What we've been up to.

Windy Wellington

sdbrjharrison — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:22:13 +0000

Although we have agreed in principle that “what happened in Wellington stays in Wellington” I can publish some of last weekend’s fun and games.

I woke up last Wednesday morning to find that Deb had found a last minute flight / hotel for the weekend going cheap. After a quick discussion we decided that Ben and I should go – so we did!

The weekend was a lot like most city breaks – see the sights, stay up too late and overindulge (only this time it was Ben eating too many sweets rather drinking too much). Itwas a real pleasure being flexible enough to go along with what Ben wanted to do without having to consider the other kids – it made me realise that a lot of the time any conflict between us has to do with trying to balance the needs of all three kids at the same time.

Got home on Sunday and woke up Monday morning to snow capped mountain views across the still waters of the estuary and realised that the city really is a good place to visit, but there are better places to live.

The quiet month of May

sdbrjharrison — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:07:17 +0000

Well, its been quite a quiet month after the mad few months we seem to have had since Christmas.

Winter is settling in with cold frosty mornings (but still able to play out in t-shirts in the sun). New Zealand houses are preposterously cold. There just isn’t any reason why they should build houses with the same thermal qualities as a 1970′s caravan.

Ruby started violin lessons a few weeks ago and has also begun dance classes which she is thoroughly enjoying. Meanwhile Ben has decided the organisation of the gym classes he has been going to isn’t for him and he is going to spend more time at the BMX track.

We are looking at houses again but I can’t really see us buying anything until prices bottom out. Hopefully we will get something close to what we want in the right area.

Outdoor activities indoors

sdbrjharrison — Thu, 07 May 2009 09:22:55 +0000

The sports facilities here are great. We spent this afternoon at the recreation centre in Motueka (about 20 minutes up the road). Had full use of the roller skating rink (including lights and music) and hire of skates for only a few dollars; followed by an hour on the climbing wall for $3.00 a child – Ruby’s a right little monkey.

sdbrjharrison — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:02:22 +0000

When we went climbing I tried to get to the top but couldn’t make it. Then what happened is, I’m a bit scared of heights. We went in one of our friends kayaks and I sat in the cargo hold.

sdbrjharrison — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:00:20 +0000

When we went on the climbing wall it was hard to get up and when you get to the top it was quite scary. The kayaks were really good as they had a rudder that made so much difference compared to when you don’t have a rudder. It was nice being in a double kayak – when we were in with Ruby, in the cargo hold, we had six oars.

sdbrjharrison — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:57:39 +0000

Yesterday (Saturday) we went kayaking with (little) Ben, Sally, Katie and Chris, a family Deb has met through work. They have a two man kayak that we tried out – 1 adult in the back, 1 child in the front and another in the luggage compartment in middle. We pootled around inthe estuary we can see from our kitchen window but couldn’t get too close to our house as the tide (although fully in) was only about 12 inches deep at one point.

Thinking back its been a fairly active few days – the kids have been to their gym class, had a go on the climbing wall, and we’ve all been swimming. We go swimming in a pool that used to be part of a psychiatric hospital and have just found out that for a small fee (about 30 of your english pounds) we can get a key and use it whenever it isn’t being used by groups! The kids should be really good swimmers by next summer.

Had our first webcam conversation for ages last night, with Katie and Paul (and Imogen and Sam intermittently) which was great – although a bit sad at the same time.

What Ruby did next

sdbrjharrison — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:05:10 +0000

I went to the playgroup with my friend Lily. I was going to have a sleep over there but decided I didn’t want to. That’s what I did today!

Videjoe

sdbrjharrison — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:11:14 +0000

A picture of us doing stuff

sdbrjharrison — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:56:35 +0000

Allrighty lets try this:

Happy

Hiya!

sdbrjharrison — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:46:27 +0000

Hello Everyone.

After months of not keeping in touch we thought a blog might be a better way of letting you know what we have been up to. Early days though so bear with us – we’ll see how things evolve.