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!!!!

Alfie's 7th Birthday

While all the celebrations were going on for Molly, Alfie was visibly bursting at the seams in anticipation for his own birthday. He did so well. There was only one jealous tantrum. 

It doesn't take a genius to guess the theme of Alfie's birthday this year! Alfie is soccer obsessed. So much so that he's chosen to drop Rugby this winter (after 4 years on the team :( ) to focus on soccer instead.

Most of his presents this year involved soccer.  He got a personalised Manchester United kit from us, a new soccer ball from Molly (to join all his others), a pair of goalie gloves from a friend, a Football Central voucher from another friend, a soccer magazine from another friend, a goal counter, some soccer themed stationery....and the list goes on and on, you get the picture! 

Of course the soccer kit went straight on - and hasn't come off since - and we had to take the new ball out for a play straight away! 

Luckily for me, the discovery of some soccer candles and a ready-made goal post made creating a birthday cake fairly easy! (I really have been very lazy with the cakes this year, but luckily no one has minded).

While I baked the cake, Alfie and Jake got stuck into examining presents. Actually jake was trying to read his biking magazine, but you did a great job of pretending Jake ;) (we're all on to you really!)

Alfie's party was very different to Molly's. He had...you guessed it.... a soccer party! But instead of letting 8 boys and a couple of big sisters run around our house (as we did last year), we made a very wise choice and hired out the local Recreation Centre instead. Jake did a great job of organising crab soccer and other such party antics...

He ran them around for a full hour, then delivered them to me upstairs, hot, sweaty, with red faces and starving hungry! Thanks Jake.

The rest of the party was spent creating their own soccer kits (!) with a bunch of plain white t-shirts and some fabric pens. And opening presents. And of course - eating!

Happy Birthday AlfieRooney!

Molly's 9th Birthday

Molly turned 9 a week and a half ago. To tell the truth, we are still in a bit of shock about this. But it was a great day - despite having to go to school and swimming lessons ;)

She began the day by opening some presents and was completely delighted to find a new scooter in the pile (thanks Matt, Sam, Tilly & Joe!) as her old one has been missing a wheel for at least 6 months.

For the first time in years, she was ready to leave the house early so she could scooter to school!

 

When we got home, Alfie decided to make her a birthday cake, *mostly* by himself and decorated it as he thought best for a girl. She loved that he did it - well done Alfie! 

We have a little tradition that on your birthday you get to choose that evening's dinner. Molly asked for Eye Fillet Steak cooked medium rare (?!!) with kumara roasties and salad.

Molly, it was delicious but you should be aware that your choice has bankrupted us for the moment and we'll be eating beans on toast for the remainder of the month.

After dinner, we all went out to Strawberry Fayre, a dessert restaurant in the city. The waitresses got wind of the fact that it was Molly's birthday and presented our dessert with a candle and all the trimmings. Look at that face!

And as if all that wasn't enough excitement, at the weekend we held a birthday party. Every year we've told Molly it's the last party she's getting, and next year she has to pick just one friend and we'll take them out to do something like rock climbing or the movies. Every year she persuades us that she really needs 12 friends to come to the house for a noisy and messy party instead.

 

This year's party had a World of Wearable Arts theme. The cake definitely wasn't my best one to date, but a red carpet made of icing and some Lego people gave the right effect (sort of)!

Jake borrowed a *real* red carpet from work and we laid it down in the lounge room. We think Hobbits and other similar celebrities have probably walked on it in the past....

For the party, we provided a few boxes of fabric and recycling materials, and let the girls create their own wearable arts. There were some great creations - including an amazing 3-person dragon!

And some not so great creations, involving tin foil, empty Coke bottles and toilet rolls (What WERE you, Jake?) 

 Not to mention, a great big mess to clean up afterwards! Happy Birthday Miss Molly!

 P.S. No, you can't have a party next year. ;)

Back to school 2015

So the kids went back to school yesterday. This means Molly's now in Year 5 and Alfie's in Year 3. How on earth did this happen so fast??

Anyway, their first day seemed to go well, with the exception of a slight drama after school as Molly hadn't listened to where we would meet, went to the wrong place, got lost for 30 minutes and eventually was found by a teacher wandering the streets and was sent back to school. It took a very long time to calm her down.

Other than that, this is what I've managed to find out about their first day...

Molly:
Her class played a game outside all afternoon which involved werewolves.
She ate her friend's popcorn at lunchtime and left all her own food. The entire lunch came home.
She made a name badge for her cubby hole but doesn't have a cubby hole yet.
Practised the Haka with her syndicate. 
She gave all her party invitations out but lost one.

Alfie:
His class played cricket against another class.
At lunchtime he played soccer and grazed his arm. His friend grazed his hand and his other friend smashed his glasses.
After lunch he went to his old classroom because he forgot he'd changed. By the time he remembered and went to the right place, his new class had gone somewhere else. But it was ok because he eventually found everyone in Room 16.
He wrote a poem about himself which included the line "I am the son of Jake and Wendy".
He did some graphs which were easy.