Rainbows end

Today was the big day. A first for 4 of our family - rainbows end theme park! Soooo excited, we arrived for the 10am opening with our packed lunch and didn't leave until 5:30pm - making sure we got value for money, cause boy this was NOT a cheap trip! 

With the girls scrapping into the 120cm requirement for most of the rides (Kate was double measured by staff at 2 ride and just got through by standing nice and tall) and all the kids still young enough to ride all the rides in the "kids Kingdom" area, it was a good stage of family life to go - we were able to do everything, from the carousel and kiddy coaster, to the roller coaster and pirate ship. The kids all agreed that the log flume was their favourite, going twice and wanting more! 

Jaimee was dead keen to try the roller coaster for days before coming, but not so sure once she actually saw it in motion. I assured her that she would regret it if she didn't ride it just once as we wouldn't be coming back. Luckily she agreed.  

At the last minute we decided to let Kate come and line up and see if she would scrape through the height requirement. I whispered to her to stand very tall (but ever the rule keeper jaimee made sure she didn't tiptoe "cause that's cheating mum"!) She did scrape in and I was impressed that both girls came out smiling , although not interested in revisiting as their wee heads got knocked around a bit on the turns! 

They didn't think the gold rush was that exciting but rode the motion master twice, and luke was so funny on the pirate ship, raising his hands above his head and cackling in glee like the daredevil he is!

I was keen to go on the fear fall and couldn't believe it when jaimee said "Yep, me too"...and then Kate nodded and joined the line with us! No way was Marty doing heights, so the boys watched us fall Aftee being lifted 58 stories into the air, we got a lovely view over auckland for a few seconds before almost launching up out of the safety harness by the sheer speed we dropped! The girls didn't scream but the boys heard me...not sure if I was screaming about my parenting decision to let my kids do this or from my own fear! But it was fun, we all came off laughing and shaking and proud. 

The boys did the carts while we did the motion master! 

Even though the stratosfear looked amazing in theory I knew that there was no way I was doing the high adrenaline spinning rides with my motion sickness tendencies although I did do the powersurge (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=keBwLuBg4LQ) with Marty while the kids waved us on. That was freaky but in a super fun scream and laugh way - being spun at speed in all directions like a tumbleweed strung on a spinning rod. It's so fast you have no chance to get motion sickness! The sky, the ground, that's pretty much all I saw for that ride over and over again at speed.

The kids all loved the kids Kingdom, doing all the mini rides on offer at least once, and spending a good hour climbing through the padded obstacle fortress of fun! 

The kids each took home a wee rainbows end teddy bear and cup to celebrate the end of an amazing day, with  some very special memories made. Luke asked on the way home to go to  back to "rainbows zealand" again please! 

For icing on the cake we had dinner with one of my dearest and oldest friends Kylie, who was a bridesmaid at our wedding. It was like we had seen each other yesterday, the best kind of friendship- and the kids adored each other which was even better. We arrived home late and tired, but very content. 

Beach, burns and a dead rooster

Boxing Day was HOT. And it was time to explore our local area. Apparently there was a forest reserve just on our street, with a beach and bush walks to see. So we decided to done the sunscreen and a picnic lunch and go check it out. Sure enough, just two driveways up was the entrance to Woodhill forest, and at the end of the long dirt road we found a surfers beach with HOT black sandy dunes leading over to a beach. 

After burning our feet walking there (black sand is soo hot) the kids were in their togs before we even put the blanket out. Being a surf beach, we watched them like Hawks as they had loads of fun Lying in the waves then into the hot dry sand then back for more. Seriously, there is still sand in Kate's hair 3 days later!! Black sand is hot AND goes everywhere. 

And the negative part of this fun day  out? Besides the huge clean up of sandy bodies and clothes? We discovered as showers went on and clothes came off that we had sunscreened the kids before their put their togs on. Not after. Oops. Burnt circles in the backs of both girls backs and some upset children. Bad parents! Bad! 

At least we ended the day back on a high, with poppa, oma and aunty steph joining us on the farm for dinner and games. And to bury the rooster we found dead that morning. 

Oh yes, the rooster. Poor farmer Marty discovered the huge old rooster feet up and pecked to death by the mean guinea fowl gang that recently moved into the coup! Second day of farming and already a dead animal. Sheesh. Luckily the owners were very good (that's life on the farm) and poppa came and helped us bury it! Hopefully that's the most dramatic event that we have to deal with here! 

Christmas in Auckland!

I'm Finally the big day was here. Are we nuts? Getting up at 5am to drive the 6-7 hour trip to auckland?! On Christmas Eve?! Yep. Nuts. But nothing new for us then Eh. We were on the road before 6am and eating breakfast at McDonald's in taupo by 7:30am. Not bad. It was a good trip up the island, surprising the kids with a stop at Hamilton Zoo and with hardly any traffic at all. Kate was so excited to be at the zoo, declaring it the best surprise ever and racing around being the "queen of the animals", reading us facts as we went. "Mum, be very quiet here - the predator of the rhinos is humans". 

We also listened to the audio book "Matilda" on the way up, proving to be a great distraction on the road. Also popular was our new card pack of "would you rather" questions I had been savig for this trip. An example is  "Would you rather have a head that's half the size or twice the size of your body?" You must pick! 

We were delighted to arrive at our farm home for the next two weeks: just minutes from the beach and 40 minutes from west auckland, we had the best of both worlds. Fresh eggs from the chickens, listening to the baby chicks peep noisily, feeding the pig and counting the 9 sheep became part of our daily routine! 

The view from our deck 

The next morning was Christmas Day, and the kids were good to stay in bed till hair before 7am! They had fun ripping into the stockings before feeding the animals and heading out to poppa and Omas house for the day. 

It was straight to the presents, with a ridiculous amount to open, and some very very happy children. 

Poppa made a pretty good santa! 

And a very pleasant and relaxed day followed. A big pork roast lunch, playing with new presents (uncle josh was the cup stacker, aunty dani was the jewellery creator and aunty steph made some massive fans by spending most of her day building lego, drawing pictures and playing board games with her nieces!!) 

It was such a nice Christmas, I loved watching my siblings enjoy the kids cause they hardly ever see them, and to have two weeks stretching out ahead with poppa and oma was just bliss - no rushed visit this time:) Merry Christmas everyone!!! 

Buildup to Christmas Day

At the FL Bone work do at Craggy Range 

Well it's nearly the end of the year and I haven't even done a Christmas blog. What a slacker Eh! I'm just in full on holiday mode, and have really just become a giant ball of scorched almonds and wine, too lazy to do the blog! But the photos are creeping up on me and I know my diehard readers (yeah, that's my mum) are campaigning for a blog or two so here goes! 

Making a gingerbread house - I found the kit in the cupboard by chance, totally forgot I had brought it in the sales last year...the kids didn't seem to mind the year old lollies at all. I was not tempted. 

We have built up to Christmas quite slowly this year it seems, with achool ending on the 19th and the presents packed away for auckland it just didn't feel the same in the big build up. But we have been blasting the carols all month, attending countless prizegivings and kids presentations...and there has been lights lit on the tree nightly. And did I mention the scorched almonds? Yeah, that's the stuff. Mmmmm. My fav! 

Luke in his Rascals centre "show"! 

We made time to make our annual xmas gingerbread cookies and even transported the cookie tree up to auckland! The rocky road was a big hit too. 

As always in our big blended family, we have at least 4 Christmas family celebrations every year! It just goes on and on...I love it. This year we had "cousins" Christmas in Dannivirke, playing at the park and eating hot chip sandwiches.

Then we had "mums" Christmas dinner at our place, with both our moms (and nana!) over for a roast. Check out the hand drawn pillowcases mum made the kids each:

AND we had "gramps" Christmas too: a BBQ tea at our place. Whew, all that and it wasn't even Christmas EVEN yet! 

So yes, the buildup started as a trickle but quickly cascaded into the usual flurry of chaos and fun that signals Christmas, my favourite time of the year! 

Report time!

So proud of my girls, who not only are excelling at their school work (spelling levels at 10.5/11yr olds!) but also have both been recognised for their outstanding caring and kindness to others - which in my books trumps all! 

Here's a wee sample from jaimees report:

 And a wee sample from Kate's:

 Check out their writing samples, lovely that we can see these evolve over the years...

Good work girls! :) here is the whole school at prizegiving: 

And then, as icing on the cake, came prizegiving. Both girls were presented with principals awards that reflected their amazing academic achievement AND a kind, christian nature. These girls have really let the light shine through this year, and it is evident to all their teachers and peers. Thank you God for your work in their lives, and well done my precious girls. We are so proud! 

The girls with their awesome principal, Mr Anderson. 

Jaimees award: "for being a self motivated learner and a kind and thoughtful person who thinks about other people"

Kate's award: "for demonstrating strength in the special character attribute and essential skills".

Do the funny kiss with me!

Luke gave me a cuddle tonight and I said "aww thanks I love you. Kiss?" Luke leaned in for our favourite peck on the lips. Aww.

And then he said "hey mum, let's do the funny kiss!".

"What's the funny kiss?" I asked smiling.

"Like this":

I laughed. "Oh ok", thinking this was some baby thing he has seen his little cousin doing. I opened my mouth and pretended to kiss him.

"No mum, you go like this":

I'm confused. And then massive giggles from jaimee and Kate clue me in. Kate explains "we know how to do the funny kiss! Like you and daddy do!" Between giggles. 

Marty and I start crying with laughter as luke once again tries to french kiss me. Apparently they think this is what we do, one person has mouth so wide it envelopes the other persons entire face, while the other person makes a fishy mouth and deals with it. 

Here Luke is kissing Marty in the funny way: 

...have to admit, that does look pretty similar to the onlooker I guess! 

Hahahaha we are both sitting here crying with laughter! Straight to the blog sorry Luke...Bringing this up in a few years time I think....

Things I love right now

5 things To remember about right now...

1. I love that luke has just started to join in with our prayers every morning in the car. I love that he prays "to be brave like ninja turtles" and always for God to "help me be good at rascals".  Luke, may you always turn to God for help.

2. I love that jaimee is so compassionate towards those who need extra care. She prays for the special needs girl and boy in her class daily, explaining to me: "mum, it's just not fair that the kids give her hard math problems that she can't do and then laugh, it's not her fault and that's mean". Jaimee, may you always be THAT classmate. 

3. I love that Kate calls Luke her "best buddy" all the time with a hug and a squeeze; playing with him and helping him for hours with great joy. Kate, may Your siblings always be your best buddies. 

4. I love that we have "pudding nights" on the weekends only, and that this is a huge treat, even if it's just an Icecream cone.  I love our weekly family game or movie night too. It's a great way to kick off our weekend in a good frame of mind. 

5. I love that we waited for daddy to come home to do this job to carols 'cause it's a family tradition and daddy is the only one who can put the angel on top: 

Santa over the years

Thanks to rascals and Harvey Norman, we get to visit with the best Santa every year :) I love watching the kids grow through the years (here it's Kate because she's the only one game enough to sit with Santa every single year even as a little one!). Now that they all Iove photos with Santa we will do this yearly until they protest! 

2009: jaimee is scared to get close at daycare

2010: a harvey Norman classic now the girls love Santa 

2011: Kate at rascals (and 2012 too!) jaimee is at school and lukes too little.

2013: we all get in on the action too at Dannivirke Fantasy Cave! 

...and this year we went back to our favourite Santa at Harvey Norman :) 

I would like to do this yearly will all the kids until they protest against it - who knows, we may see 18 year old Luke one day beside Santa! 

They know all about Santa and how real he is, but we all have fun playing at Christmas, after all - who doesn't want a stocking of treats appearing (I still have one at 32!) hehehe 

Hoedown at VBC

It was all about Promenading, Doe-C-Doe's and swinging your partner at the VBC barn dance.  We had so much fun laughing at ourselves as we struggled to remember which was our left hand turn in time to keep up with the very texan caller.  What a great night!  We have decided this should be an annual thing, it was so great to see the older folk dancing with the young children, teenagers dancing with parents and everybody having a great time.  I reckon Marty would make a GREAT barn dance caller...