Anzac Day done properly

I love it when a new school term starts with a short week - two days of school, a holiday, another two days and then weekend.  This week's intermission was thanks to ANZAC Day, where remembrance services and ceremonies are held nationwide.  Aaron actually was the one to suggest going to the service at Caroline Bay - mostly because he wanted to see his friend's father who was the guest speaker, but also because it was something to do.  Caleb went kicking and screaming (all internally of course) but I think it was important to understand why this is such a big event on the Kiwi calendar.  A parade was headed by pipers, the steady drone of the bass notes mixing with the shrills and trills of the pipes - fabulous!!  Then came the brass band, followed by invited guests.  It was a pretty good service I thought.  No prayers were offered for the dead; I had forewarned the boys that we may well get up and leave if there was going to be any of that sort of nonsense. And I think it's right that we remember that the country's freedom came at great cost - it was also right that mention was made of Jesus Christ who offered the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom (although at that point it became a little sketchy who is free...the whole world?  The Bible teaches otherwise.)  I'm also pleased to say that the boys and I can now sing the NZ National Anthem in Maori with semi-decent pronunciation, so long as we have the words in front of us :)

After lunch the day's plans shifted gear; the boys got invited to Ben and Josiah and Nick came home and said he'd gotten far enough along in his prep to take the afternoon off.  With such perfect weather and the sudden freedom, what better thing to do than the grocery shopping together?  At least that was my ideal afternoon; fortunately for Nick's sake we bumped into Grant and Petru at PaknSave and they invited us to join them at the beach directly after.  Saved!  This was a great opportunity to meet Petru's brother and family who are in NZ for a few months.