Quiet Time With The Whanau

Monday

Mark was working again yesterday, so Sherry and Norma went to the farmer's market while Carver watched Ro. Later, they all took Ro to Drury Park. Ro was really tired after staying up past his bedtime the past few nights. Normally, we have to chase after him on his bicycle, but he kept stopping on the way and putting his head down on the handlebars, claiming he was too tired to peddle. Even at the park, he only played a little, and then lay down on a bench! Carver was feeling a little under the weather, too...we hope it's nothing catching.

After the park, N&C window-shopped along Maunganui Road, picking up some postcards to send to the grandkids back home. It was a beautiful day, so once back at the apartment they lounged on the deck, drinking hot chocolate and savoring the view over Pilot Bay. After several weeks of working hard on home improvement projects at Norma's mother's house in California, they were ready for some down time. Ro and Barnaby played down at the pool for much of the afternoon, then we all got together at our place for a roast chicken dinner once Mark got home. Craig and Barnaby came over after dinner for drinks; Craig brought Turkish Delight, most of which was eaten by Mark.

This morning, Mark was tired from a long work weekend and Carver still wasn't feeling up to snuff, so they both slept in. Sherry and Norma went grocery shopping; they searched three different stores for raw pistachios to no avail (more on that later). Mark and Carver were still in bed at 10am, so the ladies took a couple laps around Mauao. It was a nice morning, although a little overcast with a cool sea breeze. They saw a seal and two bunny rabbits, but amazingly no sheep.

With the guys finally roused from their slumber and semi-conscious, we gathered at N&C's place for brunch just after noon. Norma fixed a big omelet (minus the ham for Sherry), with plenty of toast (with delicious apricot jam), coffee, and tea. After eating, Norma walked down to the market to pick up the last of the ingredients for making baklava, while Sherry went to the library and picked up Ro from school. She could tell he wasn't in a good mood, as he made a beeline for the car instead of playing with his mates.

Norma & Sherry making brekkie

Ro was in rare form, whining-wise. Sherry and Norma were trying to do the prep work for the baklava and dinner, but Ro wanted Mommy next to him constantly. Mark finally convinced him to go down to the pool, but even then, it took Mark a good 20 minutes to get Ro in a halfway pleasant mood. Sherry was concerned that he might be coming down with whatever was ailing Carver, so she gave him some empiric ibuprofen. Combined with a hot bath, it seemed to work, as he played pleasantly with Barnaby while the ladies finished making dinner.

Carver joined us as dinnertime approached, and we watched the Eagles vs Giants NFL game. We've already burned through a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, prompting Carver to tell Mark, "If we've already gone through a whole bottle, that means you're making them too strong! You're over-ginning us." Norma made a sort of mince casserole with zucchini over rice. Very tasty, but we all noted that the sauce was a little on the sweet side. We had observed the same thing with the bouillabaisse the other night, and realized it must be the canned tomato sauce we were using. It was at that point that Mark remembered that "tomato sauce" in New Zealand is what we call ketchup in the States!

After dinner, Sherry put Ro to bed early...he passed out in under a minute. We watched the replay of the All Blacks vs Wallabies match, as Norma hadn't seen any of it, and Sherry and Carver had missed at least half of it. Mark tried his best to explain the basic rules of rugby union so it wouldn't be Greek to N&C. Norma taught Sherry how to make baklava, subbing walnuts for pistachios. N&C soon retired to their place, leaving Sherry to finish baking the sticky treat for a party tomorrow.

Sorry Cerine, couldn't wait for you