Lunar Eclipse

A few photos of last night's nature show. Wonderful education session for Caitlin who had great excitment yesterday talking about seeing the moon turn red. We do have more photos but they didn't look so good when uploaded.

Weather Contrasts

Wow, what amazing weather we've had here. It all started for us on the Gold Coast but a little later on the Sunshine Coast. Tuesday was beautiful blue sky with not much wind but a forecast of a major storm, one would say 'yeah right' but sure enough the meteorologists know what they are talking about. About 7pm the wind whipped up to that equivelent of a grade 2 cyclone, not much rain but a disturbed night with a certain little Caitlin being a bit freaked by the noises, so Gary headed off to her bed and Caitlin bunked down with me. (Better than three in one bed or continual disturbances!). Then the rain started ............. some parts of the Sunshine Coast recorded over 1000mm's in 24hrs! It's quite a contrast for us when we're enjoying the Sunshine Coast winter weather and yet we need to be excited about the rain filling the dams, yes we were happy to see the rain but now we've had some it's nice to see the sun again.

A little tid-bit of Ryan's thoughts on weather.
I went in to get him up a few weeks ago, he looked out the window with a confused look on his face and said "sun gone" with the question tone in his voice, now he's got used to not seeing the sun in the morning he just says "sun gone bed" but it was qute telling about how quickly he has got used to seeing the sun in the morning.

Gold Coast Weekend

We are now back from our wonderful but wet weekend away. It's really good for the Gold Coast to have the rain but it would have been nicer if it was the following weekend!

The highlights of our trip were having breakfast with our wonderful friends Joanna, Nigel and Tessa, and fun family time which included a bus/boat ride, ten pin bowling, dining out in the evening and walking around Surfers in the dark. I also got to drive past the house we used to live in and show it to Gary, Caitlin and Ryan. Isn't it funny how different things are to how you remember them. Although I guess things do change over time - it has been over 17 years. I think what was so different is it looked quite dark, but it was a grey old day and the trees were a lot bigger, it would be nice to see it on a blue sky day.

For those of you with preschoolers who haven't tried ten pin bowling, give it a go. We had so much fun and yes even Ryan played. They have ramps for the kids so they set the balls at the top and push them down the ramp to get the speed and when it was Caitlin or Ryan's turn gutter rails came up so they always hit some pins. By the end of it Caitlin even had "the stance", hand on hip, one knee bent watching until the pins got bowled, she didn't have the steering with her head movement, maybe next time! Caitlin and Ryan both enjoyed the good old high five after their bowls.

Another highlight for the kids was going on the amphibious bus/boat painted as a duck. They both were able to have a go driving the boat part of the ride. Ryan would have kept driving if he could have.

For Gary and I it was really nice catching up with Joanna, Nigel and Tessa. It's really nice to have friendships that can be picked up from the last time we caught up. Thanks guys for a really wonderful few hours

So after a lovely weekend away we are back home to pack more boxes for our big move on Monday week. We also get to catch up with Ang and Paul this coming Monday, looking forward to it!

The latest happenings ......

Well it's been a while since I last blogged so thought I should add a word or two. The last three weeks we've been busy searching the real estate websites and spending the Saturdays Gary wasn't working looking at houses. And yes we have found one! It's in a new subdivision in Caloundra (southern end of the Sunshine Coast), has four bedrooms and two living areas with a park just around the corner. We move on the 3rd of Sept so the boxes will be out again for our final move for a long time. Kathy and Trev, we've been thinking of you while we've been looking at houses, it is so much more family and lifestyle friendly here there is hardly any open homes on a Sunday, I think most agents reserve the day for themselves, I guess it works as the majority follow suit.

Well winter seems to have finished here, very quick and yes we were cold for a bit. Today's forcast was for 28 deg, not sure that it quite got there but the jeans are definitely back in the cupboard along with jumpers.

We have a busy few months ahead of us, along with packing and moving we get to catch up with lots of wonderful and special friends. Starting with a weekend on the Gold Coast so we can catch up with Joanna, Nigel and Tessa for breakfast (they have a whirlwind visit of just over 24hrs in the country), followed by Ang and Paul the following week, and then a few weeks later with Adrienne and Murray for a long weekend. Looking forward to lots of talk over coffees and hot chocolates.

The Morning Walk

Was so nice to get out again and go for my morning walk. Christchurch was a little drizzly and a tad cold so it just didn't happen. So when Ryan woke at 6.30 him and I were off, partly for Gary to get a sleep in as he'd worked an 11 hour day on Thursday but mostly just because I like to take the opportunity of going just pushing the buggy and not directing Caitlin on her bike. We have some awesome walkways right around the island and here are a few pics along the way. Looks nice and warm but I was still wearing a hat and scalf at that time of morning!



This part of the walk is behind the houses aross the road from our house and is often where we see the kangaroos.

A Week of Special Friends

Caitlin and I have just spent a week in Christchurch with some very special friends. When I was there I thought about the people we were catching up with and realised how extra special these friends are.

Firstly there was Amanda and Abby who we were staying with. Amanda has been a very wonderful friend of mine for about 17 years now, she's not only special to me but is also one of those friends who is also important to my parents and brother with so many shared times over the years. Abby is her 8 year old daughter who was the cute little flower girl at our wedding. Although Amanda and I have known each other for so long we haven't actually seen each other in 4 and a half years due to the distance between Auckland and Christchurch. Thank goodness for phones and email.

The four of us girls had a lot of fun and special times over the week the highlights for me were spending the afternoon at the snow, this was Caitlin's first snow experience and she loved it! Hanging out at the cafe and just spending time chatting.

This was the first time Abby and Caitlin had met, Caitlin adored having Abby around, poor Abby didn't get much of a break from Caitlin but they have a really lovely kind of sisterly friendship.

Thank you Amanda and Abby for such a wonderful and precious time we had with you both.

The cold was a bit of a novelty for Caitlin and I, it was quite fun dressing up in all those layers, scalves and mittens / gloves, trampling on crunchy grass, having windows frozen shut and seeing the dogs water in the morning with 2cm of ice on top. How warm the Sunshine Coast feels today in comparison despite having a much colder than average winter!

The next very special friend we caught up with was Nikki. I have known Nikki even longer with a total of probably ooooh 24 years! Nikki and I were best friends in the Taupo years and lived across the road from each other. Since leaving Taupo in 1986 we have caught up 5 times, 4 of those being in the last 10 years. Nikki, Caitlin and I spent our afternoon hanging out in a cafe, visiting Nikki's parents and husband, and finally chatting over pizza and a glass of wine after Caitlin had gone to bed, what a lovely time - thank you Nikki!

I share with both Amanda and Nikki a friendship that we can pick up where we left off and the times between catching up just doesn't matter, you guys are both awesome friends.

The third extra special friend we have only known for 2 years but another special bond. This is a little friend of Caitlin's called Grace. Grace and Caitlin went to kindy together in Auckland and right from Grace's first day a wonderful friendship developed. An added bonus of our Christchurch trip was that it was Gracies 4th birthday - how perfect and completely unplanned. Like it is with my friends and me, so it was with Caitlin and Grace and they picked up from where they left off last September. While I got to catch up with Grace's parents, Grandmother and meet her little brother.

Ahhh the beauty of friendships is a wonderful thing! And to end a few pics from our flight out of Christchurch.

A week with Rog and Jake

Well it's been longer than planned since I last blogged. We've just been plodding along doing the same stuff. Uncle Rog and Jake have been over for the last week which has been fantastic. Caitlin and Ryan adore Uncle Rog, poor Jake has to fight for his Daddy's attention. Jake and Caitlin have a very special bond and played and played and played ........ all week, unless Caitlin was at preschool. Ryan joins in half the time and then just amuses himself the rest of the time.

Jake will be turning 4 in a month so we had a little early birthday party complete with the choosen spaceship birthday cake - he had to pick a tricky one! I liked the rocket, it looked easier to make!

Caitlin and I are off to Christchurch next Wednesday to catch up with Amanda and Abby, we've also got a couple of other friends we'll be catching up with too, including Caitlin's best friend from her old kindy, Gracie, who also turns 4 when we get there. It will be a very special time for Caitlin and I to be travelling together and have some girly times, also just as special for Gary and Ryan to spend that time together at home. Boy are we going to be cold in Chch, the airport website suggested 4 layers of clothing for comfort!