Labour Weekend in Te Kaha

Well it was off to Te Kaha again for the long weekend to get a few jobs done before the Christmas holidays.  Mum and I set off a couple of days earlier so we could take our time with the kids.  We headed to the Mount on Wed and then off to the Coast on Thursday.  We stopped in Opotiki for lunch and a visit to Aunty Leti and Aunty Bari.

Borrowing Aunty Leti's shovel

First stop on arrival is checking out the creek

When Dani and the boys arrived Friday night, Nathan raced over saying Ruka Ruka woo hoo woo hoo, and from then on the boys played together the whole time

Ethan zooming down on the tractor

Miss Thang taking a stroll around the grounds

Getting into job number 1, putting soaker rings in to filter our grey water

Maia and Aunty Bari

Ruka and boyboy

Aunty Leti giving Maia cake, the girl knows how to get people to feed her, she gives the most appreciative sounds and smacking of lips when eating

Kumara Salad duty

The look says it all about this job

Boys helping get the Eel ready for smoking

The boys on sweeping duty

Job number 2, making a platform for the loo, was pretty slippery around there when wet

Nanny Louies slide kept them entertained for ages

Platform completed, awesome job boys!!

Smoked Eel on the menu - yum yum!

A few sing songs round the fire after a hard days work

First day at Pre-School

Maia starts her first day at Pre-School today.  She is going to go two half days a week.  Every time I dropped Nathan off she would go off and play so we thought maybe she's ready to go and enjoy a bit of social time with the other kids.  I'm about to go and pick her up so hopefully she's had a good day :)

'The Frown' - Maia has been perfecting the frown over the last two weeks.  She pulls it out in all sorts of situations and it can sometimes be quickly followed by a smile.

Empty House

We're staying at Bruce and Miriams for a couple of nights as our house has been emptied as we're getting new carpet put in.

Chomping on a chicken wing, Maia loves her kai

We came home to clean the ceiling and walls before the new carpet arrives

Jakes 1st Birthday

The Birthday Boy and with the baby bunny

Nathan making friends

Rios bought his 3 baby bunnies for the kids to look at

BBQ season kicking in

Rest of the holiday

The rest of our holiday was good.  I got to sleep in every morning while the kids got up with Nana and Poppa.  We went down to my Nana's for a couple of days which was nice.  We didn't get to the beach as although it was sunny it was so windy all we could do instead was find a nicely sheltered park to play at.  Other wise we just chilled at home and also went for a visit to Erin and Logans for a play with Luca.

Isn't this a nice pic, we turned around and they were doing this mid breakfast.  

Off for a play with Luca - beating up Uncle Logan

Day One at Nanny and Poppas

Making his mark on the new footpath outside, only to have it wiped off by the killjoy concrete workers :(

Off to the movies to watch Wall-E

At the library getting a stash of Dinosaur books for Nanny and Poppas house

Bathtime fun

Heading off on Holiday

Nathan was very excited today to be heading off to Nanny and Poppa's house in Mt Maunganui.  The kids travel very well and we made it 3/4 of the way down and had a little lunch stop in Katikati.  We pulled up next to a park that had a sculpture exhibition on which the kids enjoyed.

Trip to Titirangi

Yesterday we were pretty tired after having a crowd over for a bbq and to watch the warriors lose a miserable game!!!  There was a bit of boardgame action afterwards leading to a late night.  It was such a nice day that we had to get out and get some fresh air instead of lazing around wallowing in tiredness.  We headed way out west to Titirangi and first checked out the markets before getting some lunch and finding a little beach to eat at.

Who's that staunch chickee?

Couple of cool dudes

Friends of the Zoo once again

Finally it seems we are getting some nice weather, so it was off to the Zoo to renew our Friends of the Zoo pass which means we can go whenever we want and get a few discounts here and there.  This time we got both Maia and Nathans photo on it, so we can take both together or one at a time.  We went especially to see the 3 new tiger cubs, but after waiting about 10minutes which is a long wait in kiddie time, we gave up.  It was a nice day out and after Maia being sick for a whole week solid and housebound we were amped to get out of the house.

Our Sunday

Sunday morning was my sleep in morning, so here are the kids having breakfast with Dad.  Good ol Marmite toast - typical kiwi brekkie.

Nathan and I went to Church and Maia stayed home with Dad.  Afterwards we got organised and took advantage of the beautiful day by meeting up with Troy, Lisa and the kids at Okahu Bay.  It was a bit windy on the beach side so we found some shelter by the park.  

The kids at play

Afterwards we met up with the rest of the Hilliard family at Dean's Nana's house for afternoon tea.  We got to catch up with Dean's Aunty Margaret before she heads back to the States to work on a movie with Meryl Streep, wow!!  Here's Nathan being a giant turtle.

The Kids

Our Rebel boy went and got a nose ring :)

Baked Bean Face

Dinosaurs for Breakfast