It’s the beginning of October and while our loved ones in the US are enjoying leaves changing to reds, golds and browns, Pumpkin Spice everything and the cozy fall evenings, we are finally getting some real warmth during the days here in NZ. There is still quite a bit of rain and windy days, but we can tell Summer is Coming!!!
It’s a bit surreal, but we now have a 13 year old, teenager! WHAT?!?! We like to say “well, that escalated quickly, I mean, that really got out of hand.”
To follow-up on his Motutapu Camp experience, my favorite stories were about the Motutapu obstacle course, the amount of food they ate and the dinner leftovers for breakfast, like spaghetti. He was the leader in one of the cabin rooms and said he was very strict about getting people to be quiet so everyone could get sleep. (He gets that from his dad).
The school sent photo’s occasionally.
He also qualified for the Inter-school cross-country meet and did awesome! Though, I’m pretty sure he started this “warm-up” and Mason has some work to do on teaching sport-specific warm-ups. (He’s the one showing his “guns.”
We had a really good time at a Kowhai forge – this awesome blacksmith shop that offers classes, and I finally have a small cleaver :). Hey, it’s for chopping veggies!!
There has been a lot of biking as per usual, and Leif and Mason both signed up to compete in a pumptrack challenge at the last minute and had a great time.
I have gotten to ride with my friend Joelle a couple times finding some fun trails!
I road around the 34km Whakarewarewa forest loop in Rotorua and loved that time to ride solo, though I missed my Jude, when I used to ride just with him.
Mason, Leif and I took some time to check out the Paradise Valley Springs wildlife park and got to pet lion cubs!
They had just been fed and were quite sleepy and so cool!
The next adventure is currently getting under way – we are on the way to the airport as I’m finishing this. :).
We are headed to Tonga for a week of tropical Sun, Tommy and April and friends time and hopefully meeting a getting to swim with some humpback whales!!!
The Ostrom Family Adventures 
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