This past weekend was New Zealand Labour (Labor) Day so we took advantage of the long weekend and drove 5 hours south to the capitol city of Wellington. It's a fantastic city on the bay that reminded us very much of San Francisco. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel downtown overlooking the harbor. We had a great time eating, shopping, and sightseeing. We all had a great time. I would say that we will definitely go back, but there are so many places to see and so little time!
Owen and I in our hotel room. We had a great view of the harbor which provided a lot of great action for the kids. Every day Owen would be looking out and pointing, "Big Boat! Big Boat!"
My sweet, sweet baby boy
Down by the Bay
We rode the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens which has a great overlook of the city. 
Owen looks freakishly like my brother Nathan in this picture. Click on it to see it larger. What do you think?
The elevator at our hotel was one of the highlights of the trip for the kids. They would argue over who gets to push the buttons.
We had a blast at the Wellington zoo. This was Owen's first zoo visit as a "big boy". He loves animals, so it was so much fun to see him run around so excited to see each animal.
Owen watches the kangaroos
As I was taking this pictue the baboon swiped at Ella. Yikes! 
I normally hate museums, but we had an awesome time at TePapa museum of New Zealand in Wellington. Here, Ella enters into an actual sized whale heart.
Maori building - The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand
Ella fills in a face at a children's station at Te Papa
Dr. Ella
