1/28/14

Last week of school holidays of course had to be action packed so I decided to start it off with an obstacle course. Brooklyn and I designed it while Bailey was building Lego. Unfortunately, Bailey hurt his arm during it but we were nearly finished and he was fine after a wee rest so no harm, no foul. The next day I took the boys to the Mt. Albert Wave pool and we had a blast swimming in the simulated waves, playing in the fountains and going down the waterslides there at the facility. After 4 hours though I was pooped and so I said we had to head back home. On Thursday the boys and I had Nicole drop us off in Onehunga so we could catch the bus to Sylvia Park for the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 movie.  The movie itself was pretty good and we had a blast eating lunch there in the park and visiting all the toy stores there in the mall while we waited for our bus back. While we were shopping in Onehunga we found the cutest Thomas the tank engine backpack for Brooklyn since he needed a new one for school anyway. Later that night we all went out to Lone Star, a western restaurant in New Market for Dinner. We had a great time at dinner and I ordered a spicy fish with veggies and mango salsa.

1-31-14

Today Thomas took me to one of the coastal beaches. We spent a couple hours swimming before we headed to the fish and chips shop and then went for a nice walk around the area. We had a lovely time but unfortunately, there are quite a few rocks under the water there in the ocean so I came out with 4 gashes in the soles of my feet at the end of our adventure. He dropped me off to get cleaned up while he went to swimming training then picked me up afterward so we could go to the silo park film, “the graduate”. I have to say I have never seen this film and I probably could have gone my whole life without seeing it but luckily Thomas was great company and we had a great time making fun of the movie. After the film was over we headed over to Mt. Eden and he insisted on climbing it at that late hour. When we finally got to the summit though, my breath was taken away by the immense beauty of all the lights from the city. Seriously, I think it might be more gorgeous at night than it is even during the day, which is a pretty hard sight to beat. I don’t know if I would have ever though to go up to the top of the mountain at night but I’m so glad I did because it was amazing!

Mt Eden by night

2-1-14

Saturday was a lazy day. I cleaned and slept in during the morning before going to the new Paranormal Activity movie and Sushi with Thomas in the afternoon before I had to work. I wouldn't necessarily say it was scary just kind of freaky. With the whole Mexican theme and sketchy voodoo type stuff of course there were moments that game me a fright but most of it was just eerie and freaky situations. I don’t think I would suggest it to anyone to say the least. Sushi was delicious though! Tonight was our next door neighbor, Dean’s 50^th birthday party. Needless to say I was on babysitting duty and was getting no sleep due to the insane party next door! I hope that when I turn 50 I have a party that is at least half as great as that one. The boys and I snuck a peak at the beginning and snagged some yummy dinner before it got too late. They had a Bollywood theme so everyone dressed up and there was sweet as decorations everywhere. While all the adults on the block were partying next door the boys and I had a great time playing games on the trampoline and reading books before bed.

2-2-14

Sunday I went to Devonport with Gina and Ashley. I took them to the North Head caves and we ended up finding caves that I had not seen the first time. Also learned the importance of knowing the tide patterns…originally when I visited the tunnels the first time apparently it was low tide so the path was super apparent but today it was high tide so it was nearly all covered in water so we had a bit of a difficult time trying to find our way to the cave path. Eventually we made it to the tunnels and we only pissed off one kiwi neighbor along the way by walking through his yard… oops! After exploring the sweet military tunnels there we went down to the beach and went for a swim them hiked over to another beach where we suntanned for a while before heading back to the ferry terminal for lunch. We ended up getting Chinese takeaway and smoothies… what a combination but when you’re hungry you know what you want and it doesn’t matter what time it is or which combinations you feel like right? Later that night I met Annabel and we went to mission bay for drinks. It was so great to catch up with her after my trips and see her again. We sipped our wines and ate some chips up on the balcony overlooking the gorgeous ocean for a while just chatting before we headed down to Movenpick for ice cream and walked along the beach. Eventually it got quite chilly since the sun went down so we headed home.

2-3-14

Bailey started his first day of school in year 3 room 6. I think it went well, he was super nervous so I’m not sure how to take that. I did a bit of ironing and read in my book in One Tree Hill Park to get ready for the full on week ahead with Kent away in America and Nicole flying to Aussie and training.

Tuesday was Brooklyn’s first full day of Montessori and it was a tremendous success! He came home and was so excited he couldn’t stop talking about how much fun he had and all the stuff he did and learned. I’m so glad it went well and Bailey’s 2^nd day was much better. I think he was more relaxed and kind of getting the hang of a new class, new teacher and all that.

Wednesday Brooklyn was supposed to have just a half day but there ended up being a mix up and they had him scheduled for a full day. Nicole and I decided to let him stay and experiment with how it went. To our pleasure it was a success he was so happy he got to stay so we decided to make it a permanent change. The full days of Montessori for Brooklyn mean that Bailey and I have an hour to play or do whatever without Brooklyn between when his school gets out and when we have to pick up Brooklyn so it’s been kind of nice to bond with him during that time.

I decided to head to free Zumba in the Mt. Albert Park Memorial reserve near me at 6:30. I know everyone probably feels like they look ridiculous doing Zumba but I’m just going to reiterate that I felt like I looked completely ridiculous during the workout but it was fun! I took the bus and when I tried to take the bus back I realized that the buses on that road apparently shut down early during the week so I started the walk 7k walk home. I got about ¾ of the way home though and Thomas offered to come pick me up. He’s so sweet! I thanked him over and over for taking me the rest of the way home and we got to chat a bit which was nice.