Saturday, March 13, 1999
Kevin and Pauline's First Trip To New Zealand
The whole holiday was so wonderful, Mum and Dad were marvellous with the children and never seemed to get tired of their company (like I sometimes do!). It was really heart-warming for me to see how well Pauline got on with Dad, right from the first day she seemed to accept him as a Grandad and enlisted him immediately into all sorts of story-reading, teeth-brushing, playing and rough-and-tumble activities. Kevin and his Granny have a very special bond too. He remembered Mum from her last trip to us. This left me free to go out frequently and enjoy the company of my old school friends. I was quite nervous about seeing them again after such a long absence, but we were delighted to discover that none of us have changed much and we were soon laughing and talking just as we did 15 years ago (and telling the same old jokes!). It was a real treat to go out to restaurants and the cinema so often and not need to pay a babysitter! The most important thing for me was to be back among people who speak my language and have the same cultural background (much as I love France, I just don’t have the same rapport with my French friends).
However, I didn’t leave Mum and Dad entirely on their own to cope with the children, I gave them frequent breaks as I was afraid of using up all their energy before the holiday was over! We also had many many outings together, most notably the trip up north to see old friends. The children loved the farm and the animals, especially the new-born kittens. They thought Lawrie and his antics highly amusing. Kevin even got a ride on Lawrie’s four-wheeler motorbike which was a great thrill. Glennis sat Kevin on a horse but he was terrified and stayed on for approximately 5 seconds, his arms and legs rigid with fear. Strangely enough, at the Karori carnival a few weeks later he begged me for a pony ride and absolutely loved it! A highlight for them was the twice-daily feeding of the orphaned lambs and calf with huge baby bottles of milk.
My friend J. now has four children and a beautiful big house in Hamilton. She always stayed so calm and reasonable even when the children were very loud and difficult, she was a real inspiration to me Her children really looked after mine and Pauline especially fell in love with six-year old Cassie, who took her on the trampoline, played hairdressers with her and shared her bath and Barbie dolls. Pauline followed her around the whole time like an adoring puppy!
Back in Wellington the weather continued hot and sunny so we naturally spent a lot of time at the beach and Karori swimming pool. It was delightful to be able to wear summer clothes and sandals all the time. We also had visits to the Zoo, a Lego exhibition with hands-on games and model dogs, cars and motorbikes, all made of Lego and Duplo, the Lindale cheese farm and animal enclosure, the Raumati chocolate factory, and lots and lots of playgrounds. I don’t think the children had a single boring minute. Mum particularly enjoyed feeding them, as their appetites were excellent. We stayed in good health for the whole holiday, which was a big relief for me. The huge bag of medicines and remedies I had with me at all times remained virtually unopened, apart from patching up the odd scraped knee and cut finger.
As you can imagine, it was hard saying goodbye and leaving again, although we missed P. a lot. I can’t help wishing he could have a career move to New Zealand, even just for a few years. The children are now speaking a lot more English, which I’m very pleased about.
However, I didn’t leave Mum and Dad entirely on their own to cope with the children, I gave them frequent breaks as I was afraid of using up all their energy before the holiday was over! We also had many many outings together, most notably the trip up north to see old friends. The children loved the farm and the animals, especially the new-born kittens. They thought Lawrie and his antics highly amusing. Kevin even got a ride on Lawrie’s four-wheeler motorbike which was a great thrill. Glennis sat Kevin on a horse but he was terrified and stayed on for approximately 5 seconds, his arms and legs rigid with fear. Strangely enough, at the Karori carnival a few weeks later he begged me for a pony ride and absolutely loved it! A highlight for them was the twice-daily feeding of the orphaned lambs and calf with huge baby bottles of milk.
My friend J. now has four children and a beautiful big house in Hamilton. She always stayed so calm and reasonable even when the children were very loud and difficult, she was a real inspiration to me Her children really looked after mine and Pauline especially fell in love with six-year old Cassie, who took her on the trampoline, played hairdressers with her and shared her bath and Barbie dolls. Pauline followed her around the whole time like an adoring puppy!
Back in Wellington the weather continued hot and sunny so we naturally spent a lot of time at the beach and Karori swimming pool. It was delightful to be able to wear summer clothes and sandals all the time. We also had visits to the Zoo, a Lego exhibition with hands-on games and model dogs, cars and motorbikes, all made of Lego and Duplo, the Lindale cheese farm and animal enclosure, the Raumati chocolate factory, and lots and lots of playgrounds. I don’t think the children had a single boring minute. Mum particularly enjoyed feeding them, as their appetites were excellent. We stayed in good health for the whole holiday, which was a big relief for me. The huge bag of medicines and remedies I had with me at all times remained virtually unopened, apart from patching up the odd scraped knee and cut finger.
As you can imagine, it was hard saying goodbye and leaving again, although we missed P. a lot. I can’t help wishing he could have a career move to New Zealand, even just for a few years. The children are now speaking a lot more English, which I’m very pleased about.
# posted by Antipodeesse @ 8:34 pm 
