The Robinson Kids

How cool are my kids & my niece & nephew....

On the Friday before they went home I got home to find a card on my chair from the 4 kids thanking me for taking them places & doing stuff with them when I came home from work at night and for not being cranky even though it was sometimes difficult (their words). They gave me a bunch of flowers & had bough me a bag & some chocolates. They all did this off their own bat & with their own money.

I was so impressed what good kids :-)

I took them all to Rainbows End the next day & they had a ball although Siobhan didn't like a couple of the rides, she did get back on one of the scary ones so I was really proud of her.

I was sorry to see them go but it was nice to have my house back.

Gary was away this weekend so I took the kids to Lone Star on Thursday night for dinner, we had homemade smoked chicken pizza on Friday & roast chicken last night (Gary doesn't eat chicken so we don't have it very often).

I took the kids to Pokeno yesterday to get some meat, they of course had ice cream & we looked around the market & bought a few veges & other bits & pieces, all in all a nice way to spend a morning.

Best I get back to work now.

Earthquake

Well today has been interesting.

I woke up at just before 7am hearing a text on my phone - seriously who the hell sends me a tect at that time on a Saturday. Turns out it was Ian, my boss - telling me there was an earthquake in Christchurch & that Rosinsa place was a mess. I jumped onto the internet & realised it was not good.

Tried to call Mum & Dad, Dad's cell went to answerphone, tried Mum (don't know why she never has it on), sent a text. No reply.

The bloody earthquake was reported as a 7.4 - I work in insurance - that is NOT GOOD!!!!!

Finally had a text from Dad, they are OK, no damage except a bit of porcelain. Suggested he not go to golf & Mum not go to work - the reply ... "get real".

Phoned them and sounds like they were really lucky. They have power & phone, a couple of minor ornaments broken, Don & Sancho & King Tut are all OK (they are the expensive ones). Told Mum NOT to go to work, Civil Defence were telling people to stay home & the people she works for treat the staff like crap at the best of times and she is too old to be going in there picking stock up off the floor & resiting shelving.

Watching the news on TV and it was completely devastating. Ian managed to get hold of the Ovendens (cracks in walls & chimney destroyed in Tai Tapu) and the Prestidges in Darfield - they live at the epi centre but all Bruce had was a few cracked tiles!! We have let the EQC & the insurance companies know & convinced Rosina to stay at home & keep it secure.

Texted Stephan & Paul, both OK, Gary rang Stephan later & all they had was a couple of pictures down, Paul had no damage.

Watching it all unfold over the day our families were so lucky, I am so grateful but really feel for those who have suffered so much loss and destruction. Watching the news the property damage I can cope with but I get a bit teary watching the personal stories.

End of day - Mum did not go to work (and her Boss actually phoned to check they were OK & will get his son to make sure shop all OK before she has to go back to work), Dad played golf - had to go to the local pub for the after match drink because the clubhouse was closed - can't keep a good golfer down.

The kids are taking it OK, Siobhan wants to ring Bayley & Michaela tomorrow to make sure they are OK, as far as I know they are with Kim over the weekend so I will give Paul a call tomorrow to see when the kids can talk to them.

Where does the time go

Our long weekend away was really nice, the weather was crap but we managed to survive.

We stayed at the camping ground at Orewa, unfortunately the one we used to stay at was bought by a developer who closed it down, got partway through building some, what now turns out to be leaky homes, and then went bust. The remaining campground is OK but small & cramped. We booked a kitchen cabin, apparantly "kitchen" means a sink, microwave and an electric frypan!!! There was no oven or even an element.

With the weather being so crap we got to spend time together as a family just hanging out, we played board games & watched a bit of TV, went for walks when the weather picked up. The kids got on really well with very little arguing. Only one meltdown from Siobhan & one hissyfit from Samyson.

The Tuesday after we got back Samyson was off school sick so I stayed home with him which meant I was even further behind at work but these things happen.

This last weekend, Gary was sick!!! He has the flu (actually I suspect it is just a cold but what would I know), consequently he spent the weekend in bed & is off work today. I on the other hand ran around like a blue arsed fly all weekend I needed to come to work for a rest.

I did manage to get to the gym on Saturday but slept in on Sunday so missed Yoga, no problem I thought, I will do some at home - it kind of loses that whole relaxing, spiritual side when you are accompanied by a 10 year old who is either giggling or going "ow ow ow" all the way through and when I did catch a glimpse of her trying really hard to concentrate with her eyes closed I just cracked up laughing.

I gave up & made cauliflower, coriander & coconut soup instead YUM!!!

A busy couple of weeks, we are off to the Bay of Islands the week before school holidays so I have a heap to get done at work so I can relax on holiday. Samyson has NYTC Showcase this Saturday which means Thursday night rehearsal, Friday night rehearsal (presumably at the theatre) 2 shows on Saturday from which I will have to get him to & from, at least it is only in Takapuna and we are going to the afternoon show anyway. Siobhan has netball on Wednesday so hopefully it is a 6pm game & I can go & watch her play.