The windless Manu Aute Kite Day

Of all the days wind would be appreciated in Auckland it is when one is out on the water sailing, or on Kite Day. Manu Aute Kite Day is considered one of Matariki Festival's most popular family outing, and there were lots of facilities out on Orakei Reserve yesterday trying desperately to keep their kites up in the air.





Most of the time the only way to launch a kite and keep it up was via this method:





The owners of this kite ran a lot.



It was really good to see the effort, despite the wind (or lack thereof).

Long Bay Reserve

It's nice discovering a marine reserve that I was vaguely aware of but had never bothered checking out until a couple of weeks ago. Jef has been looking for cliffs/hills where he can fly his glider, and he thought of taking a look at Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve. I had no idea. Seriously. This reserve is awesome; massive, and so beautifully kept. But first we had to wait for a certain someone to finish a nap that really was not supposed to have happened.



Meanwhile, the beach was there - beautiful and still in between the rainy patches and the blue sky.





After 40 minutes of waiting we finally set off on our walk, stopping every so often to admire the wildlife.







Through the bush and across the paddock before we finally got to Puhutukawa beach.









We tried to stealthily get close to some Oyster Catchers, but alas, they did not like to be interrupted by mammals, regardless of how friendly looking we were.







Much fun and frolicking was had.















It rained, it shined, it was cold, it was warm, it was wet, it was sludgy, and it was totally worth the effort coming out here.



No gliders were flown though.

Keeping busy over winter

All I want to do is curl up under my duvet and sleep until it is summertime. But no, unfortunately I'm not a brown bear so I do actually have to function during these long, cold months of winter. If we are lucky there is some reprieve when the sun comes out without any grey clouds blanketing the sky, and we get to enjoy a bit of warmth. We had this very situation on Tuesday, and boy, we certainly made the most of it!



We dropped in briefly to playgroup because Kien actually really wanted to go. Then we strolled down to North Wharf to meet up with Jef for a quick bite. Jef was too busy to hang out with us for too long, and I had intended to have a brief lunchtime transition before heading off to visit my folks and my aunt. However, Kien had other ideas. This was actually how our transition went, in pictures:

























We made it to my dad's, eventually.





We made it to my aunt's too, eventually.


Kien took the above picture about a week ago. My aunt is still doing extremely well. We saw her this afternoon and she was in a good mood. She was also eating and able to hold her food down, so that was good to see. So, yeah, she's still going strong at this point!

Now I'll leave you with a little video of Kien singing through the pipes at North Wharf.

Jumping hay bales

Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, to say the least. I got an early morning wakeup when the (officially) 3 1/2 year old decided 6:30am on a Saturday was a good idea. Normally this happens when he goes to sleep late the night before, and he's been pushing his bed time (like he's been pushing every boundary he can find at the moment). He's got a cold-flu-something, just like I've got a cold-flu-something that has been lingering for almost 3 weeks now. I guess if his head feels the way mine does I'm truly not surprised by his crankiness and high pitched whining. Urgh, it hasn't been pleasant in my household as of late.

So anyway, yesterday was an early start, and I was going in slow-mo all morning (especially with Jef off at work AGAIN and I had to do this parenting thing solo!) and then I got a call from my dad asking us to come to the shop to deliver food to my aunt (who was actually craving some particular cuisine and drink). I hadn't intended on going there so early but decided to rearrange my schedule and do the family thing. Kien and I got to my dad's restaurant, and after a stern talk between granddad and grandson, and some timeout in the car, everyone was happy and had a lovely lunch together. Then we trucked a boxful of food and assortments to my aunts place (back in the city) while battling a traffic jam in the process. After hanging out with her for an hour, it was then about 14:30, and I decided to get back on track with my original agenda (and something I had promised Kien we were going to do all day, eventually).

My friend had invited us out to her farm out Clevedon way, and when we got there I'm so glad we did!



With a glass of wine in my hand I was able to kick back, relax, and watch as her kids and my kid got to know each other. They led Kien off to meet the goat (I'll meet Billy next time for some photos), and then we decided to go for a walk. We crossed the orchard and ended up at the barn. He was able to get up close and personal with a digger.

As the late afternoon sun streamed through into the barn the boys ran around and jumped hay bales. It was a magical sight.







Then it was dirt pile climbing time.



They conquered that mountain like nobody's business. It was a massive mountain.



Honestly.



We watched the beautiful sunset from inside, because the temperature had dropped and it was so cold and the log fire was roaring inside and why would you go outside if you didn't have to?



The kids didn't care about the sunset. They were building things while waiting for dinner.



Next time we will definitely stay the night. Kien really loves being a country kid!