Is It All In My Head

Water slide

bettylu — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:14:47 +0000

Today was a BIG day. Well, not really big, kind of a big little day. I didn’t split the atom or cure cancer, but Lucia did go on a water slide for the first time. I’m very proud.

Madeleine has merrily scaled the heights of many a municipal swimming pool water slide, and has yet to meet a slide that doesn’t take her fancy. Lucia, on the other hand, has always found them quite scary and begged off, saying she was “too small” and would have a go when she’s “a bit bigger”. But today, after watching her sister scream out of the tunnel and into the fast running pool at the bottom of the slide, she decided The Time Had Come.

We went back to the ticket desk, cash in hand, and got her a little neon orange wristband. Positively fizzing with excitement she went back to the slide, where Madeleine was awaiting her important task: to escort Lucia to the top of the slide for the first time.

I still thought she might chicken out – but I told her it was loads of fun and that she is braver than she thinks.

And sure enough, 60 seconds later it was Lucia hurtling out the bottom of the slide, grinning widely and totally thrilled with herself.

She and Madeleine spent over an hour speeding up the stairs to the top of the slide and hurtling down again, emerging at the bottom each time victorious and totally delighted. Eventually I had to drag them away, Lucia was so cold she was blue almost from head to toe, but I don’t think she would have stopped if she had a choice. Now she can’t wait to visit all the other water slides Madeleine has already conquered, and do it all again.

These photos are all taken at the bottom of the slide, which is quite high, but I didn’t actually take a photo of the outside. It looks like a big blue plastic spiral, about 20 metres high.

Happy sliders

Yes, they did break the No Running rule, and got told off by the lifeguard.

Madeleine slides

Lucia leaps

Madeleine turns 9

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:28:47 +0000

And so, on 1/2/12, Madeleine turned 9. This must be auspicious, for she was born on 1/2/03, another pleasingly easy to remember date. We celebrated by going out for dinner and having the restaurant (our favourite Italian, NSP in Parnell) deliver a chocolate cake to the birthday girl. Alas, this is the only photo I took the entire day, and its really not a very good one.

Madeleine turns 9

I did get another photo the next day when she put on her some of the new clothes she got from her Nana for her birthday:

Madeleine's new clothes

Madeleine did have a great day, in spite of the fact it was also the first day of school for the year. (And yes, I did breath a huge sigh of relief when I was able to pull away from the school gate and then pull up at the door of a cafe, walk in, and sit down by myself. Not the least because I am half way through radiation therapy and its not much fun for anyone to drag the girls along to that fun fair every morning.)

So, thats the blog up to date! 2012 has begun in pretty good form, and lets hope it only continues to improve.

Butterfly Creek & Rocket Ropes, January 2012

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:25:48 +0000

Another perennial holiday favourite for all Aucklanders with children is Butterfly Creek. As well as the obligatory butterfly enclosure (which is kept at a very balmy tropical temperature and makes me feel rather faint within about 10 minutes) it has a great petting zoo, crocodiles, a minature train, and a cafe, and is next door to Rocket Ropes, an adventure rope-climbing type malarky. I can’t explain. There are photos below.

The girls were hugely excited when the butterflies started landing on them. First, Madeleine attracted this little specimen:

Madeleine @ Butterfly Creek

But Lucia really attracted the big kahuna with her flower headband:

Lucia @ Butterfly Creek

We were about to leave the enclosure when it alighted on her again, this time on her arm, and we almost had to shoo it away so that we could leave:

Lucia @ Butterfly Creek 2

We moved on to the petting zoo – main attraction the bunnies, as Madeleine has always coveted her own rabbit. When we had dogs, I could use the excuse that the dogs would eat the rabbits. Now we have no dogs I say its so nice not having to find somewhere for the dogs to stay when we go on holiday, I’m not about to make life complicated again (after all, who takes bunnies in for the holidays? Are there bunny kennels?).

Madeleine and bunny @ Butterfly Creek

Lucia and bunny @ Butterfly Creek

Butterfly Creek resident

The following weekend, Andrew took the girls to Rocket Ropes for a climbing adventure.

Maddy & Lulu at the Ropes 1

Maddy & Lulu at the Ropes 2

School Holidays, January 2011

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:38:04 +0000

And so the holidays rolled on, with rain, rain and more bloody rain. There were more sunny days in January than December, so we managed to go to the zoo, the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT), and walk around the top of Mt Wellington (no we didn’t walk all the way up there, there is a perfectly good car park just below the summit and it seemed rude not to use it).

Girls at the zoo, January 2012

MOTAT January 2012

Mt Wellington trig station January 2012

We visited cafes, including the wonderful Catroux in Westmere:

Lucia the artist

Madeleine the artist

And the very innovative Kohu Road Cafe and Creamery in New Lynn. Kohu Road makes gourmet ice-cream, and have possibly the only cafe in the world with a caravan in the corner. The girls had a fantastic time playing inside it.

Kohu Road cafe caravan

Russell, January 2012

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:24:37 +0000

After leaving Lucia on the boat, the rest of us headed to the Russell Orongo Bay Holiday Park. We had booked five days in a cabin, but alas within minutes of arriving I remembered why I hadn’t been camping for approximately ten years – I actually hate camping. At least, in a concrete “cabin” that is about four meters square, filled only with four beds and a bar fridge. With shared bathroom facilities and hordes of ernest, ukulele playing teenagers meters away from the door.

Surprisingly, Madeleine also had a bit of a meltdown upon leaving her sister. The prospect of spending a few days away from Lucia was actually very upsetting, which was a huge surprise to me, given the number of times she has complained to me in the past that she hated having a sister and, in fact, would like Lucia to go and live somewhere else please. There were tears, there were tantrums, there were long moping silences (I didn’t mind the silences so much). I reminded her how irritating she found Lucia sometimes. She vowed she would never find Lucia irritating again. We lavished her with attention, she complained that I was giving her too much attention.

A day or so into the forced separation, she cheered up and decided life wasn’t so bad after all. This photo was taken late one night when we escaped the kum-by-ah singing ukelele orchestra, who were working on my very last nerve and were about to have all their instruments confiscated and thrown into the nearby swamp. We went to the Duke of Marlborough in Russell for dessert and coffee. It was a beautiful evening and we watched the sun slowly sink into the sea, while Madeleine drew in her book and the yachts bob gently on the water.

Madeleine at the Duke of Marlborough

After three nights we decided we really didn’t feel like camping any more, and decamped to the Duke of Marlborough proper. Lucia joined us for the last two nights of the holiday, which were filled with cafes, beach trips and basking in the warm weather we were finally enjoying.

Lucia @ Russell pizza place

Russell is a lovely little historic town, indeed it was the first capital of New Zealand, and there are many signs around the town pointing out the historical significance of various buildings and sites. This was my favourite.

Russell

Lucia and I spent a very pleasant hour browsing the Russell graveyard, which is absolutely full of drowning victims. And small children. Quite sad really, but we made a game of trying to find the oldest grave, which was 1840, but some of the gravestones were unreadable so I’m sure some pre-dated that one. The church is incredibly pretty and has a lovely atmosphere.

On our last morning in Russell we woke to find that rain had blanketed the town, from our position right on the waterfront we couldn’t even see the harbour. It was definitely a good time to leave, but I do hope we will return sometime.

Beautiful Bay of Islands

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:00:59 +0000

After resting up at home post Christmas 2011, we headed north to the Bay of Islands for the first week of 2012. Lucia was spending a few days with a friend onboard her family boat, and we joined her for the first night, then planned to head to a camping ground for another five nights. Again, we were blessed with amazing weather, and didn’t see rain until our last morning in Russell. I think it may have been the only sunny part of the entire country during that week, so we were delighted.

The Bay of Islands really are quite idyllic, in good weather and on a good boat. The photo below does show some rather ominous looking clouds, but it was incredibly warm and the clouds didn’t do anything other than look menacing.

Bay of Islands, January 2012

The girls hadn’t been on a boat overnight before and were thrilled by the whole experience. They went biscuiting, paddle boarding, swimming, had a picnic on a beach, and stayed up late – what more could two little girls ask for?

Paddling at the Bay of Islands, January 2012

Dinner on the boat

Madeleine on the boat

The next day we farewelled Lucia and headed off to our camping ground, the next adventure…

Taupo and tummy bugs

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:52:40 +0000

After Christmas in Bulls we spent a couple of nights in Taupo. Luckily there was a swimming pool there too, so the girls rapidly turned into prunes each day soaking in the water. We visited the ducks and swans lakeside, and the girls were delighted to find several of the hot water springs dotted around the lake front.

We visited Huka Falls, which we last visited three years ago, and it was interesting to find that the girls had almost no memory of that visit at all – Madeleine vaguely remembered it, Lucia not at all.

Me and the girls at Huka Falls

And here we are, three years ago.

Huka Falls 2008

My hair is much better now - its my wig. Very convincing, to all except me (because I know my hair never looks that good).

Andrew and the girls at Huka Falls

Walking at Huka Falls

On our second night in Taupo we were woken by a cry from Lucia, only to find that she had thrown up all over the bed. I could not believe how much vomit such a small child could produce, it was truly impressive. It was a little tricky (in a motel room in the dead of night) to clean the mess up, so I found myself rinsing sheets and blankets in the shower, which honestly was not a high-point of the holiday. I felt pretty bad leaving a bundle of vomited-upon sheets for the motel cleaning staff the next morning, but we did ‘fess up and apologise. When we got home to Auckland she was very quiet for a couple of days. In the photo of the beach shelter below (the most redundant Christmas present ever, in the Summer Of Rain), she is in the recovery phase of her illness. Looking at the photo again, I guess she was quite early in that recovery phase.

Beach shelter on the deck

Christmas 2011

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:42:09 +0000

The summer of 2011/12 might go down in history as the wettest in New Zealand, but the weather gods were smiling on Bulls on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (maybe the rest of New Zealand as well but I must confess I never checked the weather report that day), and we were lucky enough to have beautiful sunny weather.

Highgrove, Christmas 2011

In the sweltering heat we managed to unwrap presents, force down several sensational meals and many more snacks, and lie about reading books. I think I was still purging my body of the last remaining chemotherapy drugs, or maybe it was the unexpected heat (at least thats the excuse I’m going to use) because I was about as lively as a porpoise taking a nap on a beach. I shifted from couch to armchair to deckchair to bed, and then re-started the cycle from the top. Needless to say all the grandchildren were very well spoiled, and as you can see the Christmas tree was well supported by stacks of presents.

Girls, Christmas 2011

Lunch, Christmas 2011

The girls were a little more active, bless them, in the double paddling pool bonanza set up on the front lawn, and Lucia and her cousin Lizzy worked on their jumping-into-the-pool technique for at least an hour.

Swimming pool antics, Christmas 2011

Lucia in the pool 1, Christmas 2011

Lucia in the pool 2, Christmas 2011

On Boxing Day, having just had a leisurely afternoon tea (clearly we hadn’t eaten to capacity yet that day) we suddenly discovered that our booking for a motel in Taupo was actually for that night, rather than the next. We’ve never packed so quickly in our lives, and were in the car screeching out the driveway 15 minutes later.

School Holidays, December 2011

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:26:50 +0000

And so, with a huge sigh of relief, the 2011 school year came to an end and the girls were released into the wild for nearly two whole months. I had visions of endless trips to the beach, zoo, parks, and long exhausting walks around the city. Alas, it rained for almost the entire holiday period. We did manage to have some fun, but for pretty much all of December it was indoors.

To start with, I was happy to let them lie prone on the couch and catch up on cartoons for several hours a day, breaking it up with the odd trip to a parks in-between rain showers, and even a visit to the supermarket if my most persistent ferreting around the fridge couldn’t rustle up something for dinner. We made our fun where we could find it.

Early Santa presents

We also visited the local cinema quite a lot more than usual, and in this picture the girls are imitating their McDonald’s Happy Meal toy, which I think is a character from Puss’n Boots. Either that or they’ve really had too much sugar.

Wide eyed at McDs

These two pictures are just random photos of the girls having fun.

Lucia the Dog

Madeleine the Mug

Carol Service 2011

bettylu — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:17:24 +0000

Dio held their annual carol service at the Parnell Cathedral in December 2011, and as a year 1 student Lucia was a part of a re-enactment of the nativity story. She was a shepherd and a very serious and responsible shepherd indeed. Except for beforehand, when she pulled all sorts of faces and didn’t look like a shepherd at all. Madeleine took her place with the rest of the girls and sang along heartily. Christmas always feels much closer when you’ve heard a rousing rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, even if it is played in a key so high only about 1/5 of the congregation can actually sing it.

Carol service 2011