This afternoon we walked to the Wanganui Christmas Parade. New Zealand has been pushing Christmas since the beginning of October. Without Halloween or Thanksgiving in between, they start celebrating early. It was everything one might expect from a small town parade.
Archive for November, 2008
Wanganui Christmas Parade
Posted in Uncategorized on November 22, 2008| 2 Comments »
Mt. Ruapehu
Posted in Uncategorized on November 22, 2008| 1 Comment »
On a clear day we can see Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand’s most active volcano, from our driveway. Last weekend we decided to take the kids sledding on it. Most of the snow in the sledding area had melted already (it’s spring here and was in the 70’s). However, being from North Carolina, they haven’t sledded much and weren’t disappointed. After sledding we took a short hike at the base of the mountain in what appeared to be a rainforest. We also drove through Okahune, the carrot capital of New Zealand. There is supposed to be a big preserved carrot there, but we couldn’t find it. Hopefully next time.
on the way to Mt. Ruapehu
on the way to Mt. Ruapehu
Mt. Ruapehu
Lazlo’s Fifth Birthday
Posted in Uncategorized on November 9, 2008| 2 Comments »
Lazlo had his 5th birthday party today and it was great. His birthday was last weekend and he had a terrific day, thanks to all of the cards, packages and phone calls he got from family, but we didn’t have our act together enough to have a big party. Today was sunny and warm, the kids played well together and Lazlo had fun. We met at a park near our house because it was a knight-themed party and they have a very cool castle there. Brad and I had made the kids shields and tunics (which it was too hot for) and knightly or princely capes. We compromised on balloon swords hoping no one would get hurt.
Lazlo attempting to slay Noah
Attacking an unsuspecting dad
The kids wanted to take a train ride around the park, so we did and then met back at our house for a pinata and cake.
Flower Day
Posted in Uncategorized on November 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Lazlo had flower day at kindy. The kids made plant-related creations, invited the families for morning tea and sang songs. They sang a nonsense song that had verses like “brush your teeth with bubble gum” and all of the kids would crack up…but the one that got the biggest laugh was “fry an egg on a slippery dip”. I’m sure Lazlo and Liska had no idea what they were talking about (a slippery dip is a slide) but they laughed as hard as everyone else.
The Toroks 