The future

2009. That was supposed to be the future. But, here we are, right now. When I was in school, I used to think that 2000 was a long way away. It would be the future, and I would be 24. 2009? Wow, imagine what that would be like. I'd be pretty old (like, 32!) and rich, of course. Surely flying cars would be a reality? Or at least those cool hoverboards like in Back to the Future? Huh, it seems not.

So the New Year is here and it's not so different from the last. We were a bit house-bound with Ella not being well. If we took her out we would get bouts of guilt every time she coughed. And it didn't sound like a normal cough, it was a big barking, wheezing, supersonic cough that sounded terrible coming out of someone so little.

I packed Andrew and Oli off to Karangahake Gorge for an adventure with his cousins and Nan and Grandad. They were going to explore some of the old mining tunnels that had holes cut into them to make 'windows' over the gorge. I sent them off with the reassurance that the track was traversable by buggy, intending for Oli to get an easy ride being pushed around. Oliver had other ideas. He decided to walk the whole way... at toddler speed. And this left Dad to man-handle the buggy over the rail tracks that were spaced just close enough together to make it impossible to wheel the buggy... he had to hold up the rear wheels and push it on it's single front wheel! Oops, sorry about that!

They did a loop of about 2.5km, only about 500m of that with Oli being carried by Nan. That was in the tunnels, because according to Oliver it was "pretty dark in here".

Another morning I sent Andrew and Oliver off to Waterworld for a play. Oli had fun splashing around on the water pad with lots of fountains and hoses, but he liked swimming in the pool with Dad the best. Dad even took him under the water quite a few times. Oli didn't freak out, so that's good. We haven't done any swimming lessons with the kids yet, so maybe we'll do that next summer.

We have just got back from our first holiday away as a family. We went to Whangarei for 4 nights, to attend a friend's wedding. We drove up on Thursday, and surprisingly only required two stops to give the kids a break.

We had Friday to explore, so drove up Mount Parihaka to the lookout over the town. Then we headed out to AH Reed Memorial Park to do a little walk. We went over the elevated (wobbly!) boardwalk amongst the Kauri trees. Oliver struggled to walk across it, because he could see the forest floor far below through the gaps in the timber boards. I ended up holding his hand to help him along (he was going slower than a snail). Ella was a very happy passenger in her new backpack (bought off Trademe the night before we left for Whangarei!), so happy in fact, that when we got back to the car she was asleep. No problem, I would just walk to the other end of the walking track and Andrew and Oli would drive around to meet me and Ella at the waterfall for lunch. Well, I got to the waterfall (15 minute walk) and quickly realised that it was not the most "beautiful waterfall in New Zealand", so I rechecked the map. Oops. Wrong falls. Andrew would be waiting for me and wondering where I was. I thought I'd better call him to tell him where I was. My phone was in the car with Andrew. Oops. So, I had no option but to clamber back down the hill the way I had come (climbed) and power walk to the correct falls... some 35 minutes away. I did it in 24 minutes. And of course Andrew and Oliver were waiting for me, only slightly concerned that something may not have gone right. Whew!

Most of Saturday was occupied by the wedding. The weather held out and didn't rain, but provided just the right amount of cloud cover to keep the temperature down. On Sunday we had a cruisey day, playing at a local playground and having a picnic lunch. We had dinner together out at a restaurant, which was fantastic.

I was pleased that Oliver had no trouble sleeping in a strange house (motel) - we had his pillow and duvet from home. Ella shared a room with us, which was a bit hard. She woke more often for a feed (usually twice a night), and I would wake up when she made noises in her sleep.

We drove home on Monday (to avoid the weekend traffic) and were very surprised to make it home with only one stop. The kids travelled very well and were brilliant the whole time we were away. We kept ourselves busy with picnics for lunch and dinner, and as much walking or play as possible. Our holiday was so good we are planning another one already!

Ella recovered from her cough while we were away, and I was glad to get out and do some stuff, rather than being stuck at home with a sick baby.

We've still got a few activities left to cross off our "to do" list for the holidays, so hopefully we can squeeze them into the next few days we have left before Andrew returns to work. We are almost all picnicked out.

That pretty much sums up what we've been up to lately as a family. I'll try to post an update on what the kids have been doing too (and probably bore you all to tears).