Berries and Cream...

Not sure why I love this so much...but I think it's hilarious. Enyoy.

Boricua..

It's official.  We're moving to Puerto Rico!!  Dave will be starting Med school in July so we'll be heading to the Caribbean for the next 3..maybe 4 years.  Crazy.  Wish us luck and please come visit!!! (You can just hop on a quick flight..or two right..into San Juan and then head South about 25 minutes to see us in Caguas)

Opito Bay

After arriving in Auckland on Saturday (12.19.09), we drove about 3 1/2 hours to the Coromandel Peninsula.  The road we decided to take appeared to be less windy than the one that was suggested.  The map we chose to base this decision on lied.  This route took us on a road right next to the ocean that had about a 3 inch shoulder, no guard rails and curved like you wouldn't believe.  At one point, my dad had to swerve at my sisters not-so-calm prompting to avoid going over the edge.  His response was "I guess I better pay attention to the road instead of looking at the moon."  Nice dad.  By about 10:30pm we made it to the Opito Bay Beach house.  (Dave survived the drive despite the worst migraine he's had in years accompanied by motion sickness from the crazy drive- nicely done)  This may have been my favorite spot on the trip.  It was gorgeous.  We stayed here for 2 nights before heading a little further south down the peninsula.

The view from the backyard..

An unexpected night in Sydney.

After the 14 hour flight from Los Angeles to Australia, temporary chaos ensued. We arrived in Sydney on time but were stuck on the runway for almost an hour waiting for another plane to leave our gate. We only had an hour and a half layover before our flight to Auckland. When we finally got off the plane, we were escorted by a not-so-knowledgable staffer who almost made us go through customs prior to heading to our flight that left 20 minutes later. Needless to say...we had to take matters into our own hands. Skip ahead 20 minutes and the Buchanan clan is on the flight to New Zealand and the Haskell/Nortons are stuck sitting in the SYD airport. Since it was Delta's fault that we didn't make the connecting flight, they arranged for us to stay the night in Sydney and rebooked us on a flight the next day. It turned out to be a happy accident..even though it took us several hours to get our visas, our bags, get through customs and get to the hotel. Here are some photos of our short time in Australia.

The Haskell/Norton Opera House

Why don't you ever hear about the crazy bats in Sydney???

And so it begins....F.Z. Part IV!!!

NZ FRENZY

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Thanksgiving..

Norton style.

My attempt at Green Bean Supreme in honor of Logan.

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala..it's the circle of life.."

Bobby Socks & Gub Gub

The cutest.

Saturday early morning photos at Memory Grove in the cold with some of my favorite people..Dottie, Muffy & Jackson.



Issy...such a character & so freaking adorable.






Jackson...Poor little buddy was freezing but was still a such a trooper.