Back from Summer Holiday

We've just spent a week in Hahei (one of the most beautiful untouched beaches in NZ) and got home on Sunday afternoon. We had a wonderful time away, the boys just loved being "on holiday" and spending long hot days at the beach. We live by the beach but it was special to go somewhere different and really enjoy the carefree summer days. It did rain 2 of the 7 days we were there, but luckily we had taken toys, books & the DVD player!!!! LOL.

My parents and sister came on holiday too. Almost every summer we go to Hahei with them, and we always invite another family to come with us (not always the same family). The house we rent down there sleeps 13 people, so there is plenty of room for extras. This year we invited our best friends Phil & Jo, who are expecting their first baby in a few weeks! They stayed for 5 days, and then our family friends the Allens came down for the last long weekend. There were 10 adults and 4 kids on the last 3 days, so lots of fun was had by all!!

Tyler and Ethan had to share a room with us while we were away, something they are not used to doing. But both of them slept great the whole time and didn't wake each other (or us) at all. It was stinking hot one night and I hardly slept at all, that was the only night that Ethan was restless and kept saying "mummy, it is taking too long to be morning" at 2, 3, 4 and 5am!! Poor little guy. Daddy and Tyler slept through it all :P

The boys spent heaps of time swimming and playing the sand, and they both went kayaking with daddy. Tyler is a real water baby with no fear whatsoever, while Ethan is much more cautious and needs a bit of encouragement to get involved. He did love the water though. Hahei is known for its big surf and a couple of days the waves were just far too big for the kids to really go swimming (we usually carry them out into the deep water but the waves were even crashing over us and we had to dive under them most of the time).

Ethan actually stayed down in Hahei with Nana & Grandad for an extra night (they came home on Monday afternoon). Rob and I had already decided we would come home on Sunday, but that morning Ethan said “I don’t want to go home” so I cheekily asked Mum & Dad if he could stay the last night with them! It was actually quite hard for me to leave him. On the way home (3.5h drive) I realised that I had never been that far apart from Ethan before. He has stayed overnight at my parents’ house but we’ve always been just 5 minutes away. It just felt strange to be so many miles away from him …. It was really good to see him again the next day :-)

I’ve got tons of photos but haven’t had a chance to download them yet. I will try and do that tonight and post some pics.