Nathan Turns 3 Today

Even though we had Nathans little birthday party on Sunday we couldn't ignore his actual birthday. He went to Pre-School for the morning where they sang happy birthday to him and ate his Lightning McQueen cake. I zipped home and packed a lunch to take to the zoo and then picked Nathan up at lunchtime.

We met Lisa and Troy and the kids at the zoo where we had our picnic and then a walk around. Maia was still asleep in her pram when we were done at the zoo so I took Nathan to the playground next to the zoo at Western Springs which is a cool little park aside from all the duck, goose and general bird poo around. We spent quite a while there as he was having a great time. It was nearly 4pm when he was ready to go so I took him straight over to his Nana and Poppy's where he usually stays on Tuesday nights. His cousin Logan who is over from the Gold Coast was there and Nathan had fun chasing his big cuzzy around. We ended up staying for dinner which was nice, and Nathan stayed there so his Nana can get him to Pre School on time in the morning :)

I had a lovely day seeing my boy have fun on his 3rd birthday.

(see the vid below for some Pre School happy birthday action)

Kumeu Show

On Saturday we went to the Kumeu Show. I gave up on Pasifika this year as it was sooo packed last year and although good for a feed, is not that exciting for kids. The attraction of the Kumeu show was my memories of the good ol A & P Show I used to go to growing up in Tokoroa. It was really cool, lots of interesting things for little eyes to see and cool things for the little man to do. Nanny came with us as Dean and my Dad were out fishing - they got heapsa fish too!

Nathan was not as interested in the giant pumpkin as he was in his new hot wheels car. They had a whole tent/stall with hot wheels which I paid about 60c more that what I could have got one for at the Warehouse :) They did have lots of old school collector looking ones too though.

That was one overpriced balloon that Nathan's Nanny got sucked into buying (by her mokopuna) that got donated to the sky a day later

The system for these rides is silly, you have to buy coupons and each ride is worth a different amount of coupons. So I bought some so Nathan could go on the Merry go round and so we could go on the Ferris Wheel, as he has not been too adventurous lately, but once he saw all the little kiddie rides, that was that, he wanted them all. So there went my coupons for the Ferris Wheel, which I actually was kinda keen on. But not $10.50 for the two of us keen. Tight ay :)

He had lots of fun and didn't want to go, but he zonked out in the car straight away.

Maia's Dedication

On Sunday morning we had Maia's Dedication at my church. Her two sets of grandparents, Aunty Lisa, Ayla, Uncle Reid and Sasha all came which was lovely. She was very well behaved and so was Nathan. She looked so pretty in her little outfit which Sasha had bought for her when she was born, especially for this day.

Check out her grip on the microphone while she was being prayed for, she must have wanted to say a few words to God herself :)

Nathan's Early Birthday Party

Nathan is turning 3 on Tuesday but we had a little party with all his family on Sunday afternoon as his Nanny and Poppa were up from Mt Maunganui for the weekend. It was a lovely afternoon and he had heaps of fun having all his favourite people with him, and getting some cool pressies.

I was pretty proud of my effort with the cakes, It's not usually my thing but I got right into it. He is so into Lightning McQueen and anything cars. I baked two so he could take one to preschool on his birthday. I wanted to keep them a surprise but it's not possible with him hanging around sniffing out all the sugar going on!

BBQ duty - snapper fritters amongst other yummy food

Pressie time with Ayla helping out

Cake time

Kael - Yay!

Taking his sister for a spin in his Lightning McQueen car that Uncle Reid got him, he looooves it!

Playing in the nappy Basket, Nathan turned it into a spaceship and Maia was happy to go along for the ride.

Motat - Museum of Transport and Technology

On Saturday it looked like it was going to be a horrible day, and although it threatened rain we still felt like venturing out, so went to Motat. It has a good combo of indoor and outdoor things to look at and thankfully didn't rain while we were there. I've never been to Motat before and we thought Nathan is a good age now to get into it. He's a hard one to impress at times, we have found in the past things he likes to admire from afar become a bit overwhelming up close, like when we took him to the airshow, he was not really into it at all. But he did enjoy himself here, although from the pic below you'd be forgiven for not believing me :)

I'm having fun.... Honest!

On the Tram

In the ol skool School. Pick me, Pick me

Getting the frisk down from the health police. Hand over that lollipop, sucker!!

Crazy Mirror Maze

The Siblings in Sydney

Last Thursday Dean and Lisa went to Sydney to stay with their brother Phil. They had a great time as you can see from the pics below...

Hanging with Phil and Aunty Doreen

Jamming in the kitchen

Phil and Lisa out and about

Off to Yum Cha

Bondi Beach

The Bro's, can't half tell can ya

A Week in the Mount

After the trip to Lake Rotoma the kids and I spent the week in Mt Maunganui as Dean was heading to Sydney later in the week. We made the most of the good weather, and when the weather packed it in we packed up and headed home.

Monday - Mum's actual birthday day, we grabbed some sushi and found a tree to sit under at Main Beach, at the foot of Mauao (the mountain)

Tuesday - Nathan and I spent a lovely couple of hours together at the beach. We walked out to th end of Leisure Island and then had a swim, the water was so warm Nathan swam for ages, and the waves were small and just right for him to play in, and he also found a nice little pool to relax in. These pics are off my phone so quality a little dodgy

Wednesday I was real tired and we had Lillian come and visit for the afternoon so no outings that day

Thursday - after enjoying our time just Nathan and I (which doesn't happen to often these days) We set off again Thursday afternoon to have a ride on the trike at the beach. This trike I got out of the Toy library as it is a bit lighter than his one and a good one to practice on.

Yay she is finally taking a bottle, she has had one every evening for the last couple of weeks now, With her allergy to dairy, I try get the milk machine (breast pump) going most days but when I don't get round to it she doesn't mind her soy formula too much. Here she is with Poppa before going to bed.

Friday - We headed over to the Flemings to visit Erin and Luca, Nathan loves going there and playing with Luca's toys, he especially loves the 'little house' with all its goodies inside. He was most upset last time we visited and the key was missing, so was delighted when he could get in this time and celebrated with a bit of a hula dance, he he.

Luca is a year older than Maia, and while Luca is definately the taller of the two, Miss Maia is definately more solid in every other way, he he.