pretty sunrise out the bus window this morning. i had work
i saw some people doing a snowing christmas photo shoot in sunny warm auckland. and i also got accredited to shoot AC/DC at an outside concert tomorrow night so i’ve spent all evening getting myself sorted for that!
jane, the girls and p&p went down to taupo via the rotorua luges and some mud pools
they’ve had a good day i think!
church this morning was winter wanderland.
kezia and i were asked to take some photos, but kezia delegated it to esther who did a great job
jane’s dad stayed at home.
after lunch we went to Puhoi then walked up the cliff at Wenderholme
everyone was wide awake this morning (not too early though!) so we dispatched ourselves off to the Auckland waterfront for a walk
kezia, as usual, had a party. this time a 9 hour one
we checked out a temporary forest in the silos
then walked to britomart via my exhibition
here is everyone looking at the train station down below the glass
the afternoon was spent doing some chores, sitting around, shopping etc
then in the afternoon there was some swimming
and burgers with photoing earned cheese
and in the evening i went out to photo Unknown Mortal Orchestra at the Saint James’ Theatre which i a sort of condemned, massive old picture house in town which is having a few months temporary reprieve. but it’s great as they don’t allow people on to the old balconies so photographers can run around up there and get lots of great shots. Lighting was still tricky though, especially when the main man is wearing a baseball cap which hides his face!
jane’s parents arrived today so the girls and i left home at 6.30am to get to the airport.
on the way we picked up a load of really nice cheese and some yoghurts which i got as payment for editing a photo for a friend!
jane had her last day at school before the holidays which consisted of 3 hours of speeches and a lunch.
We met up with Jane at Long Bay where we had a walk up and down the beach twice with jane’s parents (to be known as P&P from now on)
this evening we had a lovely roast dinner before and then P&P retired early as their jet lag got the better of them.
here’s a dead sting ray and a dead penguin on the beach
mmm. tasty photo cheese
another stupidly busy day for me and another missed christmas do as i came home on time to help get ready for our visitors (but failed to be helpful unfortunately)
esther went in to town with a friend. ben & jerry’s has arrived
kezia met up with a friend and spent ages in the mall. esther’s gone out to the church youth group
and jane did loads of waterblasting
esther was complaining of a sore neck last night so i took her in to see the doctor this morning just to be sure. all is well, but it meant i got to my 10.30am meeting just in time and the rest of the day was equally hectic – so much so i simultaneously missed two xmas lunches. it also took an hour to drive back out of town again thanks to a broken down bus.
jane had a good day at school i think
esther had a shared lunch party for her choir at Takapuna beach (proving she wasn’t very ill!) and kezia put up the christmas decorations excellently and then went out with a friend for the day
i was meant to be going out to the photo club christmas meeting, but decided to stay in and watch telly with jane instead.
no pictures due to me not really being outside much today
kezia had her prize giving today and got a ‘blue’ (a badge) for representing her school in the choir competition. she also performed in her orchestra. i popped along to watch and sat in the freezing cold for an hour and a bit!
esther went in to town and i happened to bump in to her in a bus station on the way to watch kezia. esther was surprised
jane has school until the end of the week but kezia is now on holiday. i fell asleep in a meeting 
i had lunch with Andrew from Cheese On Toast (the person i do the concert photoing for) today which was good
kezia had her last full day at school so had a load of bags to bring back so i met her early then finished off my working day work at home
jane had school
esther had her violin lesson and met up with chums in auckland for the rest of the day
and i saw some people using the bound rope to keep people off the cricket square as a washing line for their underpants (pictured above)
church then lauren’s baptism in the sea
then home to create the podcast, upload some pictures before heading out to the baptism party in the afternoon
then the rest of the day has been photo editing, chores
the good thing about kezia having a camera is she takes lots of pictures of esther!
you can see all the baptism photos here: http://funkypancake.pixieset.com/151206shorechurch/
our friend Nga from church (left in the picture above with a course colleague) graduated from university today and asked if i could take some photos
i normally say no to doing events as it’s all very stressful, i’m not very good at it and it’s lots of work. but thought i’d make an exception for Ngahuia!
as a result i spent a few hours pretending to be a proper photographer, bossing people about in staircases and outside.
kezia had an 8 hour party at a friends house down a perilous driveway which i had to navigate twice. i guess they do it every day though so i shouldn’t complain
our out door furniture arrived today. jane now has everything she ever wished for in her life: coffee machine, water blaster, outdoor sofa
esther also had a party this afternoon and went with jane this morning to spend prospective christmas money on a violin case
jane has been doing amazing works in the garden and found time this afternoon to pop out for a walk with pearl and her friend Belinda
Nga’s cloak is a genuine maori artifact i believe. i’ll tell you more when i find out the deets – she didn’t want to tell me as she said she’d start crying and ruin her makeup!
you can see all the photos here: http://funkypancake.pixieset.com/151205laidlawgraduation-2438373/