Monday, May 30, 2011

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?
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31 comments:

  1. Ana DegenaarMay 30, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    What a beautiful weekend, post and old photos. I didn't do anything daggy but I love learning kiwi. xx

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  2. BonnieMay 30, 2011 at 2:31 PM

    I lovelovelove the pictures!!!!! <33 So cute.

    http://www.glamkittenslitterbox.com/
    Twitter: @GlamKitten88

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  3. JessMay 30, 2011 at 3:14 PM

    "daggy" .... i love it! glad you had a great weekend!

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  4. leslieMay 30, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    I love your "daggy" words you use when you write.
    I have to read up on what you wrote about traveling with kids. Because yes, I dream of those days of sitting at a pool in a resort, sipping a drink. I miss that. I envy my friends who can even afford to travel to fun places with their kids, but then I think that I probably wouldn't enjoy traveling with our kids at this point anyway. For now, I'm happier staying closer to.

    We went kite flying this weekend - not really daggy, but it was fun!

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  5. AlexaMay 30, 2011 at 5:01 PM

    What a great weekend and word! I used to live in NZ, so I miss all of the lingo. My boss always said, "Oh bugga" when something went awry. Best to you!
    Alexa
    www.theshortandthesweetofit.com

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  6. JMWMay 30, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    What a great moment in time - love their expressions! Yep, we have plenty of daggy moments caught on film. :)

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  7. michelleMay 30, 2011 at 5:28 PM

    love these photos :) i love their expressions too!

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  8. Rob-bearMay 30, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Considering that most of my life is pretty daggy, I've nothing unique to report from last weekend. Except, perhaps, a dagg day afternoon, or two.

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  9. Travel With LuluMay 30, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Thanks for the new vocab - I was wondering what that stuff hanging of sheep was called (seeing a lot of sheep lately). That ferry ride photo is hilarious. Yes, it is all the moments between the Christmas card photos :) XOL

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  10. MarellaMay 31, 2011 at 12:32 AM

    Super cute pics!

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  11. Loretta Fontaine (EcoHappy Blog)May 31, 2011 at 12:47 AM

    Jody- Love your Kiwi word "daggy". It's the imperfect pictures that are the best, no? and your children are beautiful!

    I have a recent one of my daughter blowing her nose at her first communion. My favorite pic of the day!

    Loretta

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  12. laura keadyMay 31, 2011 at 4:11 AM

    Photos of how i "dagged" (can that be a verb?) this past weekend at my husband's 25th college reunion, sans kids, in the middle of Nowhere, Ohio, will not be published. Except probably widely, on Facebook, by many of the people who witnessed me winning the dubisou honor of "funnest spouse". Frightening. I warned my husband not to bring me, and make me sleep in a freshman DORM ROOM and shower/get primped in a DORM BATHROOM, or else. He will listen next time:-) honestly, we did have a GREAT time. xo

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  13. laura keadyMay 31, 2011 at 4:12 AM

    meant "dubious" honor:-0

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  14. Julie of Monkey Grass HillMay 31, 2011 at 5:11 AM

    Thanks for making me laugh out loud his morning. Loved every part of this post!

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  15. MagdalenaMay 31, 2011 at 5:41 AM

    Very cute word and so adorable kids!! Love the pics! xoxoxo

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  16. Sick by TrendMay 31, 2011 at 9:22 AM

    lovely pictures! This post is fantastic :D

    xx

    www.sickbytrend.com

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  17. UnknownMay 31, 2011 at 10:17 AM

    Haha, I love your explanation of "daggy" and your daggy photos of your kids (precious!) and can't wait to experiment with it in my vocabulary. You were so productive compared to me! I think I dozed off before I could make it through one movie, full from lemon fettuccine made from squeezing lemons from my trees (my one proud accomplishment of the day!)

    xo Mary Jo

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  18. torrieMay 31, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    15 movies?????????????

    (wow... a total dream come true-- I have so many movies to see!!)

    Hmmm. Daggy... Ryan & I cooked (& drank aperol cocktails) while our house was literally destroyed all around us by Hailey & her 'sleepover friend.'

    And what am I doing rather than cleaning the DISASTER right now? Reading blogs.

    Is this "daggy"??

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  19. The Suburb ExperimentMay 31, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    My husband laughs at me for printing the "odd" photos but my favorite memories are conjured better by looking at the photos that aren't perfect. That's why I kind of miss having a film camera. It was fun to go through the envelope of freshly printed pictures seeing them for the first time and laughing at goofy expressions or weirdly captured moments.

    Jenn

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  20. TaraMay 31, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    "Daggy" moments and grief-stricken family trips are my life these days! (There truly is no such thing as "vacation" with 3 kids aged 3 and under.) I'm so glad I'm not alone. Thanks for the laugh!

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  21. Travel With LuluMay 31, 2011 at 9:14 PM

    I am back for more :) And how delicious is your word 'holidaze'?!

    Thank you for joining Post Of The Month Club! XOL

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  22. Andrea RehJune 1, 2011 at 1:59 AM

    Hello! I just made the happy discovery of your blog - though I'm sure there must me thousands of us, it's rare to find other Kiwis in the blogosphere!

    Would love it if you popped by my blog sometime.

    Andrea x
    andreareh.blogspot.com

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  23. KimJune 1, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    We just returned from a vacation with our kids and I can say - definitively - that it was only a vacation for the kids!!! =:)

    I love your blog!

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  24. MadameSmokinGunJune 1, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    Blimey missus - I've finally caught up with all your latest after my cyber blackout - SUCH MUCH!! My brain is now reeling.

    I've just switched phones so that I now have an ok camera to hand at all times so have taken plenty of daggy shots of my lot. Just now need to learn to download them and post them up and stuff. Always love your shots.

    PS - (going back a couple of posts) - speaking as a particularly unposh English slob who flops on her settee in the lounge - I loved the poshness debate. My personal theory is that the very upper class and the right proper lower class are almost indistinguishable - all the blinkin' problems are with the tedius middle classes: the snotty lower middles trying to be smart upper middles trying to be scruffy uppers or street-creddie lowers. I like to think I'm in a class of my own. Or unclassified. (But you guessed it I'm just a lower middle trying to be funny.....)

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  25. DianaJune 1, 2011 at 4:06 PM

    I love the word daggy now! Love looking back at funny photos of the kids and us clowning around and being silly! Our weekend was way too packed and im ready to relax this weekend coming up. First we went to see the new Pirates movie...great! And then we went shopping all day after that...and then the day after we went to an amusement park. So on Monday I was ready to relax and my step daughter says, "what are we doing today?" LOL!

    That Funny People movie looks great...cant wait to see that one!

    15 movies wow...Ive been on a marathon with a tv show I used to watch, im on the 4th season now!

    Hope you had a great day!

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  26. libbyJune 2, 2011 at 11:15 PM

    Those daggy photos are sometimes the sweetest aren't they.....and 15 films?? as much as I love movies that is impressive.....ps madame smoking gun is right about the posh debate...the lower and the upper are practically the same apart from money.....

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  27. MarellaJune 3, 2011 at 3:17 AM

    Super cute pics!

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  28. very marriedJune 3, 2011 at 1:05 PM

    that top pic is a total classic. love it.

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  29. Alexis of NorthOnHarperJune 3, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Love reminiscing over old photos.... and the first one certainly is a "dag"!

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  30. Poppies and SunshineJune 3, 2011 at 11:16 PM

    Well we learn something new every day, don't we?! I've never heard of that word before. How fun to learn a new word! Thanks!

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  31. TrishJune 4, 2011 at 1:20 AM

    You'd think that first photo had been properly posed - it's a hoot!
    I have to admit our holidays haven't changed that much since we had our boy. I suspect it's because we only have the one and as he has grown older he has fitted in rather well to our holiday style so flops about quite happily. Being a teenager who prefers to be horizontal if at all possible helps enormously.

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