Whiti Farm etc

So boxing day (day after christmas for those non-kiwis) we headed up to Cooks Beach.  My parents have bought a section there, with long term plans of building on it, but for now we are tenting it.  I was a little nervous about being in a tent for a week with our boys, you just never know how they'll take to sleeping there.  But they were so good! Both took good naps, went to sleep early as (due to a day full of moving).  Granted they woke up with the sun at 6.30am, but all in all it was really nice. Malachi went out fishing with Grandad and caught us some dinner, caught an eel too. Most of my siblings were there, along with my parents so we got to hang out.





Poor Grandma the slave.




We caught the ferry over to town for the day.


Mmmmm Jellytips. Wouldn't be summer without them.




I have a thing for fobby signs. This was at our fav fish and chip shop.






Vili is clearly over his dog phobia.










Part of the reason of going up this time was to help Dad with some manual labor.  There's a little utility there, Tui helped to build a shed, we all helped level ground, and the boys did some cobble stone laying.  For Tui it was more a working holiday then anything else.



Malachi loved playing in the gravel watching the men work






But of course we managed to get to the beach.








One day we happened upon this starfish breeding ground. It was insane. In all my years going to the beach, I have never EVER seen that many starfish in one place. Malachi collected 39.






And we went to the Whiti Farm, which is like a huge petting/feeding zoo.   It was totally worth the money, and we will go back for sure.  The boys loved it, and I was surprised at how brave they were feeding all the animals.





Malachi fell in love with this sheep.












There were a ton of tractors around the place, which made Vili one happy camper.


So just before this picture, Tui decided to ignore the "Dont' feed the ostrich" sign, and almost got his hand bitten off by this giant bird. He screamed so loud I almost wet my pants. Hence why he won't stay any closer to it.Lol





Unfortunately our holiday was cut short by the greatest rainfall in that area in 30 years (go figure).  But it was good while it lasted.  Granted, it was no Tongan paradise, but it was nice.

Old School

While we were in Tonga I took pictures of some of the pictures of Tui growing up.  A picture of a picture isn't exactly great, but it's better then no picture.  I would hate for something to happen to the originals and then those memories would be lost.

It was so weird looking through the photo albumns.  I had no idea which one was Tui.  I could tell his sister, the only girl, his brother sione by his eyes, and siope because he's so much  younger.  But even Tui couldn't tell which one he was.  He looks NOTHING like that now.  Its insane.  It could be another kid.

So here are a few of them.  Eventually I'll spend hours digitally restoring them.  Eventually.....maybe after I'm done having kids and have finished my Phd....

Tonga 2011

Too much to say, too many pictures.

We had a fab time.  Tui loved being in his zone with his peeps, I loved not having to cook or clean, the boys loved all the dogs and kids and food and treats and hugs and riding in the car without a seatbelt.

Everytime I go to Tonga I leave feeling very different about the "Western world".  The first time we went I felt really guilty for being so greedy and selfish and having so much.  This time I came away really, really grateful for the conveniences we have - constant running water, a fridge, supermarkets, a fully automatic washing machine, a government system that functions and cares.  All the simple things I take for granted.

All that aside, it was such a great trip, so sad to leave.  Tui's family, and Tongans in general, are so overly generous and hospitable.  We're hoping to be back May 2013 to welcome Tui's brother home from his mission, and hopefully go out and visit the other island where Tui grew up - a REAL island experience.

Now, brace yourself for a very small (yet still really large) taste of the 1000's of pictures I took.

Having a jam session with Grandpa.

At LHS (Malachi was busting to go toilet)

Outside the Tongan Temple.

Vili spent most of his time eating. This kid could not get enough of anything.

Malachi was really excited to make a fire (he keeps asking to do one at home, but we have a fire ban during summer). He even brought marshmellows from NZ to use over there. Every day he helped collect the leaves and burn them. Daddy showed him out to make a fire with coconut shells, which I was really impresssed with.

Malachi loved all the little Tongan kids. He would speak his pretend tongan to them and they thought he was hilarious.

And of course we spent a ton of time at the beach. It amazed me how beautiful the beach is there, crystal clear water like from a postcard. And since Tongans only swim when it's dark or raining, we had full run of the beaches during the day when it was sunny.

The boys, who were both previously terrified of dogs, over came that fear pretty quickly, thanks to Grandma's dozen. In the end they adopted "No" as their own. They would take her for walks every morning, Vili was always stealing food to give to her. And since we've come home, Malachi pretends he's No all the time.

It was the first time Tui's parents had met Vili, and they hadn't seen Malachi since he was one.

Tui got a chance to prove that he still had the island skills. He even taught us how to scrape the coconut.

I was one happy pregnant person with all the fruits etc we got to eat. And with watermelons being $1 a pop, we ate them alllllll the time.

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