Soooo many cousins!!

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I had a nice lie in today and then we headed out for lunch with my grandads 2nd cousin Babara and her husband Jon (Kim's aunt and uncle). We went down to Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) where Emma Druitt, another cousin, and Renee study. Emma is studying to be a chef and at EIT there is a Scholars Kitchen where you can have great food cooked for you by the trainee chefs for great value. Georgia was with us as she is off school at the moment and Annie and Renee joined us for lunch. I had a great butter chicken curry and a smoothie. Emma brought out a chocolate dessert she had just been making and we all got a try! It was truely scrumptious! I had a lemon dessert and then Emma brought us some free muffins. Its great knowing the important people at restuarants, especially as she has just won some cooking competitions!

After lunch Kim, Tim and Georgia took me down to the harbour and up to the bluff to check out the view. Tim told me how after the 1931 earthquake the landcape of Napier changed dramatically. The old bay rose up by several metres so where there was sea there is now land and the harbour had to be moved further out. Tim's family have been around for a long time in Napier and he showed me a bucket from his (possibly great) grandfather's dredgers, which is on display outside a museum.

I then went to order some bouquets of flowers for Aunty Barbara and Kim and her sisters, just as Trevor had asked me to. We then went to pick up Charleigh from school. All this time we were playing the yellow car game and me and Tim were beating the girls, no matter what they say! I grabbed one of the bouquets from the florist and we went over to Barbara and Jon's house. She really appreciated the flowers which made it all the better. We then sat and had a chat about how we were related and their emmigration to NZ in the 60s, more recent than the Heayns side of the family. Just a reminder Babara is my grandad Trevor's 2nd cousin through his paternal grandmother so she is an Osbourne not a Heayns!

We then had a very interesting conversation with Jon who is Lithuanian. His village was ransacked by the Russians during WW2 and so when the Germans came in he went to join the fight as his brother didnt want to go and Jon thought it would be more interesting than working on the farm! He didnt go into detail about what he saw, neither would I, but said how he was injured in a bomb blast when schrapnel just scrapped the back of his head! He was then sent to get a hospital ship to Denmark. Him and his friend were the last two on the ship and those who were left behind were massacred by the Russians. When in Denmark he was told to go to a town but there were two with the same name. So him and his friend decided where the regiment would most likely be and, knowing the war was near the end, went to the other one!

When the war ended he made sure he was in the British section so that when he was captured he would be treated better. A year later, he was sent to Cornwall as a POW to work on the fields, living in an old american camp at a manor house, There he met Barbara who decided to go out with him to "kill time" whilst waiting to leave to NZ with her brother Terry, Kim's dad. In the end they got married, Terry went to NZ and they followed some years later. A great story of luck and love!

We then went to pick up the other bouquets and headed home to prepare for the other relatives to come around that night! First to arrive was Julie Eagle and her husband Mark. This was the first time I had met Julie who was born in Cornwall before moving out to NZ with her parents. They have a few sons who are around the world, my 4th cousins like Georgia and Annie. One of their sons, Tim lives in Napier and joined us later but without his wife, who was home with the kids.

Sheryl Druitt, Emma's mum, and her husband Basil came later with their other kids, Kelly and Daniel. This was a bit annoying as Sheryl was bringing the nibbles for starters!! We had a great main course cooked by Kim and delicious desserts brought along by Julie. I then sprung the supprise of the flowers on them, assisted by Georgia who hand help me decided which bunch to give to each of them. We then brought out Charleigh's cake, which I had helped Georgia decorate, and her presents and cards. The look of delight on a 12 year olds face is brilliant!

Later we watched funny clips on youtube including:

but watch interview first and many clips of Ultimate Rap battles, check them out!

For Charleigh's birthday treat we watched the Tooth Fair 2. Thought it had no actors I recognised in it and the storyline was predictable I quite enjoyed it and found my eyes welling up at the happy ending, its all my Dad's fault! Bloody Heayns men and there tears of joy! Everyone else started to leave but me and the girls stayed up far too late watching Journey 2 and The Hunger Games, which Georgia is kinda obsessed with. It is actually a very interesting concept and I will be reading the book! I crawled into bed at 2am....not good for a man of my age!

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