Swim Buddies

Monday

Mark was working this past weekend, so to get Ro out of the house Sherry took him to The Living Art Wildlife Park here in Tauranga. The animals weren't as exotic as those we've seen at other parks, but Ro had a good time feeding them nonetheless.

http://www.livingartwildlifepark.co.nz/

Ro took this one

If only children were as open-minded about food as goats

Farmer Ro

Ro the Rocker

Craig was working today, so we offered to watch Barnaby. The boys ran around the apartment all morning, their racket finally spurring Mark to get out of bed. Barnaby brought his new boogie board, and they made a game of running and jumping on it, sliding on the carpet. Ever fair-minded, Ro told Barnaby, "I'll take the first thousand turns and you can have the next thousand."

Sherry had promised to take the boys to Baywave, but first we stopped by Bayfair so they could get their picture made with Santa. Turns out they weren't the only kids there dressed in their swimming togs and rashies, but Ro's goggles made a nice fashion statement. We got a pic for ourselves and one for Craig, and the boys both received a toy spade and bucket from Santa.

Smile, Ro!

Sherry took the boys across the street to Baywave while Mark did some Christmas shopping at the mall. He's been working a lot the past couple weeks, so is way behind on it. The boys entertained each other at the pool for the most part, giving Sherry some time to read and relax. After finishing his errands, Mark stopped by Imbibe (conveniently located between the mall and Baywave) for a quick pint on the sunny patio. Sherry was a little ragged when Mark got to the pool, as she kept having to referee the boys' sporadic squabbles, so Mark took over the umpire duties while she kicked back with her book and went off to do some grocery shopping.

Not to worry, Barnaby gave as good as he got

Ro and Barnaby were constantly on the Hydroslide, usually riding down together. Of course, this had its dangers, such as when Barnaby's head hit Ro in the mouth. They probably averaged about one minor injury per hour for the nearly 6 hours we spent there. After we got home, Sherry whipped them up some cheese pizzas which they ravenously scarfed down. They finally settled down when Sherry put on Little Shop of Horrors.

Hi-five!

Getting a facefull in the wave pool

After Barnaby left, we were about to put Ro to bed when he got a reprieve in the form of a ship's horn. The Diamond Princess was about to pull out of port, and Mark wanted to get a few pics of it, so Ro tagged along. Pilot Bay was packed with people, like nothing we've seen since, well, last summer. Crowds gathered on the pier for a view of the huge ship entering the channel between Mauao and Matakana Island with the setting sun behind it...sort of a Mt Maunganui summer ritual.

The ship's horn was really loud

Diamond Princess sails away