Okay, who’s ready for a barrage of pictures of Apollo (and Chuck’s) Grand 2020 New Zealand Adventure? Brace yourself…you are in for a treat.
Chuck and Apollo’s Adventures in New Zealand
Uncle Apollo and Abel
Abel instinctively understands that Apollo’s popsicle is more appetizing than his thumb…
The first part of Chuck and Apollo’s trip was spent up north in Whangarei where Tilly and Jared live. This was both Chuck and Apollo’s first time meeting Abel and both were smitten.
Because who wouldn’t fall in love with this face???
Fun fact you may not know…Chuck loves to buy baby clothes. It was always one of his favorite things with our babies and now he is enjoying buying baby clothes for our beautiful grandsons. Before both of his trips to New Zealand, he as gone baby clothes shopping. He bought this adorable church outfit for Abel which clearly fits him perfectly.
Tilly, Abel, and Apollo hiking in New Zealand. This scenic reserve is right down the road from Tilly and Jared’s house. You can walk right from their house to this amazing trail!
Chuck and Apollo, ready for adventure.
Jared, Apollo, Tilly, and Abel sharing lunch.
Judah was also adventuring in New Zealand. The timing didn’t work out quite right for Judah to fly with Chuck and Apollo, but they met up partway through the trip.
Visiting Hobbiton
One thing on Apollo’s bucket list was a trip to Hobbiton. He has read The Hobbit and seen all the Lord of the Rings movies. He is a definite Tolkien fan and so is Judah. Apollo loved the visit to Hobbiton. It must be magical to visit the actual movie set of a movie (and book) you love when you’re nine-years-old.
Clearly, Apollo learned nothing from his concussion in 2018 (actually, he learned a lot and is much more cautious).
All the guys (except Abel) went Boogie Boarding. Don’t worry, the water was safe, just red-colored from seaweed. Chuck would stand out in the water and thrust Apollo and his board onto a wave so he could ride it to the shore.
Apollo on the beach.
Chuck has always loved babies and now he loves being a grandpa. I sent him a message while he was in New Zealand and said, “It looks like you’re having a great time”. He responded with, “having a blast, but the best part is Abel!”
And just so you don’t think he’s choosing favorites, he hadn’t yet been down to see Percy and Monty.
Adventure Forest Ropes Course
The entire Whangarei crew headed to Adventure Forest for a fun day of ziplining and ropes courses.
To be continued….next up, photos of Chuck and Apollo heading south to visit Ben, Iris, Percival, and Monty.
Beautiful pictures. Your Apollo is getting so big! I love the one of him straddling the tree … such an iconic ode to childhood. Abel is utterly adorable ….what I call a yummy baby! How awesome that Chuck enjoys buying baby clothes! My husband has never purchased a baby garment in his life ….nor had much interest. In fact, I don’t think he even noticed what our little ones wore! Many years ago when my husband brought our first little son to visit me in hospital and meet his new baby brother, he had dressed our 2 year old son in his outfit backwards, and had no idea! Thanks for sharing the great adventure…looking forward to Part 2!