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
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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment