Long weekend road trip

Nothing better than a road trip with loved ones to visit more loved ones.  

For various reasons I've missed attending nearly all my grandson's birthdays but this year my son and his wife planned to attend Aiden's 10th birthday party so I hitched a ride with them.

My daughter pulled out all the stops, everything was perfect.  Except for the wind, even Justine can't control the wind.  There was plenty of sunshine but the wind made it quite cold outside.  Not that Aiden and his mates felt the cold, they didn't sit still all afternoon.  Apparently, nerf guns are all the go with 10 yr old boys.  I thought that funny - I remember very clearly being admonished for making a pistol shape with my fingers and blowing imaginary smoke off the end of it in front of the child when he was a toddler.  I try to be a good grandmother but it's been difficult at times.

The birthday boy and his dad enjoying a private moment.

Birthday parties sure have evolved.  It would never have dawned on me to go to so much trouble for a child's party.  Mind you, everything I would have given my kids to eat would be frowned upon by the PC brigade, whereas all the edible offerings here were healthy.  Pretty sure it was all lost on the boys but the parents in attendance were impressed.

Must share a few comments from his mates that I overheard when Aiden was opening his presents.

"If you've already read it, I strongly recommend you sell it." (latest Harry Potter book)

"My mother bought it, don't shame me." 

"Oh no, I don't have that one, wish I'd kept it for myself." (as he opened a set of soccer cards that all the boys collect)

The boys sleeping quarters

The wind may have been strong in Taranaki but we had two absolutely perfect summer days for both the trip down and the return.  And, although we were travelling home on the last day of a long weekend, we had very few traffic holdups.  We must have fluked the best hours to be on the highway.  And it was a fluke because if my son had a planned departure time I blew that out of the water when I slept late.  

Westhaven Marina and Auckland city from the Harbour Bridge on Friday

Can't remember the name of this little coastal holiday spot on SH 3 on Monday.

Hah!  You thought you were going to get away without we showing you the mountain, didn't you?  Never.  I love that mountain in all seasons.  The snow has all gone but this mountain loves to show off, he wrapped a pretty cloud around his neck and let it float away in the breeze.

He's gone!

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.  Winnie the Pooh

 Nothing beats the midwinter blues like a visit from a little grandson.  Works like magic every time.  Once welcoming hugs from the doting grandmother are out of the way, the little man jumps on the phone to ring his farmer uncle to announce he is here.  

What to do when the uncle has visitors and can't take him farming immediately?  He readies himself for farm duties and finds a spot from which he can see when the visitor leaves.  And doesn't leave that post until he sees the strange car is gone.  

 

He sure loves being busy and when it's not possible to be out and about with Uncle Danny he's just as happy to be busy inside, under the watchful eye of cousin, Georgia.

 

He even does the dishes!  No wonder I miss him so much after he's gone.

After a week his farm overalls reflect the fun he's had.  And the grin couldn't be bigger.

All's quiet

I'll miss the chatter and the entertainment.  But not near as much as I'll miss those little arms that crept around my neck every morning when he came to my bedside to announce that he was awake.  Life is good when every new day deserves it's own announcement!

In the past I've called the shots about where we would go for a walk.  Now that he's five he's the font of all knowledge and leads me where he wants to go.  I want to go up the creek, he wants to go down.  You can guess which way we went.

Just because he's standing still, don't for one minute presume he's quiet. 

He's so like his mother - when it's time for a road-trip he's first to the car.  

While he was here we had another special visitor.  A lone black swan dropped in to spend a couple of days on the dam.   I was hoping a mate might join him or her but it wasn't to be.  At least I know the special little human visitor will be back one day.

  

I was surprised that it let us get as close as it did.  Aiden loved that it made footprints!

He's gone!

It's been a lovely week, entertaining, relaxed and fun.  Any week with lots of cuddles from my littlest man is bound to be good.  

Trouble is the good times come to an end.  Sooner or later he has to leave.  The house is quiet. Tidy.  Empty. 

I hope he made some nice memories of time on the farm.  

Fun with the big cousins:

 

And a little bit of waiting, too.  Waiting for Uncle Danny to come and take him for a ride.
 

Boys and toys

A digger and a cement truck - a two year old boy couldn't ask for much more.  Add the tractor and trailer, the motor bike and the quad bike and you have just about everything you need to keep a little man enthralled all day.

Saturday morning Aiden was concerned I was "going the wrong way" when we set out for a walk to see the machinery again.  I was just taking a few steps to get the chick coop out of the shot of the fog.

Even I thought the digger looked pretty cool in the early morning light.

Of course, I think the little man looks great in any light:

 This morning got off to a slow start with a problem with the water pump.  That's what we thought it was but it turned out it was a power board fault in the area and it was just a matter of time before it was fixed.  It was a bit weird, having lights and being able to boil the kettle but not enough power to work the water pump or the machines at the cow shed.  Those who couldn't wait had showers at my son's house where the water if gravity fed and not reliant on a pump.  

It turned into a really lousy day, very windy, heavy rain.  A good day for Jami and Mitchell to practise their numbers for New Zealand's Got Talent on 25th.  The Brains Trust (Leone and Justine) were helping them refine their songs. 

Perfect weather also for the little man to get a hair cut from Aunty Leone.  He's an amazing little kid (I'm allowed to say that, I'm the grandmother). he stood on a chair and hardly moved a muscle.  I have enough trouble sitting still for that long.

Then time for a cuddle with Georgia before they took him away again.

 

The house is very quiet now.

Awww….he’s gone!

I'll see him again in around three weeks, and then I'll have him all to myself for a few hours each day.  Can't wait. This little man brings such joy and laughter into my life.  I feel like Miranda's mother, it's all such fun!

"Look!"

"Look!"

A cousin and a dog to run with, what more could a little boy want?

"Oops, fell in the mud." Never mind, there are plenty of distractions.

"What's that on the other side, Georgia?"

You can't help but smile when you watch a young child discover a new world.   And renew acquaintances with adoring girl cousins. 

Yesterday we had a belated birthday lunch for Georgia then Justine took family groups photos of Heather and the girls.  I got to take photos of them while they were being photographed.  (I'm sure Justine wouldn't have chopped off Heather's head.) 

And I got one shot I'm really pleased with.  Shayde does like like the camera pointed in her direction, she freezes and it's awfully hard to get a natural shot of her.   But I caught her while she was laying on the floor, concentrating on playing marbles.  If only that child knew how lovely she is, she wouldn't be so camera shy. 

FSO - Children

I've been looking forward to this topic!

My youngest grandchild will be here later today.  Hopefully I will be able to add one of him at the end. If I remember - he is quite a distraction!

So I just have a couple of recent photos of Georgia.  Love that farm-hat.

And some taken last weekend up north of two little families enjoying a winter Saturday morning. 

To see what great children shots the rest of the team has found, just pop over here.

And here he is - my little man, out exploring the farm soon after arrival.

The littlest visitor

Yesterday 6 week old, Aiden came for his first visit to the farm.  What a wonderful distraction a little baby is!

It’s been 17 years since I had a grandson and I’m as dotty about this one as I was about the first. 



His big cousins are as besotted as I am:

One thing we know about him already is he loves it when someone reads to him.  He looked at Georgia intently as she read her homework book to him:

He smiled at the bits he obviously thought sounded funny:



And looked at the pictures when Georgia held up the book to show them to him.



And, of course, he loves his granny:



This is the sight that met me when I came out to the living room this morning.



That’s when a house feels like a home.