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it was dad and marjorie’s last day today.

pearl was distraught.

after the girls were dispatched to their schools the four of us went in to auckland town and looked at the cathedral

old and new

funky stained glass windows

there were plenty more photos to be taken with dad finding a cunning way to avoid me taking photos of him

then we had a spot of lunch

 

before heading up one tree hill

 

dad spotted these items which is the kind of thing i normally photo

 

 

jane went off to take/fetch the girls from swimming/tennis whilst the rest of us went for a walk round a local field in the heat (it was 27 degrees today)

marjorie explained to pearl why she had to go home

pearl explained why she wanted her to stay.  but it was no good.  their tickets were booked

 

so then it was loading the car and off to the airport

on the way up the road we saw jane and the girls so they did some final waving goodbyes

checkin at the airport was all good and straight forward.

it’s been great having them here.

if you want you can track their voyage home here:  http://flightaware.com/live/flight/ANZ2 (their flight leaves Auckland on 11/03/2013)

one last photo (probably isn’t the last)

goodbye

church this morning.  was nice to introduce dad and marjorie to our various chums.   it looks a bit empty in this picture but it wasn’t.  the chap in the white t-shirt on the right of the picture used to be an All Black.

and that’s jane on the stage as they introduced the various staff members.

when we got home kezia got stung on the toe.  she was fine after 20 minutes though.  we think there’s a wasps nest somewhere nearby as we’ve had loads of them this year.

after dinner dad and marjorie took on esther and kezia at Wii golf

it was a draw which was the perfect outcome for all involved!

the rest of the afternoon was spent swimming in the pool, sunbathing and doing the crossword

and some other quizzes

then this evening we had a roast dinner, some fizzy wine and a mother’s day cake

before a walk round the cemetery and peek at the actual schnapper rock

esther and kezia were up early for kezia’s 6.30-7.30am swimming and they were back home just after 8

then we set off on our family adventure

which started with a healthy walk up a big hill in wenderholme

 

before emerging at the top for some lovely viewings

 

dad and marjorie went to look in the old homestead

 

then we drove over to mahurangi to have a picnic on sullivan’s bay

dad played some frisbee with kezi

and on the way back we stopped off at a cheese factory for ice-creams

then this evening dad took us to a local Japanese restaurant where they cook your food on the table in front of you (and throw it at you)

i seem not to have taken pictures of the spicey sea weed.

i have to say i was really impressed with how our guest through themselves in to the meal which was a little out of their comfort zone i think (and off piste for my diet too!)

 

i apologise to dad for these photos, but i love how everyone is reacting!

the chef loved it too!

 

 

i think everyone had a really good day.  i know i did.  and the weather has been superb.  again!

great news.  dad and marjorie are back (for a few days at least!)

we’ve been hearing some of the stories and looking at the photos, but i’m sure there’s lots more stories to come.  but you’ll have to ask them personally when you see them as the highlights unfortunately aren’t going to appear here

meanwhile in simpson-land, i was at work by 7am and i think jane spent the day doing tidying etc

kezia and esther both had swimming after school.  and kezia went for a swim before her swimming lesson too

dad took some pictures when he wasn’t meant to on the plane judging by these.  don’t tell anyone

they got a taxi from auckland airport to my office where they ended up sitting in reception watching the working world go by for an hour until i finally came down to collect them.

there my desk below.  top right of the picture

whilst kezia was swimming me and the olds [they are watching me type this – was expecting a swipe round the ear) went for a walk along takapuna beach and a look at the volcanic reef which was mostly under water

here are some lollies from a tin at work

and this is pearl who was very excited to have our visitors back.  marjorie seems to have got braver around her since coming back.  she’ll be taking her for a walk by monday …  perhaps.

and family dinner.

really busy day at work for me.  i met esther at my usual bus stop after her orchestra practice.  the weather continues to be amazing and the house was warm and sunny when we got home

kezia had swimming this evening and jane’s gone to crafty chicks so i don’t know what she got up to today

this is a grasshopper which was being eaten by ants.  half an hour later it was gone.

esther’s school didn’t start until 10am today so she walked up to kezia’s school to see her old chums before they went in to their lessons.  then jane drove her to school and did various errands. jane had lunch with a friend then this afternoon did her 1 hour pre-school french lesson which went well i think

i was working from home so after school i walked up the road to meet kezia. i took pearl who then preceded to poo all over the pavement and i’d forgotten to bring some bags.  so i stood by the poo whilst kezia ran home and got some bags and ran back again!

this evening esther’s had tennis and is now at church youth club

jane did her church job today.  kezia had her inter-school swimming which she enjoyed.  turns out she’s quite a bit younger than others – she’ll still be able to enter the same age group next year!

i worked from home today due to an upset stomach which is a bit annoying as i’ve been really good at sticking to my diet the last few days.  Also means no photos today.  sorry about that.

and auckladn has officially had its driest summer for 50 years: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10869133 and Auckland from north of the harbour has been declared a drought area meaning farmers can get some assistance. 

here’s some facts about our local reservoir if you are interested.  you have to love kiwis and their obsession with measuring things: http://www.watercare.co.nz/about-watercare/our-services/aucklands-water-situation/Pages/default.aspx

Hello. It was a bit cooler today.

Pearl and I went for a walk on the beach. The girls went to school and Dave went to work. Then I went to help a friend who has recently had a baby and dod my grocery shopping. Esther had a school tennis match after school and Kezia had swimming.

That’s all

quite a quiet day today.  the day started with some family skyping for the girls

i was at church from 7am to help out a new sound person.

then this afternoon there’s been snoozing (me) and general domesticness.

 

there was also some swimming and pearl walking.  And this morning there was even a short burst of rain.

 

esther won her singles match today 8-0.  yay!  

She lost her doubles unfortunately as her partner seemed to give up after the first few points.  they still had a great time though

kezia had her swimming lesson at 6.30am and jane took pearl for a walk on the beach.  Pearl seems to have a cold or an allergy or something and is sneezing and snotting all over the place!

this evening we went to see the Cirque du Soleil film with James and Aimee