Happy Birthday to Joshua

Yes it's hard to believe ... but 7 years ago a very special little boy was born - and that boy came into our lives and changed it forever and ever.

Although we are having Joshua's 'big' birthday party with all his friends on Sunday, today we also celebrated. After tennis, we picked up his best buddy Tomo and went to the movies and then Tomo came back here for the evening and a sleep-over (probably the best present Joshua could have received really!). Mummy & Daddy had given Joshua a WII sport so the boys had so much fun playing archery, soccer, table tennis, 10-pin bowling - and even flying a plane !

Joshua received many wonderful presents ... some special phone calls, emails and text messages. As we go deeper into this journey of parenthood it becomes more clear that bringing up a child is not something you should do alone - so thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to our family and friends out there who take such an interest in Joshua - some from very far away, some closer - I cannot tell you how much it means to know that you are all there, and that you care.

Scooby-Doo stands guard over the presents whilst Josh sleeps
The No. 7 - and this one is chocolate !

Opening presents, very excited !

One of the many many phone calls Joshua received - thank you everyone !

Joshua & Tomo at the 3D movie 'How to Train a Dragon'

Cupcakes for the Tennis squad

A special visit from a special friend - ENZO !

My grandma gave me a Wii game - Indiana Jones - go Grandma !

Josh got to choose his favourite meal tonight - chicken nuggets & chips - Mummy did also cook some roast vegetables but, surprise-surprise, neither of the boys wanted any !

Blowing out the 'magic' candles on the cake that kept magically re-igniting !

Simple fun .... sliding down the bank on some pieces of cardboard as the sun went down

Calling all Mustangs ...

The rugby season is about to start so Coach Kevin mustered up all the Mustangs to meet for their first training session. They had a lot of fun doing drills and then practising their very first ... scrum ! Joshua was VERY tentative to say the least and certainly declined from going in the front row! Mmm, I am not sure about rugby this year ... the transition from ripper to tackle is going to be a telling time for many of the little Mustangs as some will handle it and enjoy it - others won't. So we 'gallop' forward (maybe 'canter' might be a better word) with a little excitement and certainly some trepidation ... watch this space.

Josh, on far right, doing the drills which he loves and is very good at!
Daddy is one of the 4 coaches again this year

You want me to what ?!?!? Err, I don't think so !

Getting ready for a scrum - Josh keen to watch only at this stage

The Mustang's very first scrum - Josh just joined the group at the end !

Tennis Holiday Program

Scots College ran a 3-day tennis programme from 9am to 11.30am and we thought we would give it a try as Joshua had received a tennis racket at Christmas that had hardly been used. The first day was just 'okay' and Josh was unsure ... but we persevered and in the end he loved it. The American girl teaching the boys was fantastic - she made sure that the boys had lots of fun by introducing 'crazy' games but also ensuring that they all learnt the basics of how to hit a ball.

Mummy arrived a little earlier today to find that they were having a mini tournament and Joshua was the last person on his team to get 'knocked out'. Well done Josh !

Hippity Hoppity ... the Easter Bunny is here

Bunnies and chickens ... colourful eggs ... and the hunt for chocolate - what more could one ask for?

Our Easter Sunday started with Joshua racing into our bedroom at 7am to announce that the Easter Bunny had left him a wee bucket of Easter eggs. But what he was most excited about was a hand-written note from the Easter Bunny inviting him to go on a chocolate treasure hunt.

Well that Easter Bunny was VERY clever this year and sent both Daddy and Josh off together - but the rules were different this year - no running off, no competing with each other - this time they had to corroborate and work out the clues 'together' and they had to share the find!

The Easter hunt has 30 different clues and the hunt started at our house and had them running over a kilometre down through the park, the school and along the streets before heading back home for the grand finale. Some of the clues had them solving maths questions, spelling words, doing star jumps, playing hop-scotch, dancing and boogie-ing in the streets, doing hops on one foot and jumping with two feet. Some of the clues were easy, some were difficult, some were short and others were sung - they had to really listen hard and work together as a team and earn the chocolates this year.

I am sure the neighbours wondered what Daddy and Josh were doing running very fast around the neighbourhood doing all sorts of crazy things and both carrying a pink bucket each!

A great day ... thank you Easter Bunny, we have enough chocolate to last us for a very long time !

Daddy found some of the clues a 'tight squeeze'

Star jumps for the Easter Bunny

Searching under the tree for that chocolate treat!

Reach up very high Josh !

The grand finale - on the roof of the garage to find 2 giant eggs !




Josh designing and making his own Easter cards - note the concentration!


Happy Easter Grandma





This is way too much chocolate surely !?!

Goodbye to Daylight Savings and hello to Autumn

We always feel a little sad when daylight saving is over and we turn the clocks back one hour as we know that very soon we will be getting up in the dark and our evenings will also be shorter.

So we headed to the beach to capture the last of the summer sun, to barbeque our last sausage for the season and toast a marshemellow or two - and said a big hello to the start of Autumn.

The perfect toasted marshmellow on Joshua's "homemade" fork

Thank goodness the sausage is warm - tis a tad chilly !

Filling Daddy's Shoes ?

We have all heard about a son trying to fill Daddy's shoes - but his coat ?? It must simply have been a rainy day in Wellington !

Bliss ... School Holidays

Today was the first day of our Term 1 break of 16 glorious days !! And if the pace of today was anything to go by, we will all be shattered by the time we return to school.

The day started with a run and play on Petone beach - the tide was out so there was a huge stretch of damp sand and we ran from one end of the beach to the other. Huddy is very cute at times and almost tries to race Joshua - Hudson can out-run anyone but chooses instead to bounce along and darts forwards and backwards !

We then went to the golf driving range where Josh practised his 'swing' with a basket of 50 balls and then a game of Hippo Golf on the outdoor mini-golf circuit. Times are changing - normally Josh races off and just plays 'his' game ... today we played golf together and even had to keep score !

Then onto a fun game of soccer down at the park and then home to soak and melt in a enormous bubble bath !

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz off to bed

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