Animals!

Hey there Bailey and Riley - this post is for you girls!! :)

Here are some of our farm animals - that my dear Uncle has photographed and let me share with you! Well, I (Kylee) took the first two!! Can you see what the photos are? COWS CROSSING THE MAIN STATE HIGHWAY!! HAHA! Have you ever seen that before? I laughed and took photos, I thought you might enjoy them! There are lots of dairy farms around where I live, and this morning they were moving them from one paddock to another, so they stopped traffic on the main highway to allow the cows to walk across the road. We must have been there for about 5 minutes or so - it was pretty funny!! You can see the other cars and trucks waiting to pass, and the motor bikes, quads and dogs helping lead the cows in the right direction. Some of them were being a little bit naughty and were trying to escape! They did a good job though! Have you ever seen a cow being milked before? This is what they were getting ready to do! :)

Here is another photo of the cows as they were crossing the road.... They were nearly crossed over by this stage, just a couple of slow ones still coming up behind, and the line of traffic that built up is starting to inch forward to be able to head off on their way again... The cows were well behaved!

Here are some photos of some of the farm animals, I think there were taken on my cousins farm!

PIGS! I wish I knew their names, but I don't....

This pig has black spots on its back and is more orange in colour.

All the pigs taking an afternoon nap after their big feed!

Aren't these puppies ADORABLE!?

CUTE OR WHAT!??

Chickens! Have you ever tried a chicken egg just after it was laid? Its quite common when you live on a farm to have your own chickens. At our old house, we used to have chickens and all of them had names! We used to collect their eggs (when they didn't have baby chickens in them) to make different meals with eggs in them. Fresh eggs taste a bit different to shop brought ones... Do you guys like eggs?

These are geese! Have you ever seen or read the book. "Peter Rabbit", well geese always remind me of Jemima from the Betrix Potter Collection, "Jemima Puddle Duck". You can click on the link to learn more about her, or find out about the stories if you haven't read them before.

Here is a young calf. He's a bit skinny, don't you think? I think he was a pet!

Another wee calf! Do you have a good name for this one? I dont know his name!

.... And finally two sheep!! New Zealand is really well known for its sheep and lamb....

This kind of sheep with the black face is called a "suffolks" we used to have them when we had a farm, when I was little we used to have a pet lamb called "Lamby" he was a boy lamb though, and the boys can get a bit grumpy so as he grew up older sometimes he would get stroppy and "head butt" us kids! We feed him from a baby lamb, have you ever patted or feed a baby lamb?

What kind of animals are your favourite? I think my favourite animal is my cat! I will have to find a photo of my cat and our little dog called "Buddy", he is a sausage dog! He's a bit funny and sneaky... He will walk really carefully and quietly when he can see the door that goes into the laundry where the cats food is to try and eat it... Sometimes he used to scoff it all, but we would hear him and tell him off, so now he steps ever so carefully and will carefully eat the cat biscuits so as not to make a sound, and will try and eat them nearly one at a time, but I always realise what he is doing, he is kind of cute, but hes not allowed, so I will suddenly yell "Buddy!". Girls, you should see him, he gets such a fright that he jumps and then runs outside as quick as he can, because he knows he is not allowed to eat the biscuits. He gets feed a lot, he is just a gutz! HAHA!

I will get some photos of him, and out cat "Sox", for you with your flat versions. Sox is really beautiful too, she has a thumb on each of her paws, giving her these really big (but cute) feet!

Hope you are having a good afternoon, did you have weekend?

Love Kylee (who is hosting your Flat Broton Family)

Sorry its been a while since we have been on to update! Kylee is organising another blog post in the making, but we thought in the mean time we would jump on and update showing you all some photos of New Zealand (in no specific order).... First up though, I dont know if we have even shown you all WHERE in New Zealand we are... Soo... We are in Taupo! Can you find us on the map?

We will give you a hint OK? We are on the North Island and the second hint is we are by the blue dot in the North Island! Thats Lake Taupo and where we have been! We can actually see the lake from the room we have been staying in at the Blacks house! Its so pretty to see the sunsets, but we will post a photo of that further down the page! Taupo has been a lot of fun, and its lovely being able to see and be by the lake. The lake is HUGGGE!! The surface area is 236 square miles and it 186 meters deep in its deepest part - that sure is deep, don't you reckon?!

Lake Taupo is next to a Mountain, and the mountain is GREAT for skiing, although its summer, so we haven't been up. The mountain, known as Mt Ruapehu is actually an active Volcano (one of the most active in the world if you go by what Wikipedia says), although it hasnt errupted since 1996. Kylee lives on thermal land, which means under ground hot water runs underneath them, and they have naturally hot pools you can swim in where the thermal water means the cool water from the lake. Some places in Taupo, although more so in Rotorua (an hour away from Taupo) they have bubbling mud pits. You cant go in those though, they are really hot and would burn you. That sounds a bit scary I guess if you are reading this but its really not, Taupo is a very safe place really - and a really beautiful place as well!

You can see Mount Tauhara in this shot, this was taken in Autumn when all the pretty trees and shrubs change colour heading into winter. There are some really pretty tree's in this season. Thats Mount Tauhara in the background, you can read more about it HERE. Kylee walked up that Mountain before she got sick, its just behind her house, its a steep walk though she said! :)

Here are photos of the lake from the Blacks house. You can see Mt Ruapehu in the distance...

There is a closer shot of Mt Ruapehu! The camera really does not do it justice, its soo pretty, crisp and clear... Its not quite as covered in snow as it was when this photo was taken, but its still really pretty.... You can read more about Mt Ruapehu if you would like by clicking HERE.

Here is a much closer shot my Uncle took when he was driving by on what they call Desert Road.

A beautiful sunset from the Blacks House. Taupo gets the most amazing sunsets... So pretty! Sometimes they are red or orange, or a rainbow of colours.... Quite magical isn't it?

Here is another photo, taken a few minutes after the last one...

This is down by the natural hot water pools... Its warm water just where the water meets the rocks, its cooler as you head out, actually its quite weird in some respects... The water is warm in places and cold in places, and where it meets you can feel the difference. Its hard to explain but lots of fun for kids to soak in. Taupo has deep natural hot pools too, its like a spa, but its coming directly from the ground, and you are surrounded by tree's and the ground is sandy. Kylee cant get down there anymore, as its too hard to take a wheelchair, but Kylee just said she might be able to get someone to take us down there to show us around and take some photos! :)

Here is another photo of the lake, on a peaceful and tranquil day! So serene!

In spring (August/September) these beautiful Daffidols come out. Kylee's Dad love to plant them down the driveway!

This is a Cherry Blossom tree. They come out about September/October, so we have only seen photos... They finished blooming just a short while before we arrived, Kylee has a few of these tree's at her house, one is as you come in by the driveway, they are so pretty in the photos.

Here is a photo of a waterfall that Kylee's Uncle caught a photo of. Not sure where the waterfall was, but it was so pretty, that we wanted to include it... The colours are just so vibrant!

Some of the landscape in New Zealand. Its really green, and lots of rolling hillside country. Farming is a big thing in New Zealand, can see the sheep in the background on the hill?

Another photo of some of the countryside. New Zealand isn't all like this. They have big cities, and towns too, but we just wanted to show some of the pretty landscape in this update. We have some neat photos of animals that Kylee's Uncle took as well! Will make that an update too!!!

Thank you to Kylee's Uncle for letting us use and update these photos to show you all!!

Love the Flat Broton Family xoxo

Sandspit and the Beach

Hello Family and Friends,

We told you we would be back again to write you another update today, and here we are.... We have some photos for you from our time up in Sandspit and wanted to share them with you all.... Here are a few of the photos from the trip....

We are on our way.... Back in the car and heading on the 6 hour trip up North to Sandspit....

We stayed in these cabins by the beach. During the day the tide would go out a looooong way! So much so the only place there was water was where the man made channel came in to let all the boats come up close, like the cruise cats (type of charter boat), and that kind of thing. We liked it when the tide went out, as on the Sunday, Lauren, Kylee's sister took us crab and sea creature hunting. We posted photos at the time on Kylee's Facebook. Flat Bailey caught two crabs and Flat Riley caught two little baby prawns. Unfortunately just after this photo was taken Kylee's camera went flat so we were unable to get any photos of us with the actual sea creature findings, but it was fun anyways. Kylee wasn't feeling well at the time, so stayed inside quietly reading on the couch. We came in afterwards and showed the things we collected in the bucket to her, we brought sand all in the house, but Kylee's Mum wasn't too worried - because we were having fun.

This is a picture of us with Lauren.... Can you see the difference, in how far the sea goes out and how far it comes in? This photo was taken in the morning of the day we left. But the afternoon before that, was the day we were crab hunting. ALL of what you see as sea water was SAND. You couldn't see the sea for ages. That's how tidal Sandspit is.. It comes in a long way and goes out a long way too. I guess because it is such a deep bay. The sea has a long way to stretch in and out.

Kylee's family used to have a caravan when she was little on this wee camping ground, so it was quite surreal for them to go back to the place she used to play when she was so much younger, some things had changed, but many things had not. Its weird sometimes to think we as people, or "flat versions" are always changing, but places and things can stay the same for so long, or places can be so different in your mind to how you remembered them... Do you find that too?

This was us looking out to sea. This might give a better idea of how far the water has to come in and out... You see the little jutting out piece of land on the left hand side? Thats where the bay starts, so thats where it comes in and out... Following the line of that piece of land is where the really deep deep channel is for boats to use to come in and out... Its quite a busy channel really...

This is the batch that we stayed at. Kylee has to have support to help keep her standing up, thats why she is holding onto one of the little pannels of the batch, it was also a pretty windy day too to be honest... The summer the Blacks have told us about, hasn't really appeared yet. They said its been quite strange weather recently. Hopefully we get more SUN soon. I think its so weird to think back home its snowing, or nearly snowing and here is summer... The world is a big place.

The batch was literally steps down to the sand to the sea. So pretty and it was nice because it was the cheapest of anything we could find in the local area for staying in, Kylee said. I think people who go up those ways and stay at a Motel looking out onto cars by a busy road and paying double the amount, are missing out on something pretty special and unique. If you get to come to New Zealand, the little camping ground cabins in New Zealand sure are pretty special!!

Tomorrow we will post some of the photos we found on Kylee's computer of ones of New Zealand scenery so that you can see a bit of what New Zealand looks like... A lot of them are taken from the car while she has been in the passenger seat while driving somewhere, would you like to see some of those photos Bailey and Riley? Is there something in specific you would like to see in NZ?

By the way, if any of the Broton's family or friends do stop by, please leave comments and messages, we would love to hear from you and read what you have to say. This blog has been created to be interactive, and is something after our trip we will able to look back on together.

With love the "Flat Broton Family" xox

New Zealand is soo green!

Hey My Broton Family, its your flat versions updating...

WOW have we been busy, and have spent a lot of time on the road lately, but we have enjoyed seeing different parts of New Zealand. So far we have been to Taupo (obviously), Rotorua, Warkworth, Snells Beach and Sandspit (those last 3 are kind of all in the same area), and we have been on a boat on the sea when Kylee's friend had a wedding the other weekend. We are going to go to Hastings, Napier and to Waipukurau to see Kylees Nana for Christmas soon too. She has a few more adventures set up for us before we head on to our next host family....

The thing we have realised about New Zealand is that IT IS SOOOO GREEN! They say New Zealand is green, but we never realised how green. There is a lot of foresty around where Kylee lives, and up north where she used to come from too. In fact Kylee's family used to own a little plot of land where there were some pine trees. I will post some photos of New Zealand scenery in the next update we do, but when we were heading up to Sandspit for the wedding, Kylee told me a pretty funny story about pine trees and I wanted to share it with you guys for a bit of a laugh.

Kylee's Dad, John, used to go with them as kids to cut a little pine tree from their land to put up as the Christmas tree. The trees were only baby when they first got the land, but as the tree's grew each year they got bigger... The last year that they cut a tree, Kylee and her sister Lauren, who would have been 2 at the time, and her two brothers Nick and Aaron who no longer live at home went out with John and left their Mum (Mom) at home to have some quiet time. They were given heeding warnings by Mum (Mom) to pick a SMALL tree, haha... If only she knew.

Dad talked with the kids about picking a "cool tree" (meaning an awesome tree), not a 'wussy' (weak or wimpy) tree. HAHA. The kids thought this one tree they found would be the "perfect" tree, but Dad didn't think it was "bushy enough" so they picked a slightly bigger tree. "Slightly bigger" was right. HAHA. Kylee said against the other tree's it did "look" small... But when they got it home, their Mum had to cut about an extra two feet off the bottom of the tree because they couldn't get it inside - it was too big to stand up in the high top ceiling in their lounge, HAHA. Even WITH the two foot cut off it, the top of the tree was bending over on the ceiling!! They had to put a ROPE around the tree to keep up upright. John put hooks into the fireplace on one side of the tree, wrapped the rope around the tree, and tied the rope to window on the other side of the tree it was so big... They had to get a special Christmas tree stand to screw the base into. Their Dad's response? "Oops" HAHA! Mum wasnt so impressed at the time, but now ita a bit of a family joke, Dad has never really lived it down It was the last year they got a tree from their land as the sold it that following year. I dont think their Mum would have let Dad go alone again to pick a tree out without her double checking it before it was cut down. It was the biggest Christmas tree they have ever had, they still laugh about it.

Edit: OK, Ok this is too funny! HAHAHA!! Kylee's Mum just came in as I was writing this update, I never realised HOW BIG the tree was.... No WONDER John has YET to live the story down! HAHA! Kylee's Mum, Dianne, just called out to John... They said it was about 12 foot tall AFTER it was trimmed by 2 foot before coming inside and it was STILL bent over by two foot back down on the roof. hehehehe. The Angel on the top of the tree was hanging nearly upside down. :)

Kylee has had a lot of appointments lately, and so we have gone along for the ride seeing the country side... So I have posted some of the photos below... They are mostly in the car! haha.

Us with Kylee on our trip to Rotorua...

Man, it was raining that day... See the truck in front of us?

It was spraying all the water up on our car.

Here is another thing we found out about New Zealand! THEY DRIVE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD - and their car's are all made back to front as well. Its so weird. Its taken us a bit to get used to it to tell you the truth... We used to get a bit nervous each time we hoped into the car thinking we were going to hit a car cause we were on the wrong side, then we would remember that we were MEANT to drive on the wrong side, so its OK, phew! So in the above picture, we are actually sitting in the passenger seat - NOT the drivers seat! So weird you think?

Hanging out with John, Kylee's Dad.

The day after our trip to Rotorua for Kylees appointments, we had a really quiet day. We all spent it hanging out and just resting... Well, John, Kylee's Dad was on his computer down the hall and we heard some music playing, then he started laughing a lot to himself... He decided to come out and show us the youtube clips he was watching and we had a bit of a giggle. They were pretty funny, I wish we had got the links from here to post the clips here for you to watch too....

We had some more photos to show you, but we thought it would be better to do a few posts over the next few days, instead of one loooong one... So we will update again tomorrow with more photos.

Hey Bailey and Riley, what have you been up to recently?? We love and miss you all!!

Love the Flat Brotons xox

(PS: Pine Tree Image from HERE. We didn't have a good one on our camera)

WE ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello there friends,

We arrived, and boy, what a trip! I think the post guy didn't know we were in the envelope because he squashed us together and shoved us in that post box half hanging out. I have to say, it certainly wasn't the most comfortable position. We were glad when Kylee found us and came to the rescue! Boy, was it good to get out of that envelope and see light again. In all other ways, it was a smooth and rather quick trip. Quicker than it would have been only a few years previous anyways. Here is our photo after meeting Kylee, and just before we headed off to bed. We were tired with the time difference. Now the fun begins!! Kylee was telling us there are already 3 different people/couples/families who would are going to host us in different parts of New Zealand, so we are pretty excited to meet new people, and see different parts of New Zealand.

We finally arrived to meet Kylee and her family!

This is Kylee. She is 25 years old and runs Spirit Sparkplugs which is the organisation that we have been able to travel through. Kylee had just come home from a local Christmas Party, they raised $61.00 to help support other kids and young adults, so we thought that was pretty neat!

As I said, we were not long out of bed, it was late and everyone was pretty tired. But today has beena blast... I have some photos of the things we got up to today... So here they are below:

Helping Lee (Kylee's friend/helper) in the Spirit Sparkplugs room!

Guess what we were in the process of making.....?

A Spirit Sparkplugs Encouragement Book! How cool is that?

Spirit Sparkplugs makes these cool Encouragement Books which are made and filled with encouraging, hope filled quotes to inspire and encourage young adults and parents of children battling chronic illness for those hard and rough days. Something to let them know they are thought of, loved, and cared for. It was a lot of fun to work with Lee making one... We will probably finish it this week... If you want to learn more about these visit their website, specifically this page showcases them: http://www.spiritsparkplugs.com/spirit-sparkplugs.php

Loni, we found this for you, we thought you would like it....

And this one....!

We love and miss you already guys, but we cant to show you around New Zealand as we see the sights for you and post blog updates and photos! You mean SOO VERY MUCH TO US!!

....... but one last photo before we finish this post up..... Guess what we found?!

The start of your "taste of New Zealand" package!

We are going to help Kylee add some things to it this week, and hopefully we will be able to send it off in the next couple of weeks! There are lots of little fun New Zealand type things in there, but we have a few ideas of things you guys might like in it too. Kylee liked our suggestions!!

Its summer here. It feels very weird to be coming into warmer weather for Christmas!

Will write again soon. Love "The Flat Broton Family" xoxox