Lennox Head

Our first stop was at Lennox Head, where we ate brownies and paddled in the Lake. The water is stained by all the tea trees growing around its edge.

On the Road

After a wonderful few days at Grandma and Grandad's place, we set off on our grand adventure, a campervan trip from Brisbane to Melbourne. As we drove off, I started making a list of the kid's comments, thinking it would later provide an interesting reflection of the mood of the journey/mental health of the passengers. The first few comments were, "This is so AWESOME!" and "I'm going backwards!" I was expecting a slow deterioration to boredom, crankiness and meltdowns. Surprisingly, though, my list showed no pattern at all - there was no crankiness or whingeing THE WHOLE TRIP! It was fantastic! We all agreed that it was the best holiday ever.

Family

It was so wonderful to be in Brisbane again and to see so many of our lovely family. The kids had a fantastic time unlocking the secrets of the toy cupboard at Grandma and Grandad's place, and every other spare minute was filled up with crafty and artistic endeavors. With Grandma as their mentor, the girls sewed, painted, drew and dipped stawberries in chocolate (with disastrous results). Charlie agreed to be part of the chocolate dipping, but otherwise opted for the new PSP game Grandad bought him. Thank you to everyone who made time for us - it was so great to catch up with you all! Jane is still asking about when she can play with Tom again.

Our Friend Melanie Gives TV Host a 72 Hour Emergency Kit

Our friend Melanie was on TVNZ's Breakfast program today being interviewed about being prepared for emergencies. She gave the host Paul Henry a 72 hour kit. Watch the interview here.

Christchurch

Last Thursday I flew to Christchurch. For the most part the city looks fine, but there are some buildings, particularly in the downtown area, that have been badly damaged. Some are completely destroyed. We also met with some families whose homes have been damaged. Some are uninhabitable. Each house gets a red, yellow or green sticker from the city engineers. Red means you can't enter the house. Yellow means you can go in to get your belongings but cannot stay there. Green means you can stay. The picture of the three men loading things onto a trailer came about because we were driving through Bexley, looking to visit a family who had been badly affected. We saw two LDS missionaries on the street so we stopped to say hello. They were helping a woman, who had a yellow sticker, to load some of her belongings (a mattress etc.) onto a trailer. The other person in the photo is Bishop Kurene, the local lay minister for our church in that suburb. He was such a positive man. Full of faith and optimism, even though the aftershocks were continuing even when we were there. He knew everyone in his ward by name, address and circumstance. We met some of his flock and our intention was to offer some encouragement, but we came away buoyed by them. I don't know how I would have coped. These families were so full of hope and faith, and charity. Their ground had been shaking, but they were built on something more solid. The other photo - of the people standing beside a long gash in the backyard - tells a very sad story. The father is deaf and of very modest circumstances. He had two adult daughters and five grandchildren. Two weeks before the quake one of his daughters (in her 20's) died of cancer. Then the earthquake hit. They cannot live in their home, and it may need to be demolished. Even so, they managed a few smiles and were looking to the future with faith.

Genealogy Cake

On Saturday Grace and I attended a family history open day. The mayor was there, along with around 150 others, all interested in learning more about their ancestors. Grace took some time out to sample the cake.

Farmyard Party!

Josephine was thrilled to be invited to her friend Ayla's brithday party. They had a wonderful time with some visiting farm animals and a pony ride. Lucky! Thank you, Ayla!

Gracie's party

Happy Birthday Grace!

Josephine starts Kindy!

Josephine had a great time on her first day at Kindy. Policeman Pete brought Policedog Cody for a visit, and Josie got to have a pat. I was heartened to see that Policedog Cody is almost as excitable as Ted when it comes to meeting new people. He was not dignified at all, though he did manage to sniff out an old tennis ball that was hidden in the playground.
Josie slipped into her new role as Kindy girl with ease and enthusiasm.

PS This week (it's 21 August today) we learned that Josie is, um, asserting herself at kindy. Telling the big 4-yr-old boys to watch themselves. We're encouraging her to be kind and polite. On Thursday when Laura picked her up at the end of kindy, Laura asked her if she had been a good girl. Josie replied cheerily: "Yes! Only a little bit of meanness." When I asked her the same question at dinner, she changed her story a tad: "Yes! Only a little bit of badness."

Jane visits the zoo!

Jane and Laura had a great day at Auckland Zoo with the rest of the year 0 and 1 classes.

Beach Day

Saturday was a glorious day so we headed off to the beach for a stroll. Ted did a lot of walking/cantering/galloping and his fair share of social sniffing. We humans walked, drew in the sand with sticks, climbed rocks and met a woman from Vietnam. Beautiful day.

Golf day

Last Thursday Charlie, Grace and Rich played golf. After whacking 50 balls on the driving range to warm up, they played a delightful 6 holes before everyone got a little bit tired. Charlie hit some nice seven irons, hybrid drives and a corker of a sand wedge plopper onto the fourth green. Grace was the scorer and cheerleader. She also had a turn on the driving range and practice putting green. It started chilly, but we warmed up and had a great time on a glorious New Zealand winter morn.

Hiking on a sunny day

Saturday was a beautiful clear day, though very chilly. We went for a hike in the Waitakere ranges. We ambitiously chose the second shortest trail, which was 1.5km. This took us almost an hour, with the last 500m being extremely drawn out due to Josephine's 'thirsty legs.'

Charlie is 10!

Charlie had an awesome birthday - a quiet Saturday with basketball and bike riding, then a movie night with six friends. They went to see Toy Story 3 with Rich in charge. Charlie came home on cloud nine, Rich was a a little quieter than usual.

Josie and Laura

With Jane at school now Josie and Laura have a lot of time together. Here we are at the park near Albany library. There are ducks and swings and amazing things made out of old tree stumps.

Party!