Hi,
Well, it was an action-packed wekeend that will take ages to write down - so forgive any holes anyone might notice.
Friday night I rushed home on the bike with Mike. It was my first ride up the hill with the new cleats and I was very pleased. We got home to change and I had to pack Toby's overnight bag as he was staying with William. As we got in, the phone rang and it was Skids asking where we were as Toby was upset he hadn't seen us yet. How good is his built-in clock? I hurriedly packed a bag and tennis stuff and rushed off to collect Toby.
Mike arrived just as I got to Skids and we handed Toby over to Pete (William's Dad) and I stayed to watched a lesson and then everyone left (Toby to his sleepover and me to home, and Mike to meet up with a friend just back from 6 months in India).
I was tossing up whether to visit Benjamin and Vivienne but they were unavailable (and turns out had gone to watch the man dancing with his shiny orange digger) so I ate 6 chocolate biscuits for dinner in front of the winter olympics. Choice!
Up to bed after a while and I watched a Twilight movie that Mike arrived in the middle of and proceeded to watch and critique. He was quite scathing. I think the books are way better - and even then, the books are a little teenage angst-ridden. But I am still reading them.
After that we chatted until 2am about various things. Mike says that I chatted until 2am and he merely grunted affirmation from time to time. Whatever. Heheheheh. It meant I was tired the next day!
Saturday morning we were up and about early. I was off to have a facial with Ma (birthday present) and Mike took Toby to swimming. The facial was lots of fun. The woman came to inspect my skin prior to the treatment and asked me very seriously what I used on my face. I leaned forward to her just as seriously and said "Soap". I don't think she has ever been so astonished. But we enjoyed ourselves. Then we went off to Petone to Briscoes as Ma needed a step stool and then we had lunch at the Jetty Cafe. Very pleasant weather - we were out on the deck looking out over the harbour. Beautiful.
We went home via Woolworths and I dropped Ma home and went to pack for the camping in Waikanae. The boys had a great time without me and Mike built all our bookcases for our room. Perfect. Now if only I could get some time to tidy things away into their new place. Won't happen this week. Very busy.
We threw things in the car and headed off to visit the Tabors. Toby had a ball and has really missed Duncan and Emerson. He said as much when we left there Sunday! Anyhow, the Tabors had a new puppy (a golden lab called Lulu) and a cool new fort. Toby ran around for ages with the boys. We ended up sleeping in the Tabor tent with a mesh roof. After the excesses of the night before I was exhausted. The Tabors have been equally tuckered out with thesis submissions (good on you, Aidan!) and puppy minding. So we all crashed out. Drifting to sleep with an eye on Orion was great fun though.
Up early and surprised by the news of a tsunami warning from a huge earthquake in Chile. Everyone was trying to ring us to let us know. We have in-built Gilbert and Richardson early warning systems. If only the Pacific had realised the potential for mothers to warn their children about impending doom, they may have averted many diasters in the past. But we were safe where we were (confusion surrounded the news that Waikanae residents were evacuated - turns out there is a Waikanae near Hawkes Bay).
We went to Paraparaumu Beach and met John, Christine and wee Tom there. Aidan and the boys also came. So we had a fantastic day and fabulous company. The sea was calm and the cloud eventually burned off and we had a superb day. We listened to the spiel at the start from Bruce the guide and then we tackled the trig via Wilkinson Track. The birds were in fine form and the walking was very pleasant. About 25 minutes from the top, wee Tom turned back with his parents. I think he'll make it next time we go for sure! He did well. The rest of us continued and we were faced with a view of... cloud when we arrived at the top.
We were lucky though. The cloud blew away and we had a great view. We ate our lunch and started back down. Mike convinced us to take the steeper but quicker trig track back. It might have been a bit too steep for the boys. Emerson was tired by the end. One event in particular stands out on the way down. There was a huge creeper hanging over the path and Toby, Duncan and Emerson had turns swining on it. They moved on and Mike handed me the camera saying he'd have a go. Shame I never got the camera going as he took a huge swing... and the creeper dropped by a metre under Mike's weight and his bottom came in contact rather suddenly with the ground. It made me and Aidan giggle quite a bit.
Toby has an awesome scrape under his arm from a fall over a log in the bush. I think we'll get you a photo of it so you can appreciate it. He got a fright and yelled when it happened, but he was up and walking again while we were moving into comforting mode. He didn't need any of that!
Back to the day shelter and we found Tom fast asleep and protected from the nosey wekas by his mother. Christine would have grabbed any weka that touched him in seconds! Ta for the watermelon too! Yum!
The boat arrived and we were on the 3pm trip back to the mainland. We all said goodbye and we rushed to Wellington. We had friends arriving from Melbourne at 5.30pm so Mike stayed at home sorting out our gear while I went to collect Duncan and Kathleen. They had flown in from Dunedin and I think they are pleased to be facing a few days in one place.
We ate tea and we all went to bed fairly early. Heheheheh. Today looks grand for weather so I hope they get out and about.
Mike is away on a course today and tomorrow. That means I am on Toby drop-off duty. He was good today - especially after I threatened Club Penguin access rights being revoked if he didn't hurry.
Keas tonight and we have an excursion to the pool. I have prepared sandwiches for the kids so I hope that goes down well.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
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