Weekend Review - Day trip to Bridal Veil Falls & Raglan

People get sick all the time... so doctors work on weekends. Here in New Zealand Ben's weekend work is very limited... and for that (and many other things) I am thankful. But about once a month he has the weekend shift... and I try to make the best of it.

"Making the best of it" almost never means staying home... everyone wakes up at six and all of my creative ideas are used up by ten... cue the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So, I usually pick a fun place to explore and we hit the road early. The idea of strapping my kids into their seats with a box of snacks and activities for five or six hours doesn't phase me (it beats a likely alternative - movie marathon).

We decided on another waterfall trip, near a town that I have been itching to see. Bridal Veil Falls just outside of Raglan. The falls were beautiful and after about 15 minutes in Raglan, I decided that it was my favorite New Zealand town (that we have seen thus far).

I'm not going to lie, the first leg of our trip was a bit brutal... "This is the dumbest day ever!" "Are we there yet?" "Why are we doing this?"... were among the choruses I heard for the first two hours. My cell phone (with the map) died and we had to make and emergency stop in Cambridge for a car charger. Attitudes were bad and I was seriously questioning my judgement...

But by the time we got in the car to come home, everyone was euphoric -drunk on the excitment of the day. We ate McDonalds in the car and sang American pop music (sin of sins). When we got home the big kids cleaned every inch of my car while I put Jonah to bed. Win.

I think adventure might be my love language... quality time doesn't quite do it for me - there must be a component of newness, excitement and the overcoming of a challenge. Nothing excites me more than sharing an adventure with people that I care about.