Church Camp at Waikanae

We spent the weekend at El Rancho in Waikanae - and what a beautiful weekend it was. Lovely weather, good friends, and the kids reliably disappearing for stretches at a time. (Katie and Rowena didn't even sleep in our cabin.) I was carrying round (and even read some of) a book by John Holt "How Children Fail", which sounds like a depressing title, but is actually a classic book with some telling insights into things that make school hard for kids, and ways to overcome them. (He makes some points which I personally agree with - which is always a good way to know that an author is writing sense!!!)

Bit of a slow start to the weekend though. We spent over an hour in s--l--o--w m--o--v--i--n--g traffic up the coast, due to road resealing. We had an unprecedented chance to check out people's gardens. Then, when we arrived, we couldn't go into the campground because about a dozen police cars were there before us - an armed offenders squad call-out. We went off to the beach/cafe, and by the time my latte had arrived someone had had a text that it was all over and we could get in. I didn't see anything in yesterday's paper about it, so will have to keep a look out.

(Later)
Reading the above, it sounds like I am pleased to not see my kids for large chunks of the weekend - which is not the case. However, there is a huge contrast with what going to camp was like 8 or 10 years ago with little kids. In fact, I felt like we had all the advantages of being a childless couple hanging out with friends, plus all the advantages of having children - with none of the disadvantages of either.