Eggs

"Ooooh Mum! Look at those pretty white eggs-American CHiCKENS! I wonder what they look like-can I have one?" -Lucy

I know that it belongs in the "Say What" section but I could not resist the picture-or Lucy.

Can You Kapla?

I don't know how many of you have seen these french blocks but they are awesome. We went to the Lawrence Hall of Science and they had a Kapla building room. They probably had like 50 thousand of these blocks at least. There were enough kids in the room to raise the temperature about 10 degrees, but with the blocks, there was organized chaos with that many children. They were all building and everything looked cool because you can't help but make amazing shapes out of these blocks. I will post more on the hall later, but for now I just wanted to share the joy of these blocks with the rest of you. They are supposed to be as classic and long living as legos without all the planning. Even the adults have fun with these. Here are some pictures for you. Check out their website gallery for cool teaching ideas and creations by Kapla Crazies as I like to call them. Then again, given a trillion Kapla blocks in varying colours, loads of free time and no kids for miles- I really couldn't say that I wouldn't do the same. Love 'em!

Of course I only "assisted" Lucy. I would never deprive her of the learning experience... I had so much fun with her.

Good Bye NZ

The post I have been dreading and have been leading up to for sometime. Mark and I have officially left NZ soil and are now in America. I am sorry to have to tell all of my fan out there, but I am far from posting about NZ. There are many many things that we have done and loved there and I am going to share each and every one of them with you until you stop looking at my blog. We were very lucky to get to ride Premier Economy on Air New Zealand; that is the girls were lucky enough, Mark and Ed had to ride in the back with the other hooligans and ruffians. Up in premier we were treated well with 3 course meals on real plates, footrests, and everything was handed to us with tongs. Aida especially enjoyed the warmed towels that we received before our meals. After having my fill of free garlic bread and polishing off my post meal cheese platter, I tried to work my way back to Mark. I hated to have to cross the curtains but I did for my Mark to try to see if he wanted any extra food for Ed since he didn't get a meal and we had plenty to spare up in premier. I never could make it back to him (he was like 2 curtained sections behind me) but I did think of him in my heart as I reclined that extra 2-3 inches because I could. I threatened the girls that if they made any noise they would be banished to the back of the plane with Dad, things weren't all that bad for him-they did block out two extra seats for him and Ed. For twelve hours not a peep was made. The only downfall was that I couldn't sleep because I had to get up so often due to my inability to turn down the fresh hot herbal tea (I always ordered a specialty flavour because I could) and the fact that every time I would stand up I was offered a complimentary snack like a chocolate bar or extra bikkies during the whole flight. I think it was the nicest crew we have ever had on Air New Zealand. Overall a good way to end our adventure in Aoteroa. There was a really good shot of Maya sleeping but I thought Mark had the camera and I couldn't get to him. Turns out I had it the whole time and the shot is still haunting me because it was beautiful. The crew wanted one for a flier it was that cute. Anyway, back to the pix. We had some wonderful farewells. I won't post pictures from those because I know some wouldn't be too pleased to see themselves on the world wide, besides my heart wasn't in it. I was too busy savouring the time I had with my friends. I really wish that I had just taken more with my friends as we went along living and enjoying life together. I posted this one of Maya because my friend Jacqui had a theory that if I didn't look into her eyes she could hold it together. I tried it out for all my good-byes and it didn't work. Sorry Jax. Another chapter is over for the Bergs-beautiful country and unforgetable friends. Thanks to all and you are all missed greatly!




We lost a piece of luggage when we woke to find the girls had transformed their carry-ons into turtle shells. One shell survived and the other went to the Salvation Army along with whatever extra clothing we deemed to be "to heavy for flight".