Poppy Ford: YouTube Video Editor

Poppy’s first time in the snow was lots of fun. We drove 40 minutes out of Nelson to Clark Valley rest area and played in the snow. We built a snowman then had a picnic lunch while sledding down the hill.

Poppy has enjoyed the Olympic activity going on during the week. Her favourite sports are any of the gymnastics – although she gets a little concerned for the men up on the rings – and she loves the soccer. The synchronized swimming holds her attention too – she laughs and laughs at the legs coming out of the water! I’ll have to record some of the synchronized swimming for her watch again.

After an awesome trip away, it’s fun being back home too. We’ve caught up with friends and Steve came over for the weekend. Poppy has had lots of play time with GranJan and Yogi and had a sleepover at the Farm. Bouncing on the tramp has been a favourite actitity – although ocassionally Poppy will ask if she can make pancakes with Jonna or ride a roller coaster. When she sees a plane in the sky she will say “Let’s go to the AIRPORT!”

Our last day in the USA was amazing with wonderful fun at LegoLand. After a quick shower and pack we were in the car again on the freeway to the airport where we checked in and said goodbye to Anthony & Jonna. Poppy had such an amazing time with her Aunty Jonna that she cried when she had to say goodbye.

Our flight from LA to Auckland was PERFECT! In front of me was a young girl who didn’t recline her seat and there was no-one seated behind me. Poppy had two seats on which to stretch out and she went straight to sleep about half an hour into the 13 hour flight and woke 2 hours before landing in time to have breakfast and watch Charlotte’s Web on her personal TV screen. We then went through customs after meeting the fruit-sniffing beagle named Poppy!

A brisk walk over to domestic saw us on our final plane ride to Nelson where Yogi and GranJan were waiting for us with delicious chicken sandwiches and a good old kiwi cuppa for lunch. Happy to be home and in familiar surroundings, Poppy asked to go to PreSchool so we went for a visit to catch up with her friends and teachers who have been reading this blog while we were away.

We relaxed and rediscovered old toys to play with & caught up with phone calls before Poppy went to bed around 6pm and Adrienne followed at 8pm – I think we beat the jetlag by getting some sleep on the plane.

We were so lucky to have Anthony & Jonna take us to LegoLand! It was a fantastic place for kids under 12 and we were all very impressed with the park and all the lego creations. Poppy loved everything she experienced and often cried when we wanted to take her from one ride to the next! She had lots of fun at the water play and looked cute in her new cherries swimsuit.

Although we have no clean clothes, we’ve had a wonderful day with Anthony & Jonna.  After making pancakes with Jonna for breakfast, we had lots of fun playtime with the cats and doing things around the house.  Watched some Word World on TV that Anthony recorded for us then went for a lovely picnic at a playground in the park.  Sitting in the shade and watching Poppy play was really relaxing.  After shopping for some shoes for Adrienne, we came home and chilled out again while cooking and eating dinner together.

When our bags hadn’t arrived as promised, Adrienne activated her travel insurance and went out to buy toothbrushes, pullups, jammies, shampoo etc so we could get through tonight and tomorrow morning – hopefully our bags will arrive before we leave for NZ tomorrow evening!  Tomorrow will be fun as on our last day in the USA we are all going to LegoLand!