Of a Few Fun Days

So I saw my kids for a total of three hours on Christmas morning.I was actually OK with this as I thought I’d see them on the 28th for a day. Which fell through.It was a slightly weird Xmas/NY period for me, but not remotely as dark or lonely as it was this time last year. In fact, I have quite enjoyed the break so far.In keeping with one of my resolutions, January 2nd saw me at their place at 9:30am. I had them with me for three full days and three nights. For the first time, I’ve had them with me for three nights. I’m making progress on the ‘dealing with my ex’ front.So what did we do?Day One:The weather was bad so we were limited to indoors fun.I gave them a Brainbox electronics kit that I’d bought them. I’d not seen these before but it was recommended to me. Both kids loved building the circuits, making lights glow, fans spin and speakers feed back. In fact, they spent more than 2 hours exploring this. Fantastic.Playstation time - the kids absolutely love Modnation Racers. They spend 80% of their time designing and decorating drivers and vehicles, and building racetracks, rather than actually racing. The cool thing is that Miss 6 enjoys this as much as Master 9.I got them to assist with cooking as well. I have a killer Meatballs recipe that works really well. It was a fun day.Day Two:MOTAT.   We explored their Playing With Light exhibition. Absolutely brilliant. I was also delighted when Miss 6 was brave enough to go through the Tactile Dome. On many previous visits she's been far too nervous and scared to go through. Today she did.The kids loved solving the clues to find ‘Light Stations’ around the site. I was also highly impressed with myself - I can still walk on stilts. Much to the disgust of my lovely children. No respect for this old fella. Just because they couldn’t do it. Other people’s kids were impressed. I’ll take that.A quick relocation up to the Aircraft site. We didn’t spend as much time up there as usual. It was nice to see a Skyhawk in pride of place and being restored to its former glory.Then back to my place for a swim. An actual swim. Even me. (I really don’t enjoy swimming, so this was huge!).Then more Modnation Racers!Dinner for his evening was a herby Roast Chicken, with roast potatoes and asparagus. I got miss 6 to get her hands in the cavity and season with salt and pepper, before thrusting the onion/garlic/herb/bayleaf stuffing in nice and tight. The funniest thing was when she took the tied Chicken and pretended it was talking to us. Brilliant.I was so impressed that the kids tried (and liked!) the asparagus.Day Three:We went to the Auckland Zoo. Oh yes. The weather wasn’t great for an outside activity, but it did work out despite alternating between overcast/sun/pouring rain - a change every 10 minutes. Master 9 was all kinds of grumpy, but managed to sort himself out after half-an-hour. He ended up having fun. All up we spent 3-4 hours wandering around exploring.I was hugely impressed with the NZ Native Habitat Aviaries that have been recently built. It’s been a while since I have been there and I think that those are a World-class exhibit.I lost the children in the Meerkat tunnels for about 15 minutes. That’s a kid-trap right there. So I sat with the other bemused parents wondering where the hell they were.We got home, and had another swim. It was pleasing to see Miss 6 pushing her boundaries and fears. Putting her head fully under without holding on. Yesterday she wouldn’t. I was proud of her.The afternoon/evening consisted of more Modnation Racers, Tron:Classic on Blu-Ray (Master 9 is a fan!), and Barbie’s Nutcracker Suite on DVD. This of course did involve Dad dancing and executing appallingly bad pirouettes, reducing Miss 6 to giggles.Dinner was a Chicken Risotto using the stock I made from the previous nights carcass. Miss 6 was quite interested in how much food you can get from one bird. Master 9 wasn’t.After a good night’s sleep, they got up and watched Tron:Legacy to complete the story.My ex came and got them about 10:15. She came and got them. More resolutions achieved. Yes.I will see them again in a week. I’m taking them camping. For the first time. For a few days as a test. Can’t wait. We really do have fun together.- S