It's been a funny old time...

We've been living for a while now as a family of 3 as Jake's been away for most of the last month. First he went to TRENZ (a tourism exhibition) in Rotorua for a week, then he came home for a few days, and then he went off again, this time to Europe for 3 weeks (working apparently, although his Facebook feed suggests otherwise).

While he's been away lots of stuff has happened.

First this....the result of some over-enthusiastic gym practise. (Lesson learnt - don't ever rush a bend-back).

While she couldn't do gym for a while, and she couldn't write or do schoolwork or get dressed or brush her teeth very well either, it's not easy to keep Molly still and she insisted on continuing to do as much as she could, despite my constant cries of "Stop!", and "Keep still!"

Then THIS happened. A week later, with her arm still in a sling, Molly came down with a (rather scarey) case of Bronchitis which had me on the telephone to the hospital one evening and a visit to the doctor's surgery the next morning.

We came home from the doctor's with a big stock of illness supplies, which included half the pharmacy plus a couple of Secret Seven books which I found on special at The Warehouse (it's not often you find books at $2.50 each in New Zealand). I thought they might keep her going for a while so I could get some work done....I didn't bank on the fact that she'd finish both books within 24 hours!

The virus was so bad that she ended up being off school for a week :( I decided that good nutrition was in order and made up endless batches of soups - in the process discovering that combining purple carrot and pumpkin doesn't make an appealing looking batch of soup (it tasted great, so long as we closed our eyes ;))  Next time I will revert back to the orange carrots.

This lengthy injury/illness in Molly might have given her the time to perfect her six and seven times tables, but it presented me with a major problem in Alfie. There was only one of me, Molly needed to stay in bed or on the couch for a long time, and Alfie is ALWAYS bursting with energy. So I had to get creative and energetic - I'm not sure I did the best job ever, but he was mostly kept entertained.

We went out a bit, just to places where we could place Molly somewhere in the sun under a blanket with a book while Alfie played soccer and went scootering.... and we played and played and played in the back yard too (cricket, obstacle courses, etc). Hope you had enough fun Alfie!

Thanks too must go to the other families who took him out to play tennis, soccer, and more soccer - especially one in particular who hunted around in the mud for ages with him when his tooth fell out as he saved a goal! They didn't find the tooth :( so the tooth fairy got the following letter:

Love the last sentence! And yes, she brought the ""monyay".

Only this weekend did Molly finally start to show small signs of recovery. We took it relatively easy and got old toys and games out that we haven't seen for ages like Battleships, Jenga and Hopscotch. The enforced relaxation was actually really lovely!

By yesterday evening she was just about well enough to go out to the FIFA Under 20s World Cup Quarter Finals - thank goodness, as the tickets cost me some $$'s and I would have hated for us to have missed out! Senegal vs Uzbekistan wasn't a game I would have normally chosen to go to, but it was what Wellington got, it made Alfie a very excited little chap, and Molly finally got to have a bit of fun again too!

Is it Winter?

1st of June marks the official start of winter, although where these dates come from I have no idea. We don't really get much of an Autumn or Spring in Wellington - it just drifts from summer to winter and then back to summer again. And sometimes in the summer we get wintry days and sometimes in the winter we get summery days.

Today, for example, was the first day of winter and my car thermometer read 26 degrees this afternoon.

However, over the last couple of weeks we had a big cold front pass over the country, This means we've had some very chilly Saturday mornings on the soccer pitch where temperatures have been almost in the single digits - agggghhh! Thank goodness for ski socks.

Then, here's how crazy it is - a few days later, here we are today (a public holiday) spending all afternoon playing on the beach! It's very hard to get dressed in the  morning sometimes!

A couple of weeks ago we had another stunning Sunday - you really can't beat Wellington on a good day, as they say. The kids had been asking for months if we could hire a crocodile bike and we decided it was a great day for it (well ok, we had a 50% off voucher which was about to expire) .

We had so much fun driving around the waterfront and over to Oriental Bay. Every member of the family had a go at being in charge of the steering wheel - except me :( - and there were some very hairy moments, but we had such fun!

To occupy herself on the occasions where the season is more indoorsy, Molly has taken to photographing herself - alot. I found 643 photos of her on my iphone this morning. It's taking me ages every day to go through and delete them all.


Molly went for her first haircut in about 2 or 3 years a couple of weeks ago. There's only one lady in Wellington that we know of who can do hair cuts on wigs and she happens to be a hairdresser who has alopecia herself. The perfect person as she understood what to do on so many different levels.

Molly really wanted to keep the length of her beautiful hair, so we got her to tidy it up and put some long layers in.

This lady was AMAZING - she totally understood everything Molly would be feeling, so she spent some time french pleating her hair, curling it, straightening it, and just generally prettying Molly up for a while and trying different looks out on her. You should have seen the smiles!

After paying (alot) for Molly's hairdresser experience, Jake decided to save money and get the clippers out for Alfie at home. Unfortunately something has gone wrong with the clippers since he last used them and within seconds there were screams of pain coming from Alfie and some almost bald patches on the side of his head. So the clippers were quickly put away and I had to take him to the hair dressers and ask if they could fix him up. Unfortunately the lady shook her head sadly/despairingly and gave him a trim but couldn't hide Jake's accident. So he's been wearing hats until it grows out. 

Alfie's hairdresser kept admiring Molly's beautiful hair and saying she wished she could grow hers as long as that. Hee hee! Molly and I were holding it in with difficulty but as soon as she walked away we cracked up! ;) 

Other news - last weekend Jake and I went out partying. My friend Bridget held a Charity party to raise money for Oxfam. Sounds very posh, and we do live in these posh mountain suburbs, but it wasn't really. Just a super fun night - and over $4000 raised. 

We pulled together a lovely table of people and we talked, we laughed, we played in a photo booth, and we danced until nearly midnight. I didn't know we still had it in us!

And finally, the sunsets over the last few weeks have been AMAZING. Apparently the stunning colours are due to ash from a volcanic eruption in Chile?

Recent Stuff

It's been a crazy busy time lately. We'll try to catch up a bit on what's going on here.

It was Anzac Day a few weeks ago, which means a long weekend. We had planned to go to the Dawn Service but because it was the centenary this year, it was a much bigger deal than usual and 40,000 people attended the service in Wellington. That's an insane amount of people for a city of this size! There was no way we'd be able to park and although we've got the train station on our doorstep, we decided to leave it for this year and take a weekend away instead.

So we headed up the coast to Waitarere Beach for a few days. And there we played. We played lots of tennis, beach soccer, tag, scootered, skateboarded. And occasionally we sat down and did some colouring in or read a book or went for an ice cream or to the pub for a G&T - but those parts didn't happen much. Mostly Alfie kept us moving!

The weekends away haven't ended there though! A couple of weeks ago, big thanks to my amazing husband, I managed to get a weekend away on a girls trip to Matakana, with some of my old antenatal group. Since we first met almost 10 years ago, between the four of us we've had 9 children, 2 weddings (soon to be 3), one divorce, 12 house moves (mostly mine), several jobs and a whole lot of other stuff.

We don't often get to see each other these days as we live in all corners of the country so it was great to catch up. We hired a bach deep in the bush where we were free to crank the music up and dance at 1am, sleep in as long as we liked, take dips in the outdoor spa at midnight under the stars, watch movies, and gossip, gossip, gossip!

Of course what goes on tour stays on tour and all that, so I can't say much more, but here are a few pictures...

Meanwhile, back at home Molly is now a responsible Road Patroller. This means every Tuesday we have to get up early and set up a road safety patrol outside school. I'm not quite sure how I got roped in to being a parent helper but my job is just to wear a flourescent vest and look pretty. Molly and her partner do all the hard work, with much loud shouting going on (These words ring out in my ears long after they've finished: "SIGNS OUT! CHECK! CLEAR! CROSS NOW!") - and much chatting too!

Molly also continues to train HARD at gym, with 5-7 hours a week at the club. Competition season is looming so they had a mock competition last week, complete with club uniforms, professional judges, the whole shebang. It went well, except her hair flew off during her bar routine. Lesson learnt - next time she needs to go without hair or I need to use more tape!

Alfie's been extremely busy too. He was delighted when he was awarded Fluffy the Kiwi (the class mascot) last weekend for sitting nicely and working hard. Alfie's been trying really hard for a while to earn Fluffy, so finally getting him was a huge deal. Well done Alfie!

Fluffy's job was to come everywhere with us for the
weekend, have photos taken and be written about.

He had a good time - he came to a soccer festival, visited the waterfront, climbed a tree and went to a Weta Workshop Crew Party where he met trolls, ogres, Gandalf and a whole host of other real people.

Molly and her friend Jess went horse trekking the other week, leaving Alfie and the younger siblings to play with ponies in the arena while they waited. Alfie and Abbie took turns leading each other around and even got a bit of a gallop in! They had a ball. I think the big sisters did too although they only stories they had were about horse poos. Obviously a source of great amusement.

Alfie's big new thing at the moment is that he's joined the local Keas pack (Keas is the junior version of Cubs & Scouts). He took a little cajoling as none of his friends from school go and it doesn't involve a ball and goal post, but within minutes he was hooked! He's been going for 5 or 6 weeks now, and was finally formally invested into the pack last night. So far he's been very proud and engaged - it's lovely to see this in Alfie! 

I have been studying lately, as Google require us professional digital marketers to requalify every year due to their fast changing products. It's been quite fun! I've done some of the study at my desk, some at the library, some in the cafe - and I took one of the tests on my bed with the cat, and passed!! 

It was Mothers Day here last week, and I had a very nice day indeed. Molly & Alfie woke early and dragged Jake in secret (except I knew) down to the dairy in their pyjamas to buy me the newspaper, then they brought it to me with a poached egg and some peppermint tea. Plus a lovely flower arrangement from the garden made by Molly. A very lovely way to start the day! I then got to choose everything we did.....so it was a coffee at Chocolate Fish Cafe and a play at Scorching Bay - where Molly did more gym training. And then home for dinner - cooked by Jake!! ;) 

And finally, Jake celebrated his birthday yesterday with a day at work, some chocolate, a game of backgammon and a birthday cake. This is what happens when you get to your forties. Personally I am hanging out for 45 when I will have my belated 40th birthday party....(a clever move as my aim is for everyone to think I am actually turning 40).

April School Holidays

Well that's another one over! We began these school holidays with a shocking few days of cold and wet. But that didn't deter us. For those few days I worked hard while Molly and Alfie had fun wrapping the cats up in towels when they came in from the rain. They didn't seem to mind?

Talking of caring (?) for animals, there are heaps of Monarch butterflies around at the moment and we found one with a damaged wing in the garden. The kids named him/her "Braveheart".

It couldn't fly, so Molly collected flowers for it to eat while Alfie googled what to do with an injured Monarch butterfly. He actually found a Monarch Butterfly Hospital website which detailed how to cut the damaged wing off and create a new one. I didn't let him do it!


Then Molly got all her old toys out and spread them over every floor and table she could find. It wasn't easy to walk around the house. Ninja ate a Sylvanian, then he sicked it back up again. Other than that it was a good plan during the wet weather and she loved rediscovering everything.

Other than that, we well and truly made the most of Jake's connections to the film industry, and went to the movies TWICE! And of course there was lots of arts and crafts going on too. I knew that stack of toilet rolls that had accumulated under the bath would come in useful one day!

When we got fed up of the house (and the cinema!), we headed down to Te Papa. They have an amazing Air New Zealand exhibition there at the moment.

Alfie and I went together a few weeks ago and he was
desperate to show Molly everything.

As well as all the history, there's a little bit about the partnership with DOC that Jake was involved with a couple of years ago (very proud children!), there's a screen which allows you to design your own aircraft (it was created in pink and red with ferns and photos of Molly all over it), a real aeroplane engine to look at, a cabin to sit in, and much more. You even get to dress up in the crew uniforms! 

Then the rain lifted and we spent the rest of the holidays outdoors, yay! The arts and crafts moved a couple of metres to the left, ie outdoors...

Then the kids took me scootering around the neighbourhood!

I got the old broken scooter :( It was little nerve wracking to start with, especially as the front wheel wobbled, but I secretly had lots of fun!

We went all around the streets, to the park, and to the local cafe!

However this is Wellington, and Wellington is often described as being similar to a large University campus. Which meant of course that I bumped into people I knew and had to explain myself. I'm not quite sure my image was quite what it should be in these posh mountain suburbs, but to be honest it never has been so I may just get the scooter out again one day soon!

We also walked up the mountain together one afternoon. It was the first time Alfie's been in ages and it was the first time he didn't complain at all. He practically ran up. He's growing up!

The Gym competition season is looming closer now, and in the second week of the holidays Molly had nearly 7 hours of training at the Club! Outside of training, she still practised hard everywhere we went. She's finally cracked the handstand-forward-roll and the straight-legged-backward-roll. But cartwheels remain her firm favourite and once again she cartwheeled around the city.

It was all over too quickly, as usual, and it's back to school this week. Although with Anzac Day being Monday-ized this year, we have a nice long weekend coming up!

Soccer Mad

This is the story of two letters. Both were related to soccer and both were a real surprise.

I'll tell Alfie's story first. A few weeks ago, just before the summer soccer finals took place, Alfie decided to write a letter to his favourite players in the Wellington Phoenix (our local soccer team), asking if they could come and watch him in the finals. And if they could come to our after-party as well ;)

The letter took countless attempts. He kept getting stuck on the word celebration. The floor was littered with screwed up pieces of paper and there were screams of frustration, but eventually he got it, and we sent the letter off. 

To my amazement, their Community Manager replied on the team's behalf, thanking Alfie for his letter and saying that unfortunately the team would be in Sydney that day but they would love to come to his school for a visit instead.

Only in New Zealand......!

To his credit, the new school Principal made the visit extra special for Alfie. He organised a surprise assembly for the whole school with 3 special secret guests (ie the Phoenix players, including the captain), with Alfie hosting them for the day and interviewing them at the assembly!

Here he is (with his friend Connor for support) being introduced by Mr J the principal and getting ready to ask them his 4 specially prepared questions: How old were you when you first started playing soccer? How did you get picked for the Phoenix? Which school did you go to? If you didn't play for the Phoenix what job would you do? 

It was a very special day for Alfie, who was so, so brave speaking in front of 400 people and not only that but speaking to some very famous (in Wellington anyway!) people!

And now I come to the second letter. This is a letter I NEVER, EVER, EVER thought I would ever receive home from school. The fact that the date on it was 1st April made me convinced I was being April-fooled.

Our Molly - selected to represent the school in a soccer tournament?????? !

But it was true! So Alfie gave her a crash course in soccer, trained her hard in the garden and explained all the rules to her, and she went along in her school kit (which was size 12 so it looked like a dress on her) and she played her socks off - 6 games in a day I believe! - and really really enjoyed it! Go Molly!!!!!

Easter 2015

Easter. It's a bittersweet time of year.

I don't know why this happens, but Easter is usually a glorious long summery weekend of holiday time and then everyone goes back to work the following week, the clocks go back and winter hits. It's as sudden as that. Easter weekend is always like the last party of summer.

Anyway, we got a glorious long summery weekend of holiday in the Hawkes Bay this Easter with the Auckland whanau. Mark, Sam, Darren, Beth, Matthew & Daniel joined us at a bach we'd booked on the Kevern Walker vineyard near Hastings. 

It was a gorgeous little spot. We had a sheltered little garden with enough space for the boys to play cricket, soccer, ride bikes etc. Plus a vineyard all around us to walk in (play tag in, bike in, quad bike around, etc). And 4 outdoor tables which meant the children could be put on one side of the garden to eat and the adults could sit on the other side - just far away enough not to see the bad table manners ;) !

Over the weekend we spent quite a bit of time along the coast. One day we walked along the promenade around Napier while the kids all scootered - and we bumped into some friends from Wellington! Another day we sat on the beach admiring the view to Cape Kidnappers while the boys threw stones into the sea. Then we laughed while they filled Jake's pants up with rocks (I'm still not sure why?).

But the best day of all was the one we spent at Abbey Cellars vineyard. In fact we enjoyed it so much we spent 5 hours here!

There was live music and we brought a picnic and drank wine in the sun. We also sang a lot (sorry all you other customers). The singer was clearly brought up in the same era as us (think Tears for Fears, Wham, etc). Meanwhile the children just ran around and climbed trees and seemed more than happy to do this for 5 hours.

We only saw them when they popped back to get food from our picnic table every so often! 

And as if that wasn't enough, Darren, Mark and I went to visit another vineyard next door one evening! If you ever want a recommendation for some yummy wine, I highly recommend it. Alpha Domus Winery - they take online orders. I came away with some sparkling Cumulus and and the Barnstormer Syrah, and Darren bought virtually their entire supply of Navigator - but I do believe they will be making some more soon!

And then came Easter Day. Of course the Easter Bunny finds children wherever they are in NZ. In the past the bunny has found us in Wellington, in Himatangi, in Kaitoke Regional Park... and this year in Hawkes Bay. So there was a very exciteable hour of hunting around the garden in the morning, and rather a lot of eggs were collected!

A trip up Te Mata Peak is a must when you're in the Hawkes Bay. Just stunning. We watched a paraglider who ran off the top, and some crazy mountain bikers going down a near-vertical path, and enjoyed the view for a while. But next time we're at Te Mata Peak I will make sure we leave time to do some of the walking trails there. 

Back at the bach/vineyard, there were animals everywhere to keep the kids entertained. A couple of farm cats who didn't seem to mind being hauled about, horses, farm dogs, and a gorgeous Shetland pony to feed grass to...

And there you have it. Lots of fun, lots of sun, lots of wine, lots of chocolate, lots of laughter. What more could you want for an Easter break?!

The Weetbix Tryathlon 2015

Some of our blog readers may remember Molly did this last year too.

This year was a bigger deal though. Firstly because she was in a team (of 2) last year so only did the bike and the run - her partner did the swim. This year she entered as an individual. And secondly because she was just back from school camp and still very, very tired!

But she managed to drag herself out of bed early and get there, all bleary-eyed, just after 7am! (Okay, actually we dragged her out of bed early and got her there on time).

The Weetbix Tryathlon events take place around the country every year, but I believe the Wellington event is the biggest. This year 2,200 children took part. Our school had 93 entries this year - we won a prize for having the most kids there! - so it's also very social for the families. While Molly takes part, the rest of us basically hang out in a sunny field, watching the kids, eating Weetbix, seeing famous sports people (eg Irene Van Dyke, etc), etc etc.

The event started with the swim - 100m. Here's Molly waiting to go into the pool....

She swam the 100m - which I think she found a challenge, not because she can't swim that far but because there were so many other people in there splashing and creating waves and pushing and kicking each other. But she eventually found her rhythm and did the swim, then ran off to get on her brand new bike which has never been used before. Crikey, sorry Molly! We should've let you out practising! But she did a great 3 km ride!

Last was a 1km run. Boy did she do well! Here she is getting her medal at the Finish Line. Note her entry number drawn in black marker on the top of her head! (most children had it on their arm or leg).

And the school team photo. Molly's third from the right sitting down in front. Well done Molly!! And here's to next year - when hopefully we'll have two children entering! :)

School Camp

School camp is a rite of passage for Kiwi kids. Most of my friends here have very fond memories of school camps, in fact I almost feel jealous. I think we had a trip to the zoo once at my primary school - but I missed it because I had the chickenpox. I remember this because I clearly remember the sheer devastation at not being able to see the Llamas.

Anyway, Molly's first school camp was last week.

They go to a place called Forest Lakes, an hour or so's drive up the coast from Wellington.  It's been running as a school camp venue for years, and many of the parents here remember going there themselves when they were at school.

Yikes, I thought! A week away from home! Would she eat properly? Get any sleep? Get sunburnt? Remember to clean her teeth? Wash at all? Lose stuff? (quite likely for Molly) Be good? Have fun? Etc etc.

How wrong was I to worry! Molly had the MOST AMAZING TIME EVER and was very sad to come home!

She went kayaking, orienteering, played volleyball, bowling, mini-golf, Gladiator high ropes, mudsliding, did some archery, took part in a talent show, and so much more. And slept in a cabin with 7 friends, made a terrible mess, didn't sleep enough etc!

According to one of the parent helpers, the Confidence Course should be renamed the Molly Downing course. She just LOVES this kind of stuff!

She managed NOT to lose any clothes, and to get a bit of sleep! But since she got home, she's been asleep by 7pm each night and slept for 13 hours each night for 3 nights running!

But despite the exhaustion, the whole week was right up Molly's alley, and she'd do it all again in a flash! She'll have to wait until she's at Intermediate School for the next one though, sorry Molls!