Night at the Disco

One really neat thing about parenting is getting to watch your children experience things for the first time. I know that there will be lots of firsts yet to come in Sam & Abby's lives but they don't come nearly as often these days as they did when they were younger, so when they happen now it's a real treat. On Friday night Samantha & I got the chance to witness our children at their first school "disco", that's what they call a school dance here. Every child in the school and their families were invited to the Pukerau Community Hall from 6-8 p.m. for the disco. There was a lot of talk at school in the weeks leading up to the disco. Some boys asked a girl to go with them, others didn't. Sammy didn't ask anyone and Abby didn't get asked.

Sam was excited about going. When he got home from school on Friday, which had been a pajama day, he dressed as his principal using Samantha's nightgown, his first worry was deciding which outfit to wear. He got that laid out and then waited to change until after dinner. A pretty good idea considering he still eats half of his meal with his hands and uses his pants as a napkin! After dinner he changed, put gel in his hair and perfumed himself with some of my Hugo Boss. He was ready for the ladies.

Abby was not so excited about going, in fact she was threatening to run away if we made her go. She had a change of heart at some point on Friday though and although not as excited as Sammy, she eagerly got herself ready. Shortly after 6 we loaded up and headed down. 3 minutes later we were there.

The kids rushed off inside to find their friends, Samantha went into the kitchen with the moms and I stayed outside with the dads who were cooking the chips. One thing that is a little weird for us is that the parents bring beer to school functions like this. There was a BBQ earlier in the year at the school and they had it there too. The night went really well. The kids had a lot of fun - Abby did a lot of dancing, Sam did a lot of moving, not sure it's really called dancing. It would seem that yet another of my shortcomings has been passed onto my son. I think maybe Sam and I can blame Grandpa Richards for our lack of rhythm. Samantha and I didn't do any dancing, just lots of watching and visiting with some of the other parents. It was a great way to start our weekend.

Note: The lighting wasn't great in the hall so the pics are not the best.

Winter Holidays, Lake Hawea, Wanaka

I must say, Kiwis really know how to split up their school terms. I love having 2 weeks off after 10 weeks of school. So this holiday was in the coldest time of the the NZ year. The weather has been cooler, but not like those Canadian winters. Most days the temperature gets to about 8-9 degrees and the nights flirt with freezing. The fog greets us most mornings, but usually burns off by 10am. When the sun is out it is quite nice and we spend time outside most days. The kids ride their bikes down to Pukerau, we hang laundry and do some gardening. Mr.& Mrs. Kelly used to live at Camp Columba and they built the house we are living in 30 years ago. She was kind enough to come out today and help me prune the rose bushes that line our front flower bed, as they have been neglected since they have left the camp 10 years ago. It was a delightful visit. She is a vivacious lady who knows her gardening! I have a lot to learn about gardening here.

Last night we went to Robert and Stacey Young's house for "tea". Our kids and their kids go to school together. They have a Sam, who is 12 years, James 10 and Libby who is 8. Sam and James are friends. Abby and Libby are friends and weirdly have very similar nicknames. Abby= Gooby Libby= Goober. We had a great time, ate well and enjoyed a game of Bonanza.

We took a 3 night trip to Lake Hawea this holiday. The cottage we stayed in smelled just like the upstairs at Grandpas house. I experienced many moments that stopped me in my tracks and whisked me back to being a little girl watching Grandpa putting on shave cream with a wooden handled bristly brush, in his white undershirt and green farmer pants. The cottage was charming and wonderful. It was very relaxing and we spent a lot of time reading, hiking and soaking up the scenery. Wanaka is a neighbouring town and it was very nice to spend part of a day wandering it's streets. Just outside of Wanaka there is a business called Puzzling World where we spent an afternoon. They have a giant maze, a tilted room (which messed me up), a room of many faces and all sorts of strange things.

Dano leaves early tomorrow morning for a Christian Camping Training weekend. He flies to Hamilton (NZ) and will be staying at a camp called Totara Springs. It will be good for him to be amongst the camping community in NZ and get a feel for "their way". Me being selfish, I am having a hard time getting my head around single parenting for those days and keeping the homesickness "ache in your throat" feeling at bay. I will be fine.

The kids and I have been painting a large room in town that I will teach tap in on Thursdays after school. I have 3 classes already, ranging in age from adults to 7 year olds. I have a few of my high school students helping with the painting tomorrow, pictures to come.

I love the updates from everyone back home. It feels so good to get an email or pictures or snail mail cards/packages. Thank you to everyone that takes the time to do things like that. It really helps. Until next time, Samantha.

Winter in New Zealand

I have recovered (somewhat) from my previous post. I am still missing my family and all the things they are doing but I am okay. We have completed another term at school and we are off for a two week holiday. School is going well for me and for the kids. Abby is back taking ballet and playing the piano. Sammer is doing well at hockey, rugby and he is playing the guitar. For the next two weeks we will take a break from the routines we are establishing. I start teaching Tap after our two week break, I am especially looking forward to the ladies class that consists of about 10 teachers from school. I say that it is a ladies class but I think there may be a gentleman teacher as well.

Our holiday began with a trip to Queenstown today. We left the house at 6am to drive, what should have been a 2 hours trip, to head north. The weather was calling for heavy snow and gale winds, but heck, we are Canadians, we know how to handle winter driving right? The tyres (NZ spelling) here are not like Canadian tires and the Mazda had trouble and spun out leaving us stuck on the side of the road. 6 cars came along as we sat in our predicament and 6 cars stopped to offer help. Kiwis are good that way. A farmer pulled us out and we kept motoring along. Queenstown is beautiful and is very touristy. We took a Gondola ride up to a restaurant and lookout, it was amazing.

It is a little weird knowing that summer is happening at home. This weekend the Horton's are at Our Ponderosa and we had such a wonderful time last year, I can't help but wish I were there. I know that Mom and Dad, Ger, Nik and the boys, Hol, Scott, Hunter and Lil will be having a blast with Uncle Ted, Aunt Janet, Sharon, Doug, and boys, Cathy, Scott and kids. Abby will miss hanging with Sophie, they were so cute last year! Enjoy Ipperwash, I absolutely love it there.