Birthdaybirthdaybirthday!

Arram has turned four!  What an amazingly big boy he's become.  And what an amazingly fun birthday week he had.

It started a few days before his odometer officially rolled over, with a little birthday party with the neighbour kids at the house.  We blew up nearly a hundred balloons, and the boys took it very seriously to attach some to the mailbox as the 'this way to the party' bat-signal.

Amiri got excited before the party and discovered a new trick in the backyard.

We played a water-balloon game because it was so warm out.  The only problem was that we ran out of water balloons too fast.  I should have made about a zillion more.

But that's OK because then we could go have cake!

The next day, we had another four-year-old's party to attend.  Look at these three best friends.

And then, later, we had a simple celebration for him on the actual day-of.  Grandpa made the cake and it was awesome!

He loves his cat, Ginger (on the table), and his robot, which walks and shoots.

The end of Marmegeddon

You know about Vegemite, right?  It's a by-product of beer-making.  They take the used-up yeast slurry, do... something... to it, add a whole lot of salt, and it turns into a blackish paste that is so savoury it's nearly meaty.  Some people find it revolting, but I quite like a thin spread of it on my buttered crumpet.

But Aussies can keep their veggie might because predictably Kiwis have developed their own version, called Marmite.  (There is a much older Marmite from the UK, but it's gooier and sharper and is called 'Our Mate' here due to local trademark issues.)  NZ Marmite is a beloved institution.

So the entire country was shocked last year when it suddenly disappeared from store shelves.  You see, Marmite's one and only factory was badly damaged in the Christchurch earthquake.  When the warehouse exhausted its supply, that was that.  With barely a whimper, Marmite was gone.

And lo, there has been great suffering and gnashing of teeth in its absence.  We were forced to feed our children yeast extracts from overseas. 

But then.  What's this that's appeared in the house?  Can it be?

Marmite.  On a pedestal!

Just as quietly as it had faded out, Marmite reappeared on store shelves last week.  And the people rejoiced.
 

Here are five starfish and a sea urchin

Remember this nice day?

Sitting on a bench in the shade, drawing our views of the garden.

Achievement unlocked just today!

No hands!

 

The toughen-em-up tramp

We drove west out to--

Yep, Fairy Falls.  It's meant to be gorgeous but we haven't been there before today because they say it's a somewhat strenuous hike for the little ones.  But look, Amiri and Arram are big boys now and they can make it.  They even expressed some personal commitment to make the trek without whining or pleas to be carried.

First we had to clean our shoes with disinfectant and the scrubby brushes (to protect the Kauris).  Amiri selected the items for his own survival backpack:  six or seven juice boxes, one fruit roll-up, and a bookmark.

And then we were off!

We walked for nearly an hour and forded the stream four times.  Because of the drought, though, we didn't have to get our feet wet-- we were able to mountain-goat our way across the rocks.  And then we arrived at the falls!

A perfect photo opportunity.

Then we discovered that there were stairs.  They went up.  So we went up too.  Here is the view from the top of the falls.

Except it wasn't the top.  That big waterfall was only just the lower tier.  There were two or three more and we climbed all the stairs to see them.  I tried to count them but I lost track.  There were at least a hundred more than I wanted.

And then we all marched back to the car.  Like tough Kiwis, we all made it under our own power.
  

Unconnected juxtapositions

Here is a billboard illustrating the kind of liberties that New Zealand companies can get away with in their advertising.  I don't think Dr. Goodall has, in fact, endorsed this bank.  But who's going to tell her?  And is it seriously worth her time doing anything about it?

Here are some buskers.  I'm just walking down the street minding my own business and, you know, there's a woman upside down on the shoulders of some guy in knee socks, and why wouldn't her feet be on fire?

And here are carnivorous Kauri snails.  Carnivorous to insects and worms, mostly.  That's like a robin's nest in there for scale.  Yeah, those snails aren't fooling around.

I spent some time trying to knit these things into some sort of a coherent fanciful story for you, but outside of Mad Libs or fever dreams it just didn't work out.  So they'll just have to remain some random glimpses into my world.
 

Some little humble things

Here are the things that live on the rocks at the beach.

First there's this hairy kind of algae at the high-tide mark.

It also comes in green.

There are limpets,

These little clam-shaped critters that I call barnacles (whether or not that's correct),

Snails,

And lots of these sea molluscs called chitons.

Chitons are usually glued solid to the rock, but I managed to pry one off.  This is what his tummy looks like.

They curl up when they're loose (reminding me of a big pillbug) but they quickly flatten out and re-cement themselves onto the rock.

Peanut butter and jellyfish

Out on Huia beach, there were lots of blue jellyfish washed up on the sand.

Like, LOTS.

They're kind of pretty, with their little air pouch and their trailing tentacles.

There were also these big clear pancakey ones.

A couple of months ago, the east coast beaches were all closed due to a jellyfish swarm-- each one practically microscopic but drifting in huge clouds and stinging as they went.  A few kids had to go to the hospital.

I don't know if the jellyfish in these pictures sting; I poked at them but didn't want to risk touching the tentacles.  And anyway there weren't enough of them to be a danger.  They were pretty obvious in the water.

Dinner and a show

We had a pretty good view at dinner the other night.  And look what happened right out our window!

The Dark Knight

Here's Amiri opening his presents.

He got some shirts from his mom, and some grown-up jewelery from his grandparents (which he LOVES and wants to wear to school like every day),

But I don't think he fully understands just how hard it is to find a Batman costume in February.

Here is Batman, thanks to careful balance and photo-cropping, carrying his brother through the air in just one hand.

He wore his costume to school for Superhero Day last week.  His teacher was Wonder Woman.