This slide has the best view ever—the top looks out over Christchurch and what’s left of the city center, backed by snow-capped Southern Alps. Amelia is our 5-year-old friend, dressed up in pink for a day at the Victoria Park playground with 4 of us Moms and our kids. Playgrounds are perfect spots for mommy chats because as long as we come armed with crackers and water the kids are happy!

Whee! Milo’s not what you’d call timid when it comes to climbing and sliding. I turned around and first thing I knew he was on his way down by himself, grinning from ear to ear.

We are still potty training, the reason for the bare bum. Milo can anticipate when he’ll need to go, but although the allure of M&M’s is motivational, it doesn’t seem to trump the pleasure of peeing on other random things out in the yard such as the clothesline pole, the flower beds, or a thin spot in the grass. And he has the control of a dog–he can go a little in the potty but saves some to use on the flowers the next minute. Ah well, he’s still young, as they say. Any advice, Oh Sage Mothers?
On a brighter side, the flowers in my recycled pallet wood plant boxes have started to bloom, as you can see in the foreground.

Saturday was a fully rainy “Southerly” (remember, south is cold here, so a Southerly means windy cold rain from Antarctica). But Sunday dawned beautifully. We packed up our gear and drove an hour northwest of Christchurch to Mt Oxford for the day. As we got a view of the mountains we realized that the cold rain we had yesterday in Christchurch had been cold snow on the high ground….and we hadn’t packed our snowshoes or gaiters. In the end it didn’t matter, as the people in front of us packed down the trail.

It’s actually really wet walking through trees while the sun melts the snow. Unpredictable clumps of slush kept bombing down through the branches. Milo complained, but he had a canopy to keep the snow off, so I think he was really complaining because he was tired. Here I’m trying to get him to sleep, and he’s not buying it.

Give me five, Baby!
Jeremiah was wishing he had brought his binoculars to look for animals to shoot in this bushy terrain. We saw some hoof prints. We weren’t sure whether they were deer or goats, but we’d eat either one!

Here we’re almost at the top of Mt Oxford, with the Canterbury plains spread out below. You can see the big Waimakariri river swollen with rainwater in the background. All this plain was once ocean, but the sediment brought off the mountains and deposited by the river has filled it in. I could actually imagine it happening since we could just see the muddy splotch the river was dropping at its mouth as it dumps into the ocean.

Above the tree line the fresh snow made the tussock grasses look even more humpy lumpy than normal. The sun was melting the snow so fast that the trail turned into a mini stream.

In the lee of this little rock wall the sun felt nice and warm, and we ate our lunch. Couldn’t quite toast the cheese on the sandwiches, I guess we’ll have to wait for the full strength summer sun for that.

Aw! Milo likes the mountain tops. We’re not sure he cares a hoot about the view, but the top is where he gets COOKIES.

Diaper change time! I guess this is Milo’s version of “Take a leak on every peak.” “Diaper change on every range??” It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but one of these days diapers will be a thing of the past. Until then….

the normal price of a standard 70QT cooler at Walmart, $40US~$50NZ

Yes, the sticker says $249.99, and no it was not mislabeled one of the employees kindly informed me..

CBD looking Southwest before earthquakes, looks like a terrific city, give it a few years and it might be built back up.

the latest aerial photo of the CBD looking North, not much left to it. several more of the building will eventually be removed.

Yesterday we went to Birdlings Flat, a pebbly beach about 30 minutes south of our house, with 3 other “Mums with kiddies.” Two are British moms and two of us are American, and we’ve all been in NZ less than a year. The beach was shrouded in chilly mist when we arrived, but the stones were still somehow getting some sun warmth so we warmed our buns on them until the breeze shifted the fog away. It was nice to chat, compare notes, and watch our kids squabble over rocks….as if there aren’t enough rocks on the beach!

Poke, poke, poke, driftwood is fun! Everyone came home with two eyes, amazingly enough.

Milo likes to throw rocks, of course, but at the beach he things they all need to get thrown into the waves because we did that one day months ago with Daddy. Mama got her exercise, up and down the beach!

BECA (Jeremiah’s employer) sponsored several teams in a mountain bike race event yesterday (map above). 3-4 people per team took turns riding laps around the trail marked out through the ‘forest’ (planted pines) for 6 hours, or 12 hours for the really rugged. Crazy individuals had the choice of riding the 6 hour or 12 hour stint all by themselves. Teams with the most laps around the course won. The course was mostly through the river flats next to the Waimakariri River, so not a lot of elevation, and bikers of any ability could participate. There were 1600 riders, with teams about 500 on the course at any one time. To see what the start looks like with 500 mountain bike riders, check out the video below. The start was actually a 300 meter run to collect your bike along a long avenue, then squeeze through a livestock fence gate and on to the course. The race magistrate had a typical dry Kiwi sense of humor (reminiscent of the Brits), and on the course review he warned riders of where the initial bottlenecks would be, like underneath a bridge. “It’s steel,” he chided, “just take it easy.” He was really good about keeping the tone of the race good-humored, making sure riders were courteous when out on the course.

The forth member of the bike team had to go home early, so we put Milo is as the fourth rider….in the picture only.

Here’s Jeremiah waiting at the BECA tent for his team member to come in. The course snaked through a big field filled with tents, team riders and support crews. You had to be very careful crossing the course to avoid getting hit by a rider careening around the corner of a tent.

Riders wore a timing gizmo on their ankles, which got transferred whenever team riders switched. It doesn’t do to be lazy about this step–a loop wasn’t counted if the rider wasn’t wearing the anklet.

Take off! Jeremiah will ride the 12 kilometer loop, sweating and breathing dust, after which another team member will take a turn.

We brought Milo’s bike from the toy library and he says he’s going to be racing next year. It got nice and warm during the day (“scorching hot” by Kiwi standards, probably 75 degrees F), so Milo shucked his pants.

Hagley park (like central park) has a lovely botanical garden, and the azalea collection is in peak bloom right now. Forget the pinks and purples we’re used to at home, these are FLAMING azaleas with variety names like “Barbeque,” “Mimosa,” and “Chent Cream.” It makes up in a tiny part for the fall foliage colors we’re missing. I bumbled in circles around the azalea planting for quite some time. Good thing Milo was mellow, pending a nap time.

Milo my Plant Buddy was interested in the azaleas too, but mostly to pick the blossoms off….

Aren’t these delicious?

These buds look like lobster claws, don’t they?

Ummm. The insides of the petals are leopard-spotted. Very sexy I must say, if I can without scandalizing my parents.

We took a walk to the playground the other day, and what usually takes about 5 minutes took more like 40. We stopped at every flower and Milo took great interest in smelling them all, even those without any discernible scent. “Train a child early in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not stray from it.”

Milo actually toppled over smelling these pansies, his head is to heavy and they’re so close to the ground. About 90% of the time he refrains from picking them, which is pretty amazing.

This lovely creeper lost a few flowers to picking, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable to the homeowner.

Gerbera daisies appear to be winter hardy here, and these cheeky red ones got the Milo treatment.