Written by Mike Graham, product manager for CHAUVET Professional

Trish and Neil’s older son Iain’s birthday is today. We picked up Connor, Iain, and his girlfriend and took them back into town. We went to lunch at the same place we had the Waitangi Day breakfast. The food at the coffee house is excellent and was worth the return trip. After that, we took a walk to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

The gardens, which are huge by the way, were in full bloom and it looked and smelled fantastic. Iain and his girlfriend were happy to walk around the gardens with us and play with Connor in the huge trees with low branches. Connor was having a great time climbing on the trees and posing for pictures. For Annie and I, it is starting to kick in that I would be leaving in just two days and they would be here for another week. It’s hard knowing that I would also be home about four days before them. I think that I am missing them already.

Later in the evening, we went back to the Below Zero Ice Bar to have a drink to celebrate Iain’s birthday. We got to choose from a list of drinks and had about 30 minutes in the room. I’m originally from Rochester, NY., and I left the cold for a reason and here I am back in a freezer surrounded by ice while it’s about 24c. Yep, I have lost my mind. The bar was really a lot of fun and everyone had a great time. I highly recommend checking it out.