June 3
The Queen’s Birthday gives us a holiday. It rains solidly the first couple days of the long weekend. But Monday is sunny, so I take the younger three boys up to the Sign of the Bellbird to hike. Afterwards we go to Cave Rock (previously we called it Castle Rock…still not sure which it is officially) at Sumner Beach. It’s only nearing 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), but plenty of kids are in the water, including mine! We play hide and seek in the sand dunes, then Stewart and Wesley run from the waves in the cave.
June 5
On the way to school it is very frosty and the boys want to see if I can catch their breath on camera. Or maybe I asked them to try. I think you can kind of see Wesley’s in this one. They love drawing with their breath on the wooden rails on frosty morning walks to school. If we had coats we’d likely wear them many mornings, but we’re getting by just fine without them.
June 7
After school I take the boys to Judith Bell’s music theory club where Chris has been showing them Deltaphone, a language he’s creating to program musical notation. Afterwards our boys get to try out the instruments in the band room. Lewis is happy to sit at a full keyboard again. And Chris and I wonder what can of worms we’ve opened letting them at the drum set! Judith and Tim then have us over for dinner. Tim, who was instrumental in getting Chris the Erskine Fellowship, makes an wide assortment of vegetables for dinner, while the boys all play the ukuleles Judith brought home for them. Tim reiterates many times how much they would love to have Chris in the department here in Christchurch. Their delightful company, along with so many others,’ makes it sound enticing.
June 8
Stewart turns 9 years old! We start the day at parkrun in Hagley Park, where Lewis, Stewart, and Chris have been running the 5k race consistently on Saturday’s again, like we did in Brisbane. The younger boys and I haven’t been yet, but we thoroughly enjoy cheering for all the runners. Many of them seem rather tickled, and surprised, by our cheering and Chris says it could become a ministry. It is only slightly made awkward by the hot water bottle under my shirt. I threw my back out a few days before, but the medication and hot water bottle help immensely.
After parkrun we head over to the Riccarton Bush Markets, as the runners usually do, but are unable to withdraw cash. So we head back home for breakfast, banana pancakes, then head to Stewart’s birthday surprise, Orana Wildlife Park. I have been scheming about taking him to a zoo for his birthday since we went to Willowbank with Terry in February. He loves feeding the giraffes, and seeing a real kiwi bird! We also see lions, gorillas, rhinos, and a cheetah. But the New Zealand birds are what captivate us mostly. At the end of the day we buy a family of New Zealand bird puppets to play with as a family.
We get home late, so I put Lewis on the cupcakes while I make dinner. I’m thankful for the opportunity to see what he’s capable of, and tickled that he made them all by himself for Stewart! Stewart has one wish, to blow out his candles in the dark. This is not something he can do in the Northern Hemisphere with a June birthday! But we don’t remember until some of us are already eating our cupcakes. I willingly concede to a redo of the candle blowing, with the remaining cupcakes. That’s why you don’t see 9 candles in the picture. There were 9 the first go round.
June 10
Twill and I have Hiromi, Kuni, and her flatmates, Mizuki and Hikonuan, over for a taco party, along with Naomi and Angeline. Funny that tacos are the most American dish I can think of to share with them! Hikonuan loves playing with Kuni and Twill, taking them outside to climb trees. I find it magical to share a kitchen with Hiromi. She cleans up so fast that it feels like magic. I am thankful for the chance to share meals and everyday life, to learn from her. They like the tacos enough to take home the leftovers too!
June 13
The Thursday morning Women’s Bible Study has an evening social send-off for me. It is an “American Party,” complete with decorations, costumes, games, and desserts. Judith has come up with a photo recognition game, American trivia questions, spice smelling, and chocolate tasting. Katie, also American, brings a key lime pie, and I bake sweet potato pie. It tastes just like pumpkin pie, which everyone associates with America. Jessica also helps me make my grandma’s abelcog, a Danish apple dessert. I feel incredibly loved by it all. Especially when Jessica asks me to share my favorite blue grass music with them. We listen to Gillian Welch most of the evening, and it really helps me associate with my homeland again.
June 14
Twill and I play at Hiromi and Kuni’s house in the morning, building neat houses with magnetic walls. Afterwards Twill comments many times about the walls of our house staying up because of magnets. Hiromi and Kuni give Twill a fascinating and hilarious lesson in blowing out his nose!
After school we stay and play on the playground. Jessica’s oldest and Wesley make mud with water from the fountains, which is very ironic because the whole playground is already mud. Eventually we pull everyone away and bring Wesley’s friend Lev, and his mother and sister, home with us. Wesley falls out of our tree in the backyard.
June 16
For Father’s Day we take Chris on a hike from the Sign of the Kiwi to the Sign of the Bellbird in the port hills around Christchurch. We begin above the clouds, looking down on the cloud that envelops Christchurch. Twill is not excited about another long hike, but he is easily distracted by singing Raffi’s corner grocery store song. We all enjoy the stunning views of both Lyttleton Harbor and the snow covered mountain range on the opposite side. I am still surprised by how many people are out enjoying the trails every time we hike, and by how many, many trails there are up there! Later in the week I find out that Hiromi was at the Sign of the Bellbird at the same time, but heading down a different track. We enjoy lunch at the Sign of the Kiwi in the sunshine.
June 17
Naomi hosts a baby “sprinkle” for Jessica, who will have her fourth baby at the end of July. Twill and I go early and help decorate. We all sew on a teddy blanket for her little one and pray for her. They’re preparing to move back to their hometown before the baby’s born.
June 19
I pick the boys up from school and get the chance to see Wesley’s tree house where he likes to play and climb at lunch time. Lewis also gets us all playing a game of soccer briefly.
June 21
Nature Play is at Governor’s Bay, on Lyttleton Harbor. Twill and I have never been, and need some fresh air, so we take Hiromi and Kuni. Hiromi teaches us a Japanese song, to the tune of “Are You Sleeping,” that creates animals out of rock, paper, scissors hand motions. I will never forget them. I meet Simone, who is thinking of moving to Perth, and tell her how much we love it here in Christchurch. It reminds me that contentment is really what I want, more than anything in particular. Twill still isn’t keen on holding crabs, but he has definitely grown bolder since we started coming to Nature Play.
June 22
Chris, Lewis, and Stewart head to parkrun and the rest of us enjoy a quiet Saturday morning. Wesley and Twill enjoy making messy nests for their birds inside, and then take the fun outside when we clean up for the others. They end up decorating the tree in our backyard by taping flowers and shells to it.
When the others get home Stewart talks us into taking a picnic over to the Ilam Gardens to play a game he’s invented: Marco Polo/Virus/Hide and Seek Tag. We find a patch of sunshine to picnic, then take off to play the game. Unfortunately it is cut short when Lewis loses his shoe in the muddy stream. It actually takes me quite awhile to find it, surprisingly deep in the mud.
After we get Lewis another pair of old shoes we drive to Spencer Beach. It’s the last thing on the kids’ wish list to do before we leave Christchurch. The older boys missed the first trip when they were watching Lord of the Rings movies over the holidays and have been wanting to go ever since. Chris and I enjoy watching each of the boys make their own fun before it all eventually turns into a big game of hide and seek in the sand dunes. I love that that’s the way it often goes with us.
June 23
First thing in the morning we decorate Twill’s ladybug pinata. I have the body done when the boys come down to breakfast and they jump in to help. Wesley and Twill make the spots. Lewis creates the whole head with mandibles and eyes while I work on the legs. Stewart wants to get in on the fun so he adds antennae. Twill is pleased that it looks like the one on the book.
Afterwards we head to morning church because Hiromi and Kuni want to visit our church before we leave. It’s great to share our community of friends, even though we usually go to the evening service and don’t know our way around all that well. They are all very welcoming and loving.
After church we head downtown to the Lucky Ninja where Hiromi’s husband Daisuke makes some great karaage (Japanese fried chicken). Her flatmate, Mizuki, has a little stand beside it where she is selling delicious crepes as well. Naomi, Luke, and Angeline join us too, and we meet many others there who are all amazed by Naomi’s Japanese (because she grew up in Japan). It’s fun to see how our whole family has improved with chopsticks since the last time we came to the Lucky Ninja.
June 24
Twill turns four years old! He helps me decorate the chocolate raspberry kitty cake that he’s been dreaming of since we helped Jessica with Bethan’s castle cake. At 10am his friends, Kuni and Mary, arrive and the fun begins. Twill is excited to share balloons and Raffi music, and I am so thankful for how much he’s grown in loving others since we’ve arrived in New Zealand. Chris stays for the morning pinata excitement and lunch. I am quite self conscious of the violence in the pinata tradition we were excited to share. Kuni and Mary are not eager to bash. Twill takes it down on his third try. We enjoy the whole day with our friends, until after 2pm. I love the quality and quantity of time we’ve enjoyed with them here.
After Twill’s birthday dinner we celebrate with his brothers. Twill decided to save the kitty’s head for them. They handle missing out on the fun surprisingly well.
June 25
Twill and I head to the Canterbury Museum gift shop to buy gifts for family back home. Twill behaves beautifully while I hem and haw for over an hour in the shop. The woman working there is very kind and gives Twill a free kiwi stamp to play with. After I am finally done Twill wants to explore the rest of the museum. So we venture in, having no idea how much is there, and end up spending the whole day there! Fortunately, the parking meter was broken, so we get free parking all day without having to worry too. Twill seems to have a way with this horse, even though it’s not actually real.
June 26
After dinner we all walk back to school for Matiriki, the Maori new year celebration. There are lights that feel like Christmas time outside, but inside there are children dancing and singing in Maori. They even get all of us doing the Matiriki macarena. I hear three or four different languages spoken by parents sitting around us. After the program we get to see the kids artwork. I sneak a picture of Wesley with Lev, his first good friend at school.
June 27
Our last day of Bible Study they honor me with gifts and an interview. I feel thankful, but a bit emotionally numb and wish I could feel things a bit more in big transitions. We spend the rest of the day at Jessica’s, as we have nearly every Thursday for the past few months. I help her baste her quilt while Twill and Mary play beautifully with toy horses. An incredibly relaxing way to spend the day!
June 28
I don’t get any pictures of the boys last day at Ilam School. But it is a very big day. On the walk there Wesley is already congratulating himself for making it through almost two terms. He has acknowledged that it’s challenging many times and he’d rather be home. But they have all thrived at the school and will miss it a lot. Wesley’s teacher is very sad to see him go. A few months ago he wasn’t speaking loud enough for anyone to hear him and had no interest in friends. But he’s really coming into his own now with a friend and confidence from giving speeches. All the kids classmates showered them with thoughtful cards and pictures and well wishes. Many of Lewis’ classmates want to keep in touch. I am so thankful that they had the opportunity to go there!
June 29
Moffat and Stephanie have us over for tacos at their house out in Rangiora. The kids enjoy a movie while we talk about teaching. It’s strange to think that I met them at our place in Eau Claire two and a half years ago. The world is feeling smaller and time is sneaking by faster as I get older!
June 30
We get Teresa and her family back from Germany, just in time to say goodbye and give them back their car. I really hope to see Teresa and Hiromi again. The world just feels so small now, and I am accepting that my friends are scattered across it.
Wesley and Stewart walk with me to Lev and Karina’s house to say goodbye and pass off school uniforms. They have fun kicking the ball in the yard while I talk with Elissa and Grant. They have a family cabin near Eau Claire and may be up to see us there in a year. Like I’ve been saying, the world is getting crazy small! It makes it a little easier to say goodbye, but I still really don’t like goodbyes.