Family trip to Tauranga!

A few months ago Mell saw a good grab one deal for 3 nights accommodation at the Mount & so last Thursday we finally headed off!! The weather forecast earlier on in the week wasn't looking great, but for all 3 days we were there we had the most beautiful blue skies!! 

You definitely can't help but be reminded that you live in Paradise when you're in the most gorgeous place with such perfect weather :)

So anyways, we left after school last Thursday & our trip down was actually suprisingly good! Spence can use the ipad now so the worst part of the trip was just Mac going "are we there yet?!" every 5 minutes! I actually felt a bit sorry for him cause I remember how stink that was when I was a kid, but it's pretty stink for an adult too cause even when I told him there was still an hour to go, he didn't really understand how long or short that was, so it was a little frustrating! Anyways, we finally got there in the end :)

The boys were buzzing about the whole trip, so once we got down there we dropped off our bags & headed to get some Subway for dins. Both of them couldn't stop talking to the older lady serving us about how they were having a holiday in Tauranga & all the things that they were going to be doing. It was so cute, & then after that we went to the supermarket to pick up some brekky for the next morning & they found another shop assistant to tell the whole story to again lol

The next morning we headed off for a walk down to the beach & even though I wasn't planning for any of us to have a swim, Mac was straight out there splashing in the waves. Spence on the other hand was FREAKED OUT!!! Like totally 
freaked :( He was screaming for us to please go back, but Mac was having a good play so I picked him up & told him we would just stand back & watch for a bit. 

After awhile I tried to jolly him up & carry him down by the waves so I could jump over them with him & show him how much fun it was.....but after our first jump I just happened to glance around & see my phone in the water!!! :(

It had obviously just bounced out of my pocket when I'd done my tiny jump, so I did the best I could to quickly dry it & get all the sand out of the holes. Fortunately it's still mostly working, all except for one of the speakers somewhere that'll need to be fixed. I can still use it for now though, I just have to have my calls on speaker when I dial out or receive a call. Annoying, but it could've been alot worse, so I'm grateful that it's still mostly working :)

After the beach we headed back for a swim in the apartment pool where the boys had a blast in the spa there for a good couple of hours 
(until they turned into prunes :)) 

Aunty Natty arrived with the boys on Saturday, so we got to go & check out her new caravan which was so cool & in such a mint spot :)

I didn't get any photos from the pools in the morning, but in the afternoon it was back to the beach for another play in the waves & a bit of building sandcastles with G - so cool to have her & Dad come down for the day!

On the 2nd night we had yummy burgers made by Chef Stanie for dinner (which I also didn't get any photos of, but they were so yummy!)....& then on the 3rd night we got spoilt by Aunty Natty who took us all out for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, just up the road from where we were staying :)

Luckily the park was just across the road, so Stan & Joe took the kiddies for a play while the rest of us waited for the food to be served. Then once they brought it out we just called them up & told them they could come back. So even with 7 kids & 7 adults, we still managed to have a really nice dinner out :) Thanks again Aunty Natty xx

After that it was pretty much back to our apartment so we could put the boys to bed ready for church the next morning.....however that plan all turned to custard when Mac woke at about midnight saying that his throat & ear were sore. 

I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but when he was still crying & in pain at about 2am I got up & said I'd take him to the hospital. I'd never had to take the boys to the hospital ER before then, but Tauranga didn't have any options of any 24hr white cross kinda places so the ER was it :(

The nurse gave him some pamol as soon as we arrived & then we just had to sit & wait. By the time the nurse came out to check on us again at about 4am Mac was actually pretty chirpy so the nurse suggested maybe we should just go home & try & get some sleep & then go to the White Cross that opened up at 8am. She said that it may be that kinda wait until we could be seen there at the hospital, so when Mac said he was happy with that, we were outta there! 

We did end up going to the White Cross in the morning just cause I wanted him to be checked before the drive home, but his sore ear & throat weren't even bad enough for antibiotics so once we had our pamol prescription we went back to pick up Stan & Spence & just started heading home. I've never thought of taking Pamol on holiday before, but I'm definitely gonna pack it next time, just in case, as it totally would've saved us a pretty sleepless night!!

We stopped at the L&P bottle on the way home to take a pic & eat the yummy sammies Stan had made us before we left. Spence totally said he wanted to get out & see the big fizzy drink bottle, but then once we got a little closer he freaked out & wouldn't get in the photo! :(

My 3 special boys xxx

So all in all it was a really cool holiday away! - minus the hospital & doctor's visit right at the very end!!! Can't wait to hopefully do it all again next year!!