Happy Easter

It was just me and the girl's today for Easter. It wasn't too bad. I thought it would be worse having no family around, no turkey, and no D. He was on-call. He was still able to join in on the fun for the Easter egg hunt though, since the girls have taken to getting up at 6am (5:55am this morning) since the clocks went back. The day also went smoothly because of an invite to a friends house for tea and an outdoor egg hunt. So great meeting so many wonderful people on our travels.

Kids make Easter so much fun. They make every holiday fun. I love how I've evolved from having it all about me to all about them. To see their joy, their happiness and excitement is enough of a gift for me. I love how having kids makes you 'get' the self-sacrificing aspect of life. To live selflessly. Don't get me wrong. I still love a treat at Easter, or valentines and of course b-day's and Christmas but it really doesn't matter the same.
So this brings me to my question of this week...how do I incorporate the real Easter story into the tradition our society has made it. At Christmas I found a great book that explained the birth of Christ really well and tied it in to how the tradition of Christmas came about. Not quite sure how to do that with the Easter bunny :) Zaiah is a bit young but I did try and talk with Ella a little bit about the basics. Their are big words used when describing the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross. As it is, a lot of adults have a harder time than a kid would accepting what Christ did for us. I know in Sunday school they just teach it like it is. But I don't want it to look and sound like just another story, because then it sounds just as fabricated as the Easter bunny or santa clause. And what about when they find out you "lied" or "embellished" about that? I want them to get it at a level where it is real for them or as real as it can be.
I looked on Focus on the Family and they had a few neat suggestions that I will keep in mind in the upcoming years.
As for this year, we stuck to the basics: how at Easter time we are celebrating and remembering how God sent his son Jesus to show us how to love others and show them God's love and that Jesus made it possible for us to be able to talk with God easier. And then we just enjoyed the wonderful creation of chocolate!!!!! Thank-you!!!
I'd love to hear what your idea's and suggestions are from growing up or how you do Easter in your house with your kids today.

Climbing Rangitoto

We finally got the chance to climb the volcano that we look at across the bay everyday from our beach in Takapuna.
It was a 25 min. ferry ride over and 1hr hike to the top of the summit. Fairly easy walking for the most part. A little slower with the kids. Extraordinary views of the city from the top. The big crater where the lava emerged 6oo years ago was neat to see and is now all forested (see pic). The lava rubble through the trees was so incredible. There were many different caves to explore and trails you could take to explore the large volcano mass. We found a really neat, dark and narrow cave that we explored. apparently if you take a torch (flashlight, they call flashlights torches) you can keep going through the cave and come out on the other end. We didn't have one and were limited in time to catch the ferry back so we only went so far. Me, being a little claustrophobic, was very happy about that :)

Our adventure proved to be a beautiful good friday morning spent out doors as a family.
this evening we visited another famous volcano, One Tree Hill, but the weather turned bad so I didn't get any pictures...this time. We'll have to go back. The view from there was spectacular as well.

Its the simple things

YEAH!!! We finally have a blanket. The weather has cooled significantly here in the nights so we were forced to buy a blanket. I had a little pink baby blanket that I brought with me but D had nothing but a sheet up until now. As you can see we have the bare minimum in our room but do you like the "surfer Chic" decor? This was Darryl's contribution. I've also just scored a heater to borrow for the colder months of may and june whahooo!!
Like I said...its the simple things that make my happy :)

Surfing with...I mean working with... orthopedic surgeons pays off

I am loving my fellowship here. And I don't just mean the surfing and beaches! I mean I love the work too. I am fortunate to work with a great group of guys who have taught me so much. And I am getting heaps of hands on experience, which has definitely boosted my operative skills and confidence. Coming here for training was

definitely a great decision.

One of the most important things I have learned from the surgeons here is how to make the most out of life! I have become good friends with a number of the younger surgeons here with whom I have much in common. Similar ages, similar young families and similar priorities (ie. family comes first, then work). These guys all seem to make the time to enjoy their families and pursue their hobbies. They seem to have found that perfect balance that I can now realize is possible in this busy profession. And of course, NZ has no shortage of recreational activities. It's a true adventure tourism mecca.

The learning certainly doesn't end in the hospital. They've been teaching me plenty about surfing too. I've been getting out surfing with a few of the consultant orthopedic surgeons every weekend. One of them has this great old 4x4 van. A classic "surf-mobile". We load up around 5:00am every Sunday morning, arrive at the beach before sunrise, drive up the beach scouting out the perfect break, and in the water before the sunrises over the hills. Hitting up a different "locals" spot each time. Like my own guided tour of the NZ surf scene. Priceless.

This morning's surf was somewhat more eventful than usual. After a solid session, I got pummelled by a monster wave. As I was getting tossed in the washing machine, my fin sliced open my heel pretty deep. Needed stitches. Luckily, one of the surgeons I was with called ahead to the hospital to set up a minor OR room. So on the way home we stoped at the hospital, sutured me up and were out the door all in about 15 min (and about 10 of those mins was registering in ER). Perks of the job I guess.

 
 
 
 

Samples

 
 
 
 


I had my second and final photography class yesterday. I love it and am so happy that I am finally developing my long-time passion of photography. After class yesterday we headed back out to Mirawi (black sand beach) for fish and chips on the beach and so I could practice my new skills and D could practice his surfing :) Here are a few samples of our evening. I say few b/c I think I took 1,000 photo's yesterday, lol. Lot's of practice.

enjoy

Potty training on the beach

 

 

 

 

I decided that today was going to be the start of a potty training lock down. I've been pretty slack about it so far, honestly because I didn't want to make the commitment. But I decided that this mon, tue, and wed. we were going to give it a go. So, the diaper comes off at 7:15am this morning and by 3pm...no pee. 8 HOURS, countless sippy cups and trips to the potty and NO PEE! Very frustrating. So, potty came to the beach. I dug a little hold in the sand and placed her seat over it and made my very own little porta potty :) Finally, when she wanted to go swimming and mommy said that there was no swimming until Zaiah peed in the potty, she did it! Easy as that!!!!! I think she was holding out on me on purpose but when she saw the stakes were high, and there was not going to be any peeing in the water, she caved. A battle of wills... kinda :)

The beach we went to was so beautiful, one of my favorites so far I think. Partly because it was so secluded and deserted. I guess that was due to the fact that it was monday.
D was fortunate to get off early this afternoon after a long hard weekend of call. Poor guy didn't get to see the sun for two days. So we headed to Tawharanui (pronounced
Ta-fa-newi)for some surfing. The water was still beautiful, not too cold, and the sun was shining. In the afternoons here it is still about 20 degrees. We found beautiful shells, I took pictures, and Tracy even found a baby octopus in one of her shells. The girls loved it. So after I had a very productive morning I had a wonderful afternoon at the beach.
If only every monday could be like today....