It's been a while...!

For many reasons, I stopped writing this blog earlier in the year.

But after being nagged/hassled/begged by a number of friends and family members it looks like the blog is back in business again, so here we go...!

It would be impossible to catch up on everything that's happened since July, but it's been a fun few months. Here's a bit of a summary.

First off, we've settled in to the new house now, and we love living here! The whole place desperately needs a lick of paint (as the previous owners favoured magnolia and terracotta and other 1970's trends), and we'd like to knock a few walls down and move things around a bit, but for now we are more than contented to live in it for a while, see all the seasons out, and then make our decisions.

In July/August we headed off to the UK for a month - our first visit back in 5 years! And although both kids had been before, they were really too young to remember anything back then, so for them it was their first real, memorable visit. As well as getting the chance to spend some special times with their Great Granny, they also got to see where all their other rellies live, visit some real castles and palaces, travel on the Tube, and see squirrels, deer, traffic jams and other classic English sights (!).

Since we got home again, Molly's spent a very busy few months with all her hobbies and activities. She's had gym competitions (3 golds!), a ballet exam (she passed with Merit!), piano concerts, choir performances and other events taking up a lot of her schedule. Gymnastics continues to be her number one love, but at the moment she's very busy in dance rehearsals, about to perform in the musical "The Lion King". She is a wildebeest (?) but seems to be more than happy with this role as she gets to wear glittery horns and a tutu. And as we all know, the outfit is the most important thing.

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Alfie continues to be a sports-mad little boy. As well as tennis and swimming, he's just finished his second rugby season...

He's now taken up soccer for the summer and has been doing really really well so far....until he broke his arm last week (falling off the monkey bars at school).

As for the grown ups in the family.....Jake continues to train hard with his running, biking and swimming, and living in Wellington has been fantastic for him as we have the mountains and the ocean on our doorstep. I am still a bit of a Zumba addict and although I don't always get to go as often as I like (life gets in the way!), rarely a week goes past without at least one or two classes. Work is good - for both of us - with lots going on to keep us both busy.

And that just about sums things up. More to come soon...!