For Ro's A Jolly Good Fellow!

Friday

Today was Ronan's "going away" party at Pilot Bay. Sherry called all his school chums' mums a couple of weeks ago to invite them, and has been planning the party ever since. She tried baking another pavlova this morning since her one last night fell. She remembered too late that you weren't supposed to open the oven door while it cooled. Unfortunately, she ran out of confectioner's sugar this morning and had to substitute granulated sugar, which didn't work at all, yielding a gritty mess that wouldn't dissolve. She mixed it so much that the meringue finally just fell apart in a gooey disaster, which all went into the bin. Her next attempt looked good to start with; she used icing sugar, but the final result, although pretty, was a sticky, inedible mess. Nothing like the crunchy crust with the light center it was supposed to be. Her first attempt from last night, although not pretty, would have to do using the standard Kiwi cover-up: lots of whipped cream!

Too sweet

The Anchorage was busy with all the people checking in for a weekend holiday, so the elevator went on the fritz again, just as we were about to take all the food and drinks down to Pilot Bay. Fortunately, Craig was around to give us a hand lugging all the stuff down four stories. We ferried all the food and supplies over in the car while Craig escorted Ro and Barnaby on their bicycles. Pilot Bay beach was packed, and we somehow lucked out and got the only open parking spot, right near our picnic site. Noisy kids are good for something, as we soon scared off a few people hanging about the picnic tables we were angling for.

Carla, MJ, and Tori were already there, and the rest of Ro's classmates showed up in short order. All the boys wore their togs and brought their boogie boards and surfboards, so they splashed around in the water for most of the afternoon while the adults socialized around the tables and the grill. Everyone brought plenty of meat for the "sausage sizzle," (i.e. barbecue) which Sherry supplemented with some tasty pasta salad. Ro scarfed his food down quickly, not wanting to miss out on dessert.

My turn!

Ro & MJ drying off in the warm sun

Tori, MJ, Janyia, Ro & Tessa

Sherry loved working with Janyia in Ro's classroom

Da boys chillin'

Clucking with the hens. Note the free public gas grill

The cake Sherry made for the kids made your teeth ache just looking at it. A double-decker chocolate sheet cake, surrounded by marshmallows, and topped with loads of icing, chocolate fish and milk bottles (candies so ubiquitous they've become Kiwiana), with several New Zealand flags sticking out of it. Ro asked for a "big piece," then promptly dropped it on the ground, so he had to wait anxiously as everyone else got served, wondering if there would be any left for him.

Like hyenas around a zebra carcass

Several of the kids brought presents for Ro, most notably Jack, who even painted Ro a painting of Mauao. Carla and her family gave Sherry a Pukiko (a NZ bird) apron, Mark a NZ letter opener, and Ro a Maori waka among other gifts.

Jack takes after his grandmother

Thank ya, mate!

Mark ran back to the apartment for the whipped cream and fresh fruit to put on the pavlova, which Sherry prepared a bit away from the crowd, so only Craig and Paulette could see its homely beginnings. The finished product, though, drew raves from all the Kiwis for its spot-on taste and texture, making Sherry feel like all her efforts were worth it.

Pavlova is served!

The Hills at one of our favourite hangouts

As some of the kids started leaving, Sherry passed out the goodie bags she'd prepared. We were soon awash in noisemakers (balloons wrapped around small straws which squeal when the air is released), getting dirty looks from nearly everyone on the beach. The kids were having too much fun to stop them, though, so Mark devised a game of "who can blow up their balloon the biggest?" The balloons soon started popping to our relief, except Gareth's, the noisiest of the bunch. He paused his noisemaking just long enough to tell Sherry, "You sure do throw a great party!"

Sunbather's bane

Ro's greenstone takes a dip

Get him!

Cracking up

Barnaby & Ro taking a breather

Ro tries to take down Saxon

Showing off her new fashion accessory

MJ, Barnaby, & Ro clowning for the camera

The party adjourned at sunset, and the boys rode home, waving to us as we passed them in the car. After a hunt around the apartment for Bear Bear, we finally got Ro to bed. Once he finished his bedtime story, he put his head down and sighed, "I really had a great time."

As the festivities are winding down