Season's End

Saturday

We were up bright and early for rugby for the last time today. Even though the Mt Maunganui Gold Under 6's played their final game a few weeks ago, the season didn't actually finish until today when all the junior clubs in the area gathered for their annual awards ceremony. Fortunately for their attention spans, Ro's team got their awards first. All the boys got a certificate and a participation trophy (the ball on it looked suspiciously like an American football). Two boys from every team got special honors, Most Improved and Player of the Year, and there were also door prizes to be won. The trophy was enough for Ro, and he was pleased as punch at his first trophy ever, waving it around like no one else got one but him. He didn't have the patience to watch all the following teams trot up to the stage to get their awards, so while Sherry went across the street to New World, Mark took Ro and his friend Henry outside to kick the rugby ball around.

Ro's team getting their recognition

Ro heads back to his seat with hardware in hand

The boys wanted to run Mark ragged, playing three person rugby on a full-size field. Mark nipped that in the bud pretty quick, and came up with the idea of everyone trying to kick the ball over the goalposts, thinking it would take the boys forever to do it. Henry may be small, but he makes up for it in raw Kiwi talent, and probably got the ball over 25% of the time. Ro got the ball over on his third attempt, and was ecstatic (so was Mark), but hit the point of diminishing returns after that.

Ro boots one towards the crossbar as Henry looks on

After a week of absolutely beautiful spring weather, the day turned rainy, so after lunch we took Ro to The Rock House to burn off some energy. Unlike weekday afternoons after school, there weren't many teens and tweens there, but there were plenty of little kids. Other parents were no doubt stuck for rainy day ideas like us. Ro spent a lot of time in the bouldering room today, mostly because he likes falling on the inflatable floor. The gym started getting crowded after a while, so we headed home for dinner (pork chops), and a quiet evening watching the All Blacks take on the Wallabies in the last Tri-Nations Test of the season. New Zealand throttled the Aussies 33-6 in Wellington, leaving the Wallabies with the ignominy of claiming this year's dreaded "wooden spoon."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_spoon_(award)

His nickname with the staff is "the little monkey"

Finally reached the swinging hold, now what?

Sherry went a little overboard at the toy library this week

Happy Birthday Mum!

Tuesday

Sherry and Ro were up early this morning. When Mark got up around 6:15, Ro was already watching his Walking With Dinosaurs DVD from the library and Sherry was checking her e-mail and drinking a leisurely cup of coffee. While Mark was at work, Sherry took Ro to school on the tandem bike, then came home and caught the bus to Bayfair mall. Sherry has a cute sundress to wear on future summer excursions, but no nice shoes, so she treated herself and found a nice pair of strappy Italian wedges on sale. Then she came home and lounged around reading her new James Patterson novel and talking to her mom on Skype. She left early to pick up Ro so she could gather fallen branches in the park for the class to use for their garden scarecrow.

On the way home from work, Mark stopped off at Bayfair to pick up some flowers for Sherry's birthday (a fiery red bromeliad) and a Mylar balloon that Ro quickly claimed for his own. When Mark got home, Ro and Sherry were positively famished, so we walked down to Latitude 37 (how apropos) for dinner. We got there at 5:30, but they didn't start serving food until 6pm, so we relaxed with a round of drinks first. Ro got "lemonade," which tasted suspiciously like Sprite. We're guessing they don't serve a lot of kids there, as his drink came in a tall, top-heavy pilsner glass. No spills, fortunately, but he did express dismay that his drink didn't come with olives like ours did, so the bartender thankfully brought him a couple olives of his own.

On our way to dinner along Maunganui Road

The chicken skewers look almost too good to eat

Our dinner was delicious; Mark got the roasted lamb shanks, Sherry the pasta of the day, and Ro a cheese pizza. Ro was in a happy mood, if somewhat restless, and it took dessert to firmly plant him in his seat. When we got home, Sherry opened her presents: cards from Ro and Mark, the "twist" Maori jade necklace she'd had her eye on, kiwi boxer shorts (she's always borrowing Mark's), an All Blacks scarf to wear to future chilly sporting events, chocolates, and a guilty-pleasure ladies "trash" mag.

Making a birthday wish

Showing off the birthday loot

Modelling her new jade necklace

Clowning around at bedtime

Beach Buddies

Sunday

Well, Ronan probably won't be having any more sleepovers for a while. The next day (yesterday), he was I-L-L, and we don't mean with a fever. So much so, that we didn't dare take him to a planned playdate with schoolmate Mat. Fortunately, after Ro and Sherry both crashed on the sofas for about three hours in the afternoon, we were at least able to get some food into him. The combination of sleep and a full stomach finally abated the whining somewhat. Mark picked up takeaway for us from Zeytin Cafe down the block; by the way, if you ask for the "large" doner kebab there, you'd better be really hungry as Mark found out. If there's one thing this area has plenty of (besides sheep), it's good Turkish restaurants.

Ro & Sherry sacked out hard

This morning, Ro was in a much brighter mood. Barnaby and Craig called us to see if Ro wanted to climb the Mount with them, but we couldn't very well snub Mat again, so we had to decline. We all drove over to Mat's since it looked like it might rain. Mat's father Bill is actually from Rarotonga, where we took our winter holiday, and they've lived all over the world. Most recently they lived in Syria, and Mat speaks arabic pretty well. As we found out from his mom Kathryn, though, all the international schools in Syria closed down after the last time the USA bombed Syria. American and British teachers were given 24hrs to leave the country! Thus, Mat's family had to come back to NZ so he could go to school.

Arriving at Mat's house

Mat and his family live in a house on Marine Parade that dates back to 1959. They're planning to raze it and build a new one, but it looked pretty nice to us - especially the view! The boys played with Mat's toys while we chatted in the sunroom overlooking the beach, drinking espresso and eating biscotti and Iraqi dates (refrigerated, not dried) which were sooooo good. Sherry looked for them at the grocery store later, but no luck; apparently New World only carries them occasionally.

Deck view to the south along Marine Parade

Mat showing Ro his toys

Easily Ro's favorite

We soon headed across the street to the beach, then walked north along the sand until we got to the rocky outcrops near the Mt Maunganui main beach. Ro, Mat, and the dads enjoyed climbing the rocks, but our foray was cut short by the incoming tide. On our way back to Mat's house, Ro started walking hand-in-hand with Kathryn; Sherry joked to Bill, "I think my son is making a move on your wife." By the time we reached the dunes in front of their house, Ro was still holding her hand and Bill said, "I think you're right!"

Flowering dunes with Matuotau Island in distance

Clambering among the rocks

Our outcrop of rocks about to become an island

Kathryn showing Ro some cool shells

Heading home

Enjoying the view from the dunes

It had started raining by the time the boys started playing in the playhouse in the backyard, so we called it an afternoon and came home. For dinner, Sherry made steamed veggies in a garlic butter parmesan sauce, with a small Porterhouse for her and Ro and a lamb rack and mushrooms for Mark (Sherry doesn't eat mushrooms either). The Hokey Pokey cookies she made for dessert were good although a little too sweet, but hey, who's complaining? Gotta love a woman that bakes, right?

This playhouse was made in Syria

Sleepover!

Friday

Ro got a chance to show off his rugby skills yesterday when he, Mark, Craig, and Barnaby all went to Coronation Park for a little footy practice. We only paid passing notice to the rules, and despite a few tear-inducing minor injuries (mostly to Barnaby), everyone had a good time. After we were all sufficiently puffed from running around, we walked across the street to the cinema to see what movies were playing this weekend. A 30-second errand became 15 minutes, as the boys hopped on the racing video game in the small arcade in the lobby, and seemed content to race along with the title credits until dinner time.

Ro trying to elude Craig's tackle

Sherry walked with Ro's class to the beach this afternoon, taking the responsibility for watching Ro and his Maori classmate Deisha as they hunted for shells to place around the class garden. Since Tay Street Beach is only a block away from the school, Ro's class will be going to the beach to swim and boogie board every Friday following his next holiday.

Craig was gracious (or brave) enough to take the boys out by himself this evening, giving Mark and Sherry a rare dinner alone. While the boys went to Burger King, and then down the block to see Up, we took advantage of the reprieve and headed for the Bluebiyou restaurant, a nice oceanfront place in Papamoa that we had spotted the last time we were at the beach there. Although it was pretty deserted when we got there around 6:15, it filled up quickly. They have a romantic Friday night special that worked out great for us: two complimentary glasses of champagne and a box of chocolates and biscotti to take home. Our antipasto was delicious, although Sherry steered away from the mussels and chicken liver pate. Our mains were excellent as well; Mark had the roasted pork rack while Sherry enjoyed her roast pumpkin and pine nut risotto, and we split a chocolate plate for dessert. We lingered over the first civilized meal we've had in a while, but it was soon back to reality.

http://www.bluebiyou.co.nz/

Cheers, baby!

We got home just before Craig and the boys; they had wanted to have a sleepover last night (which naturally got vetoed because it was a school night), so we told them they could have one tonight. This was Ro's first sleepover with a friend, so we elected to host this one. We invited Craig to stick around for drinks and we ended up talking around the kitchen table until 10:30. He's a local cop and works with Search & Rescue, so he has no shortage of interesting anecdotes, which become even funnier after a few margaritas. Eventually, we had to call a halt to the boys' fort-building antics before it got obscenely late. Getting Barnaby to go to bed was no problem, but Ro was so excited he kept keeping Barnaby awake...poor kid. Barnaby would come out of the bedroom bleary-eyed and looking pitiful, telling us that Ro wouldn't stop talking...lol. After a few failed efforts at settling Ro down, we finally just let Ro fall asleep in our bed and transferred him back to his room after he passed out.

Quit talking and go to sleep!

A Big Day In The Bay

Sunday

Sherry and Ro dropped Mark off at work today to make things easier getting to the All Blacks event held on The Strand in Tauranga. The MasterCard All Blacks Roadshow, which travels around NZ on the team's off-weeks, features rugby skills competitions where you can match your scores against All Blacks players, but everyone mostly just comes to meet a couple of the current players and sometimes a historic veteran player as well. There are also activities for the kids and a featured autograph session.

http://www.mastercard.com/nz/personal/en/roadshow/index.html

Sherry was determined to get our souvenir NZ rugby balls signed, and although the show did not start until 11am, she and Ro got there at 10:20 to make sure they had a spot in the autograph section. As it states on the website, even though the event is from 11-3, the All Blacks are only there for two hours, so Sherry was on a mission not to miss them. Ro was in good spirits until Barnaby didn't show by 11am, and since the lines for the three rugby challenge activities were insanely long, he became quickly frustrated and bored. Add in the intense NZ sunshine, hardly any room to move, and a five year old's hunger, and the situation quickly became fairly desperate for Sherry. Things looked even more bleak for her when the events coordinator announced that the All Blacks would not arrive for another hour. She kept telling Ro to "Look for Barnaby," trying to make a game of it, and although this placated Ro for another 30 minutes, hunger won out. Even though she had packed a picnic for the park that was now forever away in a cooler in the boot of the car, she decided to take on the incredible line for the barbee and buy Ro the sausage he was begging for. He seems to eat every two hours these days, and he's always "starving."

Ro ready for some rugby action

Thirty minutes later, the All Blacks arrived and took the stage while Sherry and Ro were still about 15 minutes away from the coveted sausage and cold beverages. Sherry was struggling to hold Ro up so he could see the stage (he's getting HEAVY) and at the same time keep her place in line. Finally, with sausage in hand, while 90% of the crowd was watching the stage, Sherry and Ro made their way to the autograph line forming quietly at stage right. Even though there were around 25 people ahead of them, this was the front, if that tells you anything about how many people would soon fall in behind them.

All Blacks fielding questions from the crowd

By now it was around 12:20. The autographs would not start until 1 pm. Of course, you don't know any of this until the All Blacks arrive, and then again, you never know when they will actually arrive at these events. About five minutes into the wait, and after about two bites of the food they waited 45 minutes to purchase, Ro dropped his tomato sauce-smothered sausage into the sand. Sherry could've cried. Ro's eyes threatened rain, and his lip quivered, looking up to Sherry with those defeated, tired, hot, and hungry little boy eyes. "I want to go!" he pleaded. "I'm tired mommy, let's just go to the park," he begged. Sherry encouraged him to be a "big boy." They had made it this far, and once the line started, he would be happy he waited. Big tears were getting ready to roll when Barnaby and his Dad walked by. Salvation! Craig offered to take Ro for a bit, and congratulated Sherry on her prime position in the autograph line.

Finally, the autographs began. It only took around 10 minutes to get on stage, and luckily Craig had dropped off Ro just in time, so he could take his ball while Sherry carried Mark's. There was a strict adherence to "one item per person" in order to facilitate the flow of things. Pictures were only allowed while moving in line but not with the players, although Sherry did get a couple of usable shots as they approached the table. Signed balls in hand, Ro high-fived Sherry, and Sherry gave Barnaby a signed photo from the autograph table of one of the players so he wouldn't leave empty handed.

There were two current All Blacks present at the Roadshow, captain Richie McCaw and local favorite Tanerau Latimer, who plays for our Waikato Chiefs in the Super 14 and the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the Air New Zealand Cup. The five NZ Super 14 teams are made up of players from the 14 Air NZ Cup teams, and the All Blacks are made up from the Super 14 players. Keep in mind that the players at the highest level (i.e. All Blacks) continue to play for their local teams when their schedule allows, which would be like Derek Jeter playing Minor League baseball on his days off from the Yankees. In fact, they're required to in order to be eligible for selection to the All Blacks. The real treat for the fans, though, was former All Black great Buck Shelford; he signs his pictures with "3 B's" in reference to the "Bring Back Buck" fans would always chant after his retirement.

Ro captivated by the whole process

Check out Buck's amazing story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/2354565.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shelford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_McCaw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanerau_Latimer

Tanerau Latimer hands Ro his ball as Richie McCaw looks on

After the Roadshow, Sherry asked Ro if he wanted to walk the few blocks to the foot of the new Tauranga Harbour Bridge that opened today, which was open just to pedestrians this afternoon. People traveled from all over the region to walk across the bridge today, which was a pretty momentous occasion for the Bay of Plenty. Mark knows firsthand the frustrations of trying to get across the current two-lane bridge at rush hour, and the new bridge parallel to the old one is a welcome sight indeed. Ro wasn't in a walking mood, though, and just wanted to head for the nearest jungle gym. So, Sherry and Ro said goodbye to new friends, and made their way to Fergusson Park along the Otumoetai Foreshore, where they had their picnic and enjoyed a great view of Mount Maunganui from the other side of Pilot Bay. The park, although scenic with lots of space to play, had a small playground not quite up to Ro's climbing standards. So, they headed down south of the hospital to check out another park Sherry had seen. This one scored big with Ro, so they played until it was time to drop the car off at the hospital and catch the bus back to The Mount.

Jumping for the bar at Fergusson Park Playspace

Mauao across the estuary at low tide

Ro gets rolling at Greerton Village School's playground

Once home, Ro and Barnaby played rugby in Coronation Park until dinner. When Mark got home, Ro was finally able to give him his Father's Day gifts and cake! The highlight of the presents was, of course, the signed rugby ball Sherry had worked so hard to get, but Mark also scored an All Blacks mug (with a silver fern that appears when you pour in a hot liquid), a Canterbury rugby shirt, a signed pic of Buck Shelford, a very sweet card, and several random objects Ro threw in the gift bag for good measure. To top it off, Sherry had fixed Mark a mini roast leg of lamb, steamed broccoli, and baked kumara (do you see a trend?), then we settled in and watched Step Brothers after putting Ro to bed. An excellent Father's Day indeed, and a memorable day for the BOP.

Oh, yeeaahh!

What Ro's been waiting for since yesterday

The Fabulous Baker Boy

Saturday

First, a few pics from yesterday:

Ro's class getting ready to plant a garden (Sherry helped supervise)

Checking out the view, ice cream in hand


Ro the sand angel

Buried in the sand at Pilot Bay

View from our balcony at sunset. The ocean is just on the other side of the hill

After Mark left for work this morning, Sherry and Ro started working on a surprise Father's Day cake; in New Zealand, Father's Day is on the same weekend as Labor Day in the States. During her volunteer shift at the toy library in Papamoa, Sherry found a Winnie the Pooh cake tin and thought it would be an easy design to work with, since she was going to let Ro take the lead on decorating. Ro loves helping Sherry cook anyway, especially when there is baking involved, and is always keen to help clean up by doing a pre-wash (i.e. licking) of the batter bowls. Of course, the most fun part was the decorating, and although Sherry did most of the yellow on Pooh's face, Ro carefully drew the expression by himself.

Ro ready for some hardcore baking


The icing artist at work

After lunch, Sherry and Ro headed to Drury Park to meet up with a newbie to The Anchorage, Barnaby, and his dad Craig. Our apartment manager Lindy always refers the new kids to our apartment, as Ro is the only full-time resident kid. This is how we met Rachel and her kids, who have unfortunately moved back to Oz. At any rate, Barnaby has just turned six years old, and with his blond hair he could pass for Ro's brother. The two boys had a blast playing on the usual attractions at the playground, then headed to the front of Mount Drury to climb the wonderful twisting trees, which Barnaby has never had the pleasure of playing on. The boys quickly ran to the top and had great fun rolling themselves down the back of Drury's grassy slope. The afternoon passed quickly, and the boys bid each other adieu, hoping to catch up at the big "Meet the All Blacks" event in Tauranga tomorrow.

Sherry walked behind Ro at his insistence; he prefers to lead the way on his bike, but Sherry thinks he's just trying to pretend like he's not with her. He's growing up too fast! He had insisted on carrying his backpack with his own snacks and water he'd packed, and with his shades on he looked like a mini teenager...except for the training wheels. He also rings his bell constantly, starting at around 20 feet behind someone, to make sure they know he is coming. He received more than one muffled giggle from passersby exclaiming to the effect of, "How cute! A hot rod on trainers!" Then they shopped at the butcher, where Ro has learned how to smile innocently in front of the sausages and win himself a free "Cheerio" from the butcher, just like any proper Kiwi kid.

See link: http://www.hans.com.au/Products/SausagesFranks/HansCheerios250g.aspx

After Ro practiced kicking his rugby ball in Coronation Park, it was time to relax at home; while Sherry did the weekly cleaning, Ro entertained himself out on the deck with the water table Sherry rented from the toy library. It was a perfectly warm and sunny day, the kind that lets you know Spring has sprung.

Backyard Safari

Thursday

Today was a gorgeous spring day in the Bay, so while Ro was in school we took a walk around Mauao. Lots of other people were out walking, too, including a school field trip, but it was still nowhere near as crowded as it will be during the high season (Christmas & New Year's). It's kind of strange living in an urban area, walking a few blocks from your apartment and finding sheep grazing on a hillside, then a few hundred yards away finding two seals sunning themselves on the rocks at low tide. After our walk, we stopped at a cafe on Marine Parade called The Coffee Club since Sherry had brought a coupon for it from our Entertainment Book (yes, they have those in NZ too). The Eggs Benedict was pretty good, but Mark still prefers Main Street Cafe's of all the places he's tried on The Mount. Sherry's date scone was more date than scone...really good and moist.

Sherry at the base of Mauao

On the west side of Mauao, the side that faces Tauranga

Fur seals on the eastern side of Mauao, facing the Pacific

Mark clowning around on the rocky shore

A shell collector's dream

Low tide at Mt Maunganui Main Beach

Enjoying a cappuccino in the sunshine

Sherry got an early birthday card from her Mom in the mail today. It was one of those musical ones that Ro loves to repeatedly open and close until the melody gets stuck in your head; this one played Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash (Ro's middle name namesake). The card also included some old pics Shela had recently found on a mystery roll of film; it looked like they were from Spring '07 judging by Sherry's hair. Ro and his cousin Caitlin were so cute and small, with those cherubic fat cheeks! Sherry even got a little misty-eyed. We picked Ro up from school, and he was eager to go back to The Rock House to show Mommy all the new routes he'd climbed since the last time she brought him. He's getting a lot more adventurous and willing to try new routes, but still gets frustrated when he can't get up the really hard ones; some holds are just too small for his bare feet and his reach just isn't long enough. We try to explain to him that even adults would have a hard time with them, but he doesn't want to hear it, stating determinedly, "No! I'm just going to keep trying! I don't care what you say!" Bless his heart.

Ro was so proud when he finally negotiated this overhang

Rock Twister. "Left foot green!"

Happily abseiling down after conquering a new route

Sherry made tofu in barbecue sauce with veggie kebabs for dinner, but had pity on Mark and roasted him a small lamb rack, which was absolutely delicious. Mark, who has the diet of the average puma, and thinks there should be a law restricting tofu use to Hot & Sour Soup, tried the tofu but figured if you have to put that much barbecue sauce on it to make it taste edible, why eat it? Ronan, on the other hand, asked for extra tofu, and stated "What do you call those people? Vegetarians? I'm going to be him." Mark almost convinced Ro to try the lamb when Sherry jokingly started making pitiful bleating noises and put Ro off it. Ro looked sadly at Mark and said, "That's mean, Daddy, to eat little baby sheeps. I want a pet sheep, and YOU (finger pointed at Mark) can't eat him!" Ahh, the struggle continues.