The wild west

I love the west coast. It has such a raw and untamed beauty, the waves are a little more ferocious and the vegetation is a little more overgrown. The pancake rocks are the crown jewel (well, so is Milford Sound, and the great coast road, and the glaciers, and well, let's just say there's a lot of jewels in this treasure trove). We found a cute cottage just a few miles down the road that ticked all the boxes. I rank the places we stay according to a complex mathematical equation that factors in the scenery, number of electric blankets and probability of walking barefoot and eating off their dishes. This place fared pretty well, the beach was even so close that we could hear the waves crashing as we fell asleep. It also earned extra credit for having 15 working television channels. But we didn't come here just to watch Peppa Pig, the scenery was the main attraction.

This is our second time here and I love seeing it in different lights and different moods. The blowhole didn't put its best foot forward, which was a disappointment after we talked it up so much to Jessica, but you can't argue that a day spent here is a day well spent. It sort of feels like we got teleported (Maddox's favorite word) to an ancient Aztec nation. That's what I love about New Zealand, there is such a vast variety of landscape all within a few hours drive.

Here's your second chance at Where's Waldo...I spy with my little eye Maddox and Jason

Jason took these guys to explore the Punakaiki cavern while I stayed with the little guys. I mean, afterall we had to get our Peppa Pig fix somehow.

And as a totally unrelated side note, yet completely related because we're talking about food, frozen french fries were on the menu for dinner one night but we were in a pinch because there was no oven. Jason decided to fry them on the stove in butter and let me just tell you. world officially changed. On a scale of broccoli to fried snickers, I would say this tends to fall closer to the latter, but that buttery crunchiness is worth every clogged artery. If we're going to die, we might as well die happy. Try it and thank me later.

Lonely planet ranked this stretch of road as one of the top 10 most scenic coastal drives in the world. It's not hard to see why.

Jason spontaneously pulled the car off the side of the road to check out a beach. I started to put up an argument about not wanting to get the kids all unbuckled and all bundled up but I took one look and immediately shut my mouth.

New Zealand has turned these kids into climbers, and I love it. I love seeing them test their limits and get nice and dirty. We grew up with a mountain in our back yard and my favorite childhood memories still live on those rocky ledges and in those hidden caves. Ryder has caught the climbing bug and thinks he can hold his own. They all managed to scale this rock, which was an impressive feat for a two year old.

So maybe we might need to set some limits when it comes to climbing, I was a little freaked out when I turned around and saw this.

Next we made our way through the Truman's track's lush vegetation to the beach which just so happened to be a little slice of sandstone heaven. Okay, this sentence is giving me a headache. Should it be Truman's track's or Truman's track or Truman track's? And I had to google how to spell happened, because doesn't happend just make more sense? But lush really is just such a fun word to say, it makes me want to squeeze something or eat something, I just can't decide.

Two noteworthy items of business here, there is a tree growing inside a tree and this door knob on the tree is most likely for a hobbit, but it reminded me of that scene in The Princess Bride which I then had to recreate for Jessica because she has never seen that movie. The shame.

Scenes from behind that waterfall. This place with all its caves and rocks had just the right balance of stunning peaceful beauty and childhood adventure. All topped off with a golden sunset. If this hasn't sold you on the west coast, nothing will.

Best of New Zealand tour kicks off

Ya know, sometimes you wake up and the world just isn't your oyster. Today was one of those days. I knew I should be excited about our road trip, but I was in a funk. I get in these funks and no matter how hard I try to kick it, I just can't force myself to put on a happy face. I wanted to curl up against the car window and pretend that I didn't hear them fighting over chicken crackers and turbo granny. So I did just that. I checked out for a solid hour and a half and left Jason to man the wheel and the chaos and left Jessica wondering what in the world she had just signed up for. But we made it to our first stop and the sunshine and fresh air did wonders for my soul. I still struggled off and on throughout the weekend, losing my cool over grilled cheese sandwiches and long showers, but by the end I could feel myself breathing a little deeper and really appreciating the moments. All this to say, sometimes there's trouble in paradise.

This is the fifth time we've been to Castle Rock Hill, and while some might argue that's one time too many, the kids could spend all day here. We had the entire jungle gym all to ourselves and even discovered some new nooks and crannies. I told myself that I already had too many pictures of this place, but you know how that goes.

He struck this pose then requested a picture. Who am I to not oblige?

They found quite a few rock slides that did wonders for their imaginations, and the back sides of their jeans

Here's a Where's Waldo of sorts, can you spot Jayden...

Jayden's accidental recreation of Rio's Cristo Redentor

This was also a repeat visit to the Devil's Punch Bowl Falls, but some things in life are worth repeating. Jayden was a little alarmed that we were visiting a place that had both "devil" and "punch" in the same sentence. After our hike I hobbled around the grocery store in my one-size-too-small-but-they-were-only-seven-dollars-so-just-had-to tennis shoes collecting our weekend supply of food before heading off into the night while the Domino's pizza steamed up our windows. Two slices of extra cheese and one sleeping baby later and I decided that this trip was off to a good start after all.

Hashtag hometown tourists

Of course I had to show Jessica around some of our favorite local haunts. I really loved being selfish and having her all to myself while the kids were in school and Jason was at work. We had some good talks on our long drives and I enjoyed getting caught up on her life. And thanks to her I am now all up to date on the latest trends of rompers and succulent flower arrangements.  We enjoyed meandering our way through the snow capped mountains to Akaroa one day. That drive just never gets old. Once we got there we had the charming little village all to ourselves and it was so peaceful strolling along the board walk in the sun and enjoying a delicious lunch on a park bench over looking the ocean. It all came to an end too quickly when we had to head back to reality and pick the kids up from school, but we enjoyed every quiet minute while it lasted.

Taylor's mistake is my favorite local hot spot. Thirty minutes out of town and an entire world away. I mean, this place is my kind of jam.

Ryder made for a good little tour guide. He's kind of a fun one to have around, as long as the suckers are flowing freely he's as happy as a lark.

Our last day trip was a grandiose tour of Christchurch. But before we get to that, let's talk about the weather. Because that's always a fun topic. The day after they got back from Milford, Mother Nature put on an impressive display of talent. Sun, rain, snow, sun, hail, all within like an hours time. Showoff. But then we had straight up sun for the entire rest of the week and weekend. We're talking 7 straight days, which just may be a new record. It was so kind of Jessica to bring along a little piece of the sunshine state with her. The forecast for this day was sun and then a storm rolling in around 2:00. When we headed out around noon there was not a cloud in the sky and it was so hard to believe that the skies would be black in a matter of hours. But just like clock work as we stood at a street corner right around 2:00 talking about how impressively hot it was, a nasty wind came out of nowhere as Ryder sat in his stroller crying with his hands flailing in front of his face trying to block the onslaught of leaves and debris pelting his face. Jessica covered him with her jacket and we finally stumbled our way back to the car with sticks stuck in our hair and dirt stuck in our teeth. It was not a pretty sight. But before that we quite enjoyed ourselves at Hagley park and the downtown district.

I told you, this boy has eyes only for shorts. And especially these cut offs.

There is still so much destruction and devastation from the earthquake, but they are doing a good job brightening it up with art installments and filling empty lots with disco balls and dance floors that play music out of washing machines and night clubs held under white plastic tents, you know, just average stuff like that.

And here's Mister Roger's neighborhood, just in case you were wondering.

Totally worth a lifesaver bribe for this shot

The container malls, which I thought were kind of a cool and innovative idea until Jessica showed me pictures of the the container mall in Vegas. Leave it to Vegas to do everything bigger and better.

This is a memorial from the CTV building where over a hundred people died when it collapsed. Each of the chairs represents someone who died and the white infant car seat gets me every time.

So that's it for our day trips before heading out on another weekend adventure. I really loved the excuse to take a break from the daily grind and enjoyed showing Jessica around. I've gone through my repertoire of 80's slang and have landed on the perfect adjective for her, she is one fly chick.