Winter Solstice

Sunday

Happy Father's Day to all you muthas back in the States! Mark had a long day at work on the shortest day of the year. The ED was slammed and it wasn't safe for him to leave on time, since there's no Consultant to replace him on the weekends; the ED is only covered by juniors from 7pm to 8am. Ro was tuckered out and already in bed by the time Mark got home. No worries, though, as Father's Day in NZ is the first weekend in September. We couldn't even find Father's Day cards here to send to our Dads back home.

Ro at his Saturday morning rugby match

Sherry was on her own with Ronan since Karla was also pulling shifts at Rotorua. Rugby yesterday was uneventful, and Sherry and Ronan spent time at the playground near the rugby fields afterward. Today, Karla called at noon to say she was back from Rotorua and dog-tired. To Ronan's delight, Sherry volunteered to watch Tori and MJ for a couple of hours while Karla got her grocery shopping done. Karla dropped the kids off, and Sherry took them to the coffee shop for "fluffies" on their way down to Drury Park. Ronan was sporting his new "faux-hawk", of his own design, that he'd suddenly decided he wanted earlier that morning in perhaps, a fit of boredom.

Ayyyy!

Ro gelling up his faux-hawk. Note the tongue action

The kids played hard for hours, with Ro and MJ doing what boys do, sliding down on their stomachs on the piles of dirt from the construction materials for the new playground. Karla gave them a lift home a couple of hours later, and Ronan's mud-crusted clothes practically stood on their own!

Ro in the "funny-face contest" at Starbucks

Tori, MJ, & Ro trying to outdo each other