Merry Christmas

Well here we are in Dec. The boys have been keeping busy ever since the 1st weekend in dec when the GP's from the naki came to visit. They had their traditional trip into Wellington to see Nana Fran and visit the Kirks christmas shop. I managed to get a photo with Santa (with J telling me " I think this might be the last time mum, I'll be 10 next year you know" :( L and N were down from Auckland and we got to have lunch with them in Eastbourne. It was lovely to see them and the boys excitedly built their mini lego kits - J getting his together in super quick time! Then last sunday it was our traditional trip to the pantomine - this year cinderella. And then a visit to the telecom tree. Topped off with the visit to Wagamama for dinner. a great birthday weekend for mum! On tuesday (very very early in the morning) J and D made their solo flight to oz. Having a fluffy at 5am seemed au natruel to these sesoned travellers!

Birthday boy

Last month was Jakob's 9th Birthday (sorry I'm a bit late with the post). Jakob had a busy week, birthday cake on the monday, sorting out the new meccano with Dad. And then on the weekend it was off for go-karting/mini golf/laser tag and then pizza dinner with the grandparents and Nana Fran and Bill. Happy Birthday Jakob, love Mum, Dad and Dylan

holidays

Its holiday time and yet the football goes on.. while Jakob was busy with his football game Dylan climbed a tree and settled in to read his latest Geromnimo Stilton. Earlier in the week we had been to see the Maungaraki School science fair. Great job Jakob! And it was all your own work from idea conception to presentation. Today we drove out to see Tessa at her new house. Wow heaps of room to play, adn especially fun was the golf cart ride....or was that Dad having the most fun? Love J and DJ

..

back to school

Back to school this week. But a funny week as we had a holiday in the middle for Anzac day. J and DJ went down the the Anzac parade, it was Dylan's first with his Kea pack. And this weekend we had a party house! 5 boys slept over on saturday, was it noisy :) They made their own dinner (pizzas) and watched the rugby with Dad. Whew, back to school for a rest tomorrow. LOve J and DJ

more party pics

Dylan's 6th birthday

Dylan managed to make his party season last this year. We had trips during the holidays to the pool and the short straw cafe. Had Isaac stay over night and went to see the Pirate movie. And went to TePapa for an amazing race. For Tepapa we had a road trip into Wellington. And then raced around the museum solving a clues and celebrated at the end with cake and lunch in the cafe. Happy Birthday Dylan!

Football season is on

The new season has started. And Jakob and Dad have been doing some preseason training at home. Jakob's team is "Auroa" and Dylan "lightening Strikes". We were lucky enough to have Nicola stay over night on the dawn of the new season so she came with us to watch both games. Love J and DJ

jakob's talk

Jakob's class has been working on their future career options. J was a standout with his Marine Biology talk. And perfected with the fantastic shark hat leiscester and Nicola found for him whilst on their travels.

day tripping

We have a new car...and being such a lovely day we were offfor a drive. Dad drove us over the hill to Greytown. We stopped at the park for lunch. Dylan and I checked out the new playground equipment. Our favourite was the big basket swing.

Another great day forcast for tomorrow. Happy Easter.

Love J and DJ

Kea sleepover

Mum and I headed off on my first Kea Sleepover at Brookfields Scout camp. We had an awesome time. Starting off it was straight in to kayaking, which Iwas pretty good at considering I hadn't tried it before. Mum got a bit worried when I pulled up at the island and got out then clambered back into the kayak by myself. Its not too deep I assured her.
We also did craft activities (and earnt a keen kea badge, had a campfire and the next day we had a confidence course. I did it twice!

Love Dylan

QLD the sunhine state

we had a great time lounging by (and spending a great deal of time in ) the complex pool. Twice a day at a minimum, and even a few trips after dinner. The boys were in heaven.

qld - the sunshine state mk2

And on the days we weren't lounging by the pool (or trying to extract J from the ocean) we went out for a few mini day trips. To the Eumundi Market - a bit of rain but a great book shop :), Montville - for fudge and Dad found a 'man creche' and of course the parks - this was the boys favourite outside the fish market.

Jakob's award

Jakob very proudly collected his award on friday at assembly. For his outstanding improved handwriting. Go Jakob!

monarch butterflies

We have (had!) some swan plants in our garden and the monarch butterflies have found them! Two caterpillars made quick work of the plants, stripping all the leaves asap.

kea night

In preparation for our scout camp trip the Kea's practiced putting up the tents...and then we had a campfire. Can't wait for the real thing.

Love Dylan

baking

Grandma and Grandad were coming for the weekend so DJ and I wanted to make morning tea. We decorated some gingerbread crocodiles. Yummmm.....

the great treasure hunt

On sunday we tried our first Capital E treasure hunt. It was great fun, DJ and I zoomed around on our scooters solving puzzles and completing tasks. Everything from obstacle courses, to decorating biscuits and identifying art sculptures. Definitley on for next year.

holiday activities

the rainy days meant we had to spend some time indoors - luckily we have our new race car track.
When the rain finally did clear we spent the night in the backyard in the tent. Good practice for our cub/kea camp in March. NB midnight snacks are crucial, usually eaten way before midnight though :)

mum's extended family

over some of the days in the holidays we had some extra playmates - 3 in fact. So mum tried her hand at entertaining five boys! We had heaps of fun, lots of bushwalks, water fights and on the last day we caught the bus into lower hutt to watch the chipmunk movie. We also had a picnic lunch at the park.