Christmas Day here is sure different from anything we ever experienced in Michigan! There, most years, we stayed holed up inside the house, with snow blowing outside. Here, most years, it’s warm—if not hot—and sunny, and we like to go to the beach! This year, we took a picnic lunch to Claverley, to a beach we went out onto for a few minutes, once, several years ago. It turns out to be a wonderful beach for the children to play at, at low tide anyway. The beach is covered with tiny gravel, all worn smooth. It’s a dark color, so really attracts the heat of the sun, which felt good in the chilly wind that was blowing. Above the high tide line, the gravel was too hot to walk on comfortably with bare feet, but below that line there was moisture just below the surface and it felt just right. There was an area of rocks going out into the sea at one spot, and it made a perfect place for children to splash and play, until the tide came up about halfway. We found a lovely pine grove to eat our picnic in. The thick layer of pine needles on the ground made a lovely soft floor to sit on, and we were shaded from the bright sun. After lunch, we went and sat on the beach again for a couple of hours while the boys played in the water and then buried each other. It was a great day! On our way home, we picked cherries, but I never got any pictures of that.
Mr. Diligence and Mr. Sweetie running into the waves.
Looking north; the area with all the kelp is where we spent the most time. You can faintly see the Kaikoura Peninsula sticking out from that point of land.
Looking south.
As long as she wasn’t looking at the water, Little Miss was very happy. She loved playing in, and tasting, the gravel.
Our picnic grove. Our nephew who is spending a few months in New Zealand was with us for the day.
Mr. Inventor brought his boat along—half of a barrel! He sort of surfed with it.
The boys had fun being buried by Daddy. This is Mr. Diligence, Mr. Imagination, and Mr. Sweetie.
Little Miss helped bury Mr. Diligence, too.
Mr. Sweetie wasn’t feeling the best that day. He stayed buried in the warm gravel for a long time.
Esther was teasing Little Miss! The scared chuckling noises were pretty funny, as was the way she tried to climb higher on you.
Mr. Sweetie decided he wanted to stay buried until the waves came up to him. We watched as the tide crept higher and higher…
Mr. Inventor wanted to be buried sitting up. Daddy wore himself out burying so many sons in one day!
The waves have finally come up far enough that Mr. Sweetie got wet. He jumped up and ran to safety.
Check out Mr. Inventor’s expression!
