Lots of catching up!

A few pics that didn't make it onto our last blog from our trip to the zoo. Noah was particularly fascinated by the bears eating pineapples




Noah the future England footballer modelling his Christmas present from James & Ann-Marie




I'm big enough to carry my own bag now

We were rather remiss in not doing a blog last week. We had such a busy weekend last weekend and were out most of the weekend. We also realised that we took no photos at all so thought we'd wait until this weekend for a bit more news and pictures.
Last weekend was a series of catchups, firstly morning tea at my friend Tanya's house. Noah enjoyed playing with Hannah who's about his age, it was very sweet seeing them enjoying a tea party together in Hannah's play tent. It was also the first time I had seen Noah playing 'baby' with Hannah's dolls - I think he has done at daycare but it was very sweet to see him want to undress and dress a baby and put it to bed.

Then it was off to Lucy & Aaron's to see the new edition to the family, William, who arrived on New Year's Day. Aaron's is Mark's new work colleague and Mark also used to work with Lucy. Later in the afternoon Mark took Noah for a swim whilst I did a spot of tidying around the house. I had a nasty bout of strep throat during the week and had to make an urgent trip to after hours to get some antibiotics. I spent a day in bed on the Wednesday which was much needed and thankfully the antibiotics started to work within 24 hours.



The new wheels!
Mark started his new job on Monday and by all accounts it was a good first week, fairly quiet but an easy introduction to what he'll be doing. We picked up our new car on Thursday and took it out for a nice long run over the Rimutaka Hill to visit our friends Sarah, Paul and Riley who is just a few months younger than Noah. One of the reasons for going was because the annual Wings over Wairarapa airshow was on. Sarah and Paul left Wellington and moved back to Masterton (their home town) back in August last year, and now own the most gorgeous old homestead complete with swimming pool and tennis court!



Wings over Wairarapa
We took a brief jaunt to see what we could see of the airshow from afar and found a good vantage point to see some pretty impressive aerobatics. Then it was home for a swim in the pool and a relaxing evening together.



Noah and Riley sharing a few laughs over an ice cream
Sunday morning we visited a playground in town that was fully built by volunteers, it was the most impressive adventure playground I have ever seen. Then we fed the ducks before enjoying a yummy brunch at a local cafe, and then headed home back over the hill. I drove both ways (more to stop the car sickness over the hill than anything!) and relished driving our new wheels!



Fun in the park with Riley
The other advantage to having a car and carpark in town is the ability to drive to work which we did all this week. Getting home at 5.10pm instead of 5.50pm has felt like an absolute luxury and has allowed us to all eat together as a family every night this week.

Today (Monday) was a public holiday in Wellington, starting with a run for us both (separately however!) and then a morning in the garden doing some tidying and trying to beat the rain that threatened ever darker throughout the morning, before turning into a torrential downpour at lunchtime, thankfully just as we were finishing up!



Helping Dad in the garden..although I'm not sure that's what the pliers are really for!
This afternoon we had antenatal friends over for a BBQ, and a lovely chance to see how much the kids have all grown up. We don't get together that often but when we do it is always nice to see much the children change and develop. We also finally managed to cook the famous 'terracotta chicken' that Mark, Steve and Hamish had discussed several times at previous get togethers over the past year or so!



The famous terracotta chicken, and Thomas, Piper, Grace & Noah enjoying an icecream together
And now for a short week....and only less than two weeks till Grandma & Grandad arrive. Noah in particular is getting excited at the prospect. He asks all the time 'will Grandma & Grandad come to the park with me? Will Grandma & Grandad come to the zoo with me? Will Grandma & Grandad come and see me at daycare? Will Grandma & Grandad watch me swim in the pool?' I think it is his way of trying to determine exactly how long they're here for, and because we're saying 'yes' to all these things, he knows they will be here for a nice long time!