25 April 2009

Quiet weeks, still good fun

A couple of quiet weeks for us, so you may have noticed the distinct absence of a blog last week.

The highlight of last week for me and Noah was the theatre performance of 'Seasons'on at Capital E for the school holidays. I had been walking past a big poster on my way to work and thought that it looked like great fun, and although I wondered if Noah might be a little young, we gave it a try. Well it was one of the best 45 minutes we've ever shared together. Noah was mesmerised by the show which was exactly the right combination of singing, talking, puppetry and props to keep kids highly entertained but also really informed about the 4 different seasons. Noah talked about it for days afterwards, in particular he was rather taken with one of the summer scenes where the actor was fishing off a wharf. First a loud seagull came along and stole his worms, and then he fished up a seahorse, then octopus, before finally a fish. But the thing that really tickled his fancy was when a shark came along making the appropriate 'da da, da da' noise from Jaws, which frightened the actor so much he fell in the water with a splash. So much so that we have had to retell this part of the show every night before bed, Noah jumps into bed saying 'let's talk about the shark!'

In the afternoon, we cleaned all the windows inside and out (always a very satisfying task although one we seem to have to do with reasonable regularity, perched as high as we are in a coastal city!). Then Mark tried out the new electric lawnmower bought that morning to mow our grass for the first time, quite the thrill! Then we took a quick trip to the garden centre to buy some winter seeds, peas, broccoli and leek(but we are still yet to plant as we subsequently realised we have no seed trays).

Sunday, Mark and I were like ships passing in the night. I went to church while the they took a walk to the ducks and park. I arrived home in time to put Noah down for a nap whilst Mark immediately dashed out to Dry Creek in the Hutt for a mountain bike ride. I then was out in the evening for a meal out with my antenatal friends, we don't get together very often but when we do it's always nice to hear what the other kids Noah's age are getting up to! We even managed to plan ahead and find a weekend in August that everyone can attend to have a combined third birthday party for the kids!

This week we put our old Phil and Teds stroller on Trade Me, as we have had a kind offer from a friend who works at Phil and Teds to help us get a new one at a very decent discount. After putting it on for $150 reserve (and would have been very happy to get this), we were pretty astonished and amazed when it sold for......$425! Along with a few other things that we managed to sell this weekn too, it means our new stroller will cost us nothing!

As today is Anzac Day in NZ and no shops were open till after 1pm, Mark managed to get the supermarket shopping done yesterday, which left this morning free for us to get out and about. We decided to take a drive up to the wind turbine and walk the 3km ridge to the radar station (aka 'the golf ball') as we were also interested to see how many of the new Makara wind turbines we could see. It was a very still morning (very un-Wellington like!), and it made for a lovely walk. Mark did well with the extra 15kg on his back across the 6km which is fairly hilly in both directions, and we were MORE than ready for coffees and fluffy when we got home.

We made some savoury muffins for lunch which was timed to perfection as we got a call from my cousins Gwyl and Beth, who came and joined us for lunch. Bethany is down in Wellington at uni now and living not too far away in the suburb of Mt Cook with her partner Aaron, whilst Gwyl is about to return to the UK to his girlfriend Laura, and to work and then study later this year. It was great to see them, it had been at least a year since we had seen Beth.

Tomorrow I've organised the daycare crew to go to the aquatic centre in Porirua. We've not been before, but am told it's a really good facility, and there's a waterslide which we've been telling Noah about, in the hope that'll encourage him to go on with Mark (preparation is the key to new experiences with him!)



Some of the fun from Seasons, lawn mowing and our walk to the Wind Turbine


Sunday update:

Today Mark came down with the daycare bug that has been going round and was suffering from stomach cramps and frequent trips to the toilet. Noah and I tried to keep out of his way for the whole day, and it turned out to be fortuitous that I had planned the daycare catch up at the pool. It is actually a very good facility, with a great sized toddler pool complete with waves from time to time, although the waves were a lot more gentle than the pool at New Plymouth. Noah really enjoyed the lazy river which had blue underwater lights, lots of bubbles and a spa like feature. It was really easy to spend an hour and a half in the pool with so much going on, and even better that as it was a very miserable day outside (the first weekend day in a long time that has been like it) it turned out to be a perfect way to spend the afternoon. Noah enjoyed hanging out with his daycare buddies, but we didn't manage to get on the hydroslide (as didn't think it would be very wise for me to take him in my current state), so it'll be a good excuse for a trip back there so Mark can take him on it.

Noah has also nearly fully transitioned to the 'Over Threes' side of daycare. He even had breakfast there on Friday, and has been there every day this week when we've been to pick him up. He is loving being back amongst his great pals again most of whom are 6-9 months older than him, so he has been more than ready for the move for a while. Although they usually wait till the children are nearer three to transition, it is great that they recognise that some children are ready earlier than others, and Noah seems very contented to be with all the older children, and they all take such good care of him it is lovely to see!

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