Anticipation

It seemed to take us forever to get packed up and away off to Kawhia for our family weekend. We packed and stowed and lugged and hauled until we were quite tired out by the time we left. Car and boat loaded to the hilt! We wondered at earlier days when all the girls were young and the huge job of packing up to go on holiday. How did we do it? We seemed to do it so frequently and easily back then! We even packed up and moved our family over to Fiji to live at one point! The pinnacle of our packing career!

We sure were glad that at least this time they all had to pack their own stuff! Just like we'd trained them to - 'lay everything out on your bed and then let me come and have a look' . By the time they were in their teens they were expert packers in their own right.

There's always that wee point in the packing nightmare when you wonder if it's all worth the hassle of transferring practically your whole house to another destination for the weekend!!!! However once we got there and set everything out we felt sure it was! First to arrive, we ended up with a few hours of enjoying our delightful new surroundings, the view of the harbour and a walk along the bush clad track for Fish n Chips. By the time they all turned up in the early evening our faces were fresh and eager, all traces of earlier stresses now gone.

You have to be a parent to understand the joyful anticipation of seeing the beautiful faces of your kids especially when you know you are going to get to spend a whole weekend together! By 9:30pm they had hatched a plan to rug up and head off down the beach for a spot of surf casting. We happily left them too it and snuggled up in bed with our books!