Wonderful weekends

My children can be a little odd sometimes.

Or maybe it's just ultra cute.

Look what they set up on the FIRST DAY OF THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!

A classroom :-)

Dad had plans to build a fence which of course must start with digging post holes.

Gorgeous Phoebe

Mark and I then spent night in the city of Christchurch. Only 25 minutes away but we were able to go child free (Thanks Nana Sandy).

We wandered around the beautiful Botanic Gardens. A spectacle of the 'garden city'.

What Christchurch does extremely well. Autumn colours.

Love this tram stop. (Although it always looked better without the cordon fences behind)

The Garden city is now the city of cranes. This view used to be quite special, with the Cathedral gracing the end of this street. No more sadly.

So many of these USAR messages to be seen.

Buildings without walls :-(

But in middle of the city, Cashel Mall metamorphed into a brightly coloured 'beating heart' (as a friend of mine described it). I love this description. The rest of the city seems dead, dusty, ghostlike. In fact, behind the bubbling and chattering in the foreground you can hear the hum of diggers and destruction in the background. This mall is a sign of new beginnings.

ChCH has come back with shops and coffee shops made from containers.

Not quite the traditional architecture of Canterbury, but a happy new beginning.

Unfortunately Cashel mall is also a memorial for many lost lives. And the fences are used to share memories and debate what the public would like to happen with the Cathedral ruins.

Not allowed in. I remember walking through here every day when I worked in the city.

Here's a novel idea instead of a billboard. A display car in a container. Only in Christchurch!!!

I avoided taking photos of the ruined churches in the city. Too many and too sad. Lovely old buildings.

But unsafe buildings are still being pulled sown. Even over a year later.

We had mixed feeling visiting the city. It's certainly not the same, but we can feel the excitement and anticipation of what is to come.

Watch this space!!!

Easter Sunday. The birth of the fence.

Sunday afternoon was spent at the river. Introducing Rosie to WATER!!

Making dams.

Sunday was concluded with a family movies night. Dogs invited. Doesn't her face just say" where's my popcorn"?

Easter weekend was spent sharing time together. Just what we love to do. Even building a fence became a group effort with the kids joining in and my brother lending us a helpful hand.

What could have been a chore actually became quite satisfying. But that's another blog entry really.

Hope your weekend was fun and relaxing too.

Jaz xx