Penguins, parties and peace at last

What a busy week! So I will try and keep it short?

Ben's playcentre ran a trip to the Antarctic Centre on Monday. It was a really good trip and the kids got to meet a little blue penguin up close! Ben loved riding the snowmobiles and ran round the centre with great enthusiasm!

Joe was player of the week in his after school sports session after falling over during basketball and grazing his knees (but not making a fuss!)

Then finally the countdown was over and the big day arrived. Joe was six on Thursday. We had been counting the number of sleeps since India's birthday on the first of July! He was a really lucky boy and his haul of presents included a tonne of LEGO, Bionicles, a Crusaders shirt, a Crusaders rugby ball, some clothes, hotwheels cars and kits, transformers, Ben 10 goodies - I could go on but you get the idea. He had to go to school on the big day, but we softened the blow by sending in cupcakes for his class. After school we went to Ferry Ale House for a birthday tea. 2 pretty exhausted boys tumbled into bed!

Rugby this week was against a fast Merivale and Lincoln (Merlins) team and our boys came away with a 10-9 win! Joe scored yet another hat-trick. Joe's first try was quality rugby. Jack was running for the line about to be tackled, Joe called for a pass and caught it!, crossing the line with a dive! The picture shows Joe launching himself into a tackle!
How they have progressed from the first game when 14 boys all ran in the same direction! - hence the whole team were named player of the day.

Ben attended a little friend's third birthday party on Saturday and had a great time. Sean's Dad entertained as a clown and the kids hooted!

Today was Joe's party and we took 13 (including our 2) to Clip n Climb. It was fab! At 6 the boys were far more confident than last year and got to the top of many of the runs, Josh even took the 'leap of faith'!. After a busy hour of climbing we went upstairs to the cafe and the boys demolished pizza and chips and then the cake! Great - no mess to worry about. All in all a great success!
Matt and I have been busy too! I had a commission from a friend to make cupcakes for her son's birthday and they turned out really well. Matt was away in Wellington last week on a training course, he took 2 days off this week to help out at home while I was laid low with a throat infection and bug. I spent many hours preparing all the bits and pieces for Joe's cake and then assembled it on Saturday night. We also have had our offer accepted on a block of land, and all the paperwork is now in the hands of the lawyers!
Now, some time to sit down with a slice of cake and a cuppa! Hooray!

Another win!

11-7 this week against Belfast and a 6? year old giant (Matt swore he had facial hair). Joe ran the length of the pitch to score a cracking try. 2 tries for him this week. Just one game left this season!!!!!!!! Phewwwwww.

Wearable Art, Sledging and Rugby (of course)

Joe's school has been preparing for their 'Wearable Art' show all term and the performance days finally arrived last week. We went along to an evening show and were really impressed with the costumes and performances! Joe's class had a theme of 'from the mountains to the sea' and their costumes included a tuatara, crab, octopus and mermaids. Joe's little group did the octopus and despite dropping out of wearing the main costume, Joe appeared to have enjoyed the whole thing.
Other classes had themes of fairy tales, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Funky and Royalty. They had all used recycled materials really creatively. The crisp packet robes were truly amazing!

We finally made it up to the mountains last weekend (without being turned back by deteriorating weather) this time it was beautiful and clear. The recent nor-westers have reduced the amount of snow, but it meant we didn't need chains to get up to the ski field. Between us and the Ralphs we had the makings of a great hot lunch and then the serious sledging got underway (avoiding the drop off at the bottom of the slope). After falling down the slope and then throwing a serious tantrum, Ben did eventually thoroughly enjoy his new inflatable sledge (a much less bruising ride).
You can see Amy hurtling down behind him in this clip. Joe was gung-ho as ever and we called it a day when a large party arrived, beers in hand and neatly sidestepped out of his way as he hurtled towards the edge, luckily I managed to leap and grab him by his collar before he disappeared. Up until this point parents had been stopping each others kids!
We went back to Rangiora with the Ralphs and had a lovely Thai takeaway for tea! A great day!

Oh yes - rugby. 10-10 draw this week, Joe scored 3 tries in the first half after the team had gone down 4-1, drawing them level. There were some BIG fast boys on the opposing side so our boys did a fantastic job!

5 years, 11 months and counting the sleeps......

All about Joe (well almost). First we should get down to the rugby again. Parklands played at home for the first time in weeks and it was a lovely warm sunny day too! Bonus! The team won 10-4 against Christchurch Old Boys and Joe scored 2 tries. It was another good game and the boys dodged and wove their way up the pitch. More proud families!
Ben was pretty keen to join in so started his own game on the touchline!

Joe also received a class award in assembly at school for 'outstanding progress in reading'. He didn't tell us about it for a couple of weeks and we only found out about it when I found the certificate lurking at the bottom of his bag.

Parents evening was as expected, he is doing really well and is even making progress in the 'not fidgeting' stakes! (saves it all for at home).

Winning Streak

Parklands Under Six Blacks won again this weekend. A closely fought 9-8. It was a really fast moving game. Ben and I hadn't been for several weeks and I was amazed at the progress that the players had all made! They are starting to pass more effectively, sidestep and plan their routes! Joe was a star once more and scored another 3 tries! He launches himself when he tackles and was yet again the muddiest child on the pitch - gotta love it!
The team probably top their league now so everyone is rightly proud. It is very funny watching the adult supporters on the sidelines! Lots of stress!! Especially when the game is as tightly fought as it was this week. Not that the Dads are at all competitive - but they was some subtle fist punching when the final whistle blew!
Joe is attending a birthday party over the road at the moment and Ben is tucking into a sandwich. It is all very peaceful and lovely! Matt is still out after a night at Chris Ralph's. Probably nursing a hangover!

Part 2

Much, much, much , much better! Boys both feeling perky again, although can't say the same for their mother! Anyway, Joe and Ben had bundles of energy (zapped directly from me) which needed an outlet this week. We packed in the skate park, Orana Wildlife park, the park park, Science Alive, the cinema, botanic gardens (and play park), Rugby and lots more.
Joe continues his winning streak with his rugby team. They played brilliantly and won the match 12-8. Joe scored another 3 tries - seems like his lucky number! He was again the muddiest child on the pitch, thanks to his fearless tackling!
We spent the day with Nana, Kate, Ash and Indy at Orana. It was pretty chilly, but we saw most of the animals. Including some adorable baby cheetahs, that had to be raised by keepers. They are now on display and were just wonderful! Most of the adults are not ever on display as they run a really successful breeding program on a huge acreage behind the park.
Another highlight was the lion feeding, which the kids think is amazing. Luckily none of them are tall enough to experience that one yet - don't fancy being drooled on by an enormous lion!
We also visited the botanic gardens and followed a trail around the glass houses. They had made lots of model 'plants' hidden amongst the displays, and you had to look at them, read the stories and guess what they were called - very clever and Joe loved the puzzles.
Science alive was busy. We went to a talk/show about sound waves and music which Joe enjoyed, especially the practical demonstrations that they were allowed to try out afterwards. He also made the most of the vertical slide! Wheeeeeeeeeeee. (That's Ben in the background yelling 'Joey'). Ben liked the reaction time games best and the 20 metre sprint! He can really move!
Today was back to school, playcentre and swimming lessons. 10 weeks to go!

School Holidays - bleurghhhhh

So far - What a write off! Ben came down with all sorts of lurgies on the last day of term and was dosed up with antibiotics and eye drops. He spent several days lying on the sofa, developing a 'whoopy' cough and experiencing up and down temperatures. We managed to get to see the Scooby Doo Stagefright show but otherwise did very little for the first week. On his 7th day, feeling much brighter we headed off to Carole and Annissa's house to help celebrate Carole's birthday. Happy Birthday Carole! Joe opted on a visit to the museum with Nana instead but went rapidly downhill from there, even falling asleep (NO I DIDN'T) on the bus on the way home. His turn!
We are now into week 2 and hopefully things are coming right.
Despite the poorly boys we have managed to fit a few things in. The week started with the momentous job of moving a 'generous, 10 cubic metres of bark chippings at playcentre. Phew what a job!
We decorated gingerbread people at Louise and Josh's.
We went to the beach at Sumner (in the rain) and dug trenches in the caves.
Hopefully we'll fit in a few more activities this coming week.....watch this space.