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!

The Black Ninjas Win!

Last week the summer soccer season came to a close :(

I always love the summer soccer season. Friday afternoons standing pitchside at Ian Galloway Park in the sun, mountains all around us, while us mums scream and shout and jump up and down on the side of the pitch. Seriously! The boys have become really good this year, they've had some very tense matches, and we've all loved watching them play.

The Ninjas have had an amazing season, no doubt improved due to their daily playground soccer practise and January's soccer bootcamp. They won almost every game this season, with a couple of draws, even beating Germany in the semi finals. Germany were previously unbeaten! (Germany! What kind of 7 year old team names themselves Germany??) 

So anyway, last Friday we were in the finals against the Crofton Cruisers. Here are the Black Ninjas getting ready for the game...

The game was GREAT, they played SO hard, and thanks in part to Alfie's two goals we managed to take out the game, with a final score of 3-1 to the Ninjas. What clever boys!!!


Here's the team with their trophies!  There were a few hot, red faces!

After prize giving, we followed last year's tradition and went across the road to the park for some pizza and a play to celebrate the end of the season.

Several dads played hookie from work (plus one cousin - thanks for coming Dan!) so after pizza we ended up with another soccer game - the dads (and Dan) against the kids!

By about 6pm most of the boys were about to fall asleep standing. Actually I think Jake was too ;) A great afternoon, roll on the next season and WELL DONE BLACK NINJAS!!!

The Rest of the Summer

Officially the summer is over now, and we're into Autumn. Unofficially, March usually has the most settled weather of the year, with lots of sun and very little wind or rain. I like March!!!

However..... I say "usually"! Because for the last few days we've been battered by the tail end of Cyclone Pam which has caused complete devastation in Vanuatu and has damaged parts of NZ quite badly too.

The Chatham Islands have declared a state of emergency and people living in Gisborne & the East Cape have had to evacuate. For Wellington it's meant a cold snap with black skies and unbelievable rainfall, with parts of the motorway closed due to flooding. At least the farmers are happy (we were officially pre-draught, with a hosepipe ban last week), and we were relatively lucky in Wellington, but there's going to be a huge clean-up necessary for alot of people. 

But aside from this week's dramatic weather, the weather has mostly been typical for March - ie stunning! The norm at this time of year is for our backyard to look like this much of the time.... swimming togs have been hanging on the line to dry almost every night over the last couple of months, due to impromptu after-school visits to the outdoor pool and evenings at the beach. 

 

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be a parent help on one of Alfie's (many!) school trips. They went down to the Marine Education Centre in Island Bay - which we often go to as a family at the weekend. The school visits they organise are amazing! Alfie got to feed turtles, touch an octopus, and much more, and then they took them all outside rockpooling. Here they are getting their instructions....

Alfie and his buddies had a blast, catching crabs, glass shrimps (one had eggs in her tummy!), starfish and stuff, and they must have been really enjoying themselves as they forgot all about the fact that it was nearly 1pm and they hadn't eaten since breakfast!

He clearly enjoyed it alot because then he's begged us to go rock pooling and/or fishing every weekend - and we've found ourselves indulging him often as it's really quite fun!!

Other stuff that's been happening lately...Mark and Sam came to visit for a weekend, and Alfie made them a carrot cake...

The following weekend Molly had her friend Ella over for a sleepover and the girls persuaded me to take them to the supermarket and let them make dessert that night. OMG it was a sugar fest!

Molly also did something very special a couple of weeks ago. She took part in an Open Ballet Class run by the Royal New Zealand Ballet. It was taught by Clytie Campbell who has the lead role in the current production of Don Quixote and she sure gave the girls a challenging class! 

Molly was the littlest one there, and probably one of the least experienced too, but she kept up fairly well and really enjoyed herself. Her signed poster of Clytie is now on her wall, and she got her autograph on her ballet bag too! Here's the class, with Clytie in the back row.

Other special things have happened for Molly lately too. Just before Christmas we met an amazing lady who does henna tattoos at all the local community galas.

It turned out she is a member of an international organisation called Henna Heals who create Henna Crowns for people experiencing hair loss. When we met her, she told us she'd love to do one for Molly and to get in touch with her when we were ready. So we did! And look at the results!!!

Molly is still a complete bookworm and in her (limited) spare time she can usually be found hanging out somewhere reading...in the back garden (Jake get that mower out!!!)...

....or in the front garden....

Meanwhile I've been getting my regular Zumba fix and also making the most of the weather by getting out and about for lots of walks in all the amazing reserves and parks we have on our doorstep. We live in a great place!

And Jake is still obsessed by outdoor sport. The other day I worked out that he's doing 10+ hours a week of running & biking at the moment. He claims it's only 3.5 hours and it's not enough, but we all know who got the better grades in Maths.

Sometimes he stops for a short break and he can be found sitting still! Not often, just occasionally...

Alfie on the other hand could teach his dad a few tricks, as he has learnt the knack of both running around alot....

....and then taking time out to meditate!!!!

My Birthday!

And then it was my own birthday - and I thought it should feature on this blog along with everyone else's! 

As I had a mid-week birthday, we followed tradition and celebrated at the weekend instead. I got to choose everything we did on Sunday...

We started with a wander through the lovely Sunday Food markets, and a scooter/walk around the waterfront. Alfie was a little tired so he used his scooter imaginatively! 

We ended up drinking green tea and smoothies at my favourite cafe, Beach Babylon in Oriental Bay. This is (yet another) one of my absolutely most favourite parts of the city. It's always buzzing.

After we finished, we discovered that the New Zealand Open Foot Volley championships were taking place right on the beach in front of us. So we sat for ages and watched them. It's an amazing game - beach volleyball with your feet & head, no hands!

When we'd had enough, we scootered some more and walked some more. And Alfie pulled some strange faces....

But despite the strange faces, it was a very lovely early birthday, so thank you very much to my family!

On the actual day of birthday, I took a day off work. (As I'm self-employed, this made it quite an expensive birthday for me, but I tried not to think about that part too much!). I had such a lovely day...

I started in a very similar way to Sunday with the family, with a walk around the waterfront. The morning was Fifty Shades of Grey, hot and humid... but I sat for a while and watched the ocean at Freyberg Beach....and then I sat for a while and watched the ocean at Oriental Bay too.

Then I went back to Beach Babylon on my own, got a coffee and a pile of magazines, and some peace and quiet to sit back and enjoy it all....

From here I wandered around to the City Art Gallery. Going to galleries is something I used to do a lot BK (before kids), but I hardly ever get the chance to do it anymore. It was therefore a real treat - although the photography exhibition that's on at the moment - Creamy Psychology by Yvonne Todd - is ermmmm... a bit "interesting"!

After I came out of the gallery the clouds had all lifted so I drove over to the Miramar Peninsula to drag Jake out of work, and we spent a very lovely hour at Scorching Bay. Walking, talking, and drinking the most wicked milkshake made of Peach Ice Cream and chocolate Crunchie Bars. And Jake pulled some funny faces....

I love Scorching Bay - it's another one of my favourite parts of Wellington!

That evening the plan was for Jake to cook me dinner. Those of you who know Jake well will understand that this is a real once-a-year-occasion. He'd told me what to buy, so I'd been out to the supermarket and everything was sitting ready in the fridge.

A couple of hours before he was due in the kitchen, Jake rang me from work and suggested we go out for dinner instead. He claims not to have been nervous at all about cooking, and that he simply thought it would be nicer for everyone. Really, Jake..? !

Anyway, he asked where I wanted to go. The Crab Shack on the waterfront, I said. Shall I book a table?

No, no, says Jake, leave it all with me.

So the kids and I set off to town to meet Jake after ballet, and had lots of fun posing along the waterfront!

And we arrived at the Crab Shack to be told we had no booking and there was a one hour wait for a table. JAKE!!!!!!

So we went for a pizza instead. Alfie probably appreciated it more than fish! And we finished off with a lovely sunset walk around the waterfront. I like birthdays. Thank you everyone!!!!