Five on a Friday

1. I thought I was making some progress on the family tree when I sent off to the Government Records's Office for my grandmother's birth certificate. Only to have them refund my fee because they could find no record of her. Since she passed away when my Dad was very young we know little about her other than her name. Seems we may not even know that. Back to the drawing board and trawling the census records.

2. If you want a cheap laugh spill some dry spaghetti on the floor and watch the dog try to eat it. It's like watching someone trying to play "Pick Up Sticks" with their tongue.

3. After the excitement of the snow in Auckland, we decided that we would take Daughter-Two to see some real local snow. It was a beautiful weekend so we headed off to Taupo, stopping at my parent's place on the way there and back (honestly, that was the best part of the weekend).

At Taupo we went to the hot pools for an early evening swim. I bailed out after a soak in the spa pool. A few too many bodies getting in and out for my liking. I've got queasy about such things in my old age.

The next morning we drove on towards National Park and the snow we could see in the distance on the other side of the lake (the mountains we saw from the plane a few weeks ago):

 

My favourite is Ngauruhoe, which is a perfect volcanic cone. You can do the "Ngauruhoe Crossing" winter and summer if you like (I don't like).

We hoped to find some free-range snow but the sun of the past few days had melted it, so we had to pay to go up to Whakapapa ski village which was absolutely packed. Daughter-two had a blast on the toboggan run, though after a few goes she wilted as having to drag the toboggan up the slope again was pretty tiring. But she soon recovered for some snowball fighting and sliding down a slope on her bum.

 

The Husband had been told to pack the night before and reminded again the morning we left, but when we arrived at the snow it became apparent that he'd done his "packing" in his usual style ie he had his laptop and his toothbrush but was heading up to the snow with no hat, no gloves, no jacket other than the one he wore to work on Friday.

Fortunately I had a spare pair of baby pink mittens for Daughter-Two, so when it came to his turn on the toboggan that's what he wore. I was at the end of the slope trying to take photos but laughing too much and making a spectacle of myself, seemingly cackling away to myself like a madwoman.

I mean, at least this guy (who looks like he came straight from the farm and is one of the breed of kiwi men who NEVER wears anything other than shorts except for a wedding) brought a woolly hat:

 

4. Apparently Muammar Gaddafi is a scrapbooker in the making, judging from the carefully put together album about his crush, Condoleezza Rice.  Personally, I think it's a bit plain and he could have spent more time on journaling and embellishments. Maybe he'll find more time now.

5. A sneak peek of what's coming to the store at Designer Digitals this weekend .......

Comments

[esther_a]

ROFL about the men and their attire!! Well, at least your DH looked dapper, if somewhat inappropriately dressed. So where's the pic of YOU on a toboggan, huh?!

[Jenelle]

You crack me up with these Five on a Friday posts Lynn. Love your witty sense of humour! Maybe my DH is secretly a Kiwi - he only ever wears shorts (pants at weddings, yes). Even in the UK Winter when we were there he only wore shorts (oh and a beanie!) Anyway, these photos are great Lynn.

[Raylene]

Too funny! I feel the same way about cackling while taking photos, but who cares??? It's capturing the shot that really matters!
Packing? My DH always does his own . . . like last year taking 4 prs of underwear for a two week motorbike trip . . . he thought I'd find time to do laundry every 4 days!! LOL
This year he took every pair in his drawer! (Luckily we travel with a trailer!)

[Elena]

"If you want a cheap laugh spill some dry spaghetti on the floor and watch the dog try to eat it."

Oh, I am SO trying this with Bart & Zelda!!