It was the worst ever spot prize, that fuzzy barbie-pink heart shaped pillow with Betty Boop in all her busty glory embroidered on the front. I almost declined it right then and there, but Milo took a fancy to it and hugged it to his chest protectively. It became the pillow that cradled his head every night….his “stinky” pillow (he misunderstood when I told him it was “skanky,” instead waving his hand in front of his wrinkled nose and pronouncing it “tinky”).

A week ago we decided to give the pillow a new lease on life, reusing just the stuffing to fill the new turtle pillow. I now have a new appreciation for those hand-sewn honey-comb quilts our great grandmothers used to make! Not that I hand-sewed this one, but the piecing was finicky enough even with a machine. Still well worth it. Milo loves it at least as much as Betty Boop….which is saying something.

Adrenaline forest….from the name I guess I’d expect a muddy dirt bike track weaving in and out of trees, but a high ropes course isn’t too far off. On Saturday a group from the social club at Jeremiah’s company (BECA) got together to play on the course. After a 10 minute tutorial from a staff member (filled with admonishments such as “You want to make sure you’re clipped in,” and “you don’t want to do that, OK!” ), we were released to our own devices. Those green crash pads are at the end of the “flying foxes” (we call them zip lines at home), since they have no brakes.

The ropes course was set up in a planted mature stand of pines on the northeast side of the city.  Multiple layers of platforms, ladders, and crisscrossing lines make it feel like the Swiss Family Robinson.  The “challenges” were creative, punctuated with zippy rides on the flying foxes, and despite the relatively short safety briefing, if you followed the rules about staying clipped in to the safety lines, the worse you were going to get was a pinched finger.  Jeremiah and I took turns staying down below with Milo, who was a surprisingly good sport about not being invited to join Mama and Daddy on the giant playground for grown-ups. 

This is about as high off the ground as the little squirt got, but he was happy to putter around beneath us, playing with the pine needles, finding mushrooms, and eating snacks (NOT the mushrooms).

There were 6 courses in the park, and each one got higher than the next, and slightly more challenging. Here Jeremiah’s on a flying fox way up in the tree tops.

Here’s Jeremiah shuffling along a high wire 70 feet off the ground. The breeze picked up, making the trees sway a bit, but they moved surprisingly little for such tall straight pines.  Neither of us are bothered by heights, so it was a fun day.

Last Sunday Jeremiah went up to Kaikora with some guys to take a charter boat out for some sea fishing. There’s an incredibly deep ocean trench just a couple kilometers off the coast at Kaikora, so boats can go deep sea fishing without actually going that far out. Brrr, it was a brisk morning up there with new snow on the mountains. Winter is a-coming.

Most of these crayfish had to be dropped back into the ocean to grow some more, but each member of the party did get to keep one.

Fish, Milo says. Look at his mouth. Jeremiah brought back a “crayfish” (as they call these clawless lobsters here) and it fidgeted around in the pot trying to kick the lid off before we heartlessly steamed it alive. I remember Uncle Stewart bringing back lobsters to cook at Cape Cod when we were little. I remembered the horror of cooking the critters alive so vividly that I didn’t eat lobster until I visited Maine as a hard and calloused adult. Milo had absolutely no such qualms, and no sympathy for the live (or dead) lobster. I hope he turns out all right…..

The hubbies went out charter fishing and us wives had a left-behind-party with the kids. Really, just a trip to Willowbank nature preserve with a special coffee thrown in. Look at the long-suffering patience of those donkeys. The kids stuck flowers behind their ears, pulled their tails, petted their necks and squealed in their ears, but they never even flinched. it was impossible to get a photo with everyone looking, so we just settled for one with almost everyone present….including nine-year-old Joe whom I had to manhandle into the frame.

Look at this cool cat. The girls were getting decked out with marigolds behind their ears, so Milo wanted one too, then he sauntered around nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets, practicing looking hip.

Zealandia, what an outrageous name! That was my first impression of the big greenhouse wholesale business that now employs me.

Zealandia is a plant factory, complete with assembly lines (automatic tray filling and transplant lines), stacks of pallets filled with potting media and plastic pots, and and HR department.

At this point I should start philosophizing about not only the costs of parenthood, but also about the valuable lessons parenthood brings to our lives. The self-less caring for another’s needs, the constant practice at self-control, the minute-by-minute testing of patience….but those of you who know me well will know that’s not what was on my mind when my son demanded the last of the Lemon Yogurt. My Lemon Yogurt. The Lemon Yogurt that I bought as a special treat and have hardly tasted because Milo likes it too. You can see that nice bowl of blackberry yogurt I mixed up for him when we got home from our hike yesterday. He was having none of it.  Now I don’t think it’s a good idea to eat something in front of your kid and tell them they can’t have any (unless, of course, it’s dessert and they chose not to eat their dinner….), so what could I do?  I gave Milo a little dollup to keep him busy, then quickly finished the rest of the container so I wouldn’t have to share any more.  Good thing I hadn’t spent much time ruminating on the character improvements kids bring about in us, or I’d start worrying about my parenting skills!

The garden tomatoes have been both numerous and prosperous, so Milo and I made a batch of tomato soup. I miss my handy dandy Squeezo, but this squishing by hand method reminds me of making apple sauce with Mommom in her old-fashioned squeezo/strainer. And I’m sure Milo liked squishing the tomatoes with the potato masher more than he would have liked turning the crank on the Squeezo.

The constant and INSISTENT buzzing of flies is starting to wear on my nerves. They’re only house flies after all, not people-biting malaria-carrying menaces, but they should NOT be sharing my cooking space. I don’t know if it’s the fall season or the putrid chamois bones outside in our compost bin waiting for this week’s collection, but for some reason the flies have been particularly numerous in the last few days, DESPITE a closed window policy. Milo hunts them with relish, but he’s not been very successful with his dish cloth weaponry up to this point. So Mama slaps at them, Milo giggles, and fly guts get smooshed on windows and door jams. Yuck. Jeremiah says I’d never make it in a third world country, but I disagree. It’s different when you EXPECT major indoor insect life. I’ll never fathom why Kiwi homes don’t have window screening…it’s not a poor country after all.

The Crusaders are Canterbury’s Rugby team, not the National All Blacks team but still quite a serious league nonetheless. We got “take a kid to footy” tickets (good seats, plus a discount) to a game against South Africa last weekend. For Milo, one highlight was riding a BIG Red Bus to the game. Another was the mascot horses that cantered around the arena all in Crusaders Costume. The game itself was just background to the junk food he consumed.

Not only did we bring cookies to share around, but we got “take a kid to footy” goodie bags with potato chips and a chocolate bar. Milo was very serious about his chip consumption.

MMMmm, cookie!

Audrey was a pro at waving the flag, and took her duty as seriously as Milo took his chip and cookie eating. Audrey’s family left today to go back to Alaska. We’re looking forward to seeing them again in August, though when they return they’ll be living 5 hours away up in Nelson instead of the neighboring town.

These lazy lions hardly gave us the time of day, but they were lounging conveniently close to the fence to be great for observation. Talk about a freakishly large cat! A grizzly bear seems a much more “blunt” danger when compared to a cat. Cats just LOOK a lot smarter, like they might nonchalantly stalk you for pleasure, then toy with you as if you’re a mouse. Milo had absolutely no sense of fear with these guys though.

Jeremiah went hunting last weekend, so Milo and I met a friend at the Zoo, a “safari-style” walk through of mainly large African animals. Tristan and Milo are looking at the giraffes from afar, but earlier we had been quite close to them. With their wide heads atop long agile necks they reminded me of dinosaurs.