Kindi Fair Sizzles

The sausages were sizzling at Sophie’s Kindi Fair this morning. Dan and another Dad did a fabulous job of stoking the BBQ and selling around 300 bangers in the course of the morning. Thankfully the rain held off, with only a few drizzles, and no gale force winds to contend with. They could really have done with a few beers as lunch time approached, but it probably wouldn’t have been a good look. Maybe next year they could have a couple of sipper cups filled with a wee tipple.

The day before the fair was a baking frenzy. Even before school drop off I had Charli helping me in the kitchen to whip up some Anzac biscuits. They were out of the oven just in time for the girls to have a quick biscuit each before we dashed to school. After the school drop Sophie helped me make baby strawberry cup-cakes and ginger biscuits. Of course she was chief taste tester too!

Sophie takes her baking duties seriously in excited preparation for the Kindi Fair:

By the time we were ready to make the baking drop at Kindi the heavens had opened. The rain was coming down heavy and I wasn’t looking forward to getting completely drenched. It was literally like standing under an over-flowing gutter. I envisioned millions of little people sitting in the clouds with buckets of water having a good laugh at me! But, thankfully, the heavens eased to a light splattering as I made a dash for it. The ginger biscuits nearly met with an untimely demise, but landed right way up and with all legs and arm still intact. There was to be no escape for my ginger bread men and fairies!

By the afternoon the rain ceased and blue sky won over. Sophie and I met up with an expat friend, Rachel (of One Way New Zealand blog), and her gorgeous son at Te Papa for lunch and we had a great couple of hours before the school bell beckoned us away. Charli and Sophie enjoyed the company of a neighbour’s girls in the garden after school. The sound of their laughter in the garden certainly made for easy listening. I opened up the doors and windows and commenced the slicing of a large bag of onions in preparation for the sausage sizzle. Memories of an old school cookery teacher came flooding back. She assured us that if we peeled and cut the onions without touching the inside we wouldn’t end up with tear streaked eyes. Her theory was pretty successful as I only shed a few tears and that was due to a particularly offensive onion! Plus I was periodically washing my hands whilst filling up containers of water for the children to play with in the garden – they were making various potions with food colouring, glitter and leaves from the herb plants!

Whilst the children played… I sliced a serious bag of onions:

All the preparation for the fair paid off. The girls had a really great time, whilst Dan sizzled on the BBQ. They had a purse each of dollar coins, which disappeared very quickly. Sophie spent at least half the time digging in the sand at the treasure hunt. Charli was very successful on the fishing game, but at one point took her winning prize back as it was, ‘Very girly.’ She asked very politely for something from the ‘boy winnings’ and her prize was generously exchanged. A mini-ferris wheel was a big hit – Sophie had four rides. Yes, the Kindi fair certainly profited from our presence. But, our spending paid off, as Charli won big for us on the instant ticket wheel. There were around 30 numbers on the wheel and Charli won twice! So we came home with a family pass to Staglands and Pirate Ship mini-golf, as well as a 12 swim pass for me (no excuses now!).

At midday all the Kindi children gathered to sing a few songs to the smiles of proud parents and were then rewarded with the entertainment of ‘Zappo’ the magician, who had them laughing hysterically. The girls managed to get themselves sat in the front row and Charli was picked out to get in on a magic act (her face was a picture). Dan and I caught snippets of the show through the window, from outside standing in the drizzle – there was no room for adults inside as the children were packed in tight! But Zappo had them so enthralled that their was no moshing in the pit.

We had a fabulous time and it was heart warming to see such a great community turn-out. This afternoon the rain has set in hard and we are very grateful to someone up there for holding off on the downpour. From now until the end of March schools around Wellington hold their fairs and they are always well attended. It’s great to be a part of it.