Annual lantern walk

Laternelaufen, walking with lanterns, was organised once again by my German friend, Linda, to celebrate the legend of Saint Martin. Also, pre-christianity, pagans in Europe celebrated a festival of light and fertility in the early winter.

Last Saturday evening we started out at their place over mulled wine and cheese while the kids had dinner (all the kids had dinner, except my kid, of course).





Then we headed out to the park to meet up with the rest of the crowd.



Jason lit a wish lantern, and it floated high up into the sky. Those things are awesome.



Everyone watched it fly away until it blended into the night sky and looked like a distant star.







The children played around in the playground for a bit.





Then we headed off for a walk around the park with our home made lantern built fresh that day. I ran out on Saturday morning to get the cellophane, and while Kien and I were visiting my aunt, Jef was at home hot gluing bamboo skewers together.



At the end we were treated to some German cookies - those Kien did eat.

Lantern walking and lounging

Saint Martins procession, where children carry lanterns through the streets and sing songs, is something my German friend, Linda, loved from her childhood. So what else would she do when she had a child but to organise her very own lantern walk in June (November 11 is the official date, when Autumn finishes and everyone is settling in for the long winter). We joined them last year for the first time, and on Sunday Kien experienced his second lantern walk.



We went over to their place so the kids could play for a bit before dinner.



Then at 6pm there were lots of kids with lanterns at the park.



We did a loop around the park in pitch blackness, the path lightened only by the lanterns (and a few torches here and there).



It was nice to see such creativity in the lanterns people made.





At the end of the walk we were all treated to some home-made German cookies.







Kien conked out when we got home.



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Yesterday, being my day off, we spent practically all day doing nothing but this:





It's a rare thing for us to stay home on a Tuesday morning, but I was expecting a couple of important deliveries, and although I could have rushed out for a bit we were actually rather happy to be inside where it was warm and cosy.



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Both Jef and I are a bit under the weather at the moment, and I'm heading toward a sick day in bed tomorrow judging by how I'm feeling right now. I've got a tonne of work to do which I cannot afford to neglect despite illness, so I've brought my laptop home and that will probably be my bed pal tomorrow. Hopefully that will see me right for tomorrow evening. We've got a sitter organised and Jef and I are going to a function that involves drinks, canapés, and a private screening of Prometheus in 3D. I will be well for it!

Why, tonsils - why tonsils?

What a week it has been! My little boy has been so out of sorts; waking up in the middle of the night screaming inconsolably, refusing to eat hardly anything all day, vomiting during the night, and all around being an absolute grizzly bear. His fever broke on Sunday, but overnight he hardly slept from midnight onwards and by the morning he was screaming so much we took him to Starship hospital.

He has inflamed tonsils oozing pus, and the scan showed nodes in his stomach confirming he is fighting an infection. It is viral, so no antibiotics required. We just have to wait for his little body to rid itself of the infection.

We have a follow up appointment with the paediatric clinic next Friday, and they will no doubt refer us to a hospital dietician to help us manage his weight. Meanwhile I can say he is getting better, and going back to daycare has been really good for him. He just loves being around other kids! His appetite has slowly been returning, and he has not woken up screaming in the middle of the night for the last couple of nights - and no more vomiting. Phew!

Last night Kien ate a lot of dinner (mince and rice), and blueberries for dessert. Jef came home from work to find his child had turned into a zombie look-a-like.

Linda, our German friend organises a lantern walk every year to mark St Martin's day (which in Europe is in November). It is a German tradition where children and parents build lanterns and walk them at night. So last Saturday early evening we joined a crowd of lantern bearers in Greenhithe.

Had to stop to pat the dog.
Swings are great in the daylight or the moonlight!

I'm happy to report that tonight Kien is pretty much back to normal; there were no dramas whatsoever. He ate heaps of dinner, and had loads of fun in the bath. He was delightful pre-bedtime and when it was finally bedtime I took him into his room, but him in his sleep sacks, gave him his dinosaur to cuddle and said "good night", turned out the light and walked out. Not a peep from him since, yay!