Cops & Robbers

Sunday

We woke up to a cloudy, balmy day, with occasional light sprinkles. Sherry made pikelets for breakfast today so Cerine could try them. The Sun Princess pulled into port early this morning, so The Mount was buzzing with activity. Mark's hopes of sleeping in were gone once Barnaby came over to play with Ro and their collective decibel level jumped about twenty notches.

To spare Sherry and Cerine, a bleary-eyed Mark took the boys down to the pool with Craig. Mark and Craig compared bruises from yesterday, fondly remembering that last crazy luge run. Barnaby had a new inflatable rubber ring, which got its first hole after about ten minutes of rough play. After spending a couple hours splashing around, Craig invited us over for pipi fritters. Of course, Cerine and Sherry declined, as neither of them eat seafood. The girls spent the afternoon shopping, and Craig and Paulette went for a walk around Mauao while Mark took the boys to Coronation Park.

Barnaby had a couple of new squirt guns which were a big hit with the boys. They loved chasing each other around with them, then got the idea that it was more fun to chase Mark, who was unarmed. As luck would have it, there was a water spigot on the back of the iSite building next to the park for refilling the guns. While Mark got soaked from the guns, the boys soaked themselves in the goldfish pond. They also enjoyed spraying a dead bird, trying to knock it into the pond (it was on a piece of PVC pipe in the water), much to the amusement of some nearby teenagers who were rooting them on.

I got you!

The pohutukawa trees are in full bloom

Trying to drown a dead bird

Their own island nation

Catching tadpoles

After exhausting themselves at the park, Mark and the boys stopped by the ice cream counter at the pier. Ro and Barnaby were soon covered in chocolate ice cream, and had to wash themselves off in Pilot Bay. Mark and the boys hung out at Craig's place until dinner, where they got to play with Craig's police equipment. The handcuffs, spent blank rounds, extendable baton, and stab-proof vest were all big hits with the boys.

The port's tight security easily breached by a five year-old

Two peas in a pontoon

Sorry, Ro, I can't seem to get them off!

Daddy, this vest is too heavy!

It became apparent that Mark had run Ro pretty hard today, as he passed out on his bed a few minutes after getting home. We felt bad about waking him up for dinner, as he was pretty fussy, but was in a much better mood after a warm bath. It's back to school and hopefully a steady routine for him tomorrow.