Rowing

After 8 weeks of hard training on Sunday mornings the staff and parent team of TGHS attended the corporate rowing event at Lake Hood in Ashburton.

It was glorious with a few ripples on the lake with a slight Northerly. The course was 750 meters and there was 8 teams, but only 4 boats. There were 2 heats and 2 finals. We started the first heat and had a very bad start meaning that we were chasing for the whole race and finished 3rd. In the second heat we started well and were leading until one of the rowers punctured the boat with her oar handle, so we finished 3rd again coming in with 7 rowers. This meant we were in the B final, where we came in 2nd.

The day was excellent with W charging up and down the lake side and E showing off standing up!

Maori Rock Art

Maori Rock Art from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

We'd been meaning to do the trip to see the rock art since we've been here. They were good and W loved it. He's the new expedition leader and has really taken to his role with enthusiasm and rigor.

Afterwards we went to the river with the camping stove and sausages. W led the expedition there with purposeful stone throwing and careful navigation of the river crossing. E managed the river crossing too, although she did let off some wind! It was a good day with fine weather and and peaceful escape.

Little Princess

Little Princess from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

E is now 7 months! And as we are hitting the first warm days of spring, we decided to put E in a dress! I'm off for 2 weeks now and he weather has just started to get nice a warm. Unfortunately this will also mean more hours working the garden. In the second week we are going up to Christchurch for a few days which will be fantastic to check out more things to do with the kids and also see the extent of the equake damage.

Today there is one main thing on the agenda - Potty training! W seems well prepared with 2 hats on and his pirate underpants.

Earthquake!

There was a long shudder at 4.40 this morning as Chrsitchurch was struck by a 7.2 earthquake. N and E were already awake, W slept through and there were lots of after shochs for the next hour and even a few this morning. We are all fine.
We got up to check the news SKY News NZ was showing the lights being turned on by Robbie Williams in Blackpool, but CNN gave it some coverage.
Thankfully there was no loss of life full story here

Brother and Sister

Parallel Lives from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

E is now 6 months old! She is beginning to get up on all fours and I'm sure that it isn't that long before she starts to crawl. I looked over some recent footage and noticed that it was similar to footage taken of W and a similar age.

E is now smiling lots, eating everything, and loves her big brother - he is so entertaining! We're hoping it wont be long before they can play with each other too!

Zoo!

Orana Wildlife Park from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

The start of August took us to the zoo in Christchurch. After spending most of his life so far making animal noises W was more interested in the puddles and throwing stones. The lions and tigers were impressive and I'm sure that they will be remembered for some time to come.

After almost 2 years here we also saw our first kiwi! If you watch on the video you can see two of them dancing together. Also look out for W declaring that the pig has a bowel motion. The weather was good, but we'll definitely go back in the summer.

Winkle Winkle

Winkle Winkle from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

The blog is now over a year old! Thanks for reading, we have kept it up to date where possible with our antics, but more importantly with the progress of W and E!

W is hard to catch on camera now as he always wants to see himself instantly on the camera. I suppose that he will never have to develop a film in his life? Who knows what technology will be like by the time that he starts school never mind the time he finishes.

W is a very protective big brother and puffs his chest out with pride when he talks about his baby sister. He often involves her in his games by giving her wands (felt tips) whilst he casts spells around the room. E thinks that he is wonderful! She is progressing with her backwards commando crawling and has a contagious smile.

B and G arrived safe and sound - all their hair seems to be here too! They have been full on entertainment for W to the extent that he doesn't want to go to bed. He loves his Aunt and Uncle that he has only cyber met through Skype before. We're all off to Tekapo next week for the snow.

Karitane

A break to Karitane was the order of the day for me birfdee!

The home place of Sir Truby King the founder of Plunket. About 1.45 South form here and 25 mins from Dunedin.

A surprisingly easy drive down with a sleepy girl and wide awake boy who sang 'off to Wiggle Bay' on the way down. We arrived at dusk and quickly got the ourselves settled with a toasty fire!

The next day we went into Dunedin to go to the Museum. We

drove down the high Street and were amazed to see lots of people and shops! Dunedin is a University town so there are plenty of unicyclists and jeans with holes, students make up 20% of the population. We found somewhere to park and took W to the Museum that has a discovery zone with lots of hands on science stuff. His reaction to the place at first was a bit of bewilderment and was cautious when pressing buttons and touching things, this soon turn into a little boy taking the lead, pointing where he wanted to go and seeing what was next.

There was a massive Eden Project style room with waterfalls and plants that was a massive home for butterflies, fish and turtles. Again W was in his element and ran in circles under the waterfall just stopping to point at turtles before running under the waterfall again. This came to a stop at we found it too hot and carried him out.

We found this special pearl in a giant clam!

The accommodation was unique. They had gone to the trouble of having a nautical theme and continued this throughout the house -with everything! There was a lifetimes collection there. We spent time on Sunday morning roaming around the beach and harbour in Karitane and then drinking tea on the deck back at the bach. It was a really beautiful spot. The drive home was good and then to top it off it had been pissing down in Timaru all weekend. Result.

Brown Eyes!

She's gone to the darkside. She started well with blue eyes but now they've changed to brown. There's only W and I left defending the blue realm.

All has been good with the wee one she smiles, laughs and goos! a very ticklish girl too. Such a delight as she has been brought into a busy, investigative and noisy world of W. We find his world 100 miles an hour but she seems manage easily. I wonder what she will become?

W has been busy. Picked him up from daycare today and he was dressed as a policeman. The teacher said that he had had it on after 5 minutes of being there.

W has been going through a stage of saying 'sore' for the whole of the day when he has a 'bang'. More recently he puts closure on the incident with 'poor me'.

May weather has been much better than last year. Some hard frosts but between 15-20 in the day. The fog came in this evening - couldn't see the bottom of the garden.

Had a trauma with the moped last Friday. Puncture! Had to get the neighbour round to loosen the bolt, then remove the exhaust and put the tyre back. Bit embarrassing as it was that cross dressing fella.

Not like changing a puncture on my pedal bike.

Scenic Reserve April 2010

Scenic April 2010 from Peter Potter on Vimeo.

8am this morning we were on the reserve for a walk. Here's a little snippet of our outings.

(Watch W walking carefully over the bridge after I remind him!)

A very good Friday

Friday's nearly over here and we've had a good one. After a ten week term it's nice to have some nice weather and go down to the bay. W enjoyed his first ice cream to himself, the ice cream van had small cones for small people, but he still managed to eat some of ours.

E has been a delight. She seems amazed by the beams that go across the ceiling and stretches to see them until it gets a bit much and has to flop.

W has moved to the over 2 side at day care and has been counting to 5 in Maori! How many people reading this can do that now?? Lego and crayons are the flavour of the week at home.

Off to get Fish and Chips inabit...... not cos we're religious just cos!

Have a Good Friday!

Busy Week

Well after W who was two weeks late we now have Eve, who true to her name was two weeks early. On the 23rd February weighing in at 8lb 4oz is the new and undisputed champion Eve May. N was out of the hospital the next day at lunch and has been bouncing about like she has had a mole removed and not like she has given birth. Truly amazing. W has taken on his big brother role seriously and been posting toys into her cot and quickly christened her Evie.
She has long fingers and is very lively stretching and fidgeting just as when she was inside Ns tummy. Her sleeping habits are better then W's just waking 3 or 4 times in the night.......for now.

We are the Mods!

We've invested in a moped to save us all clambering into the car at 7.50 to drop me off. It's excellent, I have been on it all weekend. I was worried on Saturday though that I had nearly used the quarter of a tank that it came with. It struck me that this may not be as economical as I thought until I filled it at the station and had a bill for $5.60! it'll probably cost about $6 to fill. It's a two stroke so I do have to add oil too, not too sure how it works to be honest.
W likes the horn and when asking him if he wants a bike he looks me straight in the eye and responds with a hasty yes.
W is chatting lots at the minutes getting his point across well and will tell you about his day when prompted. He was swimming with confidence with his armbands on Saturday too.
Time is still ticking for number 2. 3 weeks to go.......

January

Been a crap summer as far as weather has been concerned. There have been a few nice days but this has been accompanied with warm winds.
We went camping at Geraldine with our tent. W loved it as there was a park within 20 meters and also lots of people to introduce himself to. He didn't like the night too much though as he awoke a few times - probably wandering where he was. We also made it out to Kelsey's Bush just passed Waimate as there is an Animal park that you can walk around. N fed the animals with some feed - check out the pics. W was delighted with the day and now when we ask him what he wants to do tomorrow he quickly answers 'animals'.
Anyone who has stayed will be able to see from the picture that we have finally invested in some dining furniture. We are moving up in the world!
I completed a duathlon last week. I was very pleased to knock 20 minutes of last years time mainly due to bike riding where last year I was stunned with how fast everyone else was on the bike. W gave me a ' Go Daddy Go' when I went passed!
N is feeling junior moving around all the time - especially when it is windy.

Goose/Geese it is!

I explained to W today that he was going to have a baby brother or sister and asked him what we should call him if it was a boy, and after a little thought he announced "Goose" and if it is a girl? "Geese".
Problem sorted.

Baby names? why the fuss? and legislation? the law in the UK states that you have to name your baby within 42 days - then what? We may call the baby a symbol like Prince did, why can he do it and we can't? We may feel the urge to name the baby after a piece of fruit like Apple, Peaches, or even Brooklyn or Moon Unit. NZ law has over ruled the naming of "Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii" and ordered the parents to rename her/him. It's an oppressive society ladies and gentlemen - What next no Burkahs?

I found these guidlines on a website... Think about how the first and last names will sound together. Alliteration (Jaiden Jenkins or Emma Evans) can be silly, and rhyming names are generally best for storybook characters (Amelia Bedelia). Obviously my parents never read it.

I'm still wondering why most people call me http://tinyurl.com/ykqeprt

Thank You!

W enjoyed christmas this year and we made a movie of him opening some of his presents. Thanks again for all of the gifts he loves them all.

xmas 2009 from Peter Potter on Vimeo.