Kiwi Christmas
December 20th
With the arrival of summer, we welcomed the end of the school year here in New Zealand. Upon completion of Term 4 as a year 6 student Lilly had officially completed primary school and participated in the Witherlea promotion ceremony.
The arrival of summer was also noted by the appearance of Fred our elf and the opening of the downtown skating rink. Due to the summer heat, ice was replaced with a surface best described as one gigantic plastic cutting board. The gloves are only necessary to protect your hands when you fall so they don't get sliced or diced.
Being in a foreign land in the opposite season made getting into the holiday spirit a bit more difficult than usual. This was further exacerbated by the total lack of holiday decor in shops for the previous four months. In order to kick our cheer into high gear, Lilly started baking, baking and baking. We were soon delivering plates of holiday goodies to anyone we had a loose association with. Oh yes, you bagged our groceries three weeks ago, here are some snickerdoodles. Our Kiwi Christmas was now underway!
After resisting for several days, the Grinch parents eventually relented and bought a tree complete with lights. We decorated the tree with a wild assortment of souvenir ornaments, homemade ornaments and squishies.
Having undergone a recent and traumatic downsizing in the playroom department, the kids were delighted to see New Zealand was set to be one of Santa's first stops on his long night. Meredith and Will were elated to get some new toys, as Jack was equally thrilled with some new books to read. "Thanks Mom!"
All was not lost when celebrating Christmas in the summer. We were able to spend a nice day at White's Bay and Rarangi beach, enjoying time in the sun and sand in the shorts.
Although it was a memorable first Kiwi Christmas, we definitely missed visiting family, and the Christmas treats and traditions we have back in the States.
