While Paige & Doug were off on an amazing school camp week in Stewart Island, Sadie & I held down the fort in Queenstown and had a lovely week together :)
I'll first say that overall Sadie is a super appreciative, positive soul. Basically every single thing we did together, whether at home or out & about, was met with the most sweet, authentic expressions of joy and gratitude by Sadie. Some of our highlights:
Early Morning Breakfast
We dropped Paige & Doug off at school at 6:20am, the night sky still pitch dark. Sadie & I sat warm in the car and chatted until Joe's Garage in town opened at 7:00am. We were surprisingly not the only ones there. A slew of local policeman, garbage collectors and business folk cycled through for their morning coffee and grub. The location in town reminded me a bit of Grey Dog Cafe in NYC, except Joe's had well below average food. I knew that going into it, but beggars can't be choosers. It did the trick to stay warm and get some food (and caffeine) into our systems before it was time to drop Sadie back off at school to start her day.
Sarah+Sadie Sleepovers
Each night Sadie & I snuggled into bed together. She took over Doug's spot in the bed and we enjoyed four sleepovers together :)
Dinner Dates
Each night we ate at home (thanks to some frozen meals left by Doug and meticulous planning on my two-left-feet-in-the-kitchen part). One exception: Tuesday evening we went out for a girls dinner at a local Japanese restaurant called Kappa. It's owned by a Japanese family from the girls' school and came highly recommended. The dining room is up a steep set of stairs and all the staff are Japanese. It served up some of the most authentic, delicious Japanese food we've had in years. Sadie & I scarfed down far too much food . . . agedashi tofu, miso grilled eggplant, vegetable tempura, pork dumplings and a vegetable curry soup. We chit chatted the whole time. She really is one of the best dates around :)
We capped off dinner with a Ferg gelato. We licked it up as we enjoyed the stunner views along Lake Wakatipu.
Netball Game
The regional woman's NZ semi-pro netball team, the Southern Steel, was in town to play a pre-season match. Sadie and I went to watch the action go down. Both Paige & Sadie played netball for their school teams last year. This was the first time we were watching the real deal netball. These women are fast! And strong! Super cool to watch their speed and coordination on the court. Sadie lost interest about half way through; when I asked her why, she responded "I want to play netball! Not watch it!".
Missing our Other Halves
Sadie definitely missed Paige & Doug (me too!). She sent them little pictures that she doctored up. We had also hidden notes in their luggage, so it was fun to get word that they'd found them.
Odds & Ends
Sadie wanted me to cut her hair shorter. This is now my third home haircut for Sadie (first at lockdown) and as far as I can tell, they turn out OK! We had to take out her Summer hair wrap. I'm surprised it lasted the two months that it did. Sadie was soooo excited for her new shorter locks to be a surprise for Paige & Doug :) In true Sadie fashion, she was sweet, tender and silly all the week.
I asked Sadie for a quote about our week together. Her words sum it up perfectly. Couldn't agree more; right back at ya, Sadie! "My Mom was the best roommate ever! We had an amazing dinner out. Me & my Mom found a new restaurant that was absolutely amazing and it was called . . . Kappa! I really liked having a gelato with my Mom and sitting at the water. It was really stunning. And I'm so glad she stayed with me. We had the best time ever!"
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