Mr Frank's Holiday - Exploring

During term-time I spend most of my time either at work or at home. But during holiday time there is time to explore different places. This holiday I've been exploring the native bush around my place and also around Rachel's house in Upper Hutt.

Yesterday, Wilco the Psycopathic Dog and I went exploring the bush in the Akatarawa Forest. Running along the track, we found this amazing old dam. It's called the birch wood dam and it used to supply all of Upper Hutt's water supply. The water spilling over the edge looked stunning, a man-made waterfall!

Having time to go exploring and checking out new places is brilliant fun. During term time there isn't always time to find out where a track leads, or wander off the beaten track. When I get the chance to explore different places in the holidays it is always amazing what I find.

Mr Frank's Holiday - Sunshine, Sunshine

Wilco the Psycopathic Dog and I enjoyed the last of the day's sun during our run through the Akatarawa Forest.

Enjoying some winter sunshine is definitely one of the best parts of the school holidays. During winter term time it's so dark before and after school there is not much opportunity to spend time in the sunshine. But during the holidays there always seems to be at least a few days when the sun shines. This holiday we had a whole weekend of sunshine!

On Saturday we spent the day wandering around in the Wairarapa sunshine. Wilco the Psycopathic dog and I then spent the afternoon running around the Kaitoke Forest Park catching the Suns last rays. On Sunday Rachel, Mrs Williamson and I spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the markets on the waterfront and the Cuba Street shops in full sunshine. When we returned to Rachel's house I took Wilco the Psycopathic dog running into the Akatarawa Forest along the Cable Point Walkway in the last of the days sunshine.

It felt great enjoying so much sun this weekend. Thanks to Bella and Kyah's STEM project I know that it's safe to be in the sun without having to worry about hats and sunscreen. This weekend was perfect for enjoying some extra sunshine.

Mr Frank's Holiday - Sleeping in and Relaxing

Mrs. Williamson, Rachel, and Nigel hanging out in Martinborough.

Holiday time is a great time for enjoying some long uninterrupted sleeps, followed by doing not too much at all. Last night I slept for 10 hours. When I awoke to find that The weather was beautiful! We decided to spend our second day visiting Rachel by cruising around eating yummy food.

We started off by taking a drive over the Rimutaka hill to the Wairarapa. We stopped in at Greytown first and ate brunch in the sunshine at a French Bakery. I had delicious tomato and basil soup with fresh bread and coffee. I got to sit in the sun reading comics and following the baseball on my I-phone while Mrs Williamson, Rachel, and Nigel took care of the shopping.

We then headed out to Martinborough for s pizza lunch, yum! Sitting in the sun eating lunch and catching up with the family is a great way to relax. After we wandered around Martinborough for a while it was time to head back to over the Rimutaka hill, back to Rachel's.

I wasn't completely lazy today. Wilco the psychopathic dog was waiting for us and full of energy. So off we went again exploring the river trails some more this time running northwards up to the Kaitoke Forest Park. Once again it was lots of fun, hope we get out again tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to lots more sleep again tomorrow, our last day in Wellington before we head back home again. These holidays are fun!

Mr Frank's Holiday - Wilco the Psycopathic Dog

Say hello to Wilco the psycopathic dog. Holiday time is perfect for organising trips to visit family members in faraway places. My eldest step-daughter Rachel, along with her partner, Nigel and her crazy dog Wilco live in Wellington. This weekend we have organised a trip to visit them.

Rachel has recently moved house and this is our first opportunity to pay a visit to her in the new house. Her house is in Upper Hutt right close to the Hutt River Walkway.

Today I took Wilco running on the walkway. It was fun with lots of tree roots, dips and rises, and zig zags along the way. Part way through the run Wilco slipped his collar and escaped. Thank goodness I managed to get him back by pretending to have treats for him. We ran for an hour and Wilco had just as much energy when we returned as when we left. Unlike me, I'd had it!

We will spend a few nights in Upper Hutt. I'm hoping to get out on the trails and doing some more exploring while we're here.

Mr Frank's Holiday - Having My Grandsons Around

Macgregor, Finn, and Jock. In their pyjamas at tea time and still full of energy.

When I'm not being a teacher, one of my most important jobs is being a Poppa for my three grandchildren. Finn is 5 years old, Macgregor is 3 years old, and Jock is 1 year old. We have them over whenever we can. In the holidays we get to have them over for a long time. This holiday we are having them over for 3 nights and then we will have them over some more next week.,

Today was an inside cold and rainy so we had an inside day. The three boys had turns choosing games to play. Jock's game was catch the balloon, Macgregor's game was dinosaur flesh, and Finn's was activities (reading, outside forest adventures, Rocksteady toy battles), then Poppa got lunch ready!

Being a Poppa is great fun because you get to do all the cool things you did with your own children all over again. It can also be tiring. The boys wake up at about 5:30 every morning raring to go. I'm starting to look forward to getting back to work - these holidays are wearing me out!

Mr Frank's Holiday - Catching up With Former Room 1 OPS Students.

Another great part of the holidays is catching up with kids that used to be in room 1. I don't get to see ex-room 1 students during term time because I am busy working and they are busy with their learning or working too. But in the holidays while I'm out and about I often bump into ex room 1 kids.
Over the last few days I've seen lots of ex-room 1 students including Jamie, Dylan, and John. Yesterday was extra special because I had a visit from Jade and his family. They came all the way from Palmerston North to visit us. It was exciting hearing about how much he was enjoying high-school and all about his 2 paper run jobs.
It's always exciting to catch up with former students. Hear what kinds of things they are doing, like being electricians, plumbers, scientists, pilots, skydivers, teachers, farmers ..., amazes me.

Mr Frank's Holiday - Early Morning Swim

During term time the mornings are usually quite a rush. But in the holidays I don't need to be at work by a certain time, so there's time to do some different things.

This morning I tried an early morning swim. I've had kids in my class before who were early morning swimmers and I always admired them and wanted to try it out. I'd never managed to wake myself up in time during the holidays for am early morning swim ... until this morning. I managed to wake up at 6am (this is when I normally wake up in term time), grab some breakfast and I was at the pool by 7am.

I really enjoyed my early morning swim. There were a dozen others there too so I got to meet a few new people I don't normally see. I'll definitely try this again. I might even be able to try it during term time if I can wake myself early enough (I'd need to be up by 5:30)!

Mr Frank's Holiday - Biking

The road to the lake.

I like to go on bike rides whenever I can. During term time I normally have just enough time for 1 or 2 quick weekend rides in between planning and marking for school, catching up with friends, and doing the chores. But during the holidays I have time for some longer rides.

This weekend I took on one of my favourite challenges. It involves a ride to Lake Rotokare which is beautiful piece of bush encircled by a predator free fence. Then I stash my bike in the trees and run around the lake walkway which is lots of fun with big roots to leap over and branches to duck under and swing from. Once I make it back to my bike I jump on it again and head for home. It takes me about two hours in total.

The holidays are a perfect time for catching up with my fitness activities. It's a real treat to have time to challenge myself more than usual.

The road back home again.

Mr Frank's Holiday - Visiting Mum

Catching up with my mum is one of things I look forward to the most during the holidays. I'm really grateful for having parents that showed me lots of love and gave me an awesome childhood. I'm even more lucky to still have my mum around even though I'm an old man myself!

Today I visited mum for morning tea. It was great to see her. We caught up on each other's news, and watched some of the tennis from Wimbledon together. As a bonus my brother Kev was visiting at the same time so I caught up with him too.

I normally visit mum during term time since she lives just a 20 minute drive away. But it's great visiting her during the holidays because I'm not as rushed and I can do some chores for her. I'll be visiting her again soon to wash her windows!

The amazing obstacle course.

Yesterday Liam, reuben Catherine and Caitlin built an obstacle course.

 The first part of the course was hoops and you had to hop in the hoops to get to the next part of the course. Next people had to jump on the gymnastics  tramp and had to get over the vaulting horse. Next you had to zig zag the poles. Then you had to hop through the ladders,  jump over the red bars and zig zag the cones on the way back.  

This was  the line at 

Mr Frank's Holiday - Cooking

The first day of the holidays is always so exhilerating. The challenges of the term have been met and it's time to recharge for the next term. It's nice to be able to engage in some different kinds of activities for a while. Lucky for me the kinds of activities I like the most are the same as the ones I do at work anyway: learning, exercising, reading, writing, and talking, laughing, and playing with friends. For this terms holiday I started feeling like had plenty of energy and I was ready to enjoy my break. So much so in fact that I began my holiday on Friday night.
One thing I love to do but don't have much time for during term time is cooking! A while ago I learnt to cook a delicious prawn pasta. I adjust the recipe a little to suit my taste - this involves adding a whole bulb of garlic rather than 2 cloves and I leave out the rocket. Yum, the perfect first holiday meal!
My first holiday activity is under the belt. With a full belly, I'm now looking forward to seeing what other cool experiences the holiday brings.