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Away From Home

Reefton

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A couple of weeks ago, we went to church in Reefton. We don’t normally go there, but occasionally we find ourselves with a Sunday free, as in the people we normally worship with aren’t around. There is a very small Baptist church in Reefton, however, that we are learning to know, and we have greatly enjoyed the few times we’ve been with them. Each time, we have come away encouraged. Because it is a half-hour drive from home, we took along a picnic lunch and enjoyed some time in a park. Mr. Diligence climbed this large oak tree, and his brothers, of course, had to pick up acorns to pelt him with. He did his best to deflect them, and they all had great fun.

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After we were finished with lunch and had everything packed away, we called him down from his perch, and drove up to the Reefton Lookout. We had an amazing view from the top, over the valley in which the town is built and beyond.

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The “road” on which we drove up and back down was very narrow and rough. Simon did a superb job of navigating around the washouts and under fallen trees, but the branches and brambles that leaned over the track scratched the sides of the van.

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This sign greatly amused us. Especially read the small print! (The large print points to the Lookout and the ZigZag, which is a walking track at the end of where vehicles can go.)

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Fishing

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Two weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, a friend called and asked if we wanted to go fishing. He has a kontiki, or longline, which pulls a fishing line a kilometer or so out to sea. They leave it out for awhile, then pull it back in and hope for a fish on each hook! Of course the boys wanted to go. I needed a nap, so Gayle and the boys and Little Miss all went. I took a nap, and Esther worked on packing the picnic we were planning to have down by the river that evening anyway, in honor of Mr. Imagination’s birthday. We followed about an hour after the boys left, and arrived just in time to see the fish being reeled in.

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Here is the contraption that takes the line out to sea.

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There were quite a number of sharks on the hooks. Most were small enough that they were thrown back in, but I think there were five big enough to eat. Our friend saved one for his son, and he and Simon cooked the other four on the fire for us to eat right away. They cleaned them, then put butter and seasoned salt inside the cavity. They put sliced lemons on the outside of the sharks, and wrapped the whole thing in several layers of foil, then put them directly on the coals of the driftwood fire they had started when they got to the beach.

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While we waited for the sharks to cook, we roasted sausages and marshmallows over the fire.

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When the sharks were cooked, we dug into them—yum!

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Here is a few down the beach.

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Mr. Imagination wanted me to take a picture of his rock. He says this was his best birthday celebration yet!

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And on the Home Front…

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My sons who stayed home from America had quite a surprise for us when we came home. I thought they were joking when they talked about building the bunkbeds in their room which I had suggested some time ago—but they actually did it! I was very impressed.

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On the other side of the room, they built a closet to store their clothes and other belongings. This takes the place of some shelves that used to hang above a bed, which I always thought was a bit dangerous, and a couple of dressers. There are a lot of shelves inside this closet. The room feels much larger now, and the boys have room to have a table at which they can play games or build models. So nice! They were very excited to show it to us when we arrived home; I had to look in the window at it before I even came into the house! They also installed a light in the kitchen that I’d been wanting, to replace a fixture I hated.

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They also had time for some fun. A few days before we came home, they went fishing with a friend two evenings. He has a Kon Tiki, or longline, for fishing in the ocean. A small motor pulls the line out, and then another reels it in. They didn’t have a camera, but Gayle took a few pictures of their catch with his phone. These are mostly sharks, which are fairly good eating.

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Photos En Route…and More From Michigan

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When I looked at my childrens’ memory cards, I found some interesting pictures taken on the way to and and the way home from America. I also found a few more taken in Michigan that I wanted to share! So, here you are.

This was on our first flight, from Christchurch to Auckland, when everyone was fresh and excited!

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I could see Farewell Spit from my window as we flew north. I’ve seen pictures of it at low tide, but it was apparently high tide this time—quite different!

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This was one of the interesting planes we saw on the tarmac in Auckland. I don’t know what airline it is, but the artwork on it was spectacular!

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Our first glimpse of snow on this trip came as we approached Chicago.

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My boys were fascinated with all the big planes parked at the International Terminal in Chicago.

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They also liked the diversion, during our four-hour layover in Chicago, which turned into five hours when the flight crew got held up in traffic, of watching luggage being loaded into the belly of our plane.13-IMG_5449

As we traveled home in our van across the mountains from Christchurch to the West Coast, we had to stop on the way down from Arthur’s Pass, because there are a couple of one-lane spots still from a major storm in November. We were amused by the tourists in front of us—two people jumped out of their cars to take a picture of this waterfall—so one of the boys took a picture of them taking a picture!IMG_3114

On the Sunday we were in Michigan, we drove to Ludington after church to see the ice at the breakwater. I’ve never seen the lake so high against that breakwall! We decided not to attempt walking out on it.

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There was a solar eclipse that night. Some of us were still awake to watch it reach totality. We tried to wake some of the others up, and they groaned and rolled over. One of those, who shall remain nameless, came into my room a few hours later, still in the wee hours, and asked me when the eclipse was happening—he was quite unhappy to have missed it, and said we should have shaken him. We had.

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And, to wrap this up, here are a few more shots of snow-deprived little people enjoying a rare treat!

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Trip to America—Ohio

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Our first two days in Ohio were great; we spent the time with Gayle’s entire family. Then, we got hit with a stomach bug. My children hadn’t had something like that for six years (since we were in America another time!), and had very little immunity to it; the youngest had never had anything like it. Suffice it to say, the rest of our time in Ohio was not very fun, and we ended up canceling almost all plans.

The first day we were there, my boys helped their cousin haul some hay.

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We got several pictures from the family gathering, but most had other people in them. Here are a few I can share! This little girl wrapped tissue paper around herself for a “skirt.”  

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This was the first boy to get sick. He spent a miserable afternoon while the whole family was still there.

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While we were in Michigan, my sister received a gift that was shipped in a large box full of cornstarch packing peanuts. I took the box with us to Ohio, and the boys spent a day or two making wonderful creations by sticking them together with a bit of water. Here are some of the things they came up with:

Mr. Sweetie built this boat.

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Mr. Imagination made these boats. Mr. Diligence made something quite creative, too. I can’t remember now what it was, and when we took the pictures he was sick so I didn’t get a photo of his.

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My sister-in-law with whom we stayed made a batch of play dough for the children. The little boys spent hours and hours over a few days playing with it, with her toy kitchen set, and when Little Miss recovered from her sickness she spent every spare minute playing with it, too! I’m thinking I need to find her a kitchen set.

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My boys loved ice skating; they went twice. Each time, two were well enough to go and one had to stay back, but they all got to go at least once. These two enjoyed cleaning off their aunt’s porch and walk one day after a fresh snowfall!

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So there you have what I can share here of our time with family! I’m hoping to get back into a routine of posting every Saturday again, now that we’re recovered from jet lag and I’m not so tired from pregnancy anymore. Yes, we’re hoping for a new addition to the family in about six months! We’re very thankful for the prospect of a new baby, and when we got to hear the heartbeat this morning it was very thrilling to know that this little one is alive.

We’re Home!—Photos From Michigan

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Six of us arrived home late last week after a three-week visit to Michigan and Ohio, visiting family (the other three stayed home to take care of things here). It was a wonderful trip…and an awful trip…and we enjoyed it immensely…and we’re very glad to be home! The time spent with family was wonderful. The stomach bug that laid all of us low for our last week and a half, and which came home with us to infect a couple of the ones who did such a wonderful job taking care of things here, was awful. I don’t have a lot of pictures I can share, because most of the ones we took are of other people, but there are enough to make a couple of posts. I’m always amused at some of the pictures my sons take!

 

Either the first or second day in Michigan, my mom and I both wanted a nap, so I sent the three boys outside to explore the farm I grew up on. I gave them guidelines so they wouldn’t get lost, and they had fun finding the creek and the woods. Mom’s cat followed them the whole way! There was no snow, but it was very cold; they had fun sliding on the ice. 

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The wedding was beautiful; I really appreciated the simplicity of everything, and it was so good to see my sister making her vows to a good man.  

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The little ones enjoyed playing with Grandma’s toys.

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It started snowing in earnest, and got very cold, after the wedding. My boys loved playing in the snow! We enjoyed watching the birds come to the feeder.

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When I stripped my bed to put on fresh sheets, I recognized the mattress protector! It was one of two Hudson Bay Company blankets that were in the house when my parents bought it in 1972. I had to call the children in to see this bit of history. It’s not in the best shape anymore, but still works as a warm underlay!

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Our trip to Ohio started out very snowy, with slick roads. After seeing 9 accidents, we were thankful to get south far enough to have drier roads!

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New Year’s Tramp

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Gayle took the three oldest boys, and two of their friends, on a long tramp just after New Year’s Day. They started at Windy Point, and finished at Lake Taylor. They reckon they did 59 kilometers in two days—that’s a lot of walking over rough terrain! Unfortunately, Mr. Diligence forgot his camera, so the only photographic record of the trip is a few photos Gayle took with his phone, which are not very good but do help to preserve a few memories! This was a stop for lunch. They cooked 2-minute noodles.

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Some scenery along the trail.

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Resting along a stream.

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They crossed four of this style of bridges.

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Sometimes the track was easy….

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…and sometimes it was not! This creek was a series of waterfalls, much steeper than the picture shows.

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I went across the mountains the second day to pick them up, with the three youngest children. We stopped for 40 minutes at the beginning of the track and walked to the first swing bridge.

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The Boyle River is so beautiful!

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The road back in to Lake Taylor to pick them up was incredible! It took me well over an hour to drive the 35 kilometers on the dirt road. The scenery was amazing—when I could look at it! The road took most of my attention. I managed to grab one quick photo on a relatively safe stretch (I was driving very slowly) and got another on the way out. This is part of the Hurunui River.

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Even though I have never seen my boys so tired, they loved it and want to do it again—but they say they will allow three days next time so they can enjoy it more.

Christmas at Lake Haupiri

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For our family’s Christmas celebration, we took a picnic lunch and ate it beside the Haupiri River. Then, we went back down the road a couple of miles to the boat ramp into Lake Haupiri. The boys launched their barrel boat and spent the afternoon boating around the lake and playing in the water. I enjoyed sitting in a camping chair in the shade and looking at the scenery! The second picture shows Gloriavale, directly across the lake.

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Boats

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Mr. Intellectual continues to work on his strip canoe. He finally got all the strips glued together, and has been working on sanding it. It’s beautiful! Here it is nearly finished, and then with the last strip in place and part of the sanding done.

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Meanwhile, the boys have been enjoying their barrel boat. Here it is after the first use, when they went down the Grey River.

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This was the day they used it next, when we went down to the creek below our town with some friends to spend a Sunday afternoon in the water. They punted up and down the creek a number of times, but then that got boring, so they decided to sink it. The only way they could get it to sink was to take the plug out of the end and let it fill up with water—and even that took a long time!

Then, they used it on Christmas Day on a lake—I’ll publish a post in a few weeks about that. The most recent time they used it, Simon took Esther and one of her friends, and our two little boys, down the Grey River. They sunk it, and now they have to rebuild the motor—or dry it out, or something. It ended up quite dented, as you can see in this photo that Mr. Intellectual took to show someone.

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Nelson

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We have some dear friends who live near Nelson. We don’t get to see them very often, but always enjoy being with them when we can. One Sunday in December, we decided to make the trip up there to attend church with them, and then spend the afternoon together. It suited our friends, so we left here earlier than we usually get around on a Sunday morning and headed north! This was one of those times that Google Maps gets it right about the time it takes to get somewhere, so we ended up only a minute or two late for church. We had a great time reconnecting with people we know and love, and got back home that night tired but thankful for the gift of good friends.

Some of the scenery we enjoyed along the way was spectacular!

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We ate lunch at a reserve on an estuary near our friend’s home.

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After lunch, we walked around a small pond at one side of the reserve. I was amused when we came across Simon washing his boots in the pond. One of his brothers had gotten him muddy.

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It almost looked like snow all over the ground—it was actually fluff from the cottonwood trees!

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I think this was a shag sitting over the pond.

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On our way home, we stopped for fuel in Murchison. Simon spotted this old truck across the way, and had to go take a closer look at it. He’s under the sign in a blue shirt; Mr. Imagination is standing next to the sign, in another blue shirt.

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As we drove through the Buller Gorge, we were surprised to come up behind this horse and wagon!

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We’re guessing the people were headed back to this picturesque farm.

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