Oh My God!

It is SOOOOOOO hot. You would not believe it, not Rebecca and Jo who were here in June or Mum who was here in September. It's shockingly, depressingly, hot. We are all exhausted, sweaty and irritable. Everyone has splotchy red faces and purple rings under the eyes. We are all covered head to toe in sticky prickly sweat and mosquito bites. My girls thought I was certifiably mad washing woollens yesterday, but there were a few sweaters and things I wanted for the blessed, sweetly anticipated WINTER! Right now the only thing putting me off looking forward, madly, to a NZ August, is the fact that the thought of warm things like socks, blankets and sweaters touching my body makes my skin crawl.

I forgot to pack socks. Well, I have a few items on the bed waiting to be bagged for packing, things I got up at 5:30 in the morning to sort, as touching woollens during the heat of the day is so off-putting! I figured I'd throw the underwear in next week when I actually pack (as opposed to just piling things on the bed) but I had totally forgotten about socks. I don't think I've worn one for three months. Kanji still wears them everyday.

Amy and Lena have prepared carry-on bags with some activities, but I don't think there's enough for them yet. They'll also have a pullable suitcase to carry on. Amy is counting down the days. 8 days to go guys!

Erica is adorable at the moment. I know I did this with Lena too, I always think NOW is the perfectly cute age. She babbles, and waddles and smears Marmite toast all over herself. She managed to get some mulched toast in her armpit the other day. She's had diarrhea for a week, but seems to have come right now, and we will take her in for a vaccination on Wednesday.

Right now it's Saturday, the first day of the Summer Holidays. I have promised them McDonalds and the movie Enchanted if we sit down and do as much summer holiday homework as possible. I want to do this to them everyday until we leave so they have as little as possible to do while we are in NZ. Now we just have to heave through two more hours of heat, then I'll fill a cool bath to get us all clean, we'll pop out to the restaurant (does a McD deserve that name?) and come home to a cool evening to watch the movie.