Wanaka

Again in January we made our annual pilgrimage to the sun and shores in the Mecca of Wanaka. The tent up, the kids settled and the sun shining (we wont talk about the wind!) We had great fun relaxing, eating, walking, playing, swimming and boating.
The one really good day we got the boat out (along with every other boat owner in a 20km radius!) we found a lovely little bay that we have used before. There was a couple of other men there who had these neat paddle boards. They let the kids have a turn, Daniel was very skilled at it. We thought it might be a neat idea to get one for the kids, they blow up so dont take up much room but are really strong and sturdy (made out of canvas) That was until I looked it up and realised they are over $1k each!!! Maybe not and thank goodness none of the kids broke one!!

Fresh Produce

I have put a lot of time and effort into my vege garden this year, and have to say I am quite proud of it. This is a small selection of what we have been eating.

Charlie is 3!!

So after the exhaustingly wonderful day at the lake everyone came to our house for birthday tea. Yummy fresh homegrown food and BBQ. And of course the birthday cake. Charlie wanted a horse paddock. And in true my style I wasnt happy with the plain old rectangle covered in choc fingers (I think it was the choc fingers that attracted his choice!) so I improvised (read googled) and made a round paddock and made it a farm.

Summer Fun

My new years resolution has had its first blip! We have been having so much fun over the summer that I have not updated. However, one of the main reasons for having this blog is to keep my UK family up to date with what we are doing and during January we had part of that family here. So were were focussing on enjoying that time for a while!
But now we are back to reality. I have, for the day, made a huge batch of choc chip cookies, some flapjack and some muffins. I have wiped the kitchen down and brushed and mopped the floor. I have done dishes, fed children and prepared my notes for my new CBE class that is starting this week. So yep, reality is set right back in!
Once the kids get back from school (in about 15mins) we are off into town to get some new school shoes for Laura, whose feet seem to not stop growing (and are now bigger than mine!) We also need to get some new togs for Sam and Charlie. For some reason thier togs have faded to the point of see through. I cant work our why, becuase the last time they used them was in the lakes, the same as the other kids. But they look like they have been sitting in a bucket of chlorine for a week. Anyway we found this out when the kids went back to swimming lessons last week and we got the wee boys togs out so they could play in the little pool.
Might even be really naughty and get take away for tea since Jase is away!

So what have we been up to you ask, well I will go back to the 9th of January. A beautiful day and I let Jase twist my arm into going up to Kingston to the lake with the boat (didnt take much twisting, but dont tell Jase) It also happened to be the third birthday of my gorgeous little boy. Boy did he get a good day out for his birthday! Most of Jase's family were here so they all divided into vehicles and off we went. When we got there the lake was quite choppy, so we settled down for a picnic lunch. By the time we were finished the lake was flat and calm. So in went the boats, Jamies jetski and lots of little people. We skied, biscuited, kneeboarded and jetskied around the lake. The jet ski was lots of fun, the kids all got a turn at shotgun and Daniel wasnt even worried when he got an unexpected dunking!