Turtle (and Mu) gave me their version of a 'tutorial' on iMovie, and Photo Booth this morning. And in the process showed me their 'portfolio' of work - very, very creative and entertaining. Turtle definitely has the makings of a teacher - albeit a rather bossy one - or a comedian! Off on une promenade de famille - have a great weekend!
In Auckland today sorting out visas. I had a great flight up. Well it was great once I was actually on the plane - nothing like being paged and last on. The North Island looked spectacular and I had great views across Mounts Ruapheu and Tongariro. I just love watching the world from high above. All the little valleys with clumps of trees and rivers snaking their way through the landscape. Then as you start to descend you see into backyards, factories and so on. It always reminds me of Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day. Tidying out the boys rooms over the weekend and we rediscovered all our old story books, some which were my grandparents. Among our favourites include:
....Sometimes I look about me with a feeling of complete dismay. In the confusion that conflicts the world today, I see a disrespect for the very values of life. Beauty is all around us, but how many are blind to it! They look at the wonder of this earth and seem to see nothing. Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them: do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. And look at your body - what a wonder it is! Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must cherish one another. You must work - we all must work - to make this world worthy of its children.
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. Pablo Casals
As a special end of school hols treat we had bowls of popcorn whilst we watched The Penguins of Madagascar,(and here's the important part) it was right before dinner! I know we're really living life on the edge. Intriguingly Mu's holiday highlight was a trip to the supermarket as "we got lots of treats". Turtle's highlights? Apparently there were too many to mention.
Another day of sunshine. So clear and blue. Turtle, Mu and I wandered down to the City Market and the weekend farmers market. Filled up on yummy samples of things and then wandered home in the sunshine. It got so hot Mu even removed his hat for a while - wonders never cease! Just pondering rental options for our first few months in Portland - it's so hard to know. Do we get two cars and live out of town, or do we do the inner city thing? Today has reminded me of how lucky we are to be so close to a city, and to have such an easy and scenic route there. Well it's time to make popcorn, and school starts tomorrow so we have to be up early - ugh! Oh and I really need to start packing soon....
The boys and I went out for a long walk this morning - through the bush, along the waterfront, up a hill, past the playground and home again. I will miss our little city's network of paths and tracks. After lunch it was off to the Formula One exhibition at Te Papa. Well! I must say those cars are very cool. And the exhibition was really well put together with some great artifacts/memorabilia, including some very stylish posters, and of course the cars.
