Thanks Dianna

June 19, 2016

One of the craft projects Dianna brought for the kids was making the little pom pom creatures with jiggly eyes.  Now that she left, the kids are finding creative ways to use the jiggly eyes.  Thanks!

Auntie Dianna’s Visit

June 16,2016

Wow, Ellie and Cooper were so spoiled and enjoyed every minute of it!  Auntie Dianna did everything with the kids; crafts, climbing wall, MOTAT museum and shopping.  

Trains

While Cooper doesn’t play with his trains as much as he use too, he loves building the train track to go as far as possible.  This tracked started in the bed room and went almost down the whole hallway.

Suprise

June 5, 2016

Poor Cooper hasn’t had the best luck at the beach, first the jelly fish and now this!

Cooper didn’t want to get to wet this day and was staying out of the surf.  He decided that building sand castles was the plan and ask me if I would help him.  Our first castle was over come from the surf and quickly disappeared.  As we were digging up sand for the second one, I noticed something moving in the sand.  It was right next to Cooper’s hand.  He noticed it a second later and quickly moved away.  Then I used our shovel and moved some sand.  With the water washing away a little more sand we caught a glimpse of a crap.  That was all Cooper need to see, as he went running and screaming up the beach to the safety of Mummy.  He wouldn’t even come down when all the kids were looking at it.

Climbing Wall

May 21,2016

Cooper is finally getting the climbing bug!  He can climb a quarter to half way up and then loves to belay down the wall spinning around at the end.

Sunset walk on the beach

April 29,2016

A few weeks later we went back to Mt. Maunganui to visit our friends again.   We took a walk on the beach at sunset and I was able to take these pictures.

Beach Boy

April 16,2016

Cooper is finally enjoying the water at the beach.  He still won’t go for a swim buy he plays in the shore break and loves to build sand castles.

Climbing the Mount

April 16,2016

Two sets of our friends have move down to Mount Maunganui and we have been make regular visits down there.  It is about a 3.5-hour drive when there isn’t much traffic.  This morning we climbed up the mount to see the whole city below.  Cooper did well with his little legs and Ellie danced her way up! 

Back Again

Hello!  Wow, it has been a long time, actually way to long.  I am going to start this up again.  There will be a gap from where I left off to where we / I am now. I will put the date of the pictures in the post along with some description.  As we get closer to the actual date/time I will expend the stories that go along with the pictures.  Thanks for reading and for asking me to start again!

Where’s my pillow

Poor Cooper, this could not be confrontable.  I found him sleeping like this and I fist told Victoria to look at him, second I took a picture and third I finally moved him back into his bed.

Jelly Fish - Camping Part 3

This wasn’t the greatest end to a camping trip.  Before packing up, we all went to the beach for one last play in the water and sand castle building.  Cooper found a blue “bubble” and picked it up.  He brought it over to me to show me how it was sticking to his finger.  Then we noticed many, many more on the beach.  I told Cooper to put it down before I told him what it was.  They were blue jelly fish that could sting and told Cooper not to touch them.  Cooper, Ellie and their friend were very curious about them.  We made a swimming pool in the sand for the jellyfish so they could look at them without being to close.   We used shovels to bring the beached jelly fish to their pool.  Everything was going well until Cooper forgot to watch where he was walking and stepped on one (not anywhere by our jellyfish pool).  Poor Cooper, now he has another reason to not like the beach.  It took a while for him to calm down, good thing Victoria had packed some vinegar and the iPad.  Cooper stayed seated and relaxed while we packed up our camp site.

Waterfall – Camping part 2

With the weather not perfect for spending the day at the beach, we left camp with a short drive to a beautiful waterfall.  It took about 10 minutes walking along a stream to get to the waterfall.  This was Cooper and mummy’s first time seeing the waterfall.  Cooper spent his time racing sticks down the stream and throwing rocks. 

Camping

It was the perfect time of year to camp with some good friends.  You could lay in the tent and hear the waves crashing on the beach.  The kids seem to really enjoy camping and it take them no time to make the tent into their home.  Our tent was next to a small playground which was perfect to be able to watch Cooper while doing camping duties.  Plus, the beach and ocean were only over the sand dune.

Art Time

Who better to get art lessons from then Mummy!

Our First Hike

The kids were excited to go with some friends on a little bush walk.   We pack lots of snacks, water, sunscreen and first aid items.  They were all great, Cooper walked all the way out to the beach about 2K up and down hills with his trusty stick.  The girls all found special sticks to help them walk / hit things.  The beach was a great place to stop, cool our feet, and have a snack.  On the way back the girls led the whole time and Cooper and I were at the back.  He did ride on my shoulders most of the way back.

Showing Off at the Skate Park

Ellie, Cooper and I enjoying a morning out at the skate park.  We have found the best time to go to the skate park is in the morning before all the big kids come.  They all seem to respect the little kids but the park just gets crowded.  Cooper happily rides his balance bike trying to catch up to speedy Ellie.  Ellie is getting much braver, going much faster and also trying new obstacles.

Cat Challenge

Cooper and our cat Matilda have a strange relationship.  Most of the time they are scared of each other and sometimes they play together.  Cooper really wanted Matilda to play in her cat tunnel but she didn’t have any interest.  She was more interested in laying quietly in the sun.  Cooper wanted to try a cat treat and it being close to dinner time, I suggested her dinner instead.  Cooper set up the course, I closed the door so she couldn’t cheat and presto the Matilda Challenge had started.  It didn’t take her long to realize dinner was through the tunnel and Cooper was so excited, he was cheering as she came through and then laid down and watched her eat.  

Marble Track

Cooper absolutely loves this marble track that Aunt Cindy and family sent to us.  It took him a few days to figure out how all the pieces work together and now he is building his own tracks!  The second picture is taken by Cooper.

Melty Sand Man

It had been a few months since my parents left and Christmas past when the paper bag in my closet started to bother me.  It was taking up space and it was time to figure out what was in there.  Too my surprise, it was the funny Christmas project I had my parents bring out for me to give them.  With Christmas in the middle of the New Zealand summer, I thought this modelling sand snowman would be a fun project.  It was, the kids had a blast making many different types of snowman.  Cleaning up the sand mess, that’s another story.

Water Fun with Friends

It was hot day and Ellie had a friend over.  The kids choose to cool off by running, sipping, chasing, jumping over and squirting water on each other. Even Cooper was brave enough to get his head and hair wet.