Easter

Thank you Jesus!! He's the reason we get a nice break, so let's not forget the sacrifice he was for us, and that he rose to life so that we may have life eternal. Awesome!!

Well we had a lovely Easter weekend in Waiwera (north of Auckland). The Hilliards book out the same house each year. It has a pool and spa that are heated thermally There's also some kayaks and a row boat that can be taken out right off the back door step, and quite safe for the kiddies as it only ever gets to about mid calf height. Just enough to be able to row :-) It was a pretty relaxing time, with a few outings. Dean, Nathan and I went for lunch in Puhoi. We went to the cheese factory and bought some yummy cheeses from their shop. We went to the silverdale markets on Saturday too. Other than that we swam heaps, ate heaps and veged heaps. Oh yeah we also took heaps of photos, here is a sample...

Tokoroa Old Girls

Saturday 8th April saw a few of the old crew from Tok get together. Our mums used to hang out a lot and we all played together while they had parties, or at the rugby or sqaush clubs. It's not really as bad as it may sound :-) we had heaps of fun, and they always gave us some money for a pie or some milk toffees, bonus!!. It was great catching up on what everyones been up to. Some of us hadn't seen each each other in over ten years. Most of us have little ones now, so that was cool having the kiddies hanging out. It was great fun looking over old photos and watching an old home vid from over 20 years ago, very funny!! We hope to make it an annual event.


Kelly and Paula Morrissey with their little ones


Nathan and Otis


Shannon with her bub Maddison


Maddison with Aunty Stacey


Nathan took a liking to Paula

Waiting for our bath

The Weekend

Cuzzie Alicia with birthday presents for Nathan




Nathan enjoying some Mr.Whippy




Spasifix


Ayla ringing all her friends to come down...

Daylight Savings Ends

Well sad to say it's back to dark evenings and the feel of summer slowly leaving us, although it's still pretty hot!! Don't go yet sun!! Red Bull helped us deal with the clocks turning back by putting on a free Daylight Savings concert in Grey Lynn Park, with a few D.J's and my favourite NZ Band, Fat Freddy's Drop. It was a massive crowd, good atmosphere and greats sounds. Any of you Aussies want to check them out they're playing in all the different cities throughout this week, go to www.fatfreddysdrop.com for details. I would recommend you go!!

Happy First Birthday Nathan!!

Saturday 11th March was Nathan's First birthday. We celebrated it with a BBQ in the Mount at Pilot Bay. It was a warm day, a bit cloudy though and a little bit of rain, but it was still a good day. The older kids got to have a swim, and the babies chased sea gulls. When the rain came we went back to the house for the cake and to open presents. Nathan's cake was a football made by his Uncle Eddie. He also got a little bike, a trolley, a gum ball machine, some Nike shoes, bucket, spade and floaty, some cool clothes and a Friends of the Zoo pass.

New Videos

We have 3 new videos for you to view including Nathan's winning performance (see story below)

The Week That Was

Well after posting Nathan's busy weekly schedule last time, we ended up with what started as a slow week for the little man. He had a cold so we missed swimming, movies and playgroup. We managed to meet Dean for lunch on Wednesday and a quick visit to the Zoo as our 'Friends of the Zoo' pass came in the post, which means we get in free anytime we want for a whole year. An early birthday present from Nanny Mardi and Poppa Dunc. Friday his nose was only running a wee bit so we headed out to Mainly Music and the Library. We finished the week on a high with a pretty cool weekend...

SATURDAY
We headed out for the day with a morning at Western Springs feeding all kinds of birds, and trying to dodge their poos. It was then off to the garden centre so Dean could get the flowers he wanted to spruce up our two little gardens by the driveway. In the afternoon we got all packed up, picnic and all and headed to the Zoo for the Che Fu concert only to rock up with our tickets and be told 'Sorry that is on tomorrow'. Good one Janna! That is the second time we've turned up on the wrong day for something. Lesson learnt! Look at tickets properly!! Anyway it wasn't all bad, they guy let us go in anyway and have a stroll around. We thought while we're out and about might as well do something so headed to Mission Bay to see some Salsa dancing and listen to Kantuta in the park.








SUNDAY
We got it right today and headed back to the zoo to see Che Fu. The opening acts were pretty good too, especially Ladi6. The highlight of the night had to be when Nathan won a $500 electric guitar. All we had to do was buy a $10 tiger tail which is to help the Zoo raise money to bring a new tiger over from Israel, and then the funny part was they had to go on stage and shake their tiger tails, and the best shaker won by crowd vote. And how could Nathan not win by crowd vote? I suppose a little booty shaking help from Dad didn't go astray either. (will also put a vid on with the action :-)

Off to the park

I have started a Flax weaving course every Wednesday night. We have to find our own flax to take to class, so I'm very lucky to have a lot of it in the park down the road. So Nathan and i went on a mission to get some and then had a swing at the park. He was also having a great time on the jungle gym but I couldn't take any pics coz I had to be right by him the whole time. He was climbing up the slide, then crawling across the swing bridge and then down the other slide, and climbing back up again. Very clever, but it's very high, so I had my hands right by him in case he slipped.

Yep this looks like a good one!


The Harakeke (flax) mobile





I have started a Flax weaving course every Wednesday night. We have to find our own flax to take to class, so I'm very lucky to have a lot of it in the park down the road. So Nathan and i went on a mission to get some and then had a swing at the park.

Weekend away

Dean and I headed to Waiheke Island on the weekend to celebrate our 5th Wedding anniversary. We had a lovely time, although we missed Nathan who was at home with Nanny Mard and Poppa Dunc. They took him to the zoo and he had lots of fun. Will post some pics of his adventure when mum emails them.

One of the 26 or so vineyards on Waiheke Island. Dean wanted to track this one down after tasting one of their Merlot's and becoming a fan.


Getting to taste the Merlot grape before it get's harvested in three weeks time and turned into wine


Having a taste of the final product. They produce two different Merlot's and a Rose. By the way we are not wine snobs and really have no clue, but it was nice to see where it all happens. And like the guy there said, if you like the taste of an $80 bottle go for it, but if you like the taste of a $5 bottle nothing wrong with that, it's all about what you like! I agree.


Dean enjoying our anniversary picnic at Oneroa Beach


Celebrating 5 years marriage, what an awesome 5 years it has been :-)

Busy Boy

Well Nathan has quite the busy lifestyle. His average week consists of...
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: Swimming Lessons & afternoon visit to see Ayla
Wednesday: Baby on Board movies (more for mum than bubs)
Thursday: Playgroup & visit from Ayla
Friday: Mainly Music or Mops group
Saturday: Hang out with the whanau
Sunday: Church

In amongst all this activity he still finds time for two naps a day, isn't he lucky!
Here are some pics from Swimming where they're learning to go under the water, climb up on to the side of the pool and lots of other fun stuff.