Monday 25 March 2013

Flying Solo



A big event happened in our family this weekend!

Big
Huge
Significant
&
Scary

.....and that was just how I felt!!

Tim took his first trip to visit our family in England ON HIS OWN.

Yes - international flight!

I thought it would be a good idea for him to spend some time with his cousins and Nana and Granddad  so in my wisdom suggested it. 



He was very excited. I drove him to the airport on Friday night, checked him in and even went through security with him. I then handed him over to an airport staff member who took him through to the gate.


He traveled as an escorted minor and my mum and dad had to sign for him at the other end.


He did great. The flight was just under 2 hours. He said it was very bumpy when it landed which made him a little nervous since he was on his own. The highlight was that when he ordered himself a sprite whilst in the air, the air steward did not charge him - free brus is always a winner for any eleven year old:).

(this is his - 'do not take my photo - I am ignoring you' face)

He is now on his way back home after a fun filled weekend in England. He has spent lots of time with his cousin T. and been spoilt rotten by his grandparents. I do not think the word no was on the agenda.

However, he has been missed. I for one am very ready to have him home. Tae has also asked at LEAST 3 times everyday if we can go to the airport to pick up Tim.

So count down begins, and lets be honest all the goodies my mum has sent back with him are a bonus too!

Saturday 16 March 2013

Sickness:(



Tim has been sick.

This is quite unusual - he is rarely ill, but when he is, he tends to go all out!!

He started Wednesday night feeling washed out and not quite right. He went to bed at 6pm and slept through to morning!!

Thursday was a trip to the fire station with his class and he happily went off to school. However, by the time he got home at 2.30 he was washed out again and went to bed for a 2 hour nap.

Friday he was full on ill with a stomach bug and a temperature. 
It was very hard to even get liquids in him:(

So lots of sofa and TLC time.

Tae didn't like to see Tim sick and curled up under the blanket with him for cuddles while they watched TV before he went to bed.




Let hope he doesn't get sick too.

Monday 11 March 2013

My explorer



On Friday night, Tim headed off on an adventure.



His scout troop had a winter weekend camp planned.




I must admit I was nervous when the first email arrived with the information regarding the weekend. 





The trip involved a 2 hour train journey Friday night. Arriving in the dark and putting up the tent.



Saturday, packing up and skiing for a couple of kilometers to a new camp.

Digging a snow hole.

Saturday night sleeping in a snow hole.

Sunday, pack up and ski back to catch train home.

Sounds simple, until you add in 'have a jacket that you can keep your water bottle in, so it does not freeze'!!  

We are talking doing all this in freezing cold conditions! I know it sounds obvious, but he is still my baby, 11 years old and I found it really hard to sound 'excited' and not my true feeling of 'nervous'.

We packed him up and sent him off.






Love how he gave his brother a high five before heading off.



So today we have just collected him from the train station.
 
He had a fabulous time. The first night in the tent was cosy, but noisy with the wind whistling outside.

He found the skiing uphill with a 10 kilo backpack on quite challenging - fair enough as he has not done too much cross country skiing either!

His favourite part was digging and creating the toilet!! Apparently it had sides and was nearly 2 meters deep!

He did get very cold during the day while digging the snow hole and felt like his fingers and toes would fall off. Tears may have been shed:( He carried on with the help of mentos. The temperature was a lot colder than they had expected for March, it was -17c. This does not even take into account the wind chill factor.

After settling into the snow hole for the night, all the boys in his group were very cold, their snow hole was not sealed enough and the wind was blowing icily in. They spoke to the leader and it was decided to walk down the mountain in the dark and sleep the rest of the night in the train station.

Apparently the most scary part of the whole weekend was waking up Sunday morning with a tiny mouse on his chest looking him straight in the face:)

He certainly had an adventure.

He had lots of fun, learnt a great deal and survived!!
 
I am very proud of him for doing all of  this - I certainly could not have.




Sunday 10 March 2013

A day with Tae



As Tim had headed off into the wilderness for the weekend and Tig was off brewing beer with his friend, Tae and I had the whole of Saturday to ourselves!

Since we had to drop Tig off in town, I decided to take Tae to the fish market and harbor to boat watch.


It was really quiet when we arrived.



We headed straight to the fish market.



Who needs to pay to visit the aquarium;)



Then off for some boat spotting.


Followed by some running around the harbor.




It does not take much to keep this boy happy:)


The beautiful views certainly help.






All less than a 10 minute drive from my house:)

It was quite cold at only 1c, so after exploring a little more we headed home to build with wooden blocks, watch Peppa Pig and have lots of cuddles on the sofa:)