Lachie

 

 Lachie loves to dance.  He REALLY wanted to be in the kids' end of year show 'Cats'.  He knows everything about the characters and story in that show.  So this year, he is having a wee go himself.  Here he is in his second lesson.

February 2013

 

Kate, Sam and Lachie still love to dress up and put on shows.  Lachie especially is always dressed up as something, usually a cat character from Cats.  

Mum has even been doing some face painting for them all. 

Lachie wore his face paint to Kindy, which was very brave of him.

 

Kate chose to be a St Bernard puppy.

 Sam was Pouncival from Cats - this is him during his painting.  He doesn't have his cat nose, eyes and whiskers yet.

 

Lachie is always a cat - he makes such a cute one.

 Emma and Max came to play and joined in the fun.  Max was a gorgeous Lion

 

And Emma a butterfly ballerina.

 

 Flynn sat still for a nose and whiskers one day but has since decided he has better things to do than sit still for face painting.

Here he is busy in his day.  Flynn is extremely independent and capable.  He is a delight to be around and learns more and more every day.

 Kate still loves dogs and this is her space in the bedroom.  She is very proud of it.

Happy Birthday Dear Lachie xx

Lachie woke up in our tent in beautiful Hanmer Springs to celebrate his fourth birthday.  His got an enormous dinosaur from Aunty Faith and Uncle Hamish, James, Bruce and George, and an awesome guitar from Nana and Grandad.  Lachie was a very happy big 4year old boy.

 It was another magnificent day so we started the day with pancakes in town, and a birthday cake (muffin) too of course.

 

 Then we played some mini putt

 

Sam gave Lachie a 'Speedasaurus' t-shirt just like his one but in a size 4!  Perfect

.

 

Having your birthday on holiday means all sorts of adventures!  After mini putt we spent hours at the hot pools, 

had a lovely light meal at a winery and

finally went to sleep at Lake Tekapo. 

 (When we found some accomodation that is... Mum had made a booking for a week later... oops!  The lovely people of Tekapo found us a room and by 11PM we were all settled.)

January 2013

The mud banks at Urenui Beach were one of the highlights of our trip.  Sam especially LOVED swimming the river, climbing up and sliding down the mud.  He looked forward to low tide every day.  Mum and Dad probably weren't quite that keen!!! However, we all got over there day after day, with Bradley too of course.  Thank you Nana and Grandad for all the new experiences and the amazing holiday with you.

 

Next it was on to see Grandma in Palmerston North.  Woo hoo!  We tented on her lawn and had great fun.  Grandma has a wee playground at the end of her street with challenges for everyone.

 

This photo illustrates Flynn's attitude in life. " If the other kids can d,o it I must be able to, and if I can't, well, I'll just have to try harder."

 

From Palmerston North to Wellington, with Grandma of course.  We tented on Uncle Dave and Aunty Jaime's lawn.  

We went bowling...

 played cricket at Days Bay with Jessica and Zach too...

 And spent lots of time with Connor and Dillon, who everybody loves.  

We also met this lovely lady, Heather, Connors Gran, all the way from Scotland. 

Uncle Dave and Aunty Jaime could not have been more accommodating during our visit.  They make everything so easy.  THANK YOU!

 The ferry trip over the Cooks Straight was lots of fun.  There was a magician who made everyone balloon toys, a playground and lots of places to explore.

 

 And then we were back in the South Island.  

Our first stop was Motueka where we met up with the Lemins at a top 10 holiday camp.  This was our first ever for real camping experience.  And it all went beautifully.

 

 We headed to Kaiteriteri beach for a wee outing one day.  Mum has never seen sand like that.  Rich and Golden.  It was raining but still very warm so we were only paddling in the water... 

...Lachie!!

  Then the rain stopped and the sun came out.  Just gorgeous. 

Christmas Day 2012

And then Christmas was finally here.  Dad arrived in Hawera!!  Hooray!!  It was great to see hime and he bought our car up so we could all drive home together.

Kate and Sam, Bradley and Jack, Nana, Tom and Mum all headed to Christmas Eve Mass and sung with great gusto.  It was lovely.  When we got home, it was dark and Kate and Sam got to walk all around the lights in Nana's street checking it all out.  It really is stunning.  The kids even got a christmas eve drink of fizz and treat to eat.  The excitement!!

The next morning Lachie, Kate and Flynn were up first then we all set about waiting for sleepy Sam to arise.  After much speculation as to what was in the parcels found under the tree we got to open a present or two or three ... around 8am.

 Bubbles and surf shoes!

 A drum! (and loppers for Dad)

 A Paper Jamz guitar!  Thanks Nana and Grandad!! (Surf shoes, Christmas clothes and head torch too - woo hoo!)

 

An ipod!  And Christmas clothes too.

We had christmas lunch at Tom's.  It was roasting hot and full of excitement.  Thank you Tom and Nana for the yummy food and for taking care of us.

Christmas night we arrived at Urenui Beach.  Luckily we bought the entertainment.

Summer Holidays - Part 1!

Once school was over we headed to Nana and Grandads to begin our summer holiday adventures.  We have had such a wonderful time. 

Nana and Grandad have some lovely people who live at the end of the road with two gorgeous wee dogs that the kids just love.  Molly and Lexie are Shitzu-Maltese and are adored by all but especially by Kate.  Anne and Ross, their owners, are so lovely to the kids and share all sorts of stories with them about the antics the dogs get up to.

 Lachie, Sam and Kate had a great time enjoying the novelty of a pavement and concrete to ride on.  Sam learnt to skid, Kate to scooter with style and Lachie to ride with confidence.

 We even got to see Aunty Sarah, Mackenzie and Alex in New Plymouth.  They are so good to us and we really enjoy their company.

 Kate and Sam made the annual excursion up the mountain to Wilkies Pools with Grandad, Bradley, Jack, Tom and Mum.  It was a magnificent day.

And we all got to visit Santa in Hawera's Santa cave.  Kate was SUPER excited about this, as was Bradley, Lachie was reserved but Jack and Sam were not too keen.  Flynn didn't care so long as he had Nana!