i worked from home today as i popped out to our friend james’ dad’s funeral in the morning to represent our family
the girls had their first day at school and that went well.
esther had a tennis lesson while i went for a big walk round the streets then the supermarket
the girls didn’t have school today so kezia went to the mall with a chum and esther went in to town to buy a ticket to see phantom of the opera
jane had school and i had work
this evening i popped over to see cuz chris and family who were back from their flying visit to Rotorua to drop off a tripod so reuben can take some star photos in the south island
jane had a good first proper day at school and her new class seem really nice which is encouraging!
the girls had to be in school at usual time today with the aim of picking up their timetables, but in fact timetables weren’t available so they spent the rest of the day wandering around takapuna (kezia) and drinking smoothies with a 10% discount in the local plant shop (don’t tell anyone about the discount – esther says we have to keep it on the ‘down low’)
i popped out at lunchtime where i saw a musician performing on a stage. lisa crawley in case you are interested.
they were deconstructing the laneway festival as i made my way to work
auckland anniversary day today so we all went in to auckland to anniversarise
first stop was the dragon boat racing where davina’s friend was racing
we continued to walk round the waterfront, checking out where the Laneway festival is this year
we stopped for ice-creams and buskers
eventually we met up with Jane who had been doing school preparations in the morning and had some food at a maori exhibition
after having a look at my photos in the exhibition we went separate ways with esther, reuben and i battling on against the summer heat to have some fun in the port of auckland open day
esther is still interested in working in NZ Customers so was delighted they had a stall she could talk to them and try on some of their equipment
we then went on a helicopter ride (i’ll post some more pictures of them when i’ve had a time to edit them, but here’s a couple of photos of the Laneway festival for now)
then we played some mini golf
before getting the bus back home we had a quick look round the town so Reuben could have a look at some of the buildings
cuz chris and family are heading to rotorua the next couple of days then off to the South Island so we won’t see them for a while
and everyone here is back to school tomorrow
we wore my cousin’s family out so they had a quiet day today to catch up on jet lag and stay out of the sun
church this morning then various domesticy things this afternoon
those going to school on tuesday spent time sorting out books / lessons
i had a snooze and sorted some photos out which i might use for a photo thing. and i also got invited to speak at Auckland photo club which is a big honour. hopefully that will be June
this evening i went in to town to hear the auckland symphony orchestra. there’s loads going on in town as it’s anniversary weekend
i also found a maori reggae band
and i wanded up the hill to watch Delaney Davidson and took some shots which will hopefully be used on Cheese On Toast
be good to have some photos on there this week as i’m missing out on the music festival tomorrow which will fill the pages up with other the photographer’s pictures and she’s really good so is my competition!
i’m pleased with these of delaney though 
kite kite falls with cuz chris and family
they all went in and went under the waterfall
we walked up to the top of the fountain which we haven’t done before and there was a great place for jumping off (for Reuben and Solomon)
meanwhile our girls looked for baby eels in the shallows
then it was back to ours for tea
day off work today to go with cousin chris and family to muriwai
more brides at the beach
and the sand was so hot that chris’ legs melted
giant ice creams on the way back
then a quick trip to look at a wall of jandals in the new northwest shopping mall
meanwhile jane had a good day of school prep meeting and then a cheeky drink with her new year 8 homeroom chums who sound like good fun
jane had school
the girls did things with their friends
i had work
it’s very hot
after work we all went to the mall to get school stuff and visitor food
jane had more teacher only days and is getting to know more of the year 8 homeroom teachers
esther went ice skating
kezia made a cake then went out with her chums
i had work
