The awesome new lounge

We are supposed to be flying out at midnight, but alas our flight is now delayed until at least 4:30am. Yes, some ungodly hour in the AM. But thank goodness for the brand spanking new Koru lounge. The place has exceeded my expectations!

Oh yes, bubbles to take us through the night.









Will Kien sleep? I'm not sure. He certainly looks tired, and no amount of us telling him there is a bit of a wait will deter him from thinking we are boarding soon. Oh well, we are officially on holiday now so whatever, we are going with the flow.





I might see if I can get my head down for a kip now.

One fine day

Another beautiful spring day here in Auckland today, and I felt very lucky to be off work and spending time outside with my boy. We fly out tomorrow night, and both Jef and I will be going to work a full day tomorrow. Lucky Kien will be spending the day at Grandma Gun and Rod's place.

Kien and I roamed the neighbourhood today, just like we used to do when he was little and still using the buggy. But now he's on his own wheels, even though I do still push him up hills and what not.



We stopped by a few parks on our stroll; picked some flowers and ate some ice-cream.




Then we decided to go to the beach, so we took off to one of our favourite little spots - Sentinel beach.









Ok, back to packing for our Europe trip before crashing on my pillow. I'm exhausted, but there's still so much to do!

A beautiful day in the city

Wow, what stunning weather Auckland had this weekend! How appropriate that its the start of daylight savings, and it feels like summer is here - just when we are about to leave NZ for all of October. I'm very much ready to have a nice long break away from work. It's been pretty rough this year with the project I've been working on, and I'm glad we've delivered the solution and I'm now finally able to get some decent vacation time with my family.

We needed to check the boat today to make sure it's all secure while we are away. Jef dropped Kien and I off at the start of Westhaven Drive and we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine as we made our way along the promenade.





It wasn't long before we were on the boat and Kien was talking excitedly about taking Cariere out this summer and kayaking around. It's been a while since we've been out and anchored in a bay somewhere.







Yesterday we were in Otahuhu and stopped into one of those cheap Chinese stores and picked up a bargain of a toy for a few dollars. Last night Kien had a bath with his submarine, and today we took it out and launched it at the marina.



The thing with cheap bargain toys is...engineering. The motor that attaches to the bottom of the sub isn't that secure, and Jef warned Kien about that. So what happened? Jef was picking the submarine out of the water and next minute...plop...bye bye motor. Oh the tears that ensued.



A quick drive to get another submarine from the same store, and we were home with a boy in a paddling pool in an ill fitting wetsuit.





A fabulous day in the city.

Kien's tales: I lost my submarine motor

Today we played with my toy submarine and lost its motor in the ocean.

Then we went on a drive and bought a new submarine and played with it in my paddling pool.





By Kien and Mummy.

A brief visit across the ditch

Last minute decision to hop on a plane and go visit a friend for the weekend in Brisbane. I emailed the school on Friday to let them know Kien wasn't coming in on Monday. Jef dropped us off at the airport on Saturday morning...minus 1 koala which we forgot at home! Oh the tears. Koala, Kien's sleep buddy and comfort soft toy - how can Mummy forget to pack it? Oh man, it's going to be a tough weekend for Kien without his best friend.

We waited for our departure at the wonderful AirNZ Koru lounge where I ate by self silly on their delicious breakfast buffet. We were so comfortable we almost missed our flight. 

We had to run to the gate, but we weren't the only people still boarding, thank goodness. 

I love how Kien still likes to holds my hand (finger) whenever he can. 

I've come to Brisbane a number of times to visit my childhood friend, Justine. We spent most of the weekend eating and drinking copious amounts of coffee. Her girls are low energy, so everyone is happy just to hang out at home. By the late afternoon though I knew that Kien needed to burn off, so we went over to Justine's sister's place for some trampolining action.

Kien and I conked out pretty early since there is a 2 hour difference between Auckland and Brisbane. 

On Sunday we went to Eat Street Markets - yeah, that really is what it's called. I discovered plantain, which is part of the banana family but used like a vegetable. It's delicious. 

After stuffing myself silly the kids and I got, well, silly.

We then headed home, and although the pool looked very inviting it was a tad too brisk and windy for a swim. The kids broke out the play dough instead and all was quiet for a while.

Then just like that Monday was upon us and we were back at the airport waiting for our flight home.

He was adamant he wanted to eat everything on that plate. He did alright with his attempt.

Good bye Brisbane. 

Tooth fairy is waiting

Kien's first tooth has finally come out - its only been wiggling for the last 3 weeks and we haven't stopped hearing about the tooth fairy since. However, it came out at school yesterday, and hopefully his teacher is holding on to that tooth. Kien tells you all about it here on this youtube clip. (If you are receiving this post via email click on the link to take you to my youtube channel.)

*Have you taken the picture already?*