Off to Oamaru

Partly for Nick's birthday, and partly just because it was long overdue, we had a family outing to Oamaru.

Nick and I left the boys playing in the park for a while and wandered around the Victorian precinct, looking at the shops and art galleries.

Then it was bike time!  Nick has long been talking about hiring a tandem; I was dubious as to the success of the venture as I've not been on a bicycle in ages and tend to be overly cautious.  I was in for a surprise!  Tandems, for the passenger, are really stable if you trust the person driving.  All I really had to do was my share of the peddling, and Nick did all the steering and balance and leading.  We were absolutely perfect so long as I didn't decide to try go off in a different direction.  You can't miss the obvious analogy to marriage!

The boys had a turn with Nick too; Caleb enjoyed swapping over half way.

Lunch at the Botanic Gardens, which is another whole day-trip-worthy event by itself, and then on to bowling.  This was another family first!  Nick ran first place by a wide margin and I graciously (cough, ahem) allowed neither of the boys to come last.  All good fun!

Squishy sushi

Aaron and I thought we'd try our hands at making sushi.  It was a great learning experience;

...as in, we've learned not to try it again.

Beach Season has begun

Today was a beautiful enough day to warrant a picnic lunch and beach visit. We got a group together at church and, after an unexpected rendezvous at PaknSave (quite the popular post-church hang-out), we met up at the Port Loop Circle picnic area. We've only been there once or twice before for BBQs, at the tail end of last summer, and it's actually a great spot - large, flat, fairly protected from easterly breezes, and grassy.

After lunch, and a bit of cricket, rugby, soccer, and cubb, we wandered over to the beach. We ourselves were a fairly large group and provided a good cheering section for some race which was happening in the opposite direction.

Found this poor fellow not looking very happy. 

Mainly males make mailbox

The postbox at 22 Our Street has not been looking so flash lately;  in strong winds it wobbles terribly, and someone living at Number 2* somewhere must have needed the other sticker some time ago.

Nick and the boys tackled the making of a replacement.  First though, they needed some tools, and a handy rebate from IRD financed the purchase of a table saw.

Ta-da!  Fabulous job - it's huge, stable, and looks tidy.  We comment on it every time we drive past it now.

My contribution was to attach the brass numbers.  It took a bit more time to line the screws up neatly, but could anyone imagine leaving such a detail undone?

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight the Lord put on a grand display of His creation, as the earth passed in front of the moon.  The red colour (a blood moon) is caused by some light from the sun filtering through the earth's dusty atmosphere - pollution can be a little bit pretty then!  I snapped this photo with a 300mm lens around 11 pm, after first rousing Aaron to see the event.  All I got from Caleb was a big hand in front of his face and "NOOOOO" to my question, "do you want to see the eclipse?". 

All Breakers

On the third day of our spring holidays I took the boys to watch the NZ Breakers run a practice at the local stadium. I suppose I would have been more excited about the event had I known in advance who these Breakers are; I had to actually ask a school mum sitting in front of me if this team is to basketball what the All Blacks are to rugby. Yes, the answer was confirmed!

Friends of Grace

As a family we were hugely privileged to travel to Christchurch for Grace Baptist's Sunday service, in which the Rolleston church plant was officially commissioned.  How exciting to witness the birth of a new church, born of a need for a church ministry in one of NZ's fastest growing suburbs.  Joe Fleener, who was the speaker at our church camp last year, has been called and set apart as the pastor of this new work.  We were amazed to see the large number of people they are starting up with already - a few families from Grace Baptist Church are moving over.  We pray that the Lord grows and blesses this work and draws many to Himself through this means!

Memory Walk

Timaru Christian School was invited to participate in a local Memory Walk to launch an Alzheimer's Awareness campaign. Students had to turn up in their school uniform, march up the main street of town holding helium balloons, then let them go after the speeches.

The walk was well attended and heralded by the local Pipe Band - always treat.

A couple of stray balloons found their way heavenward before the appointed time; some balloons weren't liberated at all, but rather deflated and their contents merrily inhaled.  The pair of gazers below were guilty of the latter.

Up they go!  I did hear several questions about what happens to the balloons eventually.  Anyone with an answer is welcome to comment!

After the formalities we were entertained with a live little band and a sausage sizzle. 

Smile (but not too much)

Here's a pretty awesome way to spend a Saturday morning - in the company of the very talented Vivienne Laursen, being treated to a 40th Birthday photo shoot!  We laughed our way through much of it but Viv is so good at keeping the right tone.  Thanks Viv!

While the boys were still in bed...

Anyone wandering through our back yard this morning would have been highly amused to see a pyjama-clad woman in a dressing gown, snow boots, a macintosh, and gloves, lying on the muddy, frozen grass with a camera.  Admittedly I felt silly starting intently at the ground, but to find frosty subjects for macro pics is a game of patience and careful study of a very small area of ground!  

How to make a Yellow Coat

Find a regular 100% wool blanket (preferably not off your own bed...TradeMe is a better option!)

Track down a sari for the lining - again, you can find just about anything and everything on TradeMe...

Cut them up and sew them together and voila!  For the gloomy grey days in winter, this is my own bit of sunshine :)

Deserting desserts

It's been a while since we've had a ladies evening of sorts - birthdays have run out! Bronwyn organized and gathered a group of ladies from church to meet at Ginger & Garlic for dessert - I left early because Nick had arrived home from his week away at the annual School of Theology in Palmerston North.  It was certainly winding up to be a fun evening though!