Well then....

Well, it's been a while. There has been life changing occurrences from dropping lollipops on the floor to a ruptured landmass. In hindsight we should have been doing a lot more blogging, but to be fair our minds have been elsewhere and wobbling. What the media do't tell you about being in an earthquake is that you experience aftershocks all the time and there is always the doubt when it starts that it might get worse. We should have gone straight out of Chch for a break and I think staying didn't do our nerves and anxiety any good. Ups and downs.

Just before the quake W and I went camping.

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.