Author: dave

jane is still on camp and had a good day caving

i was kind and drove the girls to school this morning at 7am then came home and did a load of admin stuff

once i’d finished that i went to the post office to post the admins and do some more admins, then drove on to Long Bay where i sat under a tree for an hour

then i came back, did some more admins, went to the supermarket, picked up the girls from school and came home

the girls did their homeworks and we had tea

and i took pearl for a walk this evening which was mostly successful. at one point she did run away, but luckily it was only about 2 metres so i could catch her again

jane was up early to walk pearl and finished her packing just before it was time to leave to drop her off at school

after we’d dropped jane off kezia and i went over to collect cuz chris and reuben and take them to the albany shopping mall

reuben bought a watch he’d been after for a few weeks and kezia did some shopping

the shopping was over so fast we had time to drive down to devonport to pop up a couple of volcanoes

we were meant to be meeting up with davina and solomon and anete and dave who’s house they’ve been staying in for a picnic

afterwards we drove them back to anete and dave’s house and said our goodbyes

kezia and i then drove over to school to pick up esther who had arrived back from her camp

and for the rest of the evening it’s been homework and admins.  and domestic chores too

Jane was up early on Saturday to start packing for her school camp.  she also made a load of sandwiches

i was up early too starting to edit my photos (and do some housework) before heading out to pick up cuz chris and family at 10am

we spent the day at tawharanui which is one of our favouritist beaches for a daytrip

jane and kezia arrived separately a little later so jane had a bit more packing time

everyone (except me) went boogie boarding and the waves were really good apparently

we dropped everyone home around 6pm then were back again at 7.30pm to take them to the Chinese Lantern festival in Auckland

it’s moved to a new venue this year as it was so ridiculously busy last year, but it was still really busy and more confusing since it was in a bigger space!  And parking was a nightmare.

but fun to go to!

rather unhelpfully there was a bus strike on Friday which was fine for me (as i had the day off) but a pain in the bum for the girls who had to get to school.  so i got up at 5.15 as usual to take them to school early

we set off at 6.45 so we could join the massive traffic jams forecast for the city and … ended up getting to school in record time as there was even less traffic than normal!   kezia had a normal school day so we dropped her off first

esther needed to be at a church near school for 9.30 so we parked up the car (at 7.30!) and went for a walk along takapuna beach to fill the time.  we had a nice walk and chat

esther then joined her friends to go off on a music camp over the weekend (including a talent show for choir members on the saturday night).  i then whizzed home for a shower to try and wake up a bit more!

i met up with cousin chris just after 10 and the boys of the family (Cuz Chris, Reuben, Solomon) had lunch at Sand Spit up north then went for a walk round the Brick Bay Sculpture Park in the blistering heat

on the way back home we stopped for some icrecream

and to look a the giant Kauri

we dropped them back at their house around 4pm and i came home about the same time as jane who had arrived back with kezia. we’d arrange to pick them up again at 7.30pm and i used the 2 hours this gave me to edit the photos from the concert then night before and grab some food (no time for sleeping)

Cuz Chris, Davina, Reuben and i then headed in to Auckland to watch Orchestra Of Spheres play a free open air concert which was excellent.  Reuben is interested in photography so it was good to show him what i’ve learnt for concert photography

after the show we did a quick photo walk round the streets and took a few people shots

here are some of my ‘official’ photos of the band

So, everyone had school on Thursday.

i had a busy day at work and caught up with buzz at lunchtime

then in the evening i went out to photo a band.  the first band was meant to be on stage by 8.30pm and all finished by 11.30, but the first support didn’t go on until after 9 and wasn’t very good.  the second support band was even worse and the main band didn’t go on until after 11. 

that would have been fine as i was i’d booked leave for Friday morning.  Instead i ended up going to bed at 1am and having to get up at 5.15am to take everyone to school (see Friday’s post)

sorry, too late and too tired again.  i promise i’ll backfill the last three days before the weekend is out and explain why it’s been so busy!

late night and long day so i’ll update tomorrow

jane and i have been married 20 years today

everyone had school/work

then after school jane had a meet the teacher / parents evening so didn’t get home until 8.45pm

kezia went to youth

here’s jane’s new ring

esther went on a geography field trip to a caravan park next to the beach near her school which is threatened with closure. the geography project is to analyse the different options (keep the caravan park, build the planned boating centre, split it half and half, use it as a recreational ground).  esther has already decided she thinks the caravan park should be bulldozed

it’s now very rainy and will be for the next 24 thanks to a cyclone out in the pacific somewhere

work/school for all

i met up with an ex-colleague for lunch

and mr fencing 2000 came round and mended out pool gates so we’re now ‘one thousand percent’ compliant according to the mender man (although i’m only going to pay 100% of his bill)

school/work

i had an optician’s appointment this morning – apparently the back of my eyes are ‘lovely’ and my glasses are ‘very straight’.  i was also asked to confirm my date of birth hadn’t changed.  i asked it many people find their date of birth changes as they get older.  not many was her reply.