Charlotte Detained at Police House - M & W Escape to Esplanade

After our visit up the hill, we dropped Charlotte off with Marg, Lucy, Regan, and Amelia. They were staying in the Police Holiday House in St. Kilda for a bit of a break from all the happenings from that week.

With Charlotte snuggled up in her jammies with her New Zealand whanau, Michelle and I headed down the road to the Esplanade pizzeria to meet some of my Air Force buddies, living in Dunedin now. It was great seeing them all so happy and well.

The Esplanade is a beach-side Italian inspired eatery serving wood-fired pizza, pasta and small plates.

Surrounded by my old Air Force buddies, Michelle, Lorna and I relaxed in the warm atmosphere of the restaurant while enjoying magnificent evening views of St Clair beach and the Pacific surf at The Esplanade.

http://www.esplanade.co.nz/

Michelle's Memorable NZ Moment

At one point, Lily and Angela had to duck off to a meeting and Michelle was left in charge of the little people. Michelle loved how Tui was just so comfortable with everybody, immediately. 

    Basically, it went like this: Lily hands Michelle a bag of baby gear and assures her that Tui is just fine with strangers. She gave Michelle her bottle, gave her a few Maori words (to help with understanding the finer details of some of Tui's requests); and said, "I'll be back in a couple of hours. You guys will figure it out". 

    Classic New Zealand. Welcome to the whanau, Ms Michelle. Love it!

Introducing Tui Peke

While we're introducing people, we'd better make quick mention of young Tui. This little cutie is one of the new generation of kuzzies who have burst onto the scene in the Fraser family (Will's Mum's family) and taken the world by storm.

    At the time of our last trip to New Zealand, Tui was only a twinkle in her mother's eye, but like the other new cousins in the family (including; Charlotte, Mako, Tobyn, Olive, Jarvis, and Amelia); we are reminded yet again how quickly the kids generation (i.e. my own) become the adult generation - with children of their own to give them grey hair and keep them up at night.

   It has only recently hit me: with all these tamariki running around, we are the parents now, our parents have all become the grandparents. Oh, and granddad David has become "great-granddad David." (Not that the shift in familial hierarchy seems to have affected his golf swing or his handy cap at all)...

    ...I digress. 

Here she is - introducing Lily's beautiful daughter, Tui Peke.

Tui wearing a pair of Charlotte's hand-me-down moccasins...

Creating Artwork on Mum's MacBook Pro

Fast-forward a year and Tui meets Amelia at Purki