Autumn Leaves

Up the back of the lawn a particular tree drops its autumn leaves about this time each year.  The leaves produce great colours so this year I shot some pictures of the girls playing in the coloured leaves.

Of course a rack had to be introduced in the hope some lawn work might get done. Lucy, interested in the rake and leaves, not so interested in racking however.

Colours

Managed to get some work out of Amelia with the rake. The master plan worked.

Until, of course, Lucy found the urge to run through the attractively coloured piles.

More shots of the action are here.

Amelia Turns Six

On the weekend we threw Amelia her sixth birthday party. It was a brave move as she had decided to invite her whole classroom and a few extra's which brought it to 18 kids.

Holding out for fine weather so they could run around the back lawn proved futile. The rain descended on the day making us take up the challenge of entertaining the 18 six year olds indoors.

Lucky there was a great homemade cake.

And also a clown.

The clown was a hit with the kids. He certainly made them laugh and kept them almost in control for the better part of an hour.

Once the clown with his shoes, duck and trusty rabbit departed with the rest of his tricks we where left to our own devices to entertain.  After fulling them up on cake, cheerios and fizzy drink they turned Amelia's bedroom into a impromptu and completely unplanned rave. They pulled the curtains, pumped up the stereo and raided some toys with flashing lights to complete the scene. 18 six years olds in a mosh pit, hammering it out to pre-teen pop. Quite a sight.

Eventually they burned off their energy, just in time for their parents to collect them and marvel at the chaos. Next year I think we shall outsource this business process.

Bedtime Reading

Amelia's reading is improving well, to an extent that she now reads to Lucy. 

While Amelia was reading her book of the day, Lucy snuggled in to take enjoy the bed time story also.

Two and Trouble

Lucy turned two on Saturday, so we had the kids of the neighborhood around for a two year old party.  Lucy had a ball opening all her two year old presents, but the bike helmet seemed to spark the imagination. She was quite attached to it.

Seems Lucy was rather proud of turning two, if this shot is anything to go by.

She had fun hanging out with her two year old little buddy from the local neighborhood.

Like the Bike

The girls enjoying some late autumn sunshine out on the back lawn. They have really started to enjoying using their bikes. Lucy as always is never wants to miss  out on the action.

Kid and a Kite

On Saturday the wind was gusty and the sun was out before an oncoming storm. Perfect autumn weather for a kite. I got Amelia out to the park nearby to fly her kite.  


Didn't get any pictures of the kite, I was more interested in the expression on her face as she held onto the kite in a stiff Wellington breeze as it darted and dived over the sky.

More photo's here.

This, That, Holidays and Easter

School holidays makes for logistics. Last week Amelia went to Auckland to spend a week of her school holidays with her grandparents. She was most admirably doted upon with visits and activities. Mean while, back at the ranch, we were back to one child but to compensate Sarah was was also back to one hand after a wrist surgery. So it panned out about even when it came to all round activity.

Just to make things interesting we sold my old car and brought a new one. A leap forward in a decade of car technology sure leaves plenty to play with. Go the bluetooth is all I have to say about that. 

To make use of the new wheels over Easter we went for a mini road trip up the Kapiti coast to Otaki. More to see in Otaki than just a drive through, as it turns out. There is a little township and the big beach. Spent and hour on the beach soaking in some rare autumnal sunlight.

Easter also brings out the chocolate obsessions to the fore. Lucy demonstrated hers on Easter Sunday discovering her Easter egg before breakfast and tucking right in. This shot pretty much sums up guilty pleasures.

More photos here.

This weekend we travelled up to Auckland to visit the family and also to collect our missing eldest from her travels. Friday night we spent over a brilliant dinner with Mark, Vicki and Tania at a great Japanese restaurant down on the Auckland waterfront.  Special mention goes to Mark as the only every commenter on this blog. Mark, don't let me hold you back; bonus points if you do it via the iPad2.

Saturday we caught up with family over Peter's second birthday and took the kids over to the Shore to visit my family. Sunday was the mandatory yum-char. You can never go too wrong with yum-char, if it gets boring you can always eat the food.