Marking An Eventful Year

Sunday

For those of you who were at our wedding a year ago, you'll be glad to know it was appreciably warmer today. Mark awoke to find Sherry putting Ro's big Lego airplane together, which she has sworn on several occasions she would never do again. Married life has made her soft, apparently. She gave Mark a very sweet card and some NZ poetry magnets for the fridge, but his main gift is still on the way, caught in Trade Me limbo. She soon delegated finishing the plane to Mark, as she whipped up some bacon and eggs. Her scrambled eggs have gotten really good lately, ever since she reverse engineered the recipe that Main St Café uses. She claims they sauté them in a bit of cream cheese, with a dash of chili powder.

Just married...on the coldest day of the year

Thanks to cousin Ashley for the pics

It was another cruise ship day on The Mount, with the massive Diamond Princess in port, and the streets around The Anchorage were filled with tourists. The whole country was buzzing about Prince William arriving in Auckland on his first official visit anywhere as the Queen's representative. In addition to hanging out with Prime Minister John Key, he met with NZ's own royalty at Eden Park: All Blacks Dan Carter (#10) and Richie McCaw (#7).

We were debating what to do today when we got a frantic phone call. We rushed over to a neighbor's apartment, stethoscope in hand, to assist with a medical emergency. As we tag-teamed our assessment of the patient, we found it ironic that we had first met doing the very same thing at the Randolph Hospital Emergency Department. Mark recognized the paramedics who showed up to the apartment, and they were grateful for his succinct summary of the situation in Kiwi medicalese. When we got back to our place, Sherry mused, "Well, I guess Ro got out of eating his eggs after all."

Ro & Barnaby watching the excitement from our balcony

Mark had some errands to run, so he ducked out to score Avatar 3D tickets for tonight, bless Sherry's greenstone earrings in the ocean, pick up a card and some glass-bottled Cokes (Sherry's favorite), and got two more NZ-oriented charms for Sherry's Pandora-style bracelet (one would be from Ro). Once Mark got home, he took over watching Ro and Barnaby while Sherry ran out to do some shopping. The boys paused briefly in their trashing of Ro's bedroom just long enough to scarf down some Vegemite sandwiches.

Greenstones about to take a dip

Crowds gather for the finish of the annual Round The Mount Swim

A common sight on Maunganui Rd in the summer

Cruise ships somehow make summer traffic even worse

Ro and Barnaby were enjoying watching Beetlejuice on DVD for the umpteenth time when Sherry came home and shooed them outside for a little fresh air. Mark took them across the street to Coronation Park for some squirt gun fighting and tadpole catching.

Let's squirt your dad! Yeah!

Lawn bowls beneath the Diamond Princess

Barnaby's mom Heidi picked him up just as our babysitter Jessica arrived. Mark had polled the nurses at work to figure out the best restaurant in town, and they unanimously recommended Somerset Cottage in nearby Bethlehem. When we first pulled up, it didn't seem to be all that special of a location (right across a busy road from a mall), but we sat out back on a pretty, secluded patio overlooking a fern-filled gorge. Sherry even spotted a large rabbit hopping through the trees.

Marriage (and a little sun) has been good for us

Enjoying some bubbly on a midsummer's eve

The nurses' endorsements were well-justified, as the food was easily some of the best we've had in NZ. We started with homemade Naan with several savory dips, then Mark had the roast duck while Sherry had the Paris Gnocchi. We finished with a selection of mini chocolate treats, all washed down with some NZ sparkling wine and a pot of tea (of course). We made it back to The Mount just in time to throw on our 3D glasses and enjoy Avatar, which was awesome. By the time the movie was over, Sherry observed that it seemed like we'd been away from Ro for a week.

A whole year later...and half a world away

View from our table