Spring Skiing

Heading for the slopes

Two weekends ago, we ran away from Election Day, packed up the car, the kids and headed for the mountain.  That would be Mt Ruapehu for those not familiar with New Zealand’s favourite, and arguably, most active volcano.

The intention was to introduce Kate and Tom to snow and skiing.  And the gods were smiling on us.

We arrived in Ohakune and it was snowing!  In November.  Just fantastic.  We raced straight up the mountain and played in fresh snow. The next day was stunning. Clear blue sky and warm sun.  Kate was a pro. Even tried the pomma by herself.  Tom was not so keen and had to have a milk and a wee sleep half-way through because it was all so exciting.  But a lovely time was had by all.

The Photo

The photo we have as a banner on our blog is something special.  It’s a photo of my great uncles and cousins a number removed in the annual Waiheke boat race.  My grandmother’s family had a place there when she was a child. She even spent much of the time that the the influenza epidemic hit New Zealand. I spent many happy times during my childhood curled up on Grandma’s knee listening to “Waiheke stories”. 

Other than the family connection, for me this photo also represents all that is Kiwi. The simple pleasure of being ‘one’ with the sun, the land and the sea – a freedom and simplicity that is everything. It is something that we have shared across generations in this country. Long may it last.

Catching Up

So much for this being a regular, weekly thing! Wow!  We’ve had a pretty full on couple of months, which is a poor excuse but the only one I can offer up. 

Ideas Shop has been going full tilt.  We have new staff, a new chair of our board and are doing our first exporting – working with the head office of a large company, based in Melbourne.  All daunting but exciting stuff.

Dean is busy with his work too.  Fitting it around the kids as I haven’t been around as much as I should.

Tom had his adenoids and tonsils out in late July. Poor wee mite was so unbelievably brave.  He then subsequently spent a couple of days in hospital with an asthma-related attack.  As a result of that experience, I can somewhat proudly say that, I now know what it is to be awake for 36 hours with absolutely no sleep at all.  I was a physical wreck two days later but held it together long enough to get my wee man through the worst of it.  

On the up-side of the tonsillectomy, Tom is now eating steak for the first time in his life. We suspect that his tonsils were a major obstruction.

Twinkle Twinkle

Kate has started piano lessons. She is learning through the Suzuki method which basically means by ear. 

It’s great fun for all the family, particularly as it requires considerable parental practice, which is proving to be something of a challenge, mainly for Anna. We are all perfecting Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Tom on the xylophone, Dean singing and Anna and Kate on the piano. 

Kate and Tom also share a violin at the moment, although that is a more erratic experience.  Kate seems to like playing though…..

 

Monkeying Around

Can’t resist putting this up.  Tom got a Monkey Suit from his Grammy Madeleine for his birthday so our house is now overrun with a Tiger and a Monkey.  Great fun!

Playing Catch Up

A lot has happened in the past month so this is catch up! 

Anna spent a week days in Sydney in late May doing a communications workshop for a Melcrum conference. All very exciting and possibly the start of a new line of work! Those left at home survived quite happily, although Tom now asks Anna each morning if she’s going on a “big plane”.

 

Tom had his 2nd birthday on 5 June.  He is still singing Happy Birthday to himself and anyone else who will listen.  If you ask how old he is, he cheerily replies with any number between 1 and 4 (inclusive). An answer of anything over two years prompts a derisive comment from Kate, who is keen to ensure he remains two years behind her at all times.

In the meantime, we are weathering a wet and windy Wellington winter. It’s been stunningly sunny but oh, so cold.  The camellias are all out in the garden which keeps us smiliing and gets us looking forward to the tree rhododendrons who will be next to show their wee faces. 

 

 

There’s a lion in the meadow…

Last Sunday we celebrated Kate and Tom’s 4th and 2nd birthdays with a combined “event” at the Wellington Zoo.  It can only be called an “event” because it took about as much organising as any of the client events we do at Ideas Shop! It was a mission in planning and management but, boy, was it fun. We think we may actually be getting better at these things.  Although I think it may be the last time we can get away with a combined event. 

Tree Tree by any other name

We have a dog.  To be precise a Welsh Springer Spaniel. Her name is variably Tree-Tree, or Poppy, depending on who in the family you talk to.  Kate, and Tom by default are calling her Tree-Tree: Kate because she decided that was what the puppy’s name was going to be, and Tom because he has been “influenced” by his big sister.  Dean and I are calling her Poppy, because it suits her and it also adapts well to poopy, ploppy and, of course, puppy.  All of which are useful terms for a 10 week old dog.

We are all in the getting-to-know-you phase but so far she has proved herself to be a very sweet little girl, if quite different from our beautiful Lucy, who died last year and left a great gaping hole in all of our lives.  Things will be different but I have to say it is just wonderful to be a dog-owner again.  We missed having a four legged friend around.

Something to really care about

Last Tuesday my colleague Emma did a fantastic job promoting a report into child poverty in New Zealand called Left Behind. The report has been put out by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). They are one of our Ideas Shop pro-bono clients and one that we really care about.

Child poverty is one of those unspoken issues in New Zealand that people don’t want to think about. But it  is one of the most serious threats to New Zealand’s future prosperity. This can’t be dismissed as the result of lazy people who make bad decisions.  It’s about ordinary, hard working families who are trying really hard to make ends meet but just can’t and their children are suffering.

What was really encouraging was that the report got such great coverage.  It was second in the Radio NZ bulletin when I woke at 7am and got great coverage in the Heard, Press, TVOne, TV3 etc. A lot of that was due to Emma’s clever promotion.  She sent out empty child lunch boxes with information about the launch to all the media.

In June this year, there is a court hearing about the impact that the Government’s Working for Families is having on children. 

We’ve also supported CPAG to set up a End Child Poverty in New Zealand by 2020 Facebook group. 

Kate turns 4

Monday 5 May was Kate’s birthday.  It was also the day that Dean chopped part of his finger off with the axe chopping kindling.  Dramatic doesn’t even begin to describe our household at times. 

On the upside, I had to stay home and look after the kids as Dean had his arm in a sling for the first 48 hours.  After a day of playing, kindy and a family dinner, complete with coca cola cake, Kate announced that her day had been “fantastic” and she “loved being four”. Can’t get much better than that!

I wonder when we stop being enthusiastic about our age at birthdays?