Somes Island

From our breakfast room window, you can see Somes Island in the middle of the harbor. Ever since we moved in, we'd been thinking about going. Scott found out that tuatara (lizards that have been around since the dinosaurs) live on Somes Island and he really wanted to go for his birthday, but I think we had bad weather the Saturday before, and the Saturday after that, he had a birthday party for a friend. So, on the 10th of October, we took the ferry from Queen's Wharf to Somes Island and spent a lot of the day there.

The view of Somes Island from our breakfast room.

At Queen's Wharf, waiting for Dad to buy the tickets for the ferry.

 Bobby on the ferry.

 Marie and Matt on the ferry.

 Becky and Marie on the ferry. She loved the wind!

Scott on the ferry.

 We hiked to the top of the island, where they have sheep to graze and keep the grass short. We had a nice lunch up there before hiking some more.

 The paths around the island were pretty stroller-friendly, so Marie rode in style almost the whole day.

We hiked around pretty much the whole island and took in some fabulous views.

 It was a very pleasant day with the family. We weren't in a big rush, so we didn't have to hurry the boys along too much. They did complain a lot that they were tired while we were walking around, but on the way home, Scott said it was the best day ever, so I'm glad we took the time to make the memory.

Scott, the Six-Year-Old

Scott's birthday has historically been difficult because it's usually at the beginning of the school year or soon after a move, or both. We didn't know very many people from school yet, and I didn't feel comfortable throwing him a big party, so I talked to one of the moms I had met who has two sons, the younger of which had just started school and had played with Scott during playtime. The older son was also quite friendly to Scott. We decided to meet at a park and play in the morning. Then, I had Domino's deliver pizza directly to the park, which took a little convincing, but it worked out in the end. We had a fun time.

Matt had been working late most nights, but he made it home for Scott's requested favorite dinner: rice with chicken gravy. He wanted a double layer cake like Matt, but wanted brownies instead. I did a Batman cake for Bobby, so we stuck with alliteration and did Superman for Scotty. He wanted blue, and I delivered. After brownie cake, he opened a bunch of presents. We went a little overboard because we had bought a few things in the U.S., and then we were so excited to have good quality toys much more readily available here in New Zealand, as opposed to Laos. He got some Lego City books for his reading level, a Minecraft book, some Legos, a Pokemon starter box, etc. It was too much. We even gave Bobby a present so he didn't freak out when Scott opened so many presents. We talked to Bobby ahead of time and said he had something to open if he was patient and kind while Scott opened his presents. We're such suckers. I think it was a fun day for Scott, even though he didn't have a party with lots of friends. Maybe when he turns 7 or 8, we'll aim a little higher as far as the "party" is concerned.

On the night before his birthday, Scott came into my room and said he couldn't sleep. He hadn't seen his dad all day and Matt had returned home by this point, and the other kids were sleeping, so we hung out with him for a little while and I held him like a baby. So strange that he's so old now.

 This is the Rok-to-Pus at the park. It's pretty fun.

 The cake...

 Obligatory photo with candles, that I love.

 Scott is a good big brother. He has always been a very logical kid, from the time he was younger than 1, really, I could explain things to him and he would understand. He is dependable and helpful, most of the time. And he LOVES his siblings.

And he's also a monkey...

We love you Scott. We're so glad you came first. We're sorry we alternate so much between expecting you to be older and reminding you you're still young. Being the oldest is much tougher than I ever imagined as a youngest child. We're so proud of who you are and look forward to seeing you grow and become the person you're meant to be.