Big Day Out

New Zealand Police - Safer Communities Together

We went to the Big Day Out again this year. The kids stayed with our next-door-neighbours while Mum and Dad went and saw some great bands. Karen's cousin Delia was there with her husband Jonah and we hung out with them and the local constabulary for the day.

Renee's photos

You may have wondered about the gorgeous photos appearing at the side of the blog. Renee took these in early January while she was here. Thanks Renee, you're a legend!

Wenderholm 5 Jan

Gabriel ponders the sea
Phil and Lily decide not to swim
Ali meanders ahead

How much can a Koala Bear?


Well I was catching up and then the summer holidays just kept on coming. The evenings have been taken up with walking (with my friend next door) and trying to get the kids into bed (often not before 9 or 10pm!). Here are the long overdue photos from the Blackbourn family Christmas on the 5th Jan at Wenderholm, half way between Waipu and Auckland.

Happy New Year!

I'm starting to catch up now. We're onto the new year.

All three days that Chris and Renee were here with"baby Babriel" we went to the beach. Here are some of the pictures.

Holiday Photos

Cousin Emily starts Xmas as she means to go on.
Lily loves her twirly Lily-bug
Ali clearly is excited by this gift!
Aunty Sarah looks pretty cheerful as well.
The girls at Grandma's house

Two nights in a row we went Xmas light driving around Goulburn

No trip to Goulburn is complete without a visit to the largest testicles in the Southern Hemisphere
Lily and Grandma share a moment
Ali and Cousin Emily fight for world domination

Granddad is forced to smile for the camera
Aunty Sarah with her cool shades
Lily celebrates the culture of Australia by becoming a blue tongue.

Unfortunately my camera had trouble with capturing moving subjects on Christmas day. Hopefully Uncle Dave can help me out here?

Photos from Grandma's birthday, 15 December

I know it's taken a while, but the dust has finally settled. The suitcases have been unpacked, all the Christmases have come (not at once :-) and Lily was back at daycare this morning. So it's time to start the blog again. Here are the pictures from Grandma's birthday. Everyone had a great time catching up and Grandma was happy to have her family all together. Ali expertly decorated the cake and chose the tinkerbell candle.

Happy New Year!

Well Christmas came and Christmas went. The major difference being that it was in Australia this year which is only the second for Karen I think and about the 36th for me! We had a lovely time in Australia and a special thanks to our families for being so generous and accommodating. We know the circumstances were not the best but the girls thought it was pretty special and we consider ourselves so lucky in so many ways. We made it back home about 2.30am on New Years Eve and after some very quick chores, got a bit of kip before welcoming Karen's brother Chris and his Fiancee, Renee to spend some time with us. Our friends Clayton and Anneke from Ruakaka also joined us for New Years Eve with their children Hayley and Jayden who are a little older than Ali and Lily but managed to play with them and have some fun anyway. Unfortunately for us there has been no rain while we've been away and so our plants has suffered terribly with the worst affected area being the vege garden. We're down to half a tank of water with rain forecast tonight. Let's hope it comes! We will be spending a postponed Christmas with Noel and Rosie and Jane and her boys on Tuesday this coming week which we're really looking forward to. I am sure Ali and Lily will be excited by the visit too but we haven't told them yet. Some things are best left a secret!