This morning, Julia had to leave by 7 for work, so I was on Tessa duty from then on. We went on a pretty long walk on the path to Takapuna (but didn't go quite that far) and stopped at the park for morning tea and playing on the slide. Today was VERY hot and humid so it was nice to be rained on a little bit on the way back, but for the most part, the sun was out today! Later in the afternoon we went on the trampoline for awhile and she wanted to go swimming, but the tide was all the way out, so that wasn't really a possibility. We then had to go meet Nan and pick up Libby and Reuben before dinner. Unfortunately, there was soooo much traffic she was about 45 min later than our meeting time! Tessa explored the car inside and out and pretended to drive us somewhere, and locked and unlocked the doors with the key many times! The poor thing was SO hot and sweaty because she insisted on wearing long-sleeves today we ended up taking her shirt right off so she could cool down. She also wanted to stay in the car with the doors closed, because she was taking us somewhere, you can't "drive away" with open doors apparently...
Anyway, I just heard from Mom and Dad a little while ago and they are in LAX boarding the plane soon for their flight here! I'll be picking them up at 8am tomorrow morning! :)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
1 More Day...
Until 2 things! First, Mom and Dad arrive and second, until MY summer holidays start! I will be picking them up at 8am Thursday morning from the airport and then technically "on holiday" until the 13th of January when they fly home!
Today I had all three kids for the majority of the day! This morning played some games, went on the trampoline and did some art. I forgot to say that yesterday morning we had a pretty competitive game of musical statues (freeze dancing) and then musical chairs (kind of difficult with 3 people needed one to do the music, but Libby and Reuben were determined to make it work). While Tessa was napping, I tested out making a 3D snowflake following directions online. It turned out pretty cool-looking and HUGE but was far too complicated for the kids patience...I had to tell Libby a few times while I was working on it that she couldn't use some of paper I had cut for her own project because it was going to turn into part of the snowflake at the end. They both really liked how it looked but weren't too interested in making their own, Libby just decided that I should make that one "for her."
When Tessa woke, and they all had had some kind of lunch we went to the pool again. This time with all three kids! Nan met us there because she was taking Libby and Reuben to spend the night at her house from there. We had another pretty long swim, Libby continued to progress and Tessa just wanted to jump in over and over again! She couldn't get enough of the jumping! After swimming I came home with just Tessa and had a pretty quiet rest of the afternoon. We went on the trampoline some more, on the swings and then she decided to play hairdresser for awhile, continually putting a clip in my hair and then taking it out again without unclipping it...ouch...I tried to show her what to do but she still ended up pulling out at least one hair each time!
Today I had all three kids for the majority of the day! This morning played some games, went on the trampoline and did some art. I forgot to say that yesterday morning we had a pretty competitive game of musical statues (freeze dancing) and then musical chairs (kind of difficult with 3 people needed one to do the music, but Libby and Reuben were determined to make it work). While Tessa was napping, I tested out making a 3D snowflake following directions online. It turned out pretty cool-looking and HUGE but was far too complicated for the kids patience...I had to tell Libby a few times while I was working on it that she couldn't use some of paper I had cut for her own project because it was going to turn into part of the snowflake at the end. They both really liked how it looked but weren't too interested in making their own, Libby just decided that I should make that one "for her."
When Tessa woke, and they all had had some kind of lunch we went to the pool again. This time with all three kids! Nan met us there because she was taking Libby and Reuben to spend the night at her house from there. We had another pretty long swim, Libby continued to progress and Tessa just wanted to jump in over and over again! She couldn't get enough of the jumping! After swimming I came home with just Tessa and had a pretty quiet rest of the afternoon. We went on the trampoline some more, on the swings and then she decided to play hairdresser for awhile, continually putting a clip in my hair and then taking it out again without unclipping it...ouch...I tried to show her what to do but she still ended up pulling out at least one hair each time!
Summer Holidays
It's a bit strange to me that the kids are now out of school for their SUMMER holidays! Over Christmas and New Year? That would be so different!! It's only 6 weeks though so they have a longer break in their winter too. Anyway, the weekend was a lot of fun!
Friday night I drove out to Waimauku (which is still Auckland) to stay at Jenny's house for the night. It was very much countryside out there. She lives on a dirt road and has chickens and a goat and a little pond, very pretty but not nearly as developed as here. Her house is pretty cool though and family was even cooler! Four of us went to hang out and stay the night and then two German guys that were working on Caitlin's farm for free bed and food came to hang out with us as well. We ended up playing cranium in two teams with Jenny's "mom" while her "dad" played bartender and DJ and made us drinks all night and danced to their large assortment of music (lots of trance-like club beats) on their database. Saturday morning we had chocolate chip pancakes (finally! first time since camp) and then headed down to Muriwai beach for our surfing lesson. The rain actually went away for the morning and was replaced by a little sunshine and some beautiful surfing weather! I managed to catch quite a few waves and stand up. It was a lot of fun and they said the conditions were perfect for us! The surf wasn't too high but some were big enough to get dumped off. In the afternoon (in my 2nd lesson of the day) it had started pouring rain again, but once we were in the water it didn't make too much difference. The waves were a bit higher and apparently when I was going a little more "advanced" according to one of the teachers, I did a late drop or something trying to catch a wave that hadn't broken yet but I was clearly not ready (and late) and it was pretty steep and it just threw me forward and I tumbled around. He said it looked pretty gnarly...haha surfer language in universal I guess...but I was fine didn't hurt a bit. Underwater flips are much softer than on the surface of the water (like when barefooting)!
After surfing we went back to Jenny's to get ready for Astrid's birthday party up the road in Kumeu. Everyone had to dress as something beginning with "A" and I decided to go as an All Black, a member of the NZ rugby team. It went over quite well, especially in town after the party, lots of high-fives and "go All Blacks" thrown my way!
Sunday, about 10 of us met at Laura's house, because the rain is continuing to fall, for our picnic/xmas gift exchange! It was a nice little afternoon eating, chatting and relaxing and opening some small gifts and swapping them around if we chose to.
Today, I took Libby and Reuben to the pool in Takapuna where they spent over 2 hours! The smaller kids pool it super heated so they don't get cold and were just having so much fun playing. Libby was so determined to learn to swim on her own. This time now that her feet could touch the bottom she was trying over and over again on her own and making good progress. I had to get out after awhile to avoid completely shriveling up, but they continued to play on the foam floats and things with some of the other kids in the pool. They were pretty tired after that when we came home to have lunch. Reuben hopped straight on the computer and Libby and I went on the trampoline for awhile, but she quickly got tired of bouncing, then running around in circles. She wanted to go on the swings for a little but that was probably too much work as well. We spend awhile digging in the sand to the rock down by the water and scratching drawings into the ground. I taught her how to play tic-tac-toe drawing on the rocks. Couldn't believe she'd never heard of it before!
Friday night I drove out to Waimauku (which is still Auckland) to stay at Jenny's house for the night. It was very much countryside out there. She lives on a dirt road and has chickens and a goat and a little pond, very pretty but not nearly as developed as here. Her house is pretty cool though and family was even cooler! Four of us went to hang out and stay the night and then two German guys that were working on Caitlin's farm for free bed and food came to hang out with us as well. We ended up playing cranium in two teams with Jenny's "mom" while her "dad" played bartender and DJ and made us drinks all night and danced to their large assortment of music (lots of trance-like club beats) on their database. Saturday morning we had chocolate chip pancakes (finally! first time since camp) and then headed down to Muriwai beach for our surfing lesson. The rain actually went away for the morning and was replaced by a little sunshine and some beautiful surfing weather! I managed to catch quite a few waves and stand up. It was a lot of fun and they said the conditions were perfect for us! The surf wasn't too high but some were big enough to get dumped off. In the afternoon (in my 2nd lesson of the day) it had started pouring rain again, but once we were in the water it didn't make too much difference. The waves were a bit higher and apparently when I was going a little more "advanced" according to one of the teachers, I did a late drop or something trying to catch a wave that hadn't broken yet but I was clearly not ready (and late) and it was pretty steep and it just threw me forward and I tumbled around. He said it looked pretty gnarly...haha surfer language in universal I guess...but I was fine didn't hurt a bit. Underwater flips are much softer than on the surface of the water (like when barefooting)!
After surfing we went back to Jenny's to get ready for Astrid's birthday party up the road in Kumeu. Everyone had to dress as something beginning with "A" and I decided to go as an All Black, a member of the NZ rugby team. It went over quite well, especially in town after the party, lots of high-fives and "go All Blacks" thrown my way!
Sunday, about 10 of us met at Laura's house, because the rain is continuing to fall, for our picnic/xmas gift exchange! It was a nice little afternoon eating, chatting and relaxing and opening some small gifts and swapping them around if we chose to.
Today, I took Libby and Reuben to the pool in Takapuna where they spent over 2 hours! The smaller kids pool it super heated so they don't get cold and were just having so much fun playing. Libby was so determined to learn to swim on her own. This time now that her feet could touch the bottom she was trying over and over again on her own and making good progress. I had to get out after awhile to avoid completely shriveling up, but they continued to play on the foam floats and things with some of the other kids in the pool. They were pretty tired after that when we came home to have lunch. Reuben hopped straight on the computer and Libby and I went on the trampoline for awhile, but she quickly got tired of bouncing, then running around in circles. She wanted to go on the swings for a little but that was probably too much work as well. We spend awhile digging in the sand to the rock down by the water and scratching drawings into the ground. I taught her how to play tic-tac-toe drawing on the rocks. Couldn't believe she'd never heard of it before!
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| Christmas at Laura's |
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| apple tree, athlete, address book, Ali G, asian school girl, airline pilot, All Black, Aphrodite, archer |
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