Coromandel Capers

Some time ago Michelle suggested that about 10 of us hire a house for the weekend. The Coromandel was decided on as the venue and a house selected :) On friday I headed off to Playcentre where the boys made personalised teatowels. Much happy paint splashing later it all turned to custard and Cameron had an epic (and very rare) melt down. I had to leave playcentre a bit earlier then planned. I got in the door, grabbed his bottle and hastened upstairs with the sobbing, writhing one. Six minutes later he was asleep, still sobbing gently.... poor little baby. I took advantage of this quiet time to pack the car. With Kieran's able assistance it only took twice as long as it should have :) Cameron awoke a few hours later, was fed, and then both boys, their lunchboxes and assorted paraphenalia were loaded into the car and we drove to Akl Uni to collect Chris. Once collected we set out on the longest trip up the Southern motorway that I have experienced in quite some time!! And it was only ten past 4!!! Despite this the trip went really well, with K enthusing about "our Coromandel holiday" every few minutes. We saw some horses, sheep and many, many cows, and arrived at the house at 7pm. K burst out of the car and dashed into the house in search of Michelle, Colin or Ros. Sadly, AirNZ had grounded Colin in Perth :( Despite this the weekend went swimmingly - literally! On Saturday monring we headed out to the beach. K had an absolute blast. He chased waves into the sea, ran away from the rolling ashore, flung sand at the water and sprinted up and down the beach. We found a scallop shell and a gulls egg too. After this we retreated to the pirate playground which both boys deemed acceptable. Much swinging and sliding, and creeping ensued. We headed off to the house and located the pool complex. K was very excited by this. We were back for maybe half an hour when the pleas for a swim began. Once there, at the UNHEATED outdoor pool, Chris cravenly sat at the steps holding K while I flung myself into the chill waters, We swam for about half an hour, me towing boys around the pool and swimming by myself. By then 2 little boys had turned blue and begun to shiver so back to the house for lunch and snoozings we went. We then had many many many sessions of "ping pong" where the boys chased down the balls. Then Chris and K went off for a hike with Michelle and co. They had a blast and K did some spot counting on Shannon the dalmation lol. Answer: lots! That evening we had a pizza night, a game of cranium and some star gazing through Richard's telescope. K was allowed to stay up until 9:30 so that he could see Jupiter and it's moons through it. On sunday we headed down to the beach again and K climbed some rocks and found 3 starfish which were tossed back into the briney deep. We also found a sea urchin (intact), many dismembered urchins and another scallop shell. We also managed to have a session in the spa pool the previous day which K reminisced about at length. Once back at the house we packed up, enjoyed a lovely lunch and then headed out at 12:40. C was asleep by 12:46 and K by 12:52. K was asleep until were were on the Auckland motorway, and C woke at New Lynn. An awesome weekend, with brilliant weather, fantastic people and good times. I can't wait to do it again.