Some pictures lost but memories made

It is winter here in Aotearoa. The kids are on a two week school holiday. Last week my family and I flew to the South Island and visited the beautiful city of Queenstown. While there, we took a gondola and chairlift up to ride a luge course overlooking a beautiful lake, we had snow days on Coronet Peak and The Remarkables, we skied Yooners down the slopes, we spent a day touring Fiordland and Milford sound, we did indoor activities like arcades, Go Kart racing and Laser Tag. We walked through gardens and lively downtown shopping areas. I also took some time to have a mini spa day. We enjoyed delicious meals that Randy didn't have to cook.

On one of the most spectacular and beautiful days of the entire trip, SD card on my phone became corrupted. Almost every picture I took after a certain point of the 12 hr. bus ride and 2 hour boat ride through Milford Sound was lost. My videos of dolphins swimming alongside the boat, fur seals sunbathing on rocks by a waterfall, and sea lions were all lost. I had so many beautiful pictures of the children as well. Randy took some pictures and video as well. I've included some of his in this post.

Yooners

A pod of dolphins swam alongside and under us.

Downtown Queenstown

Taking the water taxi from our lakeside hotel to downtown Queenstown

Hotel views

A week of beauty, adventure, activity, pampering and togetherness. We were able to enjoy ourselves and make the most out of every day because Randy did such a good job of logistics planning. Before we arrived, transports were scheduled, and reservations were made. There were early mornings and long days, but no one really complained about that. Adjusting to wearing many layers of clothing, and wearing gloves on the other hand, was a source of constant frustration for my seven year old. Our children made us tired but they also made us laugh. They cheered me up when I was upset about my pictures being lost and they impressed me with the resilience and flexibility I have come to admire about them over the past few years. I was never wanting for hugs and snuggles and "thank yous" were abundant.

We are back in (a considerably warmer) Auckland now and happy to be home. This was truly a memorable trip.