Outdoor activities

This family loves the sea, and first thing Saturday morning we headed out to Northcote Point to visit our Firedancer.

I know what you are thinking - Kien doesn't look like he is loving it, but I can assure you he was loving it on the inside. I'm his mother, I know such things!

On the yacht Kien was right as rain. He helped his dad tidy up the wiring inside the cabin (Jef ripped everything non-essential out basically) while I sipped champagne coffee on deck whilst enjoying the lovely view. The Harbour bridge looks amazing from this angle.

I cannot wait to have some adventures on this vessel. But first things first - I need to learn to sail. I guess I'll be doing some night school to get my boat masters.

We headed into shore at just the right time. The dark clouds were rolling in from the north west, and on the row back Kien sat at the stern, once again looking apprehensive.

I think he looks so cute in his life jacket.

It was great that the water was so calm and glassy still. Jef commented how effortless it was to row in, and I was able to hop out of the dingy and get it onto the ramp without any issues.

It rained on our way home, and we cheered.

Sister, Brother - Uncle, Aunty

Once upon a time, not so long ago, my sister and brother were as small as Kien is now. Now they are his aunt and uncle, all grown up.

From childhood to adulthood - it doesn't take long.

I can't believe Kien is almost two. When I'm dealing with the hard day to day challenges the grind feels relentlessly never-ending, and yet when I reflect on how far he has come in his development the time has just whizzed by in a flash. It feels like this was only taken a mere few months ago.

Auckland Domain

As it turned out to be such a beautiful afternoon why not make the most of the lovely weather by having a good runaround at the domain. Kien had a bundle of energy to burn (what's new).

I had a lot of fun playing chase.

I love this place so much! The palm trees are grand and allows me to pretend I'm living in the tropics.

No comment required!

Kien liked the duck pond. He also liked the garden leading up to the duck pond just as much.

We came across this cute little duckling nestled amongst the daisies. Such a gorgeous sight.

We were too late to visit the Winter gardens, but outside is also beautiful.

Life is not always about rushing around trying to get things done. One must remember to stop and smell the flowers.

Being young

Do you remember what it was like when you couldn't even count your age to cover all the fingers on a single hand? When an outing was an event that seemed to stretch out indefinately *the WHOLE day*, and so long as you were having fun then it was a delightful never ending thrill? No one was keeping track of time. Time? What’s does that mean? It’s merely something that exists in adult-land. So on Tuesday afternoon it must have felt like an endless party for these children.

I left work on Monday with everyone teasing me about going to the beach (as the rain and wind was relentlessly attacking people and umbrellas outside). I was adamant on going, but reserved the right to change my mind if the gray clouds dominated the sky and the sun was a no show.

Sentinel Beach

When the tide is in this place is awesome.

We had a gathering at the beach with some of my coffee group buddies and all of our kids, 2 a piece (except for me). We came baring beach balls and sand toys. It seemed like there were a lot of kids with shrill voices occupying the entire stretch, and it was fabulous.

They sat on picnic blankets and munched on corn chips and popcorn for fuel before scattering with buckets of energy to burn. One kid found a slide to play on.

Others built campfires and helped rub sticks together to try and light it. I think some of those sticks ended up at Nic's place.

These two followed each other around like they were a married couple, with bosiness and bickering to match.

That's when she's not striking a pose for the camera.

Olivia demonstrating being "fierce". You go, girl! (in my best Tyra Banks impersonation).

These two couldn't stop shoveling popcorn into their mouths. I was pretty impressed how well they were able to share that bag of popcorn.

Happiness at the beach is a sure winner.

As the wind picked up and the gray skies hid the setting sun we decided to move on.

Kid's dinner (plus alcohol & nibbles for grownups)

Ahh, lovely glass of Pinot Gris and a fine selection of delectable nibbles as we watched the kiddos chowing down on fish and chips.

Following on from dinner they ran around inside and out, climbed furniture, played with water, ran around some more, and sat down for desert.

It was such a ridiculously fun afternoon and evening, but as always all good things must come to an end. We bid our farewells, and headed home for a quick bath and a prompt bedtime soon after. Kien was exhausted, and so was I too, actually. You know the type of tired I mean, and with the satisfaction of knowing that I gave my son another adventure in his repertoire of memories in being young.

A wrap of our day in the form of a little movie...

For those who are seeing this post via e-mail and/or cannot view the movie here is the link to it on youtube: Children's Gathering.

If you wish to see more photos I've added an addendum for this post.

One day

We sat in the warm living room on a cold Sunday afternoon surrounded by familiar faces, the cosiness enhanced by the aroma of freshly baked sausage rolls invitingly waiting to be consumed alongside Moscato bubbles and cracked pepper pate. A 10 month old boy slithers across the polished veneer floors making a beeline for an abandoned toddler bike. Upon reaching his destination he manoeuvres himself into a position ready for standing, and with one hand on the handle bar and the other holding the frame he slowly pulls himself upright, steady and firm on his sock enclosed feet. We lock eyes, and he beams a radiant smile.

A 21 month old boy comes running over to take possession of his ride-on, because sharing is not part of this age group’s comprehension, and certainly is true in this case. He tries to wedge himself between the bike and the baby, and begins peeling white knuckled fingers one at a time off the plastic steering handle. Both boys are equally determined, but one has a slight advantage in that he can stand un-aided, and is 120mm (or 90mm) taller. The bonus about nappy clad bottoms is that the landing is soft. There are no tears. The toddler rides off to the kitchen on the bike (that is abandoned 3 minutes later).

I help myself to some more crackers, spreading them with generous layers of pate. I sit back in the armchair, take another sip (or 3) of wine, and savour the momentary peace. He is with his aunt, and he is content.

These two boys have an 11 month age gap. It will not be noticeable as they grow older.

I wonder if the adoration will wear off?

We talk about what it will be like when the boys read the blogs that their mothers wrote about them, for them, and sometimes to them. Wouldn't it be special if my mother provided me with an account of our day to day adventures, our comings and goings, our randomness and even our nothingness moments. It would provide me with a greater appreciation, and perhaps some insight for the hard work, dedication and devotion that goes into being a mother.

Someday. Someday one day when they are old enough to comprehend the words and stories about what their life was like, how much they were enjoyed, what we did when they were born, how it felt to us when they squiggled across the floor, what it meant to us when they first took a step, how when they fell over we held them tight and kissed their tears, when we tucked them in at night and held their soft hand as we whispered sweet nothings in their ear. Emotions and feelings are bound together and packaged into words and pictures emanating the depth of love from the core of our being.

At the quarter

This morning Jef told me to take the child and get out of the house so he could clean. Awesome! It's like music to my ears. So I obliged. I decided to take Kien in the stroller to Wynyard Quarter.

There was a certain buzz in that area; a carpark full of camper vans, playground full of children, restaurants full of diners, Clydesdale horses clomping around, and men in kilts with bagpipes.

I love how the sound permeates the area, contributing to the ambience. Kien kept asking for more when they stopped playing. Must be the Scottish streak in him.

This playground is always filled with kids whenever I've been here. But then again Auckland does have an influx of tourists right now, so it's no surprise any tourist attraction would be crowded.

Sand + Kien = happy

Remember how I said in a previous post that Kien has a strange little habit of throwing things from inside defined parameters to outside those parameters? Well, his little idiosyncrasy still exists.

Fistfuls of sand hurled onto the basketball court.

I could not get him out of that garden without him having a fit. Luckily there was a mound with fake turf that every kid seemed to be attracted to, and I persuaded him to go over there.

Kien joined them; from running up and down to sliding down the slope.

The dark clouds could not hold for us, and we were caught in the downpour on our way home.

Starship checkup

We had an outpatient clinic appointment for Kien on Friday. He is now 80cm tall (he has grown 3cm since June), and he is still 9.6kg - same as he was in June. But when she witnessed him zooming around her office, climbing up and down the steps to the examination bed, clambering onto the chair to look out the window (again, and again, and again), tipping the toys out of the box so he could drag it around the room, not to mention the constant jabbering and laughter - well she was not concerned with this development and growth. She kept commenting that he is very active and bright. Yes, he wears his parents out!

Whilst waiting to be seen we went outside to play. The outpatient clinic is on the third storey overlooking the helicopter landing pad. We were lucky enough to see a helicopter take off and land while we were there. Kien was beside himself with excitement. The outlook is also fantastic up there. You wouldn't think you were at a hospital.

Kien called the dragon "di-dor" (his version of dinosaur). He liked it a lot. He also wanted to get over the fence to play with the ride-on toys there. Imagine explaining to a 21 month old that we cannot climb over the barrier because we were not allowed to. Yeah, it didn't go down too well.

Sun-day fun-day

We are back in full swing now that we are mostly over our ailments. Despite some chilly dusk till dawns in the last week I've definitely noticed the weather is warmer. I've even left my winter coat at home for the last 3 days. Warmer sun filled days means more outdoor expeditions, which suits Kien's desires to no end.

Tuesday playgroup

We made it back to Ponsonby playgroup in the morning - actually only just in time for morning tea. I made an extra effort to do all our laundry before we left the house. Good thing about daylight savings is that Kien's body clock is still an hour behind actual time, so by the time we left the house it felt like normal, and nap time is an hour later too so we were able to enjoy the facilities without rushing home no sooner as we arrived.

There were not many people at playgroup - perhaps that's because we were late, or they were all hiding inside. We didn't even step foot inside as Kien was way too busy zooming around.

Home Bay Beach Reserve

I had my heart set on going to the beach on Tuesday afternoon. The clouds had appeared from what seemed like no where after Kien woke from his sleep, but I wasn't going to let them spoil my plans of picnicking sea side. We headed off to Home Bay - a cute little beach at the end of Wallace Street in Herne Bay. I love that we have access to all these little beaches just 5 minutes drive from our apartment.

Kien and I kicked the ball around when the tide was out. As the surface had a slight incline the ball kept rolling down toward the water, and Kien took great delight in chasing it.

He drew with sticks in the sand, and played with seaweed that he kept calling "raisins". I guess they do look like shriveled up grapes.

The "reserve" part of the beach is a little patch of grass in amongst the trees. We moved our blanket up there when the tide started coming in.

Kien just wanted to walk back and forth on the wall. It was quite nerve racking as he could slip and fall off, but do you think he was scared?

I hadn't realised the time had ticked by so quickly. We were there for a good few hours - from when the tide was way out until it was lapping close to the embankment.

Kien couldn't resist trying on my hat. He then ran around the beach with it for a bit.

We had a really good day.

Discovering a talent?

Budding photographer in the midst.