Living Like a Small Green Hairy Fruit

Happy Birthday Weekend Kaela

26 October - 28 October 2007

Kaela celebrated her first birthday in NZ, her 13th, with a sleep over on the Friday night with 4 of her mates, a shopping trip to The Palms on Saturday with them and a trip to Orana Wildlife Park on her Birthday on the Sunday.

As per the teenage script, the girls fell in and out of friends regularly over the weekend, but I think in the end they were all friends and enjoyed themselves.

We decorated the rumpus room with Happy Birthday banners, balloons and streamers and a selection of photos of Kaela from baby to now.

All the girls slept up there on various mattresses with heaps of pillows and duvets and spent the evening eating tons of (fat free? I think not!) lollies and sweets and watching an assortment of DVDs.  I think they eventually got to sleep around 3.15am - at least that's the last time I can remember us having to yell at them to shut up and get some sleep!

Kaela spent her birthday money at The Palms on clothes and bits. Helen kindly (or should I say bravely) came with me to help keep an eye on them.  Then they all came back to ours and made up any differences they'd had and carried on playing and eating lollies! Eventually they all went home around 6pm ish.

Sunday we woke Kaela up early as we were taking her to Orana Wildlife Park and wanted her to have her cards and presents before we left.  Nanny Joyce and Grandad Maurice rang to sing Happy Birthday and she opened her presents from them whilst they were on the phone to her, which was lovely.

One of the presents we'd bought her was a rag dog as being 13 is a funny age - not quite wanting to let go of childhood and not quite being a young woman, so we thought she would appreciate the doll. She didn't!!!

However, Andrew took quite a shine to the doll and rather worryingly kidnapped it straight away to his room where she was put to bed all tucked in and nestled on his pillow.

She did however, like the Asics we bought her and the t-shirts from Auntie Jan & Uncle Kev

We'd booked the Lion Encounter as a birthday treat. Its where you get to go in the cage into the lions enclosure whilst they're being fed so you are literally inches away from their gapping jaws! One lion climbs up onto the top of the cage, others hang off the sides and continue to cling on as the land rover drives on, and one (the mum) pounds her paws repeatedly on the cab, although the keepers don't know why! They said mum was hand reared by someone who used to have dogs so mum has picked up some strange habits, like chasing balls etc!  We also saw the tiger leap, fed the giraffes, watched the cheeter chase and African wild dogs and rhinos being fed. 

 This is what was inches away from our noses.... whilst up above we were stalked by a lioness licking her lips!!!

All in all it was a great weekend, we hope Kaela enjoyed her birthday, she got heaps of cards and presents. I think we all enjoyed Orana and the lion feeding was one of those once in a lifetime moments I don't think we'll ever forget.