I’m not going to write my usual bitch ‘n moan style post about the school holidays as I’m not feeling it this year. E and I have had some hard days, but we’ve moved on and had some totally kick-ass days too. Those days make …
Oh the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful….“ It has now been raining for about 3 days and I’m not quite sick of it yet as I’m pretty sure I can see my veges growing from where I sit. Yus. BACK …
Jobs are for suckers and I feel like this job of mine has got in the way during these first holidays since I have been employed and also the LAST holidays with Ethan as a pre-schooler. He has had a great time though, he has enjoyed sleepovers at his Nana’s, playdates, a birthday party, a theatre trip to see Jack & the Beanstalk and I have tried to treat him to a couple of special days this Wednesday and Thursday.
Yesterday we went to the Auckland Fish Market. Why you ask? Ethan is obsessed with fish, has been since he was 18 months old, it NEVER gets old for him. Looking at dead fish on ice is just about the most amazing thing he could ever do, especially as you can even TOUCH THEM if you so desire, ‘go ahead’ I say, ‘no-ones going to care just don’t drop them because we can’t afford to pay for that ‘spensive snapper you’re fondling over there’.
After the excitement of the octopus post-mortem and the live eel tank we headed to the Auckland Museum for The Dangerous Museum for Boys and The Daring Museum for Girls activity hunt. E is now the perfect age for this sort of activity, it was so much fun working our way through the activity book, finding the 6 most dangerous bugs in the museum, identifying the weapons and cracking the secret codes.
Today, I thought about what he would desperately LOVE to do, checked the tides, made some dough balls and we went fishing. Or more accurately, we went casting, or went and dropped our line, or we practised what we should do in case we were faced with the possibility of catching fish. Ethan didn’t care that he had nothing to show for three hours of little boy bliss, casting again and again, re-baiting his hook lovingly with the balls of dough he helped me roll out and narrating the whole experience with the skill and verbose lexicon of a well practised fisho.
Look at those things! I would totally want to eat them up if I were a fish! Best dough ball recipe yet and the nice thing was their texture, they stayed on the hook beautifully and weren’t sticky.
2 c. boiling water
1 c. white flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/2 c. sugar
Then flavoring is optional: vanilla for carp, rum for catfish, Velveeta cheese for trout, yeah I skipped the flavouring because at best we were hoping for a sprat!
Sourced from www.cooks.com
After I was totally cold and out of Coke Zero we headed home for a quick lunch before we went to the movies and saw UP.
Seriously, this is THE BEST animated film I have ever seen. It was hilarious and every character was so real and endearing. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Ethan loved it, I have never seen him so totally on par with a movie, he laughed throughout the whole thing, asked questions and talked about what was going on, it was well worth the $22. 5/5
From me: Where are you travelling wilbury? I am starting to worry. Please send an american spirit smoke signal this way so I know you are still with us. Miss you, it has been sunny and warm since you left but supposed to start raining …
Our drive back home from Whatawhiwhi took us 13hrs, but we had a great day. Ethan was so tired he fell asleep in the car – which he never does! First stop, the awesome Coopers Beach. We had only been driving 35 minutes but we …
Typical, but we discovered the BEST, most deserted beach on our last day. Karikari Beach North is accessed by a dodgy gravel DOC road and I had never even noticed the sign for it before. It was stunning. We had another fantastic day with cold snapper wraps for lunch and a lazy afternoon sunning and playing in the waves.
We hit another of our favourite spots during our holiday – beautiful Rangiputa with its amazing white sand and crystal clear water. Tara was stoked on the shell selection, I think she could look at shells for hours – or maybe she just needed that …
So I finished summer school today on the hottest day ever, wait for it……34.2 degrees Celsius…….wait for the conversion…..93.56F and 77% humidity. That’s Florida weather! Lucky for me (I guess) my exam room was air conditioned and I wrote up a storm. Four essays in three hours and I went in feeling underprepared but came out thinking I nailed it. This will be my last summer school ever!!! I hope!!!
Anywho, here’s is a nice piece of writing, an email from the lovely Tara detailing what she misses about New Zealand;
Here’s a list of the top 10 things that I am missing about NZ:
1) The Jacks (of course!!!!, that was an obvious one)……oh yeah, and that photography paparazzi that comes with the jacks
2) the warm weather- i know it’s winter here, but come on…..does it have to rain EVERY day?
3) the beaches- i know i live right by the beach but seriously, nothing compared to NZ beaches
4) Louie- hope that he is over his depression and that his tail is high in the air
5) Mrs Balls sweet chilli sauce…….ahhh how i miss the burn on my lips
6) SNAPPER- what can i say, i love it fried, baked, grilled, taco style
7) the food selection- went grocery shopping last night and even the grocery store is more boring in America……seems like there were so many more yummy choices in NZ. going to trader Joes today in hopes of finding good curry
8) my tan :) good thing that everyone is so pale here (being winter and all) cuz my tan is fading……or in my case flaking off
9) waking up with Ethan staring into my face, waiting patiently for me to wake up so that we can play sharks
10) having the time to read…….last time i read was on the plane ride home :( by they way, kate winslet won an award last night for her leading role in the reader…..now i might have to see it, although nothing will be as good as rush hour 3!!! (private xtreme camping joke).
Isn’t that the coolest list ever, we love you too Tara xxxx
The one slightly dodgy day on our holiday was the perfect day to head west to The Big Beach. Ethan was all about the tua tua’s and was positive he would love them – he didn’t. Luckily we ‘tagged and released’ most of them and …