April 18, 2010

Hawkes Bay and Napier

A few weeks ago Ryan had a day off and the weather was a bit dreary, so we decided to pack up the car and take a little trip. We had heard so many wonderful things about Napier, a town on the east coast that boasts gorgeous vineyards, stunning views, and beautiful weather.

On our way in, we stopped at a couple vineyards in Hawkes Bay to let the girls stretch their legs. Of course, we couldn't pass up the wine tasting.


We made our way to the coast, parked the car and took a walk.


Found this hilarious ice cream shop...


...and had to stop. This was the week Heather was visiting us from California. She and Daly shared a cone...


...and Reese had her first taste.


Then we found our way to The National Aquarium of New Zealand. Daly went absolutely nuts. The aquarium was almost completely empty, so she had the run of the place. She looked in every tank for Nemo 'Mamo', Dory 'Doughy', and sharks 'arks'. Both girls found Bruce.



Most of the aquariums were on the ground, which kept a lot of the sea life at eye level for Daly. She was very intrigued by the eel who came out to go nose to nose with her.


There was an incredible tunnel where you could walk through a HUGE aquarium. There were hundreds of fish, sharks, rays, turtles, almost anything you can think of. Daly was beside herself she was so excited. This sting ray kept swimming in circles, coming around again and again to swim right over our heads. It looked like he was smiling at us.


The next picture has officially made it into my top five memories of Daly and Reese together. I can't wait to get it blown up and framed to hang over our fire place. This was the front of the aquarium with the tunnel going through it.


After all the excitement, Daly feel right to sleep in the car. Reese took advantage of some quality daddy time.



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