...

Ok I need to do some serious blogging, but for now I'll just give you a quick update on what I've been up to, before I go to bed.

On Thursday night (about 11:30) my sister Monique (10yrs) had some kind of seizure, which lasted about five minutes. She went to Kidz First (Middlemore Hospital) by ambulance not long after. On Friday morning (in hospital) she had another, worse, seizure. She was admitted for the weekend, and as she had to have someone 16yrs + stay with her 24/7 Mum and Dad took turns staying with her, and they organised a few other people to spend a few hours with her. So Friday and Saturday I made dinner, looked after my siblings and basically kept the house running (actually either Mum or Dad was around most of Saturday to help).
On Monday she and Dad went to Starship (Auckland Hospital) for an EEG (some kind of test). We found out yesterday the likely diagnosis is Beneign Rolandic Epilepsy. They arrived home Monday afternoon.

I also baked on Monday - for Tuesday.
Tuesday I had a flute lesson, and we sat our tramp(olining) badge. I passed Level 2.
Straight after tramp the Aikens' came to our place for afternoon tea, and I did the Chapter 2 Test in my French book with Mrs Aiken (yay passed that really well too!) =)
Just after Dad arrived home from work his cousin, Marie, popped in to say hi (wow the last time I saw her must have been when Maria was born?!?).
And Tuesday, Wednesday and tonight I have been for a driving lesson...Dad keeps teasing me that all the cops start patrolling the roads when I go for a lesson!

This afternoon the rest of my family went out for music lessons, so I had a lovely couple of hours on my own. Then my family, and my cousins arrived.

Now its past bed time, so I think I better go to bed so I can do school work, and bake for the supper after the induction of our minister at church tomorrow night.

G'night =)
Luv Bee

Dargaville Holiday Post #6: The Kumara Box!

On Saturday we got up late...
And went to The Kumara Box:

When we got there, we met the couple who owned the place, Mr  & Mrs Suckling, although Mr Suckling has his photo on billboards everywhere with the name 'Ernie,' and is usually known by that name now!
Then we chose seats on the 'train' and went for a ride to see where the kumara is growing, etc..

This was homemade from 40-gallon drums!

Each drum had a place name on it

You ride between a couple of paddocks, where there's
various 'things' - this pig,
 

There are 2 pews inside and they actually hold services in here sometimes!

There are murals on either side in this tunnel, which were 'rescued'
from a shop that was closing(?), and the artist who painted
them years ago is going over the top of them as they
were really faded!

I think these below under ground...Don't you?!

Ernie is making this kiwi himself! from flax.

This tractor doesn't need anyone in it to drive it,
it can be programmed from a computer,
and then run by sattelite!

The harvester. In the middle is the conveyer belt,
which the kumaras come up on then people stand
around and sort them, some go on the shelf above
the belt, others into the buckets hanging off the sides.

 After the train ride we were shown through the sheds that the kumaras are stored in - not so great for Mum's clostaphobia! (if that's how you spell it..!) Then into the theatre(?) for a talk about various things to do with kumara. Unfortunately I can't remember much of what he said 'cause it was so long ago, but we were shocked at how many kumara growers are in a small area up there! We also watched and listened to Hayley Westenra singing some Moari song, she has an amazing voice!!! =D

After a long talk (everyone was having a well-behaved day and sitting very quietly, and Ernie was enjoying speaking to us so he just carried on!), we talk some photos:

And then... we got invited for drinks and a snack - homemade slice, etc.. and hot cross buns! So we stayed to chat and stuff for ages!! And no we'd never met them before! Oh I just remembered, a couple of ladies (one's the editor of the Health Ideas or something magazine!).

These are their customers

Big kumara!!

This is on the kumara in the above pic.

I know it's unlikely, but if you are ever up that way, this would be a great place to visit! check out there website: http://kumarabox.co.nz/

Well, kumara still isn't my favourite food, but we had an awesome day!
Bee
PS: Sorry this post is so long!

Dargaville Holiday Post #5 - Tane Mahuta

Bonjour! =)

Well, we just did 'normal' stuff in the morning [sleep] and early afternoon. Later in the afternoon, we drove up to see the Tane Mahuta, a massive Kauri tree.
Here are some pics:

From left to right: Me (Bianca), Monique, Diana, Dad, Bryce, Jarrod (standing above us), Mum, Maria, Danielle.

Tall trees!



Well you can see how big the trees are up there! And I think one of those photos will become our most recent family-photo for a while! =)

Au revoir,
Bianca

Dargaville Holiday Post #4 - Quad Biking

Written 28/4/11

On Thursday I got up early, well, earlier I suppose!
And we went to Baylys Beach, where we hired a 2-seater quad bike for an hour. Unfortunately you had to have you drivers license to ride them yourself, and Dad had signed something to say that he would be on it the whole time, so first he took as all for a ride on the back, then he let some of us older ones dsit on the front and have a go at 'driving' it, which is definately more fun! Although someone seriously needs to tell my Dad that going fast is half the fun!





Yeah, this is me



Maria enjoys the beach



Mum and Dad. Isn't the beach beautiful?



An up-close view of the bike, with Monique (then 9) and Dad on it

Look at all the tacks we made!

I think this was definately better at the time, but
I think the video is still cool!
Caution: If you are the owner of this vehicle,
you might not want to see this! =D

As it was already late afternoon, we just went back to the unit for dinner, and I managed to motivate myself to do some of the review I was up to in Writing & Grammar, yes, I actually took school work with me! lol
Later on we went for a walk, and ended up watching a pipe band finish their practice - probably in preperation for Anzac Day.

<3 Bee

Your turn!

Well, I'm doing all the blogging at the moment..but here's your turn!
I would love to know who all my readers are, so, would you please comment with ...

1. Your name,


2. Where you are in the world,


3. Your age catagory - 12 or under, 13 - 19, 20 - 30, 40 - 50, 50 + (optional!)


4. Your hobbies!


5. Something/s you would like me to post about?

Thanks!
Bee

Kai Iwi Lakes and Shiraz - Wednesday 20th April

Written 27 & 28/4/11

After another late morning, we went to the Dargaville info centre, collected some brochures, then drove out to the Kai Iwi Lakes.
Mum and Dad looked around the campground, while the others got soaked in the lake, and me? Well, I sat in the car txting, playing games........and finishing the packet of roasted salted peanuts!(yum!)

After going back to the unit to finish cleaning sand off children, etc., we drove back into Dargaville to look for a nice restaurant, eventually deciding on the Shiraz and Indian restaurant.

Aren't the lights so cool?

The dinner was nice, despite not being as hot as I like (everything was mild) and the desert...well I had chocolate cake, with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Now, I tell you, it is the weirdest sensation eating chocolate cake and having your mouth burn! Seriously, my entire mouth felt like it was on fire!

Later on we did some washing at $4 per load in the machine and driers - Wow the owners of the camp must be rich!
and I did a bit on my cross stitch before having a[nother] late night.

Dargaville Holiday Post #1 - Going on Holiday

(written 27/4/11)

On the freezing cold day of Monday, April 18th, we packed bags and suitcases of clothing, food, toys, games...and so on; Dad swapped our 8-seater for the Aikens' 10-seater (Thanks for loaning it to us!); and, yes, I spent a bit (well, maybe a BIG bit I suppose!) of time on the computer, emailing/chatting to my friends letting them know we were going away. Finally (at about 5:30!) we left for Dargaville, Northland.

We soon discovered that with and above-average sized family and a large van, we drew quite a bit of attention! (The van we borrowed at Christmas time had tinted windows, but because this one doesn't, everyone could see us). So anyway, we had fun laughing at, and waving to all the people who looked at us!! *grin* Not quite enough fun, though, it would seem, because near the beginning of the drive we had a few "Are we nearly there yet?"'s!

Because we arrived in Dargaville fairly late, and it is a very small town, no takeaway shops were open, so, after finding our Holiday Park we went to Woolworths (thankfully that was still open!) and bought bread rolls and cooked chicken for dinner, and a chocolate cake for supper, which we ate on returning to the Holiday Park. Side note - The GPS wasn't very happy that we were driving away from our programmed destination - it kept re-mapping to get us back to the Holiday Park; if you ever hear my siblings say "Turn right, after 100 metres, turn right" that's what they're referring to!

We had tried to get into a cabin, but our family is now too large to fit(!), so we were put in a backpacker unit which consists of

lounge and



dining

three bedrooms;

one with a double bed - Mum and Dad's room,

another had a single and bunk set - Jarrod, Danielle and Bryce

and last but not least - a bunk set comprised of double on bottom, single on top - Monique, Diana and me

Yes Uncle Pete, now I know what it's like sleeping, or ah, not sleeping, with Diana...!

Well, onto the next post...
Cya =)