Longest day 2009 – what a beauty!

The sun rose at 5.45am and set at 8.54pm and what a beautiful day it’s been. There’s such a holiday spirit in the air. At the beach this evening folk were kicking back and enjoying the most perfect time. The sound of the waves gently lapping on the shore at Princess Bay were met with the clink of wine bottles. Groups of people gathered with picnic rugs spread out. Children explored rock-pools and climbed the rocks. Surfers took to the waves at Houghton Bay and walked barefoot home. The sunshine really helps set the mood.

The girls and I have enjoyed a fabulous day and fitted in so much. We were out the house at 8.30am and after dropping Dan into work (and stopping via Mojo for a decaf latte and pain au chocolate) we parked up at Reading Cinemas (just about the cheapest place mid-week to park – maximum of $10 for the day and no worries about having to get back to the car within two hour’s). As we strolled across to the waterfront the heady red blooms of the Pohutukawa trees greeted us and we stopped to admire the view and play with an adorable kitten that belonged to a busker.

At Capital E we whiled away a few hours meeting up with Father Christmas (again) – but this was really ‘South Pacific’ style as he was wearing jandals and a Hawaiian shirt for a ‘Castaway Christmas‘ theme. We sat in a his grotto – a beautiful fale (hut) – and listened to his amusing attempts to tell the children that if they ate nothing but vegetables and fruit (like his reindeer) they may be able to fly one day too. We made a lolly lei to take home with us (ultra chewy, pull your teeth out type sweets were provided – perhaps they should have been vegetable leis!), played with the elves in some castaway island games (fishing magnetic style and a coconut obstacle course) and met with Mrs. Claus (who we also know locally as ‘Fairy Trina‘ and Sophie kept saying, ‘We KNOW you!’).

Also on at Capital E this week (21st, 22nd and 23rd) are the ‘Giggles Open Days‘, where children can enjoy the opportunity to experience a real screen test and discover how television is really made. The girls loved it and were more than happy to dance around and act silly for a few minutes. They had to completely change their clothes as they were dressed in mostly blue (oops – I wasn’t prepared for the ‘blue screen’). They thought it was amazing how their bodies looked invisible when wearing blue. See their screen test below (there is no sound) and notice Charli’s fringe is slowly growing back after her drastic self-styling…

After all the excitement at Capital E we headed out into glorious sunshine and grabbed a much needed ice-cream by the Lagoon before the girls churned it all up on the ‘Bigair Bungy‘ at Frank Kitts Park. By this time I was feeling in need of a rest and some shade, so we made our way back to Reading Cinemas and filled up on ice-slush drinks before heading home.

Chilling out with books, freshly picked from the library on the way home (and huge fines paid – eek, oops, gasp), we munched on berries galore and rested up. By half past five I was itching to get back out in the sun and make the most of the longest day, so we walked down to beach – leaving a message for Dan.

Dan is working hard to finish two proposals before Christmas Day and can’t wait to really chill out, but he managed a couple of hours this evening (before chaining himself back to his lap-top). Sophie spotted him from afar with shouts of ‘Daddyeeeeeee……’ ringing through the summer air and turning heads from all undulations of the sand dunes.

After a magic hour or so climbing the rocks, paddling in the sea and foraging in the sand for treasure, we ambled home and had a late dinner, fresh off the barbeque.

Only three sleeps till Christmas Day and the weather is looking fabulous. Looking forward to the festivities and lots of great family moments. Wishing you all a magic Christmas too 🙂