Summer as it should be

When you get up in the morning and only need to dress in four pieces of clothing, when the only thing you can think of is jumping in the sea after cutting the grass, when the beer is never cold enough and the rain showers are a blessing ….you know you are enjoying a summer as it should be…

January has been a month of warmth, humidity, the odd summer thunderstorm and great growing conditions for the garden!

The Tournesols (sunflowers) have popped – grown from seeds and over 5 foot!

The roses and Dalia’s (a first for my garden) are colouring my world!

And my lemon tree is laden with fruit….all adding another dimension to my world – a watering job daily as they are all very thirsty in the hot weather! (Some days hitting 30 degrees Celsius)

A month of work has flown by as kiwis slowly wake up from their summer holidays…and the motorways are once again becoming a car park!

This weekend (the first long one in 2024) I have my granbaby visiting and a trip to the zoo for his 3rd birthday treat meant an early start …. In the summer drizzle…not enough to postpone the adventure and just enough to keep us cool!

On arrival the family photo under the tin elephant ……. Then a race around the zoo jungle in search of the lions and tigers – mr nearly to be three just wanted to see the lions and tigers! Needless to say the female lions (without the mane) do not look like a lion to a toddler, and there is no longer the maned one there, the tigers were hiding at the back of their enclosure in their wonderful jungle habitat making it very difficult for little eyes to spy! While the giraffes were magnificent and on full display

The Zebras were noticeably absent! Hippos underwater (out of sight)

Rhinos sharing their patch of dirt with a small antelope species!

The Urangatangs were a little closer (to the glass) and…

The Meerkats has certainly changed!

We tried to wake the cheetah…and got up and close with the elephant

It was a three hour excursion, and a lot dearer than the many times I spent there with my young brood! the picnic area has gone – the old cafe and playground (spider web rope climb) has been replaced by huge glass and steel eating places! And all that remains is the dragon (no eggs)

The crooked house is now a family relax area! Was a little disappointed to see most of the (kid) fun things no longer there and I’m sure the animal happiness is way up there as they are hidden away in so much “natural habitat” that they don’t notice the humans and the humans (especially little ones) can’t see them!

As Jaxon and Steph had a date night planned I brought Mr nearly three year old home to the cottage for a Gran’ma and Grandson night! We were straight to the beach…to cool off!

Followed by copious amounts of food that were probably not ideal for pre bedtime snacks! Had a little (well big) battle winning the going to sleep thing but a peaceful night was had thereafter!

The next morning was off on the bus…

To the hot rod show in Orewa – go check out the old cars!

This one was our favourite – and Ty was adamant that we should buy it (and every other one we liked)

Distraction from car purchasing came in the form of a very soft ice cream covered in sprinkles….

While full focus was on devouring, melting seemed to win the race, and over half the ice cream certainly made it inside mr little human, the other half was spread over face, footpath, clothes and Gran’ma! Nothing a few serviettes and quick trip to the bathroom didn’t fix!

Final stop; coffee for Gran’ma and hash browns for Ty from McDonald’s as we headed to the bus stop to make the journey back to the bach!

Final activity before the parents returned was a dip in the spa….which is where I handed over my charge.