Big Day Out for Destiny Church at Lake Okareka.  Great kiwi kai (food), great company and bliss weather.

Beyond the distant mountain is our home, Rerewhakaaitu, and our own lake.  Google Rotorua and see how many lakes we have...there are many.  And while you are at it, Tarawera, the mountain we live under (and the one in the distant.  Great stories.

The Brotons stayed on dry land with me while Lexi enjoyed a bit of boating and biscuiting. Also introduced you to some of our church family.   

Lake Rerewhakaaitu fun with Lexi and one of my daycare kids.  Another beautiful day to spend in water.  We found a strange underwater bug this day.  Not sure if Lexi we want to get back in there. Haha.  We did go kayaking yesterday with yall, but it was too rough and choppy to whip out my camera for a photo.  We managed not to tip, but for amateurs it was surely entertaining for spectators (being you)...

We are taking the Broton Family camping.  Off we go with the car packed and heading to Taupo Top 10 Camping grounds for a long weekend of fun in the sun.  Your hosts are Toni (mum) and Lexi (8yr chick-a-dee).
Just trying a few slideshow things for ya, but I am not sure if they are working well.  Hope something shows off your adventures in the 2 links below. 
Camping adventure slideshow
Camping adventure slideshow

A wee catch up and update!

Hey Broton Family,

We have been having a ball! We are now staying with another family in Rotorua (about an hour away from Kylee and her family)... Before we came to Rotorua we went to Hamilton for a week with Kylee.. Well, we got some NEAT photos (and videos) to show you from the Hamilton Gardens, they are really beautiful, with so many different things to see and do! We cant wait to show you! Kylee has had some trouble getting the photos off her phone, which is why she hadn't updated for us! Photos coming this week though! :)

In the mean time, we are having fun with our new hosts, and are currently camping at the holiday park. We are staying with Toni and Lexi. Toni is the Mum, and Lexi is the daughter. Lexi is 8 years old, we have been playing with her heaps, and they have lots of photos to post for us when they get home as well! They dont have access to the internet while away, but after that there will be more posts and we will be staying at the farm! :)

After out time with Toni and Lexi will look at heading up to Auckland and staying with a youth group up there, they said they would all love to have a go at showing us around, and having us over to spend a night or two - so that should be fun! We are looking forward to meeting new people and showing you more photos!

We put some post cards in the mail for you Bailey and Riley, they may not arrive til next week though, because they have only just been put in the post! We think about you all the time and miss you lots!!

Love the Flat Broton Family!! xoxo

The Beach!

Hey there! Here are the beach photos! 

It was such a sunny day over at the Mount, Lauren and Juanita, stopped for a refreshing drink! 

Juanita was even kind enough to share her drink with us! 

Kylee was determined to get us down to see the beach, she said its really pretty down there, and she was right! It was pretty, even though it was a slightly overcast day, it was muggy and hot and there were lots of people swimming, or sun bathing and walking along the beaches walk ways...

Here we are with Kylee's Mum, her Mum parked really close to the look out area over the beach so we could get out and walk the short distance up to the viewing platform..... 

Can you see the lifesaving flags? It is a well known surfing beach. We say, there were a few people out swimming that day, but BOY, was it rough. We wouldn't have wanted to be out in it, a bit scary!

That is a wee island behind us, that has rocks that you can walk along to it to visit, mostly when the tide is down. Kylee didnt know what it was called, she hasn't been across before, but sees lots of people walk it.

It sure was windy! We only stayed up there a short while, but Kylee was excited she was able to take us!

People overseas must get confused when they call it the Mount (we know we were), because the Mount is actually the beach, and behind us is the Mount. You can walk right around the base and it is so pretty. It takes about an hour, and there are a few steep hill's for wheelchairs, so we didn't do it! But she said its really pretty, she used to walk around it as a kid with her grandparents. But its been changed a lot since then.

This is what the Mount looks like from the top... There are beaches on both sides! The side we are on is the left side in the photos, thats the surf side of the beach. The other side is a lot calmer, quieter and nicer for kids and families, as it does not get a lot of waves.... There is a port where big ships come in on the right too. If you follow the green tree's around to the end of that cove, thats about where the port is where all the big cruiseline ships come in.... There are some nice parking spots on both sides.... The sun rises on the left side of the beach, and sets on the right side, so they are really lucky because they get the best of both worlds! 

This is a panoramic is the Mount. (I took both these photos off Wikipedia). Mount Maunganui is its full name, but its mostly just known by nic name as "the Mount". Its actually an extinct volcano can you believe? Its official name in Maori (the native culture to NZ) is Mauao. There is a legend behind the Mount, you can read more about the legend, and story HERE because it explains it a lot better than I ever could. hehe....

The Mount is really seasonal, the place is PACKED in summer, and everyone loves it there. If you would like to learn more about the Mount, you could go HERE or even HERE, both give more in depth information! 

Here is Lauren and Juanita on the beach, Kylee and Dianne went back to the car, but the girls came back up and took us down to the ocean, it was a little cold.....

Can you spot us with the girls walking down to the water among all the other people?

Christmas and New Years!

HELLO! Boy, its been a while since we have updated - soo sorry! Thats Kylee's fault! But we wanted to come on and update about Christmas and New Years.... First first, guess what we got for Christmas?? A little bit of a makeover! This travelling business is flighty stuff! So Kylee treated us to a bit of a pamper day! We got a new laminate which means we are a bit more firm now, Kylee painted Flat Loni's eyelids green (for Mitochondrial Disease awareness) - and even gave a few eye lashes!! She hot glued Flat Greg, Flat Loni and Flat Bailey hair on and re-hot glued all the eyes on!! Hopefully they wont come off us again!! I guess travelling you do get a bit battered and warn - but that just means we are having a good fun that we can report back! :)

On another note.... Here is our belated Christmas wishes and blessing sent from New Zealand....

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM Snoopy and The Flat Broton Family!!!

Here is an up close version for you!!! It was fun jumping in the Santa sack for taking these photos for you!

We even met Santa! (albeit the Santa Sack version) We asked Santa for a cure for Mitochondrial Disease! I sure hope he grants it! We are praying for you guys though - really praying! Kylee prays for you a lot too!!

******

The other day we went to see a movie with Kylee's sister and her friend. Kylee's sister is on the right (Lauren) and her friend is on the left, her name is Juanita. The girls took in all sorts of food. Ice cream, pop corn and a drink.... We couldn't finish all the popcorn -- but we sure tried! We went to see "We brought a Zoo", have you seen it? It is based on a true story, and is really well put together! I hope you can see it! It was cute!!

We wanted to take a photo standing in front of the HUGE poster for you guys - so Juanita posed with us! Can you see where we are? (we are down  by the Zoo sign). That little girl who features in the movie is soooo darn cute!! About as cute as you girls, Bailey and Riley! I think you guys would make cute and fantastic actors as well - to star in a big movie would be fun, don't you think? I would vote for you girls ANY DAY!!

This was us back on the road before New Years.... We were heading to the Mount. There was meant to be a concert on, but in the end it was raining really badly and the concert was cancelled. "Murphys Law" meant that come New Years Eve, the weather was actually really nice, but they couldn't have known that, and they didn't have the time to set up the arena.... Earlier that day there had been flooding warnings! Crazy weather!!

In the end, we went down to the "Strand" to watch the fireworks..... Here is a picture of them:

Kylee wanted to ask a question, she said she watched the movie called "New Years Eve" and there is a big "Ball Drop" in New York, and then a massive fireworks display - is that true? Have you guys ever been? She said it sounds like a lot of fun and looked really pretty when she saw it in the movie! She would like to go! :)

We have some photos of the beach to post in the next update (which will come quicker than this last one).

Love you guys!! HEAPS AND HEAPS!! xoxoxo

PS: Have you got the package we helped send for you guys from Spirit Sparkplugs? Looks like this:

(the photo was taken before our makeover)

...... PS: We blanked out the address before we posted the photo online (for obvious reasons!)

Love, The Flat Broton Family xoxox

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