After Kelly dropped off her car keys at ours and we had breakfasted etc, we drove up the road to Foodland Pasadena, an upmarket superstore, to stock up on groceries before heading out to Kelly's with our laundry which we had been accumulating since Auckland. This was our first day of picking the boys up from school and child care.
Miller's school - Braeview - is not far from their house. It's walkable alright, but not in the heat - especially for Miller after a hard day at school. Like every school, parking at pick-up time is an issue. We saw zig-zag lines in the middle of the road which, ordinarily, we would have avoided parking near, but it seemed that everyone else was doing it and we couldn't find anywhere else that didn't have yellow lines on it, so we became - in our eyes - law-breakers too.
Mrs Healy's class came out on time at 3:10 pm - Miller armed with various bags and leaflets - and we drove from there straight over to Casa Bambini to pick up Asher and then motored back to Grange Road. A couple of snacks for the boys then we hit the pool. Boy, was it cold! The location of the pool is pretty shaded and it's quite deep at one end. It had been left uncovered as well as there were a few house viewings over the weekend (owners Ben and Ferren are selling the property). Although we are entering the Aussie Autumn the temperature has been lovely - mid to high 20's - but none of this was enough to make the pool one you would linger in for long.
Tuesday 19th March
This is one of Kelly's days off work so she drove Jo and I - plus Asher - up to the hills to the lovely Germanic town of Hahndorf. Asher had fun in the playpark and climbed a tall tree (with Mummy anxiously on guard):
We had to get back to O'Halloran Hill as, on Tuesdays, Miller's school stops a bit earlier. Today, however, was to be the JP Assembly where tradition has it that all new pupils are given a Schultüte (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schult%C3%BCte) made by their mentor/buddy from the Seniors. It's another German tradition - it's basically a large paper cone which is filled with goodies. We had all planned to attend but Asher fell asleep at home just before we were due to leave so it was just Jo and I that witnessed the full chaos of the assembly. It may be a German tradition but the organisation was far from Teutonic. Shambolic more like. Anyway, Miller was very proud to receive his - eventually. We await the official school photos.
On the window of Miller's classroom:
When Jo and I got back to our place Ben and Ferren had left this token of thanks for accommodating another house viewing (when we were out anyway):
Wednesday 20th March
Today was Jo's birthday. We needed to get out and stretch our legs a little and try to lose some of the excess kilos we piled on in South Africa and the NZ cruise, so I did a bit of research and found some trails not too far away from Grange Road at Randell Park. It was hot and dusty but they weren't very long, although there was a bit of climbing to the top of the hill overlooking the city and out to sea:
Returning to our place, Jo showered and changed and I jumped in the pool - still cold, but I guess I was ready for it this time:
We picked up the boys again and took them back to ours briefly before heading out to Glenelg to meet Kelly and Chris after work. We know and like this seaside suburb well - it was where we first met Chris when we stayed there many years ago.
Kelly and Chris had bought Jo some flowers:
We had fish and chips on the grass beside the beach and Asher and Miller had fun with the water cannons in the playpark:
Jo arranged the flowers when we got back "home":
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