The drive up was mostly in the dark and rain but thankfully its a very good road, and we arrived safely at about 7.30pm after a quick stop in Dannevirke for KFC (first time I'd eaten it in years!). Once Noah was in bed, us four adults enjoyed a nice evening together with a few drinks (only half a glass for me!), and even got to sample some of Dayne's home-made port...mmm mmmm.
Saturday morning dawned much brighter, so after a yummy cooked breakfast, we headed to Haumoana Farmyard Zoo, arriving just before the place had even opened we were that keen! Being the first in the zoo meant the animals were all very friendly, ever hopeful we might feed them some nibbles! I'm not sure whether the kids had more fun seeing the animals or jumping in the puddles that lay around, a bit of both I think!
After a run-around in the little park there, we headed to Clifton Bay cafe for scrumptious coffees, fluffies, muffins and scones, before going down to the beach to throw some stones in the wild water. It was invigorating, but a little hazardous for poor Cameron as one of Noah's stones went awry and sconed him in the back of the head giving him quite a decent cut which drew blood, poor thing. After Dayne had tended to his wound and he had recovered, we went home via the Arataki honey centre and found out all about bees, indulging in some yummy free honey tasting and getting dressed up as bees to boot!
In the afternoon we hung out at home, Cam and Noah enjoyed playing Mario Kart on the Wii, building trains and watching Happy Feet. In the evening, the big boys went out to watch the rugby whilst Trace and I stayed in with the kids, enjoying a couple of 'real' scrabble games. We always have at least two games on the go at any one time via the Lexulous application on Facebook, but playing the actual board game felt quite weird after getting so accustomed to the online version. A little wine (only just a little for me!), chippies and chocolate also helped wile away a lovely evening together.
We got on the road just after 9am this morning, and other than a stop for coffees at Beyond the Bridge Cafe and a pie at Wild Bean Cafe in Otaki, we made good time, getting home at 2pm. We even had time to get the supermarket shopping done and a swim/aquajog at Karori Pool with what was left of the afternoon.
It was so lovely to catch up with the Easte family, and Dayne sent us home laden with cauliflower, parsnips, lemonades, lemons and oranges, and fish. There was absolutely no need for us to stop at the market gardens on the way home after being spoilt so much!
Last weekend at home was full of cleaning and tidying. We managed to take a long overdue trip to the tip, and now the garage looks quite presentable again. We've also managed to clear out all the 'junk' from what will soon become the baby's room. The next task for us is to paint the furniture and walls in the room, after which time we will be much closer to being prepared for baby's arrival! It wasn't all work and no play however, with a trip to Porirua Pool and a evening meal at Keryn & Marissa's on the Saturday, and a lovely early curry at Flavours in Marsden Village with Shannon & Guy on Sunday night.
At dinner, Shannon asked if I was still doing my early morning walks at 6am which I am every Monday and Tuesday, so I very much enjoyed Shannon's company on both days last week, hopefully we'll be able to make it a regular occurence as it certainly made the walk pass very quickly on both days!
The sale of M-co to NZX officially went through on Tuesday, so the real end of an era for many of us who have been there for upwards of five years (seven for me!). It was a very busy week one way or another, and with the physical move of staff down to NZX premises scheduled for just two weeks away, it is likely to be remain so for a few more weeks to come.
Noah was truly a delight this weekend, very easy to please on the journey so long as the Wiggly Safari DVD with "Bindi's dad" Steve Irwin at the Australia zoo kept playing on the portable DVD player, and he very much enjoyed having fun with his playmates Cameron and Mikayla over the weekend. Hopefully fast forward in time a couple of years and he'll be having just as much fun with his little brother!
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