Lily dressing up

Angel...butterfly...pink cow...firstly though, wearing a dress I bought for Eden (this is what happens to ALL clothing I buy Eden! They are practising for a few years time when the can share clothes...)

Lachie's Big Jumps

Lachie really thinks he's jumping as high as the house!

On nights...

Mike's been doing nights this week - bet you can't guess what I've been up to...taking photos of course!

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Here's the ones for the frame Mike and the kids gave me for my birthday (yes, took them all myself)...

Then, impromptu, the kids lined up for this one...

Here are some more cute ones too...

(you could almost write the captions!)

Big 3-0

30's not that bad! Still no serious wrinkles...

Enjoyed lunch at Te Awa wines, suitable for kids, beautiful food, gorgeous weather and a yummy white merlot went down well with lunch! (Lachie took the photo!) Followed by my choice (shopping of course...or as Lily says, "Mummy's work"!)

Also a "surprise" visitor from Queenstown (Lachie told me last week, then told me not to say anything!)

I had to make my own cake...the richest chocolate cake ever...a small portion was heaps (yes, even for me!) and the kids lay in bed awake for hours!

Lachie's Fish

Lachie caught a trout at the river over the back of our house.

All witnesses state that it WAS in fact of legal size...just!

Give it a kiss, then Grand-da gutted it and Daddy cooked it for Lachie's tea

When I asked him the next morning how big it was...usual story!!!

Thanks Grand-da!

Happy Children's Day!

Kids had fun on Children's Day...

Walk-a-thon

Last year Daddy and Lily went on the Kindy Walk-a-thon with Lachie, so this year was Mummy's turn. Which meant carrying Eden on my back (she loves the backpack) and taking the buggy for Lily in case she got tired or found the hills hard - no chance actually!

We decorated our sunhats then had morning tea before setting off

Lachie had so much energy and ran whenever he could!

Lily coped really well with the walk and won the prize for "Smallest Steps"

Lachie with his certificate

Finished off with a sausage sizzle (and big sleeps!)

Ella's Birthday

Ella is Lachie, Lily and Eden's only cousin - they have heaps of second-cousin-once-removed's, but for now Ella's the only "true" cousin - and it's so great that she's the same age as Lily!

Lachie and Lily were excited about Ella's birthday party.

Eden knew something was going on when I put her in a pretty dress.

This isn't what Lily wore to the party though, she changed her mind later (she's like that!)
Lachie made the most of Ella's waterslide...Lily thought it was a bit cold!
Exhausted kids that afternoon!

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Here's Lachie's "little" cut, and the black eye that followed our trip to Wellington.
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Lachie's Present...

"That's my plane, Lily."ONE of Lachie's presents from us was a flight to Wellington, just with Mum. Dad followed down in the car with Lily and Eden (hot but very good trip apparently, much slower than ours though!).

Lachie's first trip on an airplane was exciting, everything impressed him - especially the water in the cups with a lid! We arrived in a nice, hot Wellington (was it like that when we lived there?), caught the bus to town then the train to Lower Hutt. We couldn't walk past an escalator without going up and down - it's what "country" kids do in the big city!
We found a park (Lachie's first trip ever was to this park!) and he later told Daddy that was the best part of his trip (really?!). We went for a walk to look up the hill to Lachie's first house (did it have a blue roof or a yellow roof, Mum?)
We went out for dinner (great company, thanks!) and headed to our motel rather late, just to have Lachie slip on his bed and slit open the top of his nose. It swelled heaps, I didn't think it was too bad, but I didn't want to risk it, so I took him to the hospital where he was born (!) and convinced two lovely nurses to fix him up quickly rather than make us wait two hours! He hasn't been bothered by it since, and will have a good scar - like boys are supposed to! Big "X marks the spot" with the plasters now though!
(No doubt there'll be photos of that!)...

"Thanks, Mum " - "You're so lovely" - "I love you" - etc...
ALL day long!
(Makes it all worthwhile, I had an awful head cold!) We're all still catching up on sleep!