Other things that we've been up to

A day off in Hanmer Springs

Early in December I went to Hanmer Springs, a natural hot springs spa, with my friends Molly, Emma, and Jenny. We drove up in the morning and stayed until nearly dark (which is late here because it's Summer!). It was a great day without the kids and so nice to visit uninterrupted by wee ones. We had terrific weather for it and I was worn out from all the fun when I got home. :)

Molly and Jenny

Emma and I

Having some bubbly and admiring the menu.

Fun with underwater cameras!

Christmas

Christmas was just plain odd. In Phoenix it's warm at Christmas by traditional standards. No snow, not even frost, usually sunny without a cloud in the sky. After years of this, I started to get used to it because it was "cold" relative to Summertime when it's very, very hot in Phoenix. Here, however, it's been cold all winter and spring isn't my idea of "warm" and then it starts to get warm enough to wear capri pants and short sleeves and suddenly school's out for summer AND you're shopping for Christmas presents. SOOOO weird. Surreal even. I wanted to have a real tree like last year but it took me 2 weeks to find a place selling them. No kidding. They are very unpopular here. But for $20 I got a 6 foot tree from a gas station. They had 5 to choose from leaning up against a wall. I wasn't terribly hopefull but it was actually the freshest tree I've ever had, except for the ones my Dad cut down himself (picture the scene from Christmas Vacation).

Maggie in her sleeveless Christmas "frock"

Rudolph stopped by. Wait! That's Caty.

But decorating with the windows and doors open and the rose bushes and cherry trees in full bloom in the yard was weird. All the same, we went through the motions in hopes of getting in the spirit. It was kind of a bummer for Ben and Maggie that all our Christmas books show snow-covered scenes and fireplaces. We will have to get some new NZ and OZ ones for next year. Since it's a tradition to make Pillsbury cinnamon roles on Christmas morning and they don't have instant anything here, I made them from scratch. Although it had to be done a day in advance, it was very tasty! :)

The kids had a blast opening presents on Christmas morning. No amount of warm weather can dampen the excitement of Christmas morning for a kid. And this year Maggie "got it" about Santa bringing presents. In fact just this morning she was making a verbal list of things she wants from Santa next year. I don't think she realizes how long from now that will be tho!

Erik's birthday

Poor Erik. His birthday is right after New Years and everyone forgets him. But we tried to make it special with a gourmet mud cake, homemade cards, and a new biking jersey. 

Someone is always willing to help an adult out with candle blowing.

Did I mention the cake was pretty good?

For the ride to work.

Cate's trip to Livingsprings Summer Camp

Despite the chaos of the Summer, we did get Caty to camp. I think this was her fourth trip there since we moved here! It's a week every school holiday (school is 10 weeks, then two weeks off, then 10 weeks on, 2 weeks off... For 4 terms then 6 weeks for Summer vaca.) Camp is held for one week every school holiday. It's this amazing place above Governor's Bay with crazy-beautiful views. Just gorgeous. And lots of the kids go every time so now she has friends she sees every time she goes to camp and chooses her roommates and counselors (although I've been scolded because they are called something else here - can't remember what). After her week of independence, I picked her up and we checked out a restaurant that specializes in chocolate of all kinds. They have a bar too but had never heard of a chocolate martini!!! Oh the humanity! Anyway, I couldn't have had one as the road is as winding and steep as it could be with out being a slalom course!

 Catherine ordered and chose well! 

Eating the chocolate spoon on the patio.

View of the bay from the patio.

Caty outside the restaurant with our doggie bag.

Crazy New Year Happenings

Cate at Sumner beach with Erik, Ben, and Mags in background

It's been awhile since our last post. There are plenty of reasons. Life has been utter turmoil since just after Thanksgiving. December 20th was the last day of school and the beginning of Summer Vacation. BUT since it's December, it was also Christmas shopping/cooking season! And we had a week long camping trip planned for between Christmas and New Years. But then all that was screwed up. About a week before school got out, we got a call from our property management company that our rent was going up more than $400 per month starting in Feb. So, we decided that the house was not worth renting at $2400 every 4 weeks! But there is a huge housing crunch here. Erik summed it up by saying that getting a rental house is like interviewing for a job with 50 other highly qualified people. We waited until after Christmas and then, having cancelled our vacation, started our house search. We started by looking in the school district we were already in but couldn't find anything at all. We ended up searching all of Christchurch and even in the Selwyn district West of town. We looked and looked. When we found one that we liked but that would add 20 or more minutes to Erik's commute, we were outbid. Yep, people set an asking price for their rental but it's such a tight market that you go to the open house and then you write on your application how much MORE you're willing to pay. We lost out on that one after bidding more than $400/month higher than asking! I was about to give up hope when Erik got a call from a guy renting his house in Sumner. It was smaller than what we wanted but it was one block from the beach. AND it was LESS than we were prepared to pay. So we asked to rent it and the landlord said he'd already had offers but "I like the look of you." Sigh of relief! And some excitement about our new village, Sumner. That lasted at least a day.
Then, we started to think about the physical move. We had enough stuff to fill our 5 bedroom house and were moving into a 3 bedroom house! So then we started the long process of what my Mom always calls "de-junking" but this was extreme. Like we got rid of the piano. Not because it was "junk" but because it simply wouldn't fit. We also sold some other furniture and toys and tossed any clothes we could live without. Erik and I were going from walk in closet to regular closet with sliding doors. After that, it was packing and packing and packing! And then moving and moving and moving. It took three loads in the largest truck Erik could rent. The only thing that made it work was that some very wonderful friends helped move us. And one amazing friend helped me pack the kitchen on moving day and clean the new house before we moved our stuff in. Another came over to the old house and finished packing the last things - like toys and cleaning supplies. Erik and I haven't moved ourselves since Caty was maybe 3. Let me tell you that packing and moving with these three running rampant was horrendous. I wish I had taken some photos of the move to post them but I don't have any. I think the camera was packed at some point! :)
Did I mention that these activities completely overwhelmed our Summer and we didn't get to do anything much which was really disappointing since we waited all year for some decent weather to go do some traveling. Also, Cate and Ben and Maggie had to change schools. Again. So there was choosing and enrolling (enroling if you're spelling it Kiwi-style) in a new school, shopping for Cate's new uniform, finding a new preschool for Ben, getting him enroled (doesn't it look weird with one L?!), saying goodbye to his teachers and friends he just adores and who he was expecting to start first grade with in March. So he'll be at his new school in Sumner for 8 weeks and then will start at Cate's elementary school. In NZ you start elementary school on the day after your fifth birthday. So kids start year-round. He's excited to go to elementary and has started a series of visits to elementary to meet his new teacher and check out the playground and kids.

Caty's new school uniforms (hat is required outdoors) 

I just gave up with Maggie. I'm keeping her home again for a while. She used to go to Ben's preschool for one day a week but I don't really care for the one he's at now so I'm looking around before I start Maggie. She likes staying home with me. She yells: NO SCHOOL! If you even talk about sending her to school. Life is good at home I guess.
Now, once we were moved in and mostly unpacked - which took about two weeks, we were able to really enjoy life by the beach. We probably even have a few good weeks of sunny weather before Fall really sets in.
A warning to friends: we no longer have a guest room! But don't let this stop you from visiting, there are some cute bed and breakfasts in the neighborhood. :)

Ben in foreground. Shipping containers protecting the only road into Christchurch from falling rock in background (right).

Mostly only the kids get in the water. It's COLD! Penguins like to swim in it!

Ben LOVES the water and the sand.

Maggie is a landlubber and prefers the sand to the water most days.