Thanks Dianna

June 19, 2016

One of the craft projects Dianna brought for the kids was making the little pom pom creatures with jiggly eyes.  Now that she left, the kids are finding creative ways to use the jiggly eyes.  Thanks!

Auntie Dianna’s Visit

June 16,2016

Wow, Ellie and Cooper were so spoiled and enjoyed every minute of it!  Auntie Dianna did everything with the kids; crafts, climbing wall, MOTAT museum and shopping.  

Race Day

May 29, 2016

Ellie competed in a fun race day.  She was nervous and excited the whole time.  She learned how to dive in from the starting block and warmed up before her races.  She swam the 50m Back stroke in 1:30:93 and the 50m Breast stroke in 1:19:62. 

Finished for the Day

June 6, 2016

Ellie had another good day of body boarding!

Climbing Wall

May 21,2016

Ellie can climb to the top of most of the walls now.  She is a little nervous the first wall or two then gets back into climbing and up she goes!

Sunset walk on the beach

April 29,2016

A few weeks later we went back to Mt. Maunganui to visit our friends again.   We took a walk on the beach at sunset and I was able to take these pictures.

Body Board

April 16,2016

Ellie has learned how to catch small waves and love to play in the white water with her Body Board.

Climbing the Mount

April 16, 2016

Two sets of our friends have move down to Mount Maunganui and we have been make regular visits down there.  It is about a 3.5-hour drive when there isn’t much traffic.  This morning we climbed up the mount to see the whole city below.  Cooper did well with his little legs and Ellie danced her way up! 

Back Again

Hello!  Wow, it has been a long time, actually way to long.  I am going to start this up again.  There will be a gap from where I left off to where we / I am now.  I will put the date of the pictures in the post along with some description.  As we get closer to the actual date/time I will expend the stories that go along with the pictures.  Thanks for reading and for asking me to start again!

Warning – Camping part 3

After Cooper was stung by the jelly fish, Ellie and her friend made signs to warn others about the jellyfish.  They put their signs on the paths leading down to the sand. 

Waterfall – Camping part 2

With the weather not perfect for spending the day at the beach, we left camp with a short drive to a beautiful waterfall.  It took about 10 minutes walking along a stream to get to the waterfall.  We had been there once before when Ellie was little.  Ellie and her friend started wading in the water and climbing the rocks.  The water was cold and they both didn’t want to swim in the pools but they did spend most of the time very close to the water.

Camping

It was the perfect time of year to camp with some good friends.  You could lay in the tent and hear the waves crashing on the beach.  The kids seem to really enjoy camping and it take them no time to make the tent into their home.  Our tent was next to a small playground which was perfect to be able to watch Cooper while doing camping duties.  Plus, the beach and ocean were only over the sand dune.

Marble Track

Ellie is getting creative with the marble track.  Building the track higher and also making multiple paths for the marbles to roll.  Cooper will ask her for help and suggest the colour of blocks she uses.  Then they will both take one marble to test out the new track.

Race 2

Ellie was excited for the second race in the series.  This time she wanted to see what it was like to start at the front.  We walked to the starting line before the general announcement and Ellie was able to see all the lead runners line up.  Our deal was that she needed to run at the start and not slow down until the path widen otherwise she would hold up many other runners. She agreed and jumped in the first group behind the superfast runners.  She did amazing, even on the super-hot day and finished in 13:06.  1:13 better than race one, with her second lap being faster than her first and her fastest time on the course!

Our First Hike

The kids were excited to go with some friends on a little bush walk.   We pack lots of snacks, water, sunscreen and first aid items.  They were all great, Cooper walked all the way out to the beach about 2K up and down hills with his trusty stick.  The girls all found special sticks to help them walk / hit things.  The beach was a great place to stop, cool our feet, and have a snack.  On the way back the girls led the whole time and Cooper and I were at the back.  He did ride on my shoulders most of the way back.

Showing Off at the Skate Park

Ellie, Cooper and I enjoying a morning out at the skate park.  We have found the best time to go to the skate park is in the morning before all the big kids come.  They all seem to respect the little kids but the park just gets crowded.  Cooper happily rides his balance bike trying to catch up to speedy Ellie.  Ellie is getting much braver, going much faster and also trying new obstacles.

Moving on Up!

With her breast stroke perfected, Ellie gets to moved up a level at swimming. Now it is time for her to learn butterfly.  She has been with a few great teachers at this point and has to change now she is moving up a level.  Ellie is sad she can’t swim with Byron any longer.  He has really help progress her swimming and encouraged her so much along the way.   

Race Time

It was that time of year again when we start our running race series.  Ellie was excited and looking forward to her first race of the year.  She hadn’t been running much but she has been putting a lot of time in at the pool.  She started the race at the back of the group with a friend and shortly after the start, left the friend and started running faster.  She finished the 2K race in 14:19, just a little off her last year’s best of 14:08.

Mystery Picture

There are times when I find strange pictures on my camera and phone.  This one was taken by Ellie, she had enough time to arrange her doll and animals around the office. Yes, Ellie you took this picture as the next one was a selfie you took!

Melty Sand Man

It had been a few months since my parents left and Christmas past when the paper bag in my closet started to bother me.  It was taking up space and it was time to figure out what was in there.  Too my surprise, it was the funny Christmas project I had my parents bring out for me to give them.  With Christmas in the middle of the New Zealand summer, I thought this modelling sand snowman would be a fun project.  It was, the kids had a blast making many different types of snowman.  Cleaning up the sand mess, that’s another story.