The "Best Day"

Fran with stuffed albatross at the Otago Museum

How can it be that every day we are doing so much, and yet it feels like we are hardly making a dent in the list of things we want to do?

Yesterday Jeremy said it was "the best day of his life so far"-- quite a sentiment given all of the wonderful experiences he has had during his 10 years. He was even debating whether or not to top it all off with a bubble bath that evening; he said that might just set the bar for the next "best day" too high. What made it so wonderful? Read on...

Jeremy meets his people, here enjoying L&P soda

The day began with our first session with the tutor, which he felt positive about, and a Skype session with Denver friends Stephanie and Charles. After a lunch of Ramen noodles (Jeremy calls them "Roman noodles," a new favorite since we came to NZ), we went to the Otago Museum to meet a couple of boys whose mothers had responded to Fran's post on the FB page "Mums of Dunedin." These two intelligent and spirited boys, Jack and Wyatt, turned out to be Jeremy's Kiwi twins: Jack's mom had to take away his folding knife (can't have in the museum) and Wyatt was excited to already be planning a paintball birthday for later this fall. Of course, Jeremy has good friends named Wyatt and Jack back in Denver, so that made it seem all the more pre-destined.

Jeremy hiding under a sea turtle's shell at the museum 

They ran all over the museum together, petting the stuffed 3m-tall moa, climbing on the giant crocodile, finding the camouflaged jeweled gecko ("The only alive thing in here!") and other fun.

After this, we went to a boxing gym; Jeremy had expressed interest in trying it out.

In short, he had "the greatest workout of his life" and a great time. It turns out that all that fighting with Fran has paid off- he has quite a nice left hook! There was a good walk from there to the Octagon (city center), during which we passed some cool monuments and public art.

I believe this is a penguin. Note my New Zealand crazy hair.

To celebrate, we visited Nova, the upscale restaurant adjoined with the art museum that serves injectable donuts. For the filling, Fran chose the chocolate and hazelnut, I chose the seasonal wild-berry jam, and Jeremy chose raspberry.

Finally, to make this the truly best day ever, we then went next door to the movie theater to see Black Panther! For those not in the know, this is one of the most anticipated superhero movies ever.  According to Forbes, "Since it opened above the $174 million opening weekend of Iron Man 3, Black Panther has the new milestone for a solo superhero Fri-Sun debut." along with breaking several other records. 

Look ma, 3-D!

In short, it was worth all of the hype. The story-line, the casting, the acting, the sets, and the costumes were all amazing. I can't remember the last time I wanted to buy a sound track (maybe Thelma and Louise?); this one not only made me reminisce about the 2 years I've spent in East Africa, but it also had danceable modern scores.  Every time I had a "Yes, but..." moment, the screenplay addressed it. The fight scenes were the best I've seen (and Jeremy has made me suffer through many), and the message was elevating. Jeremy said it was the best Marvel movie he's seen, which is saying a lot because he's such a fan of the Cap'tn movies (BTW, he says the character he most identifies with from those is Sam Wilson's Falcon). We stayed through all the credits as usual and were rewarded with a great "stinger" (no spoilers here!).

In the end, he decided yes on the bubble bath, and then we read chapter 13 of The Hobbit, which put Fran to sleep as usual. The best day, indeed!

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what types of posts you would like to see in the future: about our house/the city? the food? people? our adventures? Thanks for joining us!