Daggy Holidaze

This weekend I was trawling through old summer snaps and came across one of my all-time favourites from six years ago. Isn't it a dag?

Cy, 14-months, Harley, 7, Tallulah, 3, and Jackson, 5, in Arizona at Spring Break.

You might have read the word "daggy" here before. It's a Kiwi term (used slightly differently from the Aussies', mind) to affectionately describe something that's slightly askew, silly, kind of funny and definitely not perfect. The historical origins of the word are those unfortunate pieces hanging from sheep's tails, but don't let that put you off using it even in polite conversation. Plus one of my favourite childhood singers is Fred Dagg whose hit-tune called Gumboots  will surely remain a classic in our parts.

The smiling, glowing holiday pics might be the ones we send to friends and relatives, but what about those daggy in-between moments...or hours?  In the photo above, the expressions on our kids' faces of various degrees of misery and boredom never fail to amuse me.

Talking of snaps that don't make the official holiday card, today I'm over with Emily who writes the British blog Babyrambles.  Emily is featuring something I wrote last summer called Family Trip: The Five Stages of Grief. Has lolling around the pool with a good book and a cocktail become a distant memory for you? You might be able to identify with this. Thanks for having me over to your place, Emily.

New York, last summer: Five Stages of Grief

This weekend, Kevin took the three "little kids" (as Harley, 13, calls them) for three days backpacking at  Point Reyes with another Dad.

Kids backpacking in Point Reyes

Harley and I pretty much mooched around inside the whole weekend. For the first time in years I watched back-to-back movies. Fifteen of them - gosh, what an achievement! - including Funny People , the cleverest movie ever about both celebrity and what makes something funny. I would show you a photo of me on the couch, but that's not a pretty picture so here's the TV room instead. The three camping kids are home now and have taken up their customary positions in front of the telly. Dags.

Camping kids return to their other natural habitat...

Did you do anything daggy this weekend?