Little's Soccer

It's a wrap for our Little One's soccer season!  This girl played her heart out, and it was so much fun to watch.

She played offense, defense, forward, mid-field, just whichever position the coach needed her to play the most.  She could run down a player with her quick speed, too!

During one game against the U15 team, she said she had the most fun because they would try to push her around while she gave it right back.  I guess we're ready to leave U13 behind and take on the older level.

This summer, she'll be heading to camp where they will hopefully cover how to settle a high ball.  That's one of her toughest challenges.

Her team played really well.  They won about 75% of their games, and fell just short of taking the tournament.  We'll miss these girls as they split up and start trying out for their schools' JV teams.

Prom

Lots of great pictures from prom, so bear with me.  First, the exchange of flowers...

Then, the first picture...

They agreed on hot pink to accent their wardrobe, how fun!  Crazy socks included.

Now for some outside pictures... These two are so photogenic!

And a few by the car...all washed and ready for the big date.

Showing off the shoes & socks again.

Then helping her in...

Met up with their friends at a gorgeous bed & breakfast.

Then found a chicken in the garden, Luke's Univ. of SC mascot.  Go Gamecocks!

 And finally off to dinner and prom.

Caught up with them one more time as they headed into the dance.  (In case you're wondering, LOTS of other parents did this, too.) 

Being silly outside the entrance as they waited on their friends.  She enjoyed being taller than Luke as she stood on a curb. 

NZ - Bonus Pics

In Auckland, the Volvo Ocean Race was going on.  This is a hugely popular event for those who follow sailing.  The race is around the world and only occurs once every three years with stops at various countries.  On this particular day, the big "send off" was in just a few hours.

This was really cool to me...the intersections stopped all cars in all directions so that pedestrians could walk across, straight, or diagonally for 15 seconds.  

Our drink of choice in NZ was L&P.  It's a lemon soda similar to Mello Yellow, or maybe ginger ale.  We wish they sold it here in the US!  So delicious!

Mt. Eden volcanic crater, overlooking the city of Auckland...

Queenstown, just before our bungee jump....

Wanaka, hiking the trails...

These next few pictures were taken while driving through the farm lands.  

Even the cloudy days were gorgeous!
 

 

 And back to the water again...

NZ - Beaches

Our final days in New Zealand were spent in the warmer climate by the beaches.  We headed back to Auckland and drove east to the coast.

We stayed in Hahei near the famed hot water beach.  Here, there are natural hot springs just beneath the sand.  

Upon testing the water, we found it to be warm at best.  Although it wasn't hot like we expected, it was still warmer than the ocean water.  Notice the big muscles in action.

There were a few other families on the beach that evening.  You can only do this during low tide, and on this particular time it was either 7pm or 7am.

The following morning, we decided to try again to see if we could dig a warmer hole.  We were surprised how many were already there.  To our delight, we definitely hit a hot spot this time!  In fact, it was so hot we had to find a cold water inlet to keep the spring from burning our skin.

Enjoying the sunrise in our personal hot tub.

After the sunrise, we decided to take a hike along the beach to a place called Cathedral Cove.  Gorgeous views along the way!

Spotted a lifeguard stand and had to get a picture with our favorite guard.

Made it to Cathedral Cove.  This is an ocean-carved tunnel along the beach that is popular in many NZ pictures.  

Here's the view once you're in the tunnel.  Just beautiful!  

Visitors usually turn around at this point, then hike back to their cars.  Since we had our bathing suits on, we decided to venture through the water to the private beach.

Ahh, what a nice vacation.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend our last full day.

Playing in the water...

One of our goals during the trip was to find a penguin.  The Little Blue penguins are commonly found along the shores in NZ, but few venture this far north.  Eric found one washed up along the shore.  Our guess is it came in with the high tide and hit the rock.  It's about two inches smaller than an adult size, so it was an adolescent.  Sad to see it dead, but excited we finally saw a real one in it's natural habitat.

The kids found a stick and decided to use that as a visual to claim our territory.  Anyone read Lord of the Flies?  I see a resemblance here.

Our private beach lasted only an hour.  As it got more crowded, we decided to have fun with the camera and found some friendly tourists to take our picture.  Instead of a "jump" pose, we did a handstand pose.

Then one final picture with Ashlyn on the way back to the airport.  It was hard to leave her behind!  Looking forward to having her home in July.