July...

Anyone who knows the Blake side of our ever-extending family will know that July is already a busy month for birthdays, thankfully these little treasures are on the Gunn side of the family which is not as full but is coming in a close second! Wee Max, here with Joseph, was born on Sunday 13th and wee (or not so wee at 9 pound 7 and 10 days early!) is Tripp, born Monday 21st. Max belongs to Nick's brother (Jez, Carmel and 2 year old Alex, Chch) and Tripp belongs to Nick's sister Annabel, and James (Auckland). Nick and I now have a total of 8 nephews. Joseph adores Max and is always wanting to have cuddles and kisses with him. He understands though that we can't cuddle Max if he is in bed asleep. The pic of Joseph sleeping has 'baby Max' in it. The 'baby's' name was changed very quickly to Max after the birth of real Max!

Rhys loves his new cousin too but to him affection to beings smaller than himself means sticking fingers in mouths and eyes, hmm, not the best introduction to the outside world. Rhys is a very cuddly baby though and now comes up to us specifically for one and will do the 'ohhh' as he is squeezing.

I shouldn't be calling him a baby anymore. He will be one on the 4th and is confidently walking so is more toddler than baby. Dynamics in the house are changing as Joseph realises that Rhys is not going to sit back and be bossed around. He more than stands up for himself and is super determined.

Joseph 'driving' the car down the driveway...

...Storytime after the bath.

Rhys' new trick in the old highchair. It is going to be put away in the garage after Mr Determined worked out that there was no belt keeping him down! Don't know if you can tell from the pic that we use real nappies, that topic deserves a post of its own, coming soon, just as soon as I have pics to go with it...

Some fun in the garden on a rare northwest winter day...
you can see Rhys putting the container into another one - one of his favourite things to do with anything at the moment. He hasn't worked out that some things are bigger than others and just will not fit. He gets very frustrated but doesn't give up.

As I write the boys are having a sleepover with Jenma and Alsie (Nick's Mum and Dad). It's only Rhys' second one but he was fine as I strapped him into his carseat this morning, waving bye bye, or rather 'ga ga'. He usually waits til people are out of sight before he waves, so I guess I should feel priveliged that I got a proper one! I normally work Wednesdays and Fridays, or at least have my name down for those days. I haven't yet had a day where I said I could work and was not phoned. It's a bit nerve racking if a call hasn't come through and if I have to go to a new school. A bad day at home is always better than a good day at work though...

Of course it depends where the school is and some of the rougher ones are more rewarding than ones where you know the children are loved and cared for at home. I noticed last Wednesday when I was at a school in Cashmere that the lunches were so different to Nick's school (where I have had a lot of days work). The children had nice sandwiches and fruit, hardly any packet food in sight. I think we want to send our boys to a school in between, where there is diversity and where the school have happy teachers and leaders. I think they do exist!

I am going to sign off on a personal note. With all the new babies (there are also cousins with new babes in arms, not just the nephews) I was wishing to have my time again with Rhys as a new born. It's probably because he has his first birthday coming up that got me started. I was thinking that I missed out and his real baby stage was over too quickly and I was too sleep deprived to enjoy it. But that's not the case. I just had to look through some photos to realise that he hasn't grown up any faster or missed out on anything. Having a new baby in the house is a very special time, one that we treasured and are not thinking of repeating anytime soon!

...the poem: 'Mother oh mother come shake out your cloth...' it's so true and exactly what I needed to read last week when Nick went back to work and I was once again back to one pair of hands and two demanding, gorgeous boys.

West Coast Trip

After it having snowed here the day before we were due to leave, we wondered whether we would be able to get to the Coast. The alpine passes had had a battering and most of the roads were closed due to snow and ice. We checked the roads via the internet on Sunday morning and the Porter's Pass was open but chains were essential. We had purchased chains the day before so we packed up and got on our way. It was lucky we left so early. We had to put chains on only after driving for about an hour, right at the bottom of the pass. It was only going to get icier the further we went. After putting on the chains at the checkpoint it was very slow going. There were loads of other motorists though and the weather was fine and the boys were very good despite being stuck in their carseats for lengthy periods of time. It was worse for Rhys because he can't run about and stretch his legs like the more mobile of us. The instructions on the chains had said not to go more than 20km/h which we did, but we saw plenty of others with the exact same cheap ones doing much more than that. We both looked at a sign saying 60 km to Arthur's Pass and groaned at how long that would take at 15kmph. Anyway, we made it to Arthur's Pass with not too much grisling from the backseat and had a nice lunch and a break and Rhys managed to get a crawl/walk around the cafe.

It was a less dramatic drive to Hokitika but stunning all the same. I had never been to the W Coast so ohhed and ahhed a lot at the scenery - which was mainly just beautiful bush and mountains, most of the flat looking like it was almost swamp and very green with the river running through the middle of it all.
We had got on the open road at about 10.30am and didn't make it to the motel until about 3.30ish. A very long 230km.

We didn't do anything of interest in Hoki. A quick walk along the beach and through the sleepy town and then we decided to head to Franz Josef which was where we spent the next two nights.

We had a quick picnic at the glacier carpark (no picnic tables or rubbishbins so will remember that for next time).Rhys got well acquainted with the gravel and rocks before we set off with the boys in backpacks on what came to be a two hour meander through the bush and along the river to the foot of the glacier. We did what most others were doing and stepped over the ropes to get closer - the river was certainly not a raging torrent and as soon as we felt we could be slightly in danger of falling rocks we stopped. There were a few guided groups climbing up the ice and I had a jealous moment or 3 wishing we had a babysitter so we could do the same. I'm sure the time will come soon enough that the boys are old enough to do some of that anyway.

The next day we set off to Fox Glacier, only about 25 kms away but again it was a slow trip over icy roads, beautiful too though with bush on either side of the road and lakes and rivers round every other bend. We put Rhys in the buggy this time and Joseph in the backpack and set off on the 90 minute loop of the lake. The first 30 minutes were wonderful. It was freezing cold but the sun was shining and the birds were singing...Then Rhys decided he had had enough of the buggy, and the walk altogether. Needless to say we saw and heard no more wildlfe and may have even scared off some of the tourists. A young(ish) couple wandered past us arm in arm while Rhys was wailing and Nick tells them ' don't end up like us'. A rather humourous moment. It was a good workout anyway and all that was needed was a spot of lunch and some sleep by the young one.

This great pic is Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman mirrored in Lake Matheson, it was just stunning and although it was absolutely freezing, there was no wind and as you can see the sun was shining.

It has to be said though, that the wee man does not cope well with being away from home. He didn't sleep at all well and Nick and I must have looked like zombies the entire trip. Joseph was an absolute angel in all respects and really enjoyed being on 'oliday. I think the main thing with Rhys is that you can't just let them cry themselves to sleep when staying in motels so we had to rock him or have him up and playing to keep him happy. One of the nights he was awake and happy from 3am til 5. What a shocker. Anyway, he is happy to be home and in his own bed. I am very thankful he is on a bottle now, or feeding him on those restless nights may have been the end of me!

Just had to add this photo. Rhys is a darling, really!

Joseph found some candles in a bag of goodies I had ready for work the other day. Of course we indulged him and let him blow one out, several times. The singing was very cute but not as cute as his cousin's version of Twinkle Twinkle. We haven't yet got it on video but Alex will sit down next to Rhys and sing 'Crinkle crinkle little star'.

Time you stood on your own two feet...

Rhys pulled himself up on me the other day and then just let go and was standing by himself. He has got better at it of course, with time and now thinks he's rather clever - he claps and laughs (which causes him to go off balance and fall). The clapping is a new thing too, he's been a bit slow on that one and still gets it confused with waving. Anyway, this video shows the latest trick.

On another note...I did a day and half worth of relieving this week. It was great to get back into it and the boys had a fantastic day with their Grandparents ( Nick's Mum and Dad, who the boys call Jenma (Jenny) and Alsie (Alan), or as Joseph says 'Albie'. They do have a wonderful time up there and I know I don't have to worry about the care they are receiving. Very lucky we are and very grateful to have one set of parents in the same city with time for their grandchildren.

After discussion with Nick we decided that I wouldn't do any work at his school just because, so I have been to a few others to introduce myself and put my name on their relievers list. Anyway, it turns out I did go to Nick's school, we got phoned and asked and decided why not? It is close, I know the staff and they needed someone. So it was fine. I felt a bit strange at first but soon got into it and knew all the names by the end of the day - the best thing to know as a reliever is the names.

Holiday Pics

Rhys loves it too - chatted all the way out to the beach. The ice cream soon put a stop to the chit chatting.

This is a 1928 Dodge Victory. It's Nick's Father's Grandfathers. So I guess that makes it a Great Grandfather to Nick. Anyway, it now lives in our garage and has been out a few times. This was a trip we did last week to Sumner beach. Obviously so comfortable a ride that Jospeh was lulled off to sleep. He loves it. Another ride we did just the other day he refused to get out when we had arrived at the destination ' stay in old car'. Thankfully the weather has been mild still so it's nice to take it out. Don't know if I'm up for a trip in the middle of winter though. It's a very cool car and has almost all original parts.

This pic makes the kitten look huge, but I can assure you it was tiny. Nick offered to catsit for a colleague. She is 12 weeks old, toilet trained and very cute. The boys were both fascinated with her. We had her for 3 nights and Joseph was very good at saying goodbye too, we thought he may have been too attached but was happy to wave goodbye. Although she was very cute and loads of fun for the boys we weren't sold on the idea of having a pet just yet, also, seeing another friend's house and lawn in a state of destruction form their puppy put us off even more.

Just another day at home with two precious boys

This was taken a wee while ago. Joseph still uplifts the toy basket so that Rhys can play with ALL the toys.

Check out the shoes. One of Joseph's favourite wet day activities is to go into our wardrobe and get more often than not, my shoes or big boots and try them on. He is really good at walking in these ones. He went through a stage of insisting that our visitors take their shoes and socks off (with his help) and putting them on. Thankfully he hasn't asked anyone for their footwear lately.

Just a typical look from the wee one. Fingers in mouth with the teething - except now because he has a couple of top teeth chewing on fingers gives more pain than comfort, wonder when he'll figure that one out. The standing up is getting toward clambering around the furniture now. We have to be fast shutting doors to the outside and to cupboards now too - he races so fast across the floor heading straight for the leaves on the deck or the plates in the cupboard.

We got this tunnel from the toy library, it's a bit of a hit. Looks like Rhys is giving a cheeky wink on the way through but he's actually trying to shield his precious eyes from the flash of the camera, poor child.

This is Rhys ploughing through Joseph's train set up. Pity I don't have any audio of the crime, it went someting like this: ' NO RHYS!' Rhys not 'lowed that!' There is often a giant baby on the corner of the tracks, he has been known to pick up whole passenger carriages and eat them.

Orana Park Visit

Going on safari is a serious business

The hand and hat belong to Joseph - he got brave and fed the giraffes, they eventually saw his little branch sticking up and came over to devour it.

Yesterday we went Orana Park. If we go somewhere we normally go for the morning getting home in time for lunch and then putting boys to bed. Well, by the time we had watched the lions snoozing, the meerkats smooching, seen the tigers being fed and then fed the giraffes it was almost 1pm. So we stayed on to have some lunch snatched from hands by ducks and peacocks and watch the lions being fed (much more exciting than the snoozing) and didn't make it home until about 4pm, by which time there were two exhausted toddlers sleeping and one wee one raring to move because he'd been stuck in the buggy most of the day. We went with Alex's (Joseph's cousin) Grandma as his Mum has been away on a course. Was a super day, although I still don't know how I feel about animals in captivity. They seemed pretty happy. Boys being boys, the ride on the safari tractor/trailer was the most exciting.