squeezing the lemon...making the most of the summer sun

We had a very family weekend. Saturday morning dawned foggy but at 10am we downed tools and headed for Taylors. The whole day was pretty weird because there were banks of fog hanging around in odd places.

This is Sumner under the cloud. It pretty much hung around on and off all day and when we went to L and Julian's for his birthday bbq, it was very thick and cool there. Odd but very interesting.

Sunday we headed off to Akaroa with my family to spend the day with Alison, my mothers lovely cousin from Sydney. Stopping at the Littler River gallery on the way for our art fix we then camped out on the water front in Akaroa for the rest of the day. There was swimming, shopping, lovely food and play ground activity.

On the way home in the very late afternoon, I indulged myself in a bit of 'out of the window' photographic activity which is really fun and you never know what you are going to get. Jonty doesn't want me to publish his nasal hair shots so here are some more tasteful snaps.

Christchurch Art Gallery in the late afternoon sun.

Hope you all had a good weekend too. I am sure if it was anything like ours there is a mountain of washing, gardening and housework still waiting to be atteneded to.

biking

Hard to believe that less than two weeks after getting a bike that boy can actually ride it. Agreed that there is a lot of stopping and some very odd steering but what a great achievement. We headed to Hagley Park before the thunder and lightening for a try at an area longer than our drive and Nicholas was fantastic. A bit precious when anyone came within 10m of him but I guess that is ok. What fun!

lantern festival

After a busy day at the beach celebrating Ben's 2nd birthday and trying not to look at Dan Carter, we decided to cap it off by visiting the lantern festival. Jonty had been in bed all day with a cold and chest thing and Nic was asleep early but we hauled him out of bed to go. He slept in the car and just as we woke him the festival was officially opened and cacophany of loud fire crackers were let off. It took Nic about an hour to get over that so he was a bit scared the whole time. However, he was won over by the lovely lanterns and all the activity. There were thousands of people there and it was great to see so many families out on a warm balmy night...a rare event this summer. We loved it. We ran in to some library people I knew and also Alex, Pete and the boys and saw Steph and Andy on the restaurant tram as it went by which was a real hoot. It was a lovely interlude out in to the real world on a Saturday night and it was great to feel part of the city and something fun.

Veiw from the Town Hall looking across to Victoria Square with the Victoria towers building in the background

Nicholas a bit pensive...an unusual state for him

One of the many lovely displays

Playing with Dan Carter

I looked down at the beach today and saw a gorgeous body. Perfection! He was walking in to the water and that was it really. Then when we went down later to the beach he was there playing Petanque and it was Dan Carter (All Black extrodinaire). He was there minding his own business chatting to his girl and having a relaxing time. Everyone was looking at them but after a while they stopped. It was fun watching people recognising him. Errol came down from his batch and chatted and then played petanque too. Nice thing to do. Must be lonely and weird having people look at you all the time. I snuck this photo and felt really guilty and his girlfriend saw so that wasn't cool but no harm done I hope.

Anyway, that All Blacks conditioning camp really worked. Dan is very 'conditioned'

that beach again

We have been really making the most of the last of the summer warmth. The weather has been so hot and the water so warm that we just can't help ourselves. The garden is dry and neglected and the ironing pile just keeps growing but we have all winter to attend to those things. Nic and Jonty have been getting out and about on the hot afternoons, generally to the beach but with a few side trips on the way. My week has been punctuated by a screamingly sore back so I have had to just stand all day and didn't get to play on the beach. Pretty crap for me but still some nice images to share.

Came upon a lovely (short) wedding the other day. The groom was super short and they seemed very nervous and young. Still, lovely to look at and nice vibe on the very busy beach.

birthday season

Nic's birthday week extravaganza is drawing to a close with the delivery of a lovely cake to pre-school this morning being the last activity to perform. He has had a fab time. Turning 4 has been great for him. What a difference between the toys and interests of a 4 year old to those of a 3 year old. He has never been a big 'boys toys' kid but now he is starting to get an interest in all things boy. His major gift from us was his first two wheel bike...with no trainer wheels. It is teeny and he loves it. I am guessing there is a lot of falling off to come but I think he will get there. He is a quietly determined child but not necessarily a fast learner physically. He will get there.

We had a fabulous day at the bach with his friends on Sunday and a family dinner last night. We have Ben's second at Taylors on Saturday and Olivia's 4th was the weekend before last. Nicholas loves his cousins so it is great to have all these parties during the last of long summer.