Beach Babe

Only 20 months old and he'll put up with this indignity! In fact he laid still for so long that we thought he would nod off!

Kindy, Kites and Buskers

Joe has now started at a local Kindergarten. Almost as highly anticipated as Christmas! He is thrilled to be making friends and has a chance to play with loads of new toys. He is particularly impressed with the "real saws, real wood, real hammers and real nails!!". No problems in the morning, Ben and I are usually dismissed with a "you can go now". He was a little upset first day when he described how some of the boys had told him that he had a 'silly voice', but I'm sure he'll be talking Kiwi before we know it.
The World Buskers Festival has just finished and we took in as many shows as we could. Joe and Ben loved the 'Amazing Drumming Monkeys' and we are now subjected to the soundtrack every time we get in the car. Ben and I were targeted by the 'Blackstreet Boyz' at one show when Ben decided to shout and blow raspberries! - very embarrassing - especially when he was lunging toward them and they said 'look she can't wait to get away'. Must be time for that first haircut!
Last weekend was the Tip Top Kite Festival taking place on the beach at the end of our road. A really impressive turnout of all sorts of kites, big and small. Ben and Joe took turns flying their kite and we were amazed to still have it by the end of the afternoon!
We are now into our last few days in the retro house. Everyone is looking forward to our furniture etc arriving on the 11th. Keys are handed over on the 8th so we have a couple of days to get organised and transfer our ever growing pile of stuff. There is no way its going to fit into the suitcases we arrived with!

Summer Fun

January has been busy and a real novelty too. Matt celebrated his birthday with a scorching hot day, boogie boarding, sandcastle building and barbeque! We attended the local 'beach blast' and Joe and Matt got some serious boarding done. Then came the sandcastle competition with a Wincott inspired F1 racing car - we came second !!!! (out of 28) ably assisted by Nana, Kate, Ash and Indy. We won a frisbee and a voucher for the flumes at the local pool. The nor-wester brought with it a really hot afternoon and we all retreated into the shade for a barbeque at Annie's.
Everyone back at work so the weekends have become busier. We went to a second beach blast and this time blew away the competition in the sandcastle stakes. This time we beat 41 other entries with 'The Black Pearl'. The kids dressed up as pirates and collected a prize from 'Alvin and The Chipmunks'! - this time a frisbee, 2 cinema passes and an electronic mat keyboard (to be kept at Nana's so they can share????).
The World Buskers Festival is in full swing and we have enjoyed some great entertainment. Joe joined in enthusistically with the drumming monkeys and can't wait to see them (and others) again when they come to Brighton next weekend.
We have visited the Antarctic Centre and experienced icy blasts at -18 deg C in their storm room. Ben was not keen and hunkered down inside his coat and in my arms until it was all over. Joe, Ash and Indy loved it and enjoyed sliding down a real ice slide! I liked the penguins!
More soon - and a pic of the Wincott racing car once I'm sorted, meanwhile frequency advertising have some on their website (pics 101-105)- Indy was even pictured in it in the local paper!
We've also visited a local wildlife centre and seen some real live kiwis! - of the feathered variety! It was really dark and the kids had to be quiet - bribed with chocolate. Also saw Tuatara and other native wildlife.

Hot Christmas - Hot Springs

Christmas day was lovely - as appropriate for our first Christmas Down Under! Annie and Malc hosted the mayhem and as promised we all headed to the beach after lunch. All the kids had received wetsuits and body boards from 'Father Christmas', so they HAD to be christened. Despite the sun, the Pacific was cold, so only the foolhardy (the children, the men and Nana) braved the surf.

On the 30th we headed off to a local hotspot, Hanmer Springs (about 1.5 hours from Chch).
We spent the day wallowing in pools of varying temperatures and mineral content and playing in the kiddy pool of course. We can't wait to try it out again, maybe in the cold or snow!

Also saw our first lenticular clouds!

Meri Kirihimete

Meri Kirihimete to all. This is Christmas Eve and we've had a busy week. Matt's office had their Christmas Party on Friday afternoon and the kids received presents. A minor mix up - Ben got put down as 18 - not 18 months! Luckily his present of an over-sized frisbee (as big as he is) will still be well used! Matt now has 2 weeks off so we started exploring early and had a day out at Akaroa on Saturday.

The picture shows the view of Akaroa Harbour as approached from Christchurch and YES it is stunningly beautiful. We had a lovely day and the highlight of it all was a boat trip out into the bay. We saw pods of Hector's Dolphins, Fur seals, seabirds, blue penguins and much more. The boys loved the boat too and Joe was thrilled when we finally took off for home at high speed. No photos I'm afraid as the camera batteries died. (The dolphins were so quick anyway - we may have video footage if we're really really lucky).

Today was filled with lots of last minute jobs, but after dinner we popped down to the beach for 45 minutes before the boys went to bed to dream of Father Christmas. The boys stripped off and took to the surf. Ben runs away before the waves reach him and only just outpaces them toddling as fast as he can.

Well, they are tucked up now and I'm sure we are in for an early start tomorrow! Off for a swim (brrrrrr) before lunch! Not a new tradition that I'm quite ready to embrace. Thinking of all our family and friends. Happy Christmas!

Disneyland and fame

As we were leaving Disney HK, we were accosted (sorry interviewed) by some of the Disney press office. The kids got some gifts and we thought nothing more of it. However, here we are on the Disney HK site. http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/html/Christmas2007/en_US/index.html?share and goto page 7 (23rd Nov). The narrative is not strictly what we said (or anything like) but the sentiment is right.

Not the best photo of us, but my excuse is we were tired after 2 days of blasting Zurg and chasing Mickey and friends.

Houses and houses

Its been a busy week or so on the property front. First we find that the buyers for Groton have pulled out after dropping their offer by ANOTHER 10%, obviously we said no! Pretty devastating as it all feels so complicated to remarket from this distance. Still, the estate agent has started over and a viewing is lined up for next week. Fingers crossed!
Then, found a house here that we really like! Nice neighbourhood, minutes from the beach, family feel, ticking all the boxes. We've decided to stay in Christchurch in the short term, until we find our feet and know what our long term plans are going to be. Anyway saw the house, liked it and Bank of Mum has agreed a mortgage plan so we made an offer! The realtor came out to see us 4 times over the day until a settlement was reached. We now have 10 days to get the deposit paid and do the searches, survey etc, then its binding! Very different to England!!!!!!
Here's the link so you can take a slideshow
http://www.rwstalbans.co.nz/show?rd=1&qs=Y&ref=SBZ10233
Everything being OK we hope to be in by mid February.
All very speedy too. The surveyor was booked yesterday and is surveying 8.30am today. We should have the report by Thursday for some nice weekend reading.
On a lighter note we made it out of the city on Sunday and headed a few minutes south to some beautiful bays. Picture is the view en-route. Corsair Bay was pretty and the family picnicked on the beach. The kids (and men) braved the chilly waters and even swam out to the pontoon.
Today was an adventure at the skate park down the road. Joe bombed around on his scooter and a ride-on motorbike. Only one scraped elbow! Ben sat in the mud and turned himself into a sculpture.