And another week comes to an end ...

We have had a great, albeit wet week. Wellington has 'cried' now for 5 solid days .... rain, rain and more rain. The best part of any school day for Josh is, in his words, playtime so he is always sad when the wet weather curtails his outdoor activities. However, we have tried to balance the week with various play dates and activities.

Today we had gorgeous Georgia over for a play date and after cookies & chippies, Josh, Georgia & Mummy sat down to play Junior Monopoly - I have decided that Josh has the markings of quite the capitalist, buying up houses left, right and centre ! Georgia and I were quite relieved when we had to finish the game early to take her home and then head to the railway station to pick up Nancy.

Nancy is the mother of a girlfriend of Mummy's and we hadn't seen each other for about 18 years. What a gorgeous woman Nancy is .... she took such an interest in Josh, so much so that he sat on her knee and read her his storybook tonight ! Nancy used to be a school teacher and doesn't just have the 'know-how' and wisdom with children, it is so gorgeous to see her grandmotherly way with them - Mummy felt quite emotional seeing the lovely way Nancy had with Josh. She is quite a special lady. Mummy is truly delighted to have 're-connected' with Nancy and we have agreed to keep in touch.

And then time tonight for a session on the computer with Daddy doing his 'earobics' tape from Sara. Josh tried so hard tonight, he was a little champ, and we had a huge break-through with rhyming - Mummy could have danced around the floor !

We finished the evening with a bath - by candlelight - how special is that?!?!

Daddy comes to school ...

Josh was very excited this morning - Daddy started work a little later so he could come along for school drop-off. Josh was very happy to take Daddy into the classroom and show him which table he is sitting at this term and where his books are.

And then we finished the day with a play date with Yusei. Josh has missed Yusei as he has been visiting family back in Japan for the past 4 weeks. Because he was away for Josh's birthday, Yusei couldn't come to his party - but very kindly bought Josh a 'bullet' train in Japan for his train set. Josh LOVES it and was very excited tonight to build a train track with Daddy and see just how fast the bullet train can travel !

A rare moment ... Josh 'caught' reading

We tried a 'new' routine today after school - and it worked a treat (phew Mummy is so relieved). After school we went and did a few chores and then came home and went for a bike ride - we biked to Grandma's to pick up Huddy and then we biked along the beach home with Huddy wagging his tail and enjoying the run.

We then did our homework - Josh read his story very well (we are celebrating that Josh is now up to Level 10 and are so hopeful that it will get easier for him as his self confidence improves); he did his writing; and then we played Monopoly & Candyland, two board games. Upstairs for dinner; TV to watch Ben10 and then downstairs for a shower, jarmies and storytime in bed - Mummy loves story time. We go to the library every week and get a bundle of books and snuggle up in bed and Mummy reads to Josh - special time.

First day back at school

Well today was the first day back at school - day 1 of term 2. Let's just say that Josh was not overly keen to return saying that school was 'twicky' (yes, we are still working on his R's!). Perhaps we make the holidays too much fun (never says Mummy!!). However, we got through it and then went to see Sara for further tutoring after school, so all in all a very full day - but still time to build a train track before bed. Josh has always loved Thomas and his trains and sometimes his big picture vision for building tracks and stories is quite astounding.

Rock on down ....

Sweet Georgia had her 6th birthday party today and wow ... what a party! All the girls and boys looked like little rock stars - some dressed up, some came with musical instruments and they all boogied on down playing 'dance freeze' and doing the limbo - not to mention how they all queued up to have a turn on the microphone and sing along with Sing Star. And clever Mummy Sarah had themed all the food to be 'stars' - just gorgeous!!

Boys and their toys

What is it about boys and cars and speed and vroom-vroom everything ! Early this morning, whilst still in his dressing gown, Josh was 'hooning' around outside in his battery-fired bright yellow Hummer - look out Huddy and anyone else in his way!Later in the day, we went down to the school park and Josh couldn't believe his eyes when he spotted a 50cc quad bike being driven around the lawn. An yes, you guessed it, his pleading look earned him a turn and so he 'hooned' around on that as well !
There is seriously something in the 'wiring' of boys - they LOVE vehicles!

Huddy loves sheet washing days

Mr Hudson loves sheet washing days - he stands at the end of the bed and gets buried in the sheets as we strip the bed - and then we play "where's Huddy" and he runs around the house like a ghost and we chase and poke him. And who says we behave like children ?!?!?!?

ANZAC Day

A day to remember .... the hairs on the back of my neck always stand on end when I hear the Last Post and the Dawn Parade is such a moving affair. Although we did not get to the Parade, it is wonderful to acknowledge the resurgence in the past 5+ years in the desire amongst New Zealanders to pay their respects at Dawn Parades all around the country. We look forward to going to the Dawn Parades when Josh gets a little older so he can have a little understanding of what it is all about.

Clever creative people

When Mummy was in Auckland recently she had the opportunity to go to an amazing house in Parnell owned by a very creative designer and art collector. It would have been rude to photograph the inside, but I did manage to photograph the outdoor patio which had been done in a myriad of cut tiles in every possible colour and this deck gave such a colourful intro to the city & harbour beyond. Oh to go crazy with colour !! Mummy loves spending time with creative people, it is very inspiring.

The last 'official' day of school holidays

Well we decided to make the most of the last day of the school holidays and you 'might' be surprised at how much we managed to do (mmm, maybe not!).

We started off with Mummy & Josh & Mr Hudson walkikng down to the beach to give Hudson a lovely swim - gosh he loves the water and can be a bit of a monkey when it comes to getting out of the water ! We must remind ourselves how lucky we are to live only a block away from the beach, it is just gorgeous.

We then had 'big boy' Harrison and Sophia around whilst their Mummy had a few things to do. Well, what did we NOT do is more the question .... we put together a new car race track; we started building a go-kart; we played games; we 'did' the trampoline and tree-hut over and over again; we took sacks down to the school slide and 'hooned' down as fast as we could; and then finished off with Harrison & Sophia pumping up long 'sausage' balloons that literally squeal as you let them go - they let them off and Josh stayed down in the park and chased them as they whizzed overhead squealing (the poor neighbours!)

Josh was then picked up by Ethan and his Daddy to celebrate Ethan's birthday by going to see the movie, Monsters vs Aliens (yes, I know, for a second time) and then a birthday dinner with Ethan's family. Josh felt very lucky as Ethan had chosen him as his special friend for the birthday celebrations.

I asked Josh tonight how tired was he? His answer ... "100 teddies tired Mummy" - wow, that is tired !!

Josh has a better social life than his parents!

A lovely still day, a great day to head out and have some fun.

Mind you, it did start with a visit to Dr Nick who is our 'family' dentist. The visit was due to Joshua's teeth encounter with a fellow Mustang's head at rugby over the weekend which somewhat loosened his top front tooth. Dr Nick confirmed there was nothing to worry about but to let the tooth fairy know that she may need to be flying past relatively soon. Yes, says Josh - third tooth must surely mean $3 (yes, readers, maths is his strong point!).
Then into town to join up with some friends from up the road and play Indoor Bowling. Jaime joined us and was such a great help to Josh that in the end he won the game hands-down - thanks Jaime !
After that, lunch with Daddy in town - what a treat !

And then we met Fionn & Thomas from school (and Shoshanna) and went for a ride on the cable car to the Botanical Gardens where we spent 3 VERY energetic hours at the playground and then throughout the gardens playing hide & seek and tag. Lots of giggling, lots of laughter and .... lots of testosterone !!! Back down on the cable car and fortunately a rather quiet ride home with 3 very tired boys in the back of the car.

But oh no, Josh came alive again when we got home and so we took Huddy-bud down to the park (thank the stars the park is right next door!) and then he even found the energy to also play a game of Junior Monopoly with Daddy.
Please, sleep fairy - wherever you are - you need to seriously come to our house early tonight and whisk this child away on a cloud of zzzzzzz .....

School holidays .... and friends

Well I think we will all be rather sad when school holidays come to an end. We are having such a good time and every day is a new adventure! Today was all about meeting up with friends ... and of course exercise in yet another attempt to tire Josh out (Mummy remains forever hopeful but she failed again today as was proven at bedtime this evening !!).

We started off the day with a coffee date with 'Uncle' Barry - a good friend and ex neighbour who sadly suffers dementia/Alzheimer's and it has been very painful for us all to see his 'decline' in the past 2 years in particular. He was such a proud, social, informed and well-groomed gentleman - and now he is tragically a shadow of his former self. We continue to love him for who he was ... and is ... and although his mind is very foggy, his heart is still very clear.

And then onto a play date with Sol at an inner city park and then a lovely long walk with Mr Hudson through the town belt overlooking the city where he romped and rolled in the green grass - and oh, what a glorious day !!

Off then for a haircut before visiting 'sweet' Georgia and giving her a wee bunch of flowers for her 6th birthday (Georgie, you're catching up with Josh!). We missed seeing her yesterday on 'the' day but are going to make up for it at her party this weekend.

And then off for a bike-ride where we called into see Sophia and 'big-boy' Harrison (as Josh affectionately calls Sophia's older brother who is 10) for a quick play.

And then this evening, we had Mummy's lovely god-daughter, Jaime, staying the night. Sadly Jaime's mother is away and Jaime had quite extensive dental surgery today so Mummy stepped up to the mark and tonight is mothering both Josh and Jaime.

Mmm, what will tomorrow bring ...I wonder ????

Wow, what a weekend .... Ka Mate Ka Mate Ki Ora Ki Ora

We had a weekend of sport & exercise - so what is new I hear some of you ask?!?! Well, on Saturday the Mustangs played their usual game in the league and had another win .... the coach posted on the website a comment on all players and for Josh - "Joshua had an excellent all-round game in what is becoming his trademark style. he has become a bit of a machine and is always near the ball. He's tough too and doesn't mind when he gets a bang from bumping into other players or when he gets knocked over sometimes. He got 5 rips and 3 tries for an awesome contribution today".

And then on Sunday we had 2 games - the first one was against the Daddy's. So .... so .... funny !! But what was more amazing is that it was filmed by Small Blacks TV which is a rugby-based show that mixes entertainment, news and rugby stories - and so Joshua & Daddy will be on TV in a few weeks time (Mummy is going to try and get a copy of the film and post a small part of it on the blog so watch this space). Never before had Small Blacks TV done a spread on Ripper Rugby so they came, along with all their news crew, to film the game and interview both the Dads & the sons - where else in the world would this happen other than NZ who boasts such a proud rugby team and nation.

Who won you ask? Well ... hello! The Mustangs of course! And because Wellington currently holds the Ranfurly Shield (NZ's premier rugby trophy) our coach had managed to 'borrow' this for today and the TV Show Host proudly presented it to the Mustangs.

Sadly, in their second game against a local team, Josh only played the first half because of an injury - his 2 front teeth collided with another player's head - which resulted in many tears and blood. It helps with 2 of the mothers being doctors and so he was kept off the pitch for the second half.

And in the middle of all this rugby carnage, Mummy found this beautiful simple white daisy on the rugby pitch - oh bliss, at least a little bit of femininity amongst all this 'boysie' stuff.
In addition to rugby-rugby-rugby this weekend, we also managed another play date with Tomo, a game of Pirate Mini Golf, a ride around the lagoon and of course a swim with Hudson at the beach !!

Well it doesn't really get much better than this does it ....