Off to Oamaru

Partly for Nick's birthday, and partly just because it was long overdue, we had a family outing to Oamaru.

Nick and I left the boys playing in the park for a while and wandered around the Victorian precinct, looking at the shops and art galleries.

Then it was bike time!  Nick has long been talking about hiring a tandem; I was dubious as to the success of the venture as I've not been on a bicycle in ages and tend to be overly cautious.  I was in for a surprise!  Tandems, for the passenger, are really stable if you trust the person driving.  All I really had to do was my share of the peddling, and Nick did all the steering and balance and leading.  We were absolutely perfect so long as I didn't decide to try go off in a different direction.  You can't miss the obvious analogy to marriage!

The boys had a turn with Nick too; Caleb enjoyed swapping over half way.

Lunch at the Botanic Gardens, which is another whole day-trip-worthy event by itself, and then on to bowling.  This was another family first!  Nick ran first place by a wide margin and I graciously (cough, ahem) allowed neither of the boys to come last.  All good fun!