Tina, Amber & Scott

Sorry its been so long, we’ve been updating Facebook and twitter as normal but the blogging is slipping.  Easter is here again, a lovely weekend this time, even though the weather service predicated rain, its been grand.  We had a nice trip into town on Saturday and found the Cadillac Diner that had moved from the Hutt, so pleased with that,  Children under five eat for free and Amber was pleased with that   Today we had an Egg hunt in the Garden and at Connors house with Brydon and had fun.  Tina found out the Martinbourgh fair is back on, or at least they have re scheduled the weekend that was cancelled due to the weather bomb, and she’s planning a night away with the girls. It’ll do he good to have a break.  Amber is toilet trained !  Fingers crossed, no accidents all weekend, poos on the toilet all weekend and no accidents,  thank goodness.  The Bump is getting bigger, Tina is huffing and puffing, and says this one feels different, We don’t know if that’s because its a boy or just one of those things.

One of the best things about NZ is that they don’t show adverts on the TV at Easter and Xmas,  great, but not much TV been watched this weekend as the weather is so good.

Well its officially the end of summer, and I can honestly say it was the shortest most rubbish summer since being in NZ, I think I can count on one hand how many nice days we had, and they (The weather men) are predicting a cold and wet autumn too, where as last autumn was sunny even though to May. Makes me even more happy that we have booked an overseas holiday to Australia later this year, we will need the  sunshine come November for sure.

At least the birthday season is now over with just one or two 1 year olds to go  the main bulk Jan/Feb is now over for another year, phew, makes me glad that were having a July Baby. Not much to look forward to now apart from the safe arrival of our little man. We were meant to be going to Martinborough fair today, but it got cancelled for the first time in 35 years because of the horrid weather bomb that has hit the north island in the last 24 hours. Thanks Australia I wish they would keep their weather to themselves.

So fair season is over, school galas are mainly over, where will I get my second hand fix now? Well our Plunket are organising a 2nd hand sale next weekend, so that will be awesome looking forward to being able to pick up some cute little size 0000 outfits again. after that is Marie & James annual BBQ, luckily they host us staying over too, which means a late night but being able to crash makes all the difference. The weekend after we hoping to make it to blueberry farm park to pick the last of the seasons blueberries, but again it all depends on the weather.

anyway got to go, baby kicking as he hates the position I am sat in and Scott flicking though crap TV desperate to get back to the PC. Take Care.

Well today is a special day, not only is it our sixth Wedding anniversary, but we just came back from the radiologists and our 20 week Scan.  All is well and were having a boy !  Yippee,  we have the set now.     Now just one thing left, convince Tina to let me call him Merlin !!! 

Well her actual Birthday is on the 27th but we have plans to be away that weekend celebrating Jenny’s Birthday.  To be honest if Amber would have supplied alcohol it would have been a close call but no, she wouldn’t spring for it, oh well.  So Monday here was Wellington day, and Tina did plan to have Ambers party then, but the weather reports ( which were wrong of course) said it was going to rain, turned out beautiful on Monday but that’s a different storey.   So Saturday was nice weather, Martin and Miranda supplied the bouncy castle and we set up the pool from Bunning’s which was a splash.  Beth created a wonderful yummy cake in the shape of a butterfly,  which Amber managed to blow  out all three candles first time.  Everyone left exhausted by 2pm, and Marie and James stayed on for a BBQ tea, yum. 

Tina had her birthday the week before of course, She picked a child friendly restaurant/bar in Petone and we and the kids all had a good afternoon out with the kids playing crazy golf and the grown ups abusing the table football machine hiding around the corner.    All in all Xmas, the New year and the birthdays have been a relaxing time and now were full steam back into work. 

Hi all, Well December shot past didn’t it? what happened I think I must have blinked or something, with both Scott and I busy with work, Amber and running around getting scans etc. I really didn’t even see Christmas come around so fast, it was a good good I was organised and sent everything of to the UK in plenty of time this year, which means  Lee’s kids got there presents on the right side of Dec 25th yay.

   Amber had a lot more fun with Christmas this year, from re decorating the tree every day to eating chocolate, getting new toys and going to all the Christmas parties and Santa parades. She really understood more and this year, we did the whole note out for Santa and milk and carrot thingy, we also had a very excited 5 year old (Freja) here to make it extra exciting. Christmas morning they were overwhelmed by the gifts Santa had left them, and their little faces were magical.

Of course our Christmas starts every year on Christmas eve with dinner and secret Santa with friends and this year was no exception with a beautiful ham from the butcher next door, and 10 adults and three under 5’s it got quite hectic in the hot sunshine there for a while, but the kids stripped off and played in the pool and all were merry and bright.

Christmas day we went to Queen Elizabeth Park on the Kapiti coast for some serious sun and some relaxation after a slightly hectic Christmas eve and Christmas day morning. The beach was packed sharing it with about 20 other families and Marie and Scott were even brave enough to go into the sea with kids, while James and I tried to hog the shade.

Boxing day was spent relaxing too we went for a walk around Aotea lagoon and enjoyed the sun once more. Then came our annual BBQ and Martin & Miranda’s house for New Years Eve, delicious food, great game of scattergories, and the countdown to midnight with a very small Malibu and pineapple (only alcohol I will be getting all year) And Amber stayed over so we could lie in the next day. Awesome.

In the evening we took a stroll down Wellington waterfront and were a little disappointed to see that the telecom Christmas tree had been taken down, but still a lovely evening for a stroll.

On Monday we went to stag lands, with Miranda, Martin & Connor, they kids loved it and we had a great time too, the sun was hot, and the animals were all friendly. We had Connor overnight to give M & M a date night, and then today while the sun was beaming down again we decided to got and sit in the cinema…. It was worth it though Tin Tin in 3D at the newly renovated Roxy in Miramar what a theatre if you haven’t been I’d  recommend it.

Well that’s it for now, we are partying hard this weekend with Freja’s birthday party on Saturday and Lily’s on Sunday, Every weekend day in January is filled up with parities…bring on the silly season.

Hi all, we have a happy announcement to make to all our family and friends.  Tina is pregnant with our second child.  This morning we went to Horizon radiology on Taranaki street for our first scan of the bump.  The lady in charge said everything was fine and we are well within normal parameters for the growth and size etc.  We wont find out the sex till the 20 week scan so standby.  if its a boy then we get the set   if its a girl then I get to keep my computer room/office but to be honest I’m happy either way as long as he/she is healthy. 

Its been a busy couple of weeks since we returned from our holiday, work as ever is busy and taxing, but we’re enjoying the time off and making the most of the Sun when it appears.  I went to see the Immortals at the new TitanicXL screen in Reading cinema with James, who won the tickets on a phone in competition, cheers James.  He and Freja stayed overnight, and the next day (Sunday) we tried to see the Xmas bike run but standing on the bridge at Churton Park in the Drizzle we discovered they were 30 minutes behind schedule so we sacked that.  off to the Thorndon market with Martin, Miranda and Connor, which was quite good this year as the weather had kept all the crowds away. You could actually see the other side of the street sometimes.  Wednesday I had the day off work to play Santa for Tina’s Plunket again, which was fun. I was worried that Amber would realise who was under the beard, but she didn’t seem to spot me so that was pleasing.  53 presents were handed out this year taking a little over 45 minutes, but it was great to see the reactions from some of the kids.  This last weekend we went back to the Plimmerton Carols in the Park fro the second time. Much busier this time, and we managed to get a nice place to sit and see the stage.  Its cool that events like these are totally free, Amber and Conner had a ball playing on all six of the bouncy castles, but she was a little put out that she couldn’t get onto the big assault curse bouncy run they had set up.  She’s still to little and gets disappointed.  The photo is the only shot we had of Amber with me and Tina, I wish I’d realised and popped that balloon   Saturday night we went back to the San Fran Bathhouse for the Atomix night where they play the 80’s hit music. Stumbled into bed as quiet as a ninja at 3:30am.  For some reason I desperately wanted to watch Star Trek Generations at 4am.  I finally woke up at 7am and went to bed then. Bless my wife for understanding.  As quiet as a Ninja with size 12 iron boots on.  Just two more weeks to Xmas and a break which I’m so looking forward to. Lots to do and sort out around the house, and the break will give me time to pay attention to it all.

Yeah certainly felt like summer today. Amber and I had a blast today. I love Wednesdays off work when the weather is fine. Just a short drive to Plimmerton beach and we had so much fun exploring rock pools, and building sand castles together. Long may the good weather continue it got to 23 in the shade today, there was no wind either (unusual). A fairly quiet week this week after a hectic one last week. Summer does bring on the silly season. 2 birthdays in October, 2 in November and two in December. I am trying not to think about the 10 or more in January…

We went to see Cinderella pantomime on Saturday it went on for 2 and half hours, Amber just about lost the plot 3/4 of the way through but I managed to keep her content, until the end. Then she had a sleepover with her friends Connor and Freja it was crazy here and the house was turned upside down but they had a great time. A nice BBQ next door to finish of the weekend with gorgeous rump steak and salad yum.

This weekend is the Tawa Santa parade and a Elias’s 3rd birthday on Saturday and the Thorndon Christmas fair on Sunday. Plus I am looking after Freja while the hubbys go to a movie and Connor whilst M & M go to a Christmas do. Phew and this is the quiet week. Next week we have something on everyday including the Tawa Linden Plunket Christmas party on Wednesday in which Scott has a very important role to play.

Anyway will write another update soon I promise.

  This year we planned to show Amber the lights from the city.  Last year we didn’t get to see them as she was to young, and they year before, hah not a chance.  Anyhow, we prepared this year, an extra long sleep nap in the afternoon for Amber and Tina.  The night before had proved that we needed to do that, after we went to Jenny’s for her and Marie’s celebration drinks ( Well done girls) So a Nap from 2:30 till 5pm, then up dressed and around to Denise and Dave’s for a BBQ (thanks guys sorry to have left to early)  and on to the city around 8:25 pm to get a good seat.  We managed to get in place in Frank Kitts at around 8:50 for the display to start at 9pm.  It was very good, an I enjoyed the show.  The little ones seemed fascinated for around 9 minutes of the 15 mins display, and we went back to the car very tired.  Perhaps next year we’ll just do friends or have some here.   Outside of the fireworks things are busy as always,  Spring has sprung and the garden has hit back with a vengeance, needing attention every weekend. Its Movember and I’m growing a whole beard. Later this month I’ll shave it into something strange no doubt.  Looking forward to taking a week off to go on a camping trip up country and explore a little.  Oh and someone won the world cup,  cant remember who now though

Hi all, me again. So much has happened that it is making time go really quickly since we lost an hour of time we seem to be racing to catch up with it.

Holiday much needed I think. We’ve booked a week off in November, just got to convince Scott that a tent is a good holiday home.

We were out in town on Saturday night, something I probably haven’t done since having Amber, but it was good. We had a Korean meal (strange) and then an 80’s night partying  with Marie & James. Amber stayed at her Boy friends Connors house, which also meant we got a lay in together on Sunday!   Bliss Have you told you just how much we appreciate you Martin & Miranda )

So we have been all over the rugby well the AB and England games at least, although I do still think the Aussies robbed RSA. Gonna be an interesting semi final this weekend with Wales v France ( Go Wales) and AB’s v Aussies ( Go AB’s)

This weekend we are having a rather large and out of control bring your own curry night that seems to have spiralled out of control resulting in 18 adults and 9 kids. Lucky we have friends with marquees and bouncy castles.

Amber had her 2nd big haircut at the weekend but it was quite difficult but still looks good.  My boss has been away from almost two weeks which means I have been stepping into her shoes, but  am I glad that she is back in office tomorrow.