The weekend of happiness

Hi,

What an amazing weekend.  We often rate our days in our family.  When around the dinner table, Toby might ask us both what we rated our day. Monday to Friday is usually busy and hectic and varies between a six and an eight most days. But weekends? Weekends are off the scale.

I have rated my weekend just gone at ten out of ten. Yep. Can't get any better than that. Yes, Mike asks about my scale as well. Eight out of ten for an average work day doesn't leave a lot of room for manoeuvring in the excellent eight to ten area for awesome weekends. It must be logarithmic. That's my answer.

We left from work a little early on Friday. Mike sorted out getting the laden car to where Toby and Alex got off the school bus in town. Then he went to get the club van and pick up eleven punters. I drove up in the Corolla with Toby, Alex and Yingjie. Yes, I sang pretty much the whole way. Poor Yingjie.

The drive was easy. No speeding from me. Got there by 9.15 pm and met the Tabor family in the car park. Stupid roof top box (which I love, usually) was impossible to open. I wrestled with it for quite some time. Shouting at it didn't make it open any faster. I noticed Mike swearing at it on Sunday morning. Not sure that technique worked either. But at least he explained to me why it does it.

So my love affair with the roof top box is back on track after some counseling. I understand it much better now. I know how it works. I'll try not to overload it so it refuses to cooperate with my requests to open and close. Although they do seem like sensible requests to me of a roof top box.

Anyhow, I eventually opened it by sheer brute force. Hauled the gear out . Yingjie sensed somehow my frustration. Hmmm. More yoga and Zen needed, Angela!

By the way, I had my first yoga class Friday lunchtime. Great fun. Will do it every Friday I can. I am hoping for greater core strength and inner calm. Or something. Ha ha. It's hard work.

Anyway, I got the gear out. Yingjie helped me as did the boys. The snow was sparse and crusty. We settled into the lodge. 

After an hour or so Mike arrived with the van. I wandered down to get more stuff from the car. Yes, I carried a breadmaker up to the lodge. Helped some of Mike's newbie punters walk on the snow. One wee lad was keen to hold my hand as he gingerly walked down an icy patch. I got him to the flat part and walked back up only to have his mother also grip me in an iron grasp as she tried to walk down the path. The wee boy was fascinated as to why I wasn't wearing gloves. Told him I didn't find it too cold. And it wasn't. Shame. The skifield needs a lot more snow. But they won't be getting it at these balmy temperatures.

.

Back up to the lodge and settled in for the night. Slept quite well. Up to help Josh and Aidan cook breakfast. My goodness they are good together in the kitchen. Scrumptious bacon and scrambled eggs. Yep, I started skiing on a very full tummy.

We sorted out people in Happy Valley. Benjamin was trying snow boarding for the first time. He had a lesson. We left him there in the safe hands of the instructors.

Duncan and Emerson also got a lesson. Toby sledded with Alex all day (when they weren't inside playing and eating). While the boys had a lesson I managed to get a run in with Aidan. She skis beautifully but her brain tells her she can't do it when the terrain gets a bit exciting. After a twenty year hiatus in skiing, that's understandable. And perhaps the conditions weren't ideal for me to take her on a blue run for her first time in ages.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Aidan staring off into the distance, looking comfortable at the top of the run.

However, in my defence, I think she only fell because her bindings were set for a 30 kilo twelve year old. Any pressure on them and she'd pop out. I think she would have stayed on her skis quite a bit more if they had been working as they should!

We met Vivienne at the top of the run and skied with her. She is a great skier. That's the first time I have skied with Vivienne. We should do so in decent conditions. Can't wait!

Anyhow, there was this exciting bit. You had to schuss down a steep wee bit to  gain enough speed to get up the other side. Aidan wasn't fully appreciating this speed aspect. She said she'd watch me and follow what I did to get up enough speed. Fortunately I said I should follow her. Just in case.  Well, her silly skis popped with her first turn and she slid down the steep wee section, leaving a trail of ski gear behind her. She wasn't fazed by this at all. I collected her skis on my way down and she calmly perched on the edge of the slope and put her skis back on.  From there she did no turns and made it up the slope with plenty of speed. And I didn't break her. I had been warned to bring her back to Josh intact.

Did another run with Mike looking for Josh. Then I sat with Aidan while Mike went looking for Josh again. Eventually we all met up and went back to Happy Valley to collect the boys.

I spent the rest of the afternoon skiing with Benjamin. He was boarding really well by the end of it. I can't take credit. It all came together for him on a run with Aidan. She had no idea it was his first day on a board and I asked for a run with her. So she took off and I said to Benjamin we had to catch her, speed demon freak she was. Benjamin planted boot and did an amazing run. Turning like a pro.

The rain sent us back to the lodge eventually. It's so not fun skiing in rain. Snow, yes. Rain, never! It's an abomination on a skifield.

The gourmet feast was all on. Such great good.  Garlic bread rolls to start (made from scratch).  Casserole, mash.  Spicy pumpkin and kumara soup.  All yummy.

Mike has his dessert! Notice how he made sure it was before the hordes of kids.

A sunset kicked it off nicely. What a great evening. Awesome food, great conversation.  We may have garnered some strange looks from other punters when between dinner and dessert, I interrupted a conversation between Mike and Aidan.  As I sat down, Aidan leaned forward, and whipped her hair into a pony tail and said loudly "Have a sniff of my hair.  I'm using that new conditioner and Mike can't smell it".

Riiiiight.  Like that's perfectly normal post dinner conversation.  So of course, I took a big smell.  Seemed to work as it smelled nice enough.  Melons apparently.  So I said so.  Mike seemed put out by this proclamation of mine, and asked for another smell of Aidan's hair.  He decided it smelled like lemons.  Melons, lemons.  At least it was something fruity.  Hahahah.  I asked him to smell my hair because I had just washed mine using Toby's yummy kids Blueberry shampoo which always smells good enough to eat.  But he said my hair smelled like nothing.

Upon reflection, I am happy with it smelling like nothing.  Nothing offends no one.  Hahahah.  It can't have been too weird because people still talked to us afterwards.

Went to bed quite early but I woke when Mike came in and took a while to get back to sleep.

Wonderful sunset - Mt Taranaki looked amazing in the far distance

Up early for a gourmet breakfast extravaganza. How on earth did Josh and Aidan whip up such a wonderful breakfast with the ingredients we had on offer?  Between the two of them, and Ilske's apple danish sweet diversion, people were happy!

Scrumptious!

The weather was a bit pants, so we tidied up and all left.  The hot pools were in our sights.  Mike and I soaked in a private pool while Toby swam with  Alex in the main pool.  Then we drove back to Wellington.  At one point we got an iced coffee from the petrol station for me, and lunch from Maccas (I had leftover breakfasts!).  I dribbled coffee down me as I drove and without hesitation, Yingjie wiped my chin.  I felt well looked after!  Made me laugh though.

We got home in time for Alex to make his swimming lesson.  Awesome.  And that included a delay at Mana for an incident.

I had such a great weekend.  I have skied with Aidan finally.  And she is as good at that as she is at other things she tries.  Perhaps if it wasn't entirely unpleasant, she might consider it again.  Benjamin seems to be a natural at the snowboarding lark.  So, all in all, it was a marvellous time.

I'm working at home today as Toby is rather sick.  Both ends of him are quite loose and free with bodily fluids.  Nice.  He is never sick like this so he is fascinated and gives running commentaries on what is going on.  Nice.  I have done a bit of washing this morning already (accidents).  Bedding and undergarments are very clean in our house now.

Have a wonderful week.  My parents are back after their exciting adventures away.  I can't wait to hear more.

Love,

Angela