My birthdays are becoming more and more difficult to handle, and it isn't just becuase I turned 35 this year! Already we have the whole birthday grinch issue (i.e. my husband, who doesn't believe in celebrating birthdays or having fun! And while it's refreshingly non-consumer society, I do like to do something a bit special on my big day, even if it's just a bit of time off with my peeps!). Thank goodness for my adorable girls, who are always willing to help me eat some cake and blow out a few candles!
Anyhow, I'm beginning to think I'm jinxed. Last year, very unfortunately, my father-in-law passed away on the 11th, this year it was a natural disaster rather than a family tragedy. A freak storm hit Rurutu on tuesday evening and we had more than 12 hours of seriously heavy rain. There were powercuts and lightning to top it all off - Matotea and Heimana, inspired by Peppa Pig, decided to provide some light entertainment while the lights were off, Matotea put on her own TV show, and Heimana just liked wearing the cardboard box!
It did eventually stop mid-afternoon, after we had watched Titanic for the second time that day (even with the powercuts), then there was the inevitable cleanup afterwards. Even our new guttering couldn't stop the terrace from getting more than a little damp.....
The airport and runway were turned into a marshland (above and below), so that the regular flight was canceled and our poor guests were stranded in Tahiti until thursday afternoon, when things had dried up a bit.....
.....it reminded me a bit of a rather amusing time I spent trying to get to Cairns in a rental car with my good friend Amy, a few years ago now. It was the rainy season and predictably enough there were very heavy rains in Queensland, we were driving north from Brisbane and suddenly got to a spot in the road where someone was kayaking towards us down the highway between stranded trucks!! Needless to say we didn't get to Cairns that day! I guess the upside of all the drama is that I got the evening off, and there was a really beautiful watery sunset!
However I am a little worried about next year!
For her seventh birthday Matotea wanted cupcakes, so she could take some to school to share with her friends......I found an awesome, if rather wicked recipe here (I didn't do the ganache it seems too much, but I did do a rather good white chocolate frosting with lots of sprinkles).
My birthdays are becoming more and more difficult to handle, and it isn't just becuase I turned 35 this year! Already we have the whole birthday grinch issue (i.e. my husband, who doesn't believe in celebrating birthdays or having fun! And while it's refreshingly non-consumer society, I do like to do something a bit special on my big day, even if it's just a bit of time off with my peeps!). Thank goodness for my adorable girls, who are always willing to help me eat some cake and blow out a few candles!
Today was Matotea's fifth birthday, and between guesthouse duties and rugby world cup semi-finals, we managed to squeeze in a birthday party. I've just come back from my evening pick up at meme's, and they're both utterly shattered and fast asleep, a real birthday party exhaustion sleep........there are few things quite as satisfying as seeing them both quite so tired out.
Matotea celebrated her fourth birthday yesterday, in a pink fairy princess outfit! What could a little girl of four want more, aside from the ultimate Dora DVD collection and a paddling pool?
Matotea has now celebrated her third birthday, with balloons and lots and LOTS of candle blowing, (bubble-blowing is also an acceptable substitute, or even her new Peppa Pig 'Bubbles' DVD).
We didn't get as many pictures as we should have (sorry gomere,gopere), mainly because we are still submerged in guests, but I did get this great shot of her on her NEW bicycle - ready to go to school this morning!
