I was able to go to bed without fear. Okay, so I do remember. It was nine years ago before I had any children. My children are able to evoke a lot of fears in me on a daily basis. Nighttime is usually their favourite time to strike. First there is when you are just lying down and you are so so tired only to hear a door squeak...footsteps....pause...enter kid with an "itchy spot", "bad dream", "thirsty", or one of my favourites, "I can't hear Lucy snoring, I think she is dead!" This first fear is just the fear that you will have to get up in the freezing cold and you can't fall asleep just yet or you fear if you do, they willl come at that crucial time of just falling asleep and you wake gasping for breath.
Second, now this one is one that really gets me and the sole reason I always make sure Mark sleeps closest to the door-the 1 or 2 am wake-up. Now this one is when you have been asleep for awhile. So long and so deep that you can't anticipate or hear the door squeak or pitter patter. No, this is when you just have some kind of sense that you need to wake up and WHOA Nelly! You open your eyes to find right next to your bed at eye level, a child staring at you. Not saying a single word, just staring. Who knows how long they have been standing and staring, but there they are. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. Apparently they must do this intentially because they have decided to bring this creepiness to early evening hours as well. Mark and I will be working at the desk when again, we get that feeling and there is a kid standing there. Breathing silently and staring.
One night we were working and that sense came along but we would look around the room and there was no one. It just wouldn't go away and we kept looking to the side and behind us. Nothing. Come to find the next day Lucy told me how she had snuck in to the tv room to get Glow-E bear and how dad didn't see her. "He looked right at me and I saw him but he didn't see me." How could that be? I was there and I remember seeing Mark looking up with a start several times looking for something that he never did see. I believe it though. One night we were in our room with the door open and the kids were in bed. We heard one door open then another, then the door closed and then the other one. The path from point "A" to point "B" goes right past our bedroom. When we heard the first door we watched. We watched the whole time and we never saw anyone. Neither one of us. All we can derive from this is that Lucy must have some crazy Ninja skills.
The reason I bring all of this up is because Mark and I woke in the morning to find this on the sitting on the couch along with another one with a bear head, fully stuffed while the girls hid. I know it seems silly because the head really gives it away but at first glance it really freaked us out. Even after we got over the shock and knew what was going on, this things continued to freak us out for days following. I kept thinking there was a kid sitting somewhere or Aida would swing them around by the legs and I would give a startled scream telling her not to swing Maya around so fast. Yes, the girls had fun with them for awhile. The other one wasn't as sturdy because it was stuffed with skipping ropes, and blocks but "Anna" survived until I dismantled her today. Are we alone in this or do your children give you the heebie jeebies?

When Ed Got Sick

This boy is spoiled to the max by his sisters.

So Mark is doing a little better now. Every now and again I find a lung he has coughed up on the floor. He just sticks it back in and we have a good laugh about it until it inevitably happens again. Whoa there goes another one! Lucy also got it but she wasn't too bad. The bad thing now is that Ed and Maya have fallen big time. They have raging fevers and snotty noses. Aside from the excessive worry I have, a sick part of me likes it when they fall ill. Remember my half-full post? That is where I am going with this.
Lucky for them I am freezing and they are burning so a simple hug from mom warms mom and brings their fever down. When they are weak and freezing they let me hug them and take care of them without complaint. Like I said sick. Of course I would rather they be healthy and I worry about them. Maya has been saying some really funky things in her delirium. For the most part they don't make sense but after the drugs kicked in she told me she figured out how Eddie got sick. "Mum, Eddie got sick because he used to lick the undersoles of people's shoes. AND because he went in Lucy's sick bed. Huh mum?" So here are the pictures of when Ed allegedly got sick according to Maya. I will spare you of the shots of him licking the "undersoles"-not that I have them because that would be disgusting and I am a good mom and would NEVER condone that kind of yucky behaviour.
Lucky for all I am as healthy as an ox. Too bad the healthy one couldn't have been a more productive member of our family. To think that the order of packing and moving the home hinges upon my procrastinating back is really scary and it should be really unnerving to me. But you have seen my montage, I am just in denial.
I told Mark not to worry because I can really kick it into high gear when it comes time because I work best under pressure. I think he lost his last lung he laughed so hard. Just because I don't see 4 sleeps to go as the end of the wire... I remember when I was packing to leave home for college. I thought it would be no problem and dug right in midnight the night before-yeah not a good idea. It didn't really work out all that well.
Don't get me wrong, I really like the box part of packing-sealing everything up into tidy little squares and then stacking them up like my own little live version of Tetris. What I don't like is dealing with the stuff deemed unworthy for the best game of Tetris in Sara's life.
With that I am off to play some fishdom, I mean pack the playroom.

Eleven Years

Eleven years ago today Mark and I were eternally wed at the Oakland Temple in California. It has definitely gone by and it has been such a fun journey. I wish that I had something truly profound to say about it all, but I don't. All I know is that I am so thankful to have Mark in my life. I am so grateful for all the joy he has brought to me. There really are too many wonderful qualities about Mark so I won't go into all of them. One of the things that I have always loved about Mark was his great sense of humour. Even when others don't find us very funny, we can really crack each other up. I constantly marvel at how lucky I am to have truly found someone that can make me so happy. He is a wonderful father, hubby and absolutely my bestus friend in all the land. The other thing I have to mention besides his incredible smarts is his consideration and thoughtfulness. No matter how hard he works, he always puts his family first.
To mark this momentous day (no pun intended, but it is a good one), I created this lovely montage to show Mark how much I love him. Since he got a job for me, I figured it was the least I could do. I don't know-I thought the rant was my breaking point from the move, but I think I have really lost it this time. I guess I am up for anything that will help me to procrastinate. So Mark, thank you and I love you. Enjoy your montage.
PS
Bonus points for whoever can name the artist and song that wrote the inspirational lyrics found on my montage.

A New Place

Well the Bergs officially have a destination. I am starting to worry about Mark's criteria for places to live. After being born in New Hampshire and then having a brief stint Utah he then moved to New Zealand, interviewed in New York and has finally been offered a position in New Jersey!
Yesterday morning, Mark had an interview with Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (if you click on the link, note the little best colleges of 2008 and princeton review nominations. I think it was actually number six) and following his 3 hour Skype interview they offered him the position. It is still hard for us to believe that Mark is "that guy" the one that got the job and took it away from someone else. It is a good feeling. We weren't too sure about this one since it had to be done via video conference but they were so relieved and excited after Mark's interview. Mark has worked so hard so it is great to have something come of it all. It is a little strange to go somewhere that we haven't seen but when there is a wage involved who are we to not give it a chance?
Actually, the University is supposed to be excellent and is has a higher rating than anything else we have applied for so that is a plus. It is a "green" university and is set up on 1600 acres of New Jersey Pinelands-part of the state park. I do have thoughts of leopard stretch pants and gold chains going through my head but where we are going is supposed to be more in the country.
The school's location is about two hours from New York and about an hour from Philly so any of you that want to come visit will be able to see some other pretty radical cities as well. It is a one year contract so we can scope it out, but if we choose to stay this first year will count towards his tenure so that is super exciting. We told them we are going to have to think about it. So we are still thinking...
I wanted to post Mark jumping in the air doing a couple of "heel clicks" but since he has the cough of death and puffy red eyes from his flu, you will just have to conjure up the image yourself. Instead, I posted a beautiful collage featuring the dreaded gabor patches. I don' t know how many of you had to fall prey to Mark's cruel experiment, but thank you. If you have participated, chances are you are presently in Gabor induced seizures right this very minute. It is nice to know all the time I spent hitting "A" or "L" has not gone to waste and Mark was able to collect usable data.

All Boxed Up

It isn't easy finding just the right sized box for the job but I think we just about have a box to fit each of the children. Packing is going much quicker now that we have them all boxed up.