Tag Archives: Park

Picking up the camera again

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I’ve just realised that I am a technology snob.

If you aren’t fast enough and efficient enough, I don’t have time for you, “thank you very much.”

A computer that takes forever to make a blog entry, and doesn’t want to download my photos from my camera?…see you later.

A camera that has a short battery life, and a lens that often decides that the photo would look better overexposed?…so long.

How did my patience become so short?

But isn’t a new year all about stretching oneself and working on one’s weaknesses?

So the camera came out with us on an outing today and I decided I was going to blog about it.

Like all weaknesses you work on, you often get a chance (read: chances) to test oneself :P

I try to remind myself that the good things, take effort…and time.

I am grateful that I decided to pick up the camera again.

I love capturing their gorgeous smiles.

I also love photos that remind me of the story behind it.

Like this one:

My oldest daughter gently helped my youngest daughter all the way to the top, and then took her time, and guided her all the way back down again. They repeated this many times while we were there. Love it.

Or this one:

 

My son persevered on a piece of equipment that we thought was broken. He worked out how to use it, and got the tricky piece of equipment moving.

Or this one:

My heart was in my mouth, when my son decided that he was going to balance himself at the top of the very high rope frame. That is so him! I was half proud, and half terrified!

I think 2012 is going to be about celebrating the everyday triumphs…like patience, perseverance, stretching oneself, and not giving up until you get to the end (or the very top!)

Sunshine equals Possibilities

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I woke up this morning to this:

So when my friend suggested we go here:

I jumped at the chance, so our kids could do this:

And this:

And watch this:

I started the day with a nice sunny walk to school with the kids. (My poor wee boy, was running ahead of us and totally fell! Scratched up his knee and elbow pretty bad…was such a brave boy!)

Oriental Bay was lit up by the beautiful sun, and had a slight chill in the breeze, but Wellingtonians aren’t picky! We make the most of whatever sunshine we get.

After school, we went to the Grenada Village Playground, and the weather was gorgeous! If I didn’t have to drop off my daughter’s friend back home by 5pm, I don’t know when we would have left.

Then to top off the day, it was still light outside at 8pm!

After a late dinner of homemade sushi, the kids all bunked in one room together and conked out soon after.

Another serving of today please!

Friday Fun Day: Revisiting the past

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And the winner is….ME!! I won Spa Factory at Kiwi Mummy Blogs today!! Thank you Sarah!! I can’t wait to use this with my kids! (Why am I visualising my youngest daughter eating the lip gloss?!?)

Yay! The sun was back today…I missed you!

I am still trying to put in an effort once a week to do something a bit out of the ordinary with the kids.

Today, I took the kids to our old stomping grounds in Wadestown. I showed them our very first flat/apartment. This was my oldest daughter’s first home. I told them stories, and showed them the sights as we drove around. My son started asking about where his first house was, and where my parents used to live. They really seem to enjoy stories from the past. I still remember sitting in my grandmother’s study, and reading notebooks that she had complied with stories of my ancestors and black and white pictures to go along with them. I loved it! Even if we aren’t natural storytellers, or record keepers, I definitely think it is something that we can learn and develop….I think it is something that our kids would benefit from and perhaps even our kids’ kids!

So, after the trip down memory lane, we went to a local park, and just played in the sun. My favourite part was having my 9 year old on my lap on the swing and just lying back and swinging together. (How many more years can I get away with this?!?!)

No camera on hand today, just my trusty cellphone camera

We grabbed hubby on the way home and a HUGE 20 inch pizza from Wholly Pizzas..yum! It was so fun to watch the kids try and put the HUGE pieces of pizza in their mouths!

Off to have our in-house date night tonight…yay! Hubby’s been out 3 nights this week, so it will be nice to relax together.

I want it to be summer all year, and live at the beach

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I am getting better at noticing the sunsets and sunrises outside our window (we had a stunning orange sunrise and pink sunset today)….now I just have train myself to sit a little bit longer, really enjoy the moment, and just linger, instead of scurrying off quickly to the next thing. (Can you tell I’m talking about motherhood as well!)

Had no real deadlines except for the school pick up, so we just chilled out today.

I took my 3 year old and her 3 year old second cousin to the Duncan Park Play Area in Linden for a picnic and a play. (My older children named this play area “Friendship Park” because they always seem to make friends whenever they come here. :) )

I got a kick out of watching my budding 3 year old climbers master some of the trickier climbing equipment and hear them exclaim, “Yay! I did it!!” (If you look really carefully at the above picture, you’ll see them climbing solo. At the beginning they needed me to tell them where to put their feet. Now look at them!)

Then we drove over to Island Bay.

They have great rock pools near the orange “bait house”. We went searching for crabs, and found a few in all different shapes and sizes. This little one has one big claw!

We found a neat little rock pool that housed a couple of crabs. As we spent more time there, we noticed the shells started moving around. That was really neat!

Wouldn’t it be great if there was no homework, no meals to prepare, and no chores to be done, and we could just hang out at rock pools all day.*bliss*

And then my heart melted…

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I made a choice earlier this week, to try and “participate in life and make my choices more meaningful”.

As part of this, I wanted to make Friday a little bit different since we have more time up our sleeves (no homework, easy meal for dinner – During the week I make bigger meals that are re-heatable so hubby can take it to work the next day)

Come Friday, I was tired, and I could feel the motivation had drained out of me! We walked home from school in the heat, my wee man often stopped and just sat on the footpath. My two girls had gone ahead and was sitting under the shade ready for me to help them cross the “busy” T section (it’s not that busy, but feels busy when I think about my girl’s crossing a T section that has some blind corners!) I was pushing my youngest in the pram, who was about ready to fall asleep because of the heat and the busy session at Playcentre earlier that morning. Yet, we all pressed on, and we made it home….except my motivation had not made it!

Part of me wanted to forget about my little plan, part of me wanted to go through with it, because I liked the idea of trying to do something a little special on a Friday.

Who won?

It took a little while, but I finally got myself moving. I decided that we were going to have a picnic at the playground for dinner.

In my head I knew it was a good idea to do this, and that thought helped me go through with it…and then it happened…my heart melted.

I could see my two youngest children on the springy bike, giggling to each other. My youngest was sitting at the back of my 5 year old son with her hands wrapped around him, gleeing with delight. (the shot above is of my two youngest on another occasion on the springy bike…but captures what I saw yesterday.)

Aaaaahh…this was the reward, this is what made the effort all worth it.

My mind was in it, but now my heart was in it also.

My 9 year old daughter and I spent some time hanging out on a climbing frame that had a hammock type set up at the top. We just talked. Bliss…

Today I had many moments where I noticed my heart melt….

…….working as a team to tidy our house and Playcentre this morning. We worked hard, but for a good cause.

……..watching my kids having fun with their friends at our Ward Picnic at Eastbourne Beach. You can’t beat the huge smile on their faces!

…….watching my kids play together building sand castles.

…….watching a mum and a dad taking baby steps with their children to help them jump off the warf for the first time. (I wasn’t quite ready for it, I think my kids would have seen the fear in my eyes!)

…….the many hugs and kisses I got tonight from my kids…heavenly!

…….feeling that today was a good day, with wonderful memories.

We’re all in it together

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Don’t you just love it when you are with a group of other families and you all seem to have the same stories to tell?

  • the woes of packing the “house” in the car when you want to go out with the kids.
  • how the children seem to put on your sunglasses as if their head were the size of a giant (and often end up snapping them!)
  • difficulties when sharing one room when you’re travelling. Like when you try and pretend you are sleeping while the child just peers through the portacot at you.
  • the coordination needed when you have the youngest in the pram, and the oldest child runs off in front, and you have to try to hurry up the middle child dawdling behind you.

We have been spending time with hubby’s extended family the last couple of days. 3 young families with 7 kids between them, all 5 and under, with grandparents in tow. The kids are all soooo cute! We were all in one house for dinner the last couple of nights. So, when you add our family to the mix, you have 11 kids, 10 adults…and it actually wasn’t that chaotic!! Sure there were some tantrums and tears (they are young kids after all!), but overall the kids played good together and the adults just relaxing and chatted the night away (and some of the adults were great playmates to the kids too!).

Today we went to Te Papa and then we all split off and our family walked over to Fran Kitts Park. Last night was sooo gusty (even for Wellington’s standards), we were very surprised to see the sun greet us this morning!

It is always great to spend time with other families, because you see that you share a lot of similar ups and downs. It gives you perspective and helps you feel like you aren’t the only one doing the “family thing”.

I think that is why I love reading blogs. I love the feeling that we’re all in this together!

Sun…Glorious Sun!

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I realise that Christmas symbolises different things to different parts of the world. For example, I have been interested in the posts from American, England and Canada about “snow blizzards”, “school closures” and “scooping snow from the front of the house”. For us in New Zealand and Australia, Christmas is a time where we get to enjoy the sun, beach, and nature (I know weird huh!)

Yesterday was such a day….it was a beach day! We went to Scorching Bay for a swim and a picnic. Then we headed over to the playground by the beach in Petone. Scorching Bay has beautiful sand, perfect for building sand castles and lounging around on. Whereas the beach at Petone has great shells, stones and sticks. The kids enjoyed finding treasures there (swirly patterned rocks, clam shells, and sticks that became walking sticks, writing sticks and sticks to conduct music, or welcome a crowd at a circus “Ladies & Gentlemeeeeeen!”)

Here are some things I learned:

  • It takes a long time to find 5 togs (swimsuits), 5 towels, 5 sandles, 5 drink bottles, make lunch for 5 people, and put sunscreen on 5 bodies.
  • I am now comfortable taking 4 kids to the beach by myself. Not quite ready to brave the swimming pool solo.
  • The beaches weren’t as crowded as I thought they would be.
  • I love watching my kids play. I get warm fuzzies when they look out for each other.
  • It is difficult to take pictures and look after 4 kids. I gave up soon after we arrived, and decided to wait until we came to the beach with hubby.
  • The kids loved the idea of “sand blankets” to keep them warm after they finished swimming. (I had the kids lay down and I covered them with a layer of warm sand)
  • We stopped by the supermarket to pick up some ice cream. Ice cream was a great way to end our day!

My favourite part of the day was when I was on the swing with my youngest on my lap. I loved how she lay back on me as we swayed back and forth in the sunlight…..*bliss*

Spending detox: Day 2

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Once again, we all woke up late, but I can’t blame it on daylight savings this time because I went to bed late the night before!

How we spent Day 2:

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  • We went to the craft workshop at the hardware store.

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  • Watched a show at the mall. TEMPTATION: they were selling a cute tote bag to raise funds for a charity and the kids wanted to go upstairs and have an ice cream like we have done in the past.

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  • Went to a park that we haven’t been to before TEMPTATION: there was a shop across from the park with a big sign saying “fresh bread” yum!
  • Had a yummy lunch at home
  • Watched DD6′s free DVD that she choose yesterday
  • Did more origami and the girls dressed up as farm animals
  • Had dinner at home
  • Went out to get DD8′s free DVD. TEMPTATION: saw a couple of DVDs that I wanted to rent.
  • Played tickle monster
  • Played hide and seek in the dark

MONEY SPENT TODAY: $0.00

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED TODAY:

  • I could have easily spent little bits of money here and there without thinking today.
  • You don’t necessarily need to go out to have fun. We had just as much fun yesterday when were stuck inside because of the weather.
  • Not having a strict plan meant that I didn’t have the added stress of trying to push the kids to keep to a schedule. We only decided to go to the craft workshop about an hour before it started. When we finished the crafts, I decided to try a nearby park that we had not been to before.  On our way to the park, we drove past the mall, and I remembered a show was starting in 5mins, so we stopped by. After that, it was off to the park and then home for lunch.
  • Being prepared pays off! The kids gobbled down the fruit and water we packed. Another set of clothes would have come in handy when one child spelt water on their pants, and the other got their top all dirty. If we didn’t pack any food, and the spills were worse, we would have had to cut out outing short.
  • Provide activities that suit your children. You know your child best, and what they will or will not enjoy. The younger kids didn’t really go for the pot painting, so we went for a walk in the outdoor area of the shop, while the older girls finished up. My DS4 found the music at the mall event too loud, so I stood back with him, while the others sat closer to the stage etc etc
  • There are definitely parks that you need to closely supervise children (eg where there is water or equipment that the younger ones may be unsafe on), and there are parks that you could get away with sitting down the entire time. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Atlhough today’s park was one that I had to closely supervise the kids (which is sometimes hard when the younger ones are going in different directions) there was lots to do and it kept them entertained for a long time.
  • It is sometimes tough to manage outings with children who range in ages. The older ones get too far ahead, while the younger ones get behind. It’s important to regroup and restate the rules to keep everyone safe. A happy outing means you are more likely to do it again!

You may also be interested in:

Is it possible to not spend any money during the school holidays?

Spending detox: Day 1

Spending detox: Day 3

Spending detox: Day 4

Spending detox: Day 5

Spending detox: Day 6

Lessons Learned & Spending detox: Day 7

Free activities to do with your children

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  1. Check out if there are any free activities at your local library. Sometimes they have story time, or special events during the school holidays.
  2. Check out if there are any events happening at your local mall.
  3. Bake some easy recipes with the kids like pikelets, rainbow cupcakes, pita bread/toast pizza etc.
  4. Make traffic light jelly.
  5. Arrange a playdate at a friend’s place or arrange to meet at a park.
  6. Go park hopping to your favourite parks or go on an adventure to a park that you have never been to before. You can usually find lists of playgrounds on your local council websites or take a look in your map.
  7. Have the kids help you make a picnic and go to the local airport and watch the planes take off.
  8. Time to get messy! Make your own playdough, gloop or fingerpaint and have fun!
  9. Go to your local kid friendly museum that doesn’t charge for parking!
  10. Get the children to help you make a family newsletter to email out to family and friends. Have them summarise what they have been doing lately (if they are old enough they can type it themselves, or you could ask prompting questions to your younger children.)
  11. Pack some water, a warm top and a snack and go on a nature walk. You could even bring some paper and crayons to do some bark rubbings and collect materials for a nature collage.
  12. Go bike riding/scootering/roller blading at the local school.
  13. Fill a sink up with soapy water and let them go for it.
  14. Get a paintbrush and bucket and let the kids “paint” the fence with water.
  15. Potions making. Provide a bowl, spoon and a selection of items from your pantry (flour, herbs, cocoa, essences) and items collected from the outdoors (flowers, grass, bark). Pretend to be magicians and make up silly spells.

Last updated: Monday, 28 Sept 2009

I will keep adding to this as I think of things.

Please share what fun things you like to do with your child/ren!

Free school holiday fun in Wellington (NZ)

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Did you know that it is possible to have fun and keep to a budget?! You can provide your children with exciting, new and fun experiences without having to fork out any money…here is how:

  • Rent a free DVD: Go to your local Video Ezy store and ask if they have a “Holiday Card”. This card allows one household a free kids weekly movie every day of the holidays (26 Sept – 11 Oct).
  • Attend a free show: Go dance and sing along with the NC Duck this week at 11am and 2pm from Mon 28 Sept – Fri 2 Oct. There will also be a night show on Thur 1 Oct at 6pm. http://www.northcityshopping.co.nz/duck-web
  • Watch some circus acts: Go and see the amazing circus acts at Westfield, Queensgate, Lower Hutt at 1.30pm, Mon 28 Sept – Fri 2 Oct. Monday 28 – Diabolo, Tuesday 29 – Juggling, Wednesday 30 – Devil Sticks, Thursday 1  – Spinning Plates, Friday 2 – Juggling. http://westfield.co.nz/queensgate/news/ItsCircusTime.html
  • Watch a funny magic show: Zappo the magician and his assistant Zappolina will be visiting the Johnsonville Mall to perform two shows daily at 11 am and 1pm  from Monday 5 Oct – Friday 9 Oct. They are also launching their album “Wibbly Wobbly”.
  • Go to a craft workshop: That will cost money, I hear you say, not at Bunnings! They have Kids DIY Clinics where they do lots of creative activities. This school holidays their theme is “Craft in the Garden”. Workshops are free for children over the age of 5 and must be accompanied by an adult. Bookings are essential for all classes, you need to contact your local Bunnings store (Naenae or Porirua) to register.  http://www.bunnings.co.nz/learn-how-to-DIY_kids-diy-clinics.aspx

Let me know if you know of any other free events around Wellington!

Fave Five: Cheap and easy outings for children

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Below are my favourite five outings that we do with the kids on a regular basis. The reason that we are able to do it again and again is because it is easy – I can usually manage doing these outings by myself when my hubby is at work. They are also cheap, so we can do them often because it isn’t going to break the bank – in fact they are all basically free apart from McDonalds.

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