O FOR AWESOME OCTOBER

Todd and I managed to get away for a night to Stanmore Bay. We started off with a quiet and relaxing drink tasty and dinner at Thai Chef restaurant in Albany.

Then we had the rest of the night and the next day  to explore the beach and area around Stanmore Bay. It is amazing how a wee break away like this revives your senses.

Could definitely see this being a great wee holiday place over summer, but have to win the ballot for it first. Maybe next summer...

The holiday house looked out over the beachfront - just a perfect location!



















I took Nicola and Cameron to the Rugby World Cup fanzone - an experience that will only be available once in a blue moon as this is the first time since 1987 that NZ has hosted the Rugby World Cup.

It was well organised with kids activities and a beaut day to top it off.

Jousting

Car tyre changing race

Looking out over Albany's lake with the countries flags waving in the gentle breeze across the bridge,

and listening to the bands play before the big semifinal was viewed on the big screen, just priceless (and literally, it was all free!).

A great day out at the RWC Fanzone

I was lucky enough to win some new technology this month- a Motorola Xoom (a tablet like an iPad). We have been having fun setting this up and seeing all the wonders that this new technology can bring. Cameron has turned out to be our family techno buff - any queries technology-wise and he is the boy to ask. This boy is so clever, he has solved many a problem. Cameron has downloaded an application for photo art and has made some interesting and fun photographs - here's a selection:

I see you

Who needs coloured contacts when I can do this?

Cameron Angel

Nikki Angel

Oi Cameron - what were you thinking!

Multiple Mums

Now that's better! I like it.

The possibilities are endless...

A PINCH AND A PUNCH...

It's the 1st of October, and also daylight savings time too!
We have enjoyed the longer daylight hours for the best part of a week now...time to dust off the BBQ and start making the salads. We had a beaut steak and salad tonight for dinner, thanks to Jamie Oliver and his 30 min meal recipes and ideas....note, did NOT take only 30 minutes, but it was fairly easy and scrummy!

A couple of months ago Lezanne and I took the opportunity to explore Waiheke island for a weekend away. It was a pleasant place to visit, but I was kinda surprised how 'sleepy' the town was. Not a very safe place to take the kids for them to explore (roads too busy and no footpaths) and not much for them to do there, so it was the perfect little weekend to spend some time at the wineries, relaxing over a wine with a girlfriend. Sort of reminded me of Rarotonga (about the same size) without the multitude of pristine coral beaches and humid weather! But still nice, nonetheless, to get away and enjoy some chillaxing.

Stonyridge vineyard - not for the bargain hunters!

Wild on Waiheke - tastings:wine, beer and their very own ginger beer.

One of the two nice beaches: Onetangi Beach

Waiheke ferry terminal

The ferry trip back to Devonport.

Now that we are into October and most of the cold-ish weather has passed us by, we are looking forward to many more weekends away. The wee vege/herb/strawberry planters has been planted and starting to flourish already.

The daises are blooming on the lawn faster than the lawnmower can run them down!

The gorgeous flowers are blossoming. Spring has definitely sprung!

FRIENDS

A friend is a precious possession

Whose value increases with years.

Someone who doesn’t forsake us

When a difficult moment appears.

And our road will be smooth and untroubled

No matter what care life may send;

If we travel the pathway together,

And walk side by side with a friend.

Henry Van Dyke

Without these friends, our life journey would be a lot more difficult.
I am honoured to be in the company of such great friends.

Our families got together and had a "MYO - make your own" pizza night at Sharron's. Natt came also with her children, Nathan and Georgia.

Sharron & Natalie

These two of my very special friends, Sharron & Natt, have been a divine inspiration to me with their own life's experience to share and pass on, in their journey through families living with children with disabilities. They just 'get it'!

As well as Daniel, Nathan has cerebral palsy and has a huge crush on Nicola (he wants to marry her!) . She is the lucky one getting lots of hugs from him and Georgia!

The pizza night was thoroughly enjoyable for everyone.

The pizzas turn out perfectly...

And in keeping with the theme, there was even a simple but effective decorated pizzeria to eat at!

Whilst as Sharron's, even though I have seen it before and admired it, the dragonfly makes more sense to me now -how apt that Sharron also has one. (see blog post Dragonflies In The Midst).

Last week, Lezanne and I decided to cross an item off our ever-expanding bucket list, and enjoy a leisurely lunch and coffee whilst people-watching in the charming suburb of Parnell. I can't say we saw anyone of particular interest though!

There were a lot of tourists still here for the rugby world cup, and still lots of flags flying in support.

 A lovely afternoon of comradeship with lots of laughter and chatting!

Daniel has had eye-surgery this week for correction of his eye squint...I am pleased to say I am at this very moment enjoying seeing the smile on his face and laughter in his eyes whilst he watches Charley and Lola on tv...he can see still yay! His eyes may look like the devil (the whites of the eyes have turned red and bloodshot!) but this will eventually abate and we will be keen to see if his eyes are straighter. He was pleased to have lots of extra cuddles from Cameron.

And lots of attention in the hospital including his mother spoon feeding him an iceblock!

Nicola had wacky hair day today at school. She had this fabulous idea of half a head of curly hair, and half a head of straight...thanks to the clever work of her Mum and the hair straightener, wacky results were achieved!

Nicola has also made some good friends (or BFF's as they are called in this day and age - BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!)  this year at school.

Nicola and Paige

Emma and Nicola

Tonight some of us were very lucky to spend some quality time in the company of our friends at the mall. It is great that the kids are getting old enough to go shopping together by themselves whilst Lezanne and I could share some fine words over a leisurely coffee. The girls came back with their hair and nails done (ok, the nails were a disaster that they had to go to Professionails and get the superglue taken off whilst the whole shop laughed at these kids and their $2 shop talons!. But the hair was a hit!)

Leandri and Nicola

The boys came back with.....slingshots! A disaster waiting to happen!

Cameron and Luan

Next week Nicola gets to be on sticky tv, in a mud pit talent show, a competition her friend Emma won for herself and 10 friends and Nicola was lucky enough to be invited to attend. She has a list of instructions including:
 §  Be prepared to enter the ‘Mudpit’- bring a change of clothes and shoes.
I am sure this will be a source of muddy delight and will make for great viewing - watch this space!

FIREWORKS, FLAGS & FUN AT MOTAT!

Daniel has a new motivational interest...the iPAD!
Lezanny was lucky enough to get one for her birthday and so on Daniel's weekend visit there, he took over!

Luckily for Dan, we have planned a visit to Homai Library to try one of these out in the school holidays so here's hoping we can secure one...he certainly has fun interacting with Lezanne's one, especially when he can read a story, then tap on the pig and it farts.Nothing like a bit of toilet humour.
 Now I don't know where Daniel learned this, but on the way home from the Bobath physio course, quite randomly, as we were pulling into the McDonald's drivethru, Daniel very matter of fact said:
"Mum, you a pain in da bum!"
Ahhhh, I probably shouldn't have encouraged him, but I laughed , and that set Daniel off, and we laughed and laughed all the way back to school! It's those little sayings that come out of nowhere that need to be remembered and looked back on with fondness.

With the start of the rugby World Cup here in little ole' NZ, there has been a big buildup and opening ceremony in Auckland with fireworks on the Sky Tower. Daniel had spied the Sky Tower three times in the week leading up to the RWC opening, on his way to the Bobath physio course, so he knew where it was, and what it was, but was unsure about "fireworks" coming off it! As I jollied the clan along so we could have a view of the 8 minute pyrotechnics, Daniel produced a fake yawn, telling me he was tired and wanted to go to bed. Those that know my kids, know that they never want to go to bed...this was just a little way of Daniel telling me "I'm not sure what I am going to come up against at these so-called fireworks Mum!"
With a little bit of encouragement I managed to get all the boys in the car (that was also including Todd who was also dragging his feet, Nicola was at Paige's house for a RWC event), and off we went, 10 minutes up the road to view the fireworks...and they were spectacular!

I was having a wee bit of trouble with my camera and the night setting, so not the best shots by any means,  but I can state that the troops were highly impressed with the real event.

At the finale, we could hear the crowd cheer at the Viaduct all the way from where we parked in Sunnynook!
It has been awesome seeing all the flags flying everywhere welcoming the nations to the Rugby World Cup.

There are many cars with flags attached to them, representing many countries, but the majority being for the ALL BLACKS! Funnily enough, most flags are in the form of their country flag, but the NZ flag mostly flying is a black flag with a silver fern on it (like the AB's jerseys) rather than the national flag of our country!

Earlier this week I signed up for helping out Nicola's class at AJHS to go to Motat, museum of transport & technology. This is the second school trip I have done with her class this year, after the Howick Historical Visit - a very intriguing delve into history, so the latest one promised to be also much fun.
There was a wide range of modes of transport on show...from trams

with a real tram ride thrown in,

This tram was commissioned on loan from Melbourne.

to fire engines and everything in between (there was some random Kiwi stuff there too like the car from the Goodbye Pork Pie iconic kiwi movie).

For the technology part, the class had fun rearranging their body shapes!

Pagie and Nicola at the wave mirror

I started to feel old when, in the telecommunications part of the museum, I had to teach my group of 10 kids how to dial the old fashioned telephones with the dial up numbers (no push buttons here!) They really had no idea how to use them!

In the middle of the day, I fell behind the group a little to take time to 'stop and smell the roses' (except they were poppies, another reminder that spring is here!)

We had a lesson on simple machinery that helps in everyday life...Nicola was the only one in the class that remembered the pivot was called a fulcrum and then got to lift the teacher, literally!
One minute she was wayyyy too light to lift the teacher...

The next minute, with the fulcrum positioned correctly, there was lift-off!

What can I say, it was a really uplifting day all round!