Jolly Hockey Sticks!

After completing our marketing and grocery duties yesterday we ferried Ali to her first ever hockey game. Karen and I both found ourselves cheering and laughing and enjoying watching Ali more than we initially thought we would. Lily didn't really know what all the fuss was about but she was quite content to eat chips and play with the other three year old miscreants. We thought that perhaps no one had explained the basic principles of Hockey to the Waipu "Tui's" when after the whistle blew to start the game, all the kids continued standing and chatting and ignoring the "Lions" racing with the ball toward their goal. When one girl from the Waipu team did decide to get into the spirit of things and have a hit of the ball, it was in the wrong direction, furthering the cause of the "Lions". Coach Rick had a word to the girls at half-time and they took to the field with a renewed vigour, facing the right way and everything. When Ali found herself in the opposition's goal mouth with the ball at her feet, everyone yelled at her to hit it in the goal, and so she did! From then on, Ali involved herself at every opportunity and was duely rewarded with a trophy for "Player Of The Day". Coach Rick then informed me that it is the duty of Player Of The Day's parents to provide the lollies next week.

Endless Summer

Last weekend we all took a drive to Port Marsden where a new industrial subdivision has yet to be opened to traffic. To us it looked like a perfect opportunity for Ali to brush up on her bike riding skills! We spent five minutes listening to Ali complain that she wouldn't be able to ride properly or stop if she needed to and then we spent a couple of hours trying to keep up with her, following on our own bikes! Lily amused herself first by zooming around on her trike and then riding on my handlebars which have foam padding in just the right places. Ali proclaimed it was the best day ever on her bike.

Behold the giant pumpkin

We had a crack at growing giant pumpkins with seeds from the school fair this summer. Unfortunately we are now in the grip of the worst local drought in 60 years and we haven't had any spare water for the pumpkins. They still grew pretty big all things considered. Ali and Lily were impressed when I ferreted the pumpkins out of the kikuyu grass that had swamped them months ago. The girls spent ages trying to lift and carry them, using them as seats and balancing platforms, jumping over them, and having races rolling them down the hill. We'll save some seeds and have another go next year.

Yesterday - al my troubles seemed so far away...

Noel and Rosie came for a visit yesterday, unfortunately they didn't take any tamarillos when they left :-)

Silage Jumping

Well, after I mentioned the gorgeous weather we've been having it grew all cloudy and windy today with occasional sprinkles of rain to tease the farmers currently suffering with the drought. We went for a walk down to the bales of silage (pickled hay) by the neighbours shed where the kids played hide-and-seek and jumped around with all the energy of kids cooped up inside all day :-)

Micellaneous

Lily looked so beautiful, backlit, using the fireplace as a desk for doing her 'writing' until I pointed the camera at her and got this gormless look :-)
Ali has been manufacturing large quantities of artworks this holidays
We had custard with tamarillos (tree tomatoes) for desert tonight. It's been a year since the girls last tried them, so I thought they might like them but I'm the only one who ate any. Lily has pronounced that they are "Yuckle!". It's lucky that they look so pretty hanging in the tree, but how on earth will I be able to eat a whole tree's worth on my own? Maybe the neighbours will take some?
Lily has perfected the milo moustache

We spent some time at the beach with Buddy on whatever day it was - school holidays make me lose track of the days. The weather has been just beautiful lately.
Thanks for the lovely bunnies and painted eggs Grandma. I can see we have a new tradition on our hands.

Ali's PJ Party

Ali's pajama party for her birthday was on Wednesday night. Her friends Asher and Karli came for the evening. We all made our own pizzas on an assembly line which the kids enjoyed. They watched movies and gobbled popcorn til late. I was surprised when they paused the movie to build a giant construction of blocks across the living room floor! No need to organise games.
Everyone had their fingernails painted and we did trendy hair styles in the morning. Phil left early in the morning to catch a flight to see his Mum in Goulburn so he missed out on the cool hair.
We all send our love Grandma xxooxx

MIA

What have we all been up to? The last few days we've been staying in Warkworth because Phil is working down that way. We did lots of walking to the park, feeding ducks, playing at the playground and bubble baths. On Saturday we popped in to the Farmers market at Matakana which was a bit of a culture shock. It was chock full of well dressed Aucklanders sipping double decaf soy lattes and queuing for very expensive olive oil to drizzle on their organic rocket and buffalo milk mozzarella salad. We are a bit more used to the one in Whangarei where everyone just goes to buy their veges and then goes home. It was just as well we arrived early, when we left there was a 5 km stationary line of cars waiting to get in and fight for a carpark! Next we got lost and then found the donkey park where there was a lovely market with actual veges and fruit for sale, another playground, and the donkeys. Yesterday we went to a school fair at Leigh where we gorged on icecream and candy floss between showers. Ali's lost a second tooth which reminds me I must have a word to the tooth fairy. It took so long to fall out that the one replacing it has already grown in to mostly fill the gap :-)

Today we are home unpacking, gardening and generally puttering around. We planted some swan plants for the Monarch butterflies to take inside. There are five little caterpillars about 5mm long on the plants. I'll take another picture in a week or two. I included this picture of Ali's drawing especially for you Aunty Sarah.Last week we painted eggs ("igs" is what we call them in NZ). About half of them have already been broken. I might feed the chooks a bit more concrete before next Easter to make them stronger.

Lily liked the flowers we nicked from Oma Ali's garden when she wasn't home. She says they smell like honey