Sporty Spice

The boy at the back, with school socks on, is my son.  What you can't see in this picture is that it is soooooo cold that I only got out of the car for 30 seconds to take this picture.  It was 5.15pm on a Monday night and he was at practice.  This weekend he was Best Effort Of The Day in hockey and scored both goals.  He was all hot and sweat from running up and down the pitch, and was so excited that his team finally got a win. We are used to him always playing sports, but we know that for those of you that read this, that don't know Sebastien should know that he lives for sports, and he is really solidly built.  I haven't been able to tackle him down for over a year.  Je t'aime Sebas xxx

We miss Maike...

I don't know why it has taken me so long to post these pictures - maybe because things have been crazy-busy at work, and the kids have had all kinds of things on...  But I really miss Maike today so here are a few memories of her last few days here.  Stay beautiful Maike!

 This is Megane's birth tree.  We buried her placenta under this tree (before it was planted) - it is way bigger than Megane!

 Voila Seb's birth tree.  He has a Canadian Maple and he wants to tap it for syrup and is not impressed that it just won't work here.

 We played a game of frisbee at the park - if you look closely you will see Christoph and Lucy.  It was so much fun, and the weather was lovely...

 This is Sebastien's special spot.  If you sit on these seats they "talk" and tell you all about dyslexia and famous people with dyslexia.  It is opposite the Arts Centre.

That's my girl!  Maike is willing to risk her life for photographs... here, she is taking pictures of the remains of the Cathedral.  Seb of course had to copy her and so did Lucy - so at one point all 3 of them were perched up there...

There is nothing a kiwi can't do....

Go on, admit it.
Kiwis are cool, and they look great doing ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. 
Who would take on a ninja-kiwi-jedi?

Someone pretty dumb, that's who.

ANZAC Day 2012

 6am - Dawn Parade at Latimer Square, Christchurch

 (Sam, Jess...  this is the Victoria St Clock tower), and below - after the service the NZ Army Band played for half an hour.  They were amazing.  We stayed for a while but it was SO COLD that we thought we had better get back home.  During the service we were all snuggled up in blankets, coats, hats and gloves.  I really felt for the men that lived for months in the trenches.

Maike's Dad is here!!

We went pretty much straight from the airport to Sumner Beach... 

 Lucy dressed for the occasion, just like a good kiwi girl.  Costume (Dorothy of Oz), yes!  Gumboots, yes!  As soon as we arrived Sebastien and Lucy RAN to the sand and started making sandcastles.  Megane and Grace were not far behind, but they were trying to keep sand out of their school shoes...

 And tonight - ballet! 

So cute!  And have you ever seen such long legs?  I have leg-envy :)

Monday 23 April 2012

 2 years later and the girls are reunited :)  Megane, Brie and Gracie

 On Sunday night we had some friends over for dinner... and being the great cook that I am, I got the girls from Nepal to teach us how to make Aloo Gobi.  There is nothing like guests that cook!

 Calm down Sam, I did cook something... here they are eating Chocolate Horrible.  And I had made roast chicken. 

 At school today we had the Wearable Arts  and it was FANTASTIC.  This is a hat - and I didn't get a picture of the outfit.  Melanie was a tree covered in birds.  It was beautiful.  And then there was the swan - stunning!

FHE and we played A to Z for kids.  Maike was really good at it.  I wonder why...  she was throwing in Italian and German words!  Oh yes, glockenspeils are brown....  :)

Rock Climbing

We went to Clip'n'Climb today - Maike is a legend climber!!!  Megane discovered she is now scared of heights (she never was before), and Lucy - as usual - just scooted straight up each climb.  Sebastien is still the fastest.  He raced Maike (they have timed climbs) and... he rules the world.  No surprise there...  Maike and Sebastien also tried the Leap of Faith.  They are insane - you could not pay me to do this.  Check out the DISTANCE BETWEEN MAIKE AND THE TRAPEZE!!!  She somehow over-shot the mark, and went FURTHER than the trapeze, but Sebastien caught it.

 "Mum, I'm kinda stuck..."

 Maike getting ready to do the Leap of Faith.  She was totally confident and then... this  :)  I love this photo!

 Can you see the distance??????? 

 Brie Ellen wants to take credit for taking this photo... Good job Brie! 

 We also went to Brighton Beach to check out the pier.  We found the boomerang on the sand, and Sebastien refused to "throw it back to Australia" because he wanted to show it to his dad.  You can't see them, but at the end of the pier there are lot of chinese people fishing for crabs.  It was GROSS.

This is Sebastien catching the trapeze - bravo Seb!