Weekend update ...

We had a pretty busy weekend which pretty much means things are back to normal :). We did visit the farmer's market on Saturday and did most of our weekly shopping.

After that we went to The Grape Escape which basically is a cafe, wine bar and kids playground all rolled into one. Such combinations are much more prevalent in NZ than other countries. It definitely is a great thing for families and we had a good time. The kids did a fair amount of jumping and riding on the tractor. They also got to see some adult and kid llamas but kept a safe distance from them.

We did sample some pretty good organic wine from Richmond Plains and a good Reisling from Te Mania Wines. Grape Escape acts as the cellar and retail store for these two wineries. The kids keep us fairly busy so we have not had time to enjoy them as yet. Reviews at a later stage, but I dont think we really know how to judge wine very well. Later that evening, we went to our first kiwi neighborhood BYO bbq at our friends Diedre and Wally from Shakespeare Cottage. This was their first annual Shakespeare Walk bbq and we met a few locals there.

Richmond Montessori had a xmas picnic on Sunday at Rabbit Island. We got there on time at 11:00 am and due to some vehicular problems the folks from the school did not show up till 11:30 am or so. We were not aware that Rabbit Island is a fairly big and popular picnic spot so did a fair amount of driving across multiple loops trying to find the group. We were about to give up and have our own little picnic when the rest of the gang arrived and saved the day. The place is quite spectacular with a nice sandy beach and we spent quite a few hours there with the kids. Santa's helper did come and visit, which freaked Maya out a bit. She's getting much better with regard to costumed characters but has a fair way to go. We recycle a children's cookbook (thanx Jill!) and gave that to Maya. She's already made a few dishes from the book (smiley face bagel, fish and cheese quesadilla) and is quite proud that she now has a cookbook just like mommy.

Later that evening, we went and saw the Nutcracker, a performance by the folks at Nelson School of Music. We had watched the kids version of Nutcracker in NYC last year which was a wee bit scary for the first few minutes. So Maya kept telling us and PJ that she might be scared for some time, but then it gets better. The interpretation was quite different and disjoint, but the kids liked the music and the dance show. When the two male dancers made a shirtless appearance, PJ was quite surprised and kept saying: "They dont have a shirt, I have a shirt too", which was quite cute and funny.