Christmas in the Park

Every year there are a number of free concerts put on by the local council for the population of Christchurch in the beautiful Hagley Park. One of these is Christmas in the Park ..... a huge concert with lots of local talent and some famous faces (none of whom you'd know back in the UK - except for Santa of course who took some time out of his busy schedule to give us a song and a dance!) to help us all get in the mood for Christmas. I have to say even though we have been out here 3 years now it still seems very wrong singing Christmas songs when the sun is blasting down and there is a blue sky!! Still .......

As Alan said earlier it was a beautiful day so we headed down to the park early with a picnic in hand to join the odd thousand people or so.

I don't mean to rub it in but it was so hot that we had to top up our sun cream at 7.30pm!!!

Boys had a fabulous time. Had to leave early in order to get home for Finlay's night feed but saw the fireworks from the car on the way home and missed the torrents of people all trying to leave at the same time .... can't be a bad thing!

The Boys Take to the Hills

Saturday was glorious weather so I took the boys off for a few hours to give Mum a wee break. The plan was a long drive to the Gondola to get Ewan off to sleep as we were going to have a late night. Ewan had other plans. So when we got to the bottom of the gondola with him still grinning in the back seat it was all out, strap Finlay to my chest and straight up the hill. We've got a year's City to Sky pass which gets us unlimited rides on the gondola and trams so it's a cheap way to amuse the boys and they love it.

Now as I said it was fantastic weather and really hot. So in hindsight possibly not the best idea to take a 10 minute ride in what was effectively a moving greenhouse! You can see the sweat on Cameron's face in the photo and I was behind the camera with Finlay strapped to my front giving me an extra layer of insulation I didn't need. Glad to get off at the top!

After we'd been on the Time Tunnel (the boys just run there as soon as they get off the gondola) we had a wander outside to cool off. We could see the Kaikoura's in the distance across Pegasus Bay but they were too distant to come out in the photos. There were loads off yachts out in the harbour racing (just about visible in the pic).

Would have preferred to walk down the track rather than subject ourselves to the sauna gondola but needed to get back home for the evening's festivities...

Captain Cameron!!

Cameron made this fab pirates hat at school last week. He loves it and just to prove it has been wearing it all weekend!!

A walk in Hagley Park

Yesterday Finlay and I were in town for a hospital appointment so made the most of the lovely weather and had a walk in Hagley Park before meeting up with Daddy for a spot of lunch.

As summer fast approaches the park is really looking stunning and there are lots of people out and about enjoying the warmer weather.

The Peace Bell

The Cure Kids Great Adventure Race 2009

Although I now work for Ernst & Young the KPMG contingent have persuaded the E&Y lot to take part in The Cure Kids Great Adventure Race which will take place on 7th March 2009. Ultimately I want to take part in the actual race .... but not quite in the position this year!!! However once again I have put my fundraising hat on!!!! You can find more about the race at http://www.curekids.org.nz/.

Cure Kids is a charity which we have always backed because it is so fantastic but last year it was all brought home when we discovered Finlay would be born with a congenital heart defect and then later on was diagnosed with Diabetes. Living day-to-day with a sick child is incredibly humbling .... like the other kids that CureKids supports Finlay has had to put up with far more than either you or I can even begin to imagine in his short life and yet you can guarantee that he will always be quick with a laugh and a smile. CureKids have been an incredible support for us.

As well as supporting families Cure Kids have invested over $21 million in medical research. This research has helped save hundreds of young lives and has improved the quality of life for thousands of children. Today, they are more committed than ever to help find answers to the many cruel, life-threatening illnesses that devastate the lives of young children and their families.

Their successes include :
Asthma
Breakthroughs into the causes of childhood leukaemia
Childhood Diabetes
Childhood Heart Conditions
Internationally adopted treatment fr cystic fibrosis
Life-saving cot death preventative strategies
Liver Disease
Molecular Genetics
Paediatric Cancer
Placental cord Blood Banking
Respiratory Illnesses
Rheumatic Fever
Spina Bifida
Treatment for hole in the heart blue babies
World-first breakthroughs into genetic research

I've highlighted the research that is particularly pertinent to us.

Visit our blog at www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/EY and if you can help it would be much appreciated :o)

A day at the beach

Today was a beautiful day ..... windy but very hot, so we headed over to Purau Beach with a picnic. As you can see it was packed ......

No-one anywhere to be seen ... except maybe a few seagulls! Cameron had excellent fun in the water and looking for 'treasures' whilst Ewan was a little more reserved but did finally get his toes wet!! Even I joined in ........

The day was finished with a well-deserved ice-cream .... lovely .....

Even Finlay was happy watching us eat them :o)

A very busy Saturday ......

This morning we all went to the Special Children's Christmas Party, thanks to Heart Children Canterbury. This is a yearly party for children with special needs, mental or physical or those from difficult backgrounds and their families. Thanks to all the incredibly generous sponsors the kids have 3 hours of entertainment, food and fun plus a visit from a very generous Santa. They all got spoilt rotten. Between them they came away with 3 cuddly hippos, 2 balls, an animal activity set, a remote control digger, a remote control car (complete with music and lights), an educational laptop, a pirate activity set and a cuddly dinosaur.

Cameron and Ewan had a really fab time ..... Finlay however is already over all the Christmas parties .... and it's only November. Obviously takes alot to impress him!

Cameron's chosen career path maybe ............

While Ewan has grander ambitions .........!!

Later on this afternoon we went to a BBQ to farewell a friend who is off to Germany for 6 months. Good company, food and wine and the boys had a ball with the other kids there. A lovely end to a busy day. Boys got home tired but very happy.

Ewan inventing a new game ... where there's a ball there's usually a Ewan!!!!

Our inaugural pets' day

Well today was the biggest day in the Prebbleton School diary .... Pets' Day. Like me you could be forgiven in thinking that this is a day where the pupils bring along their pet for all to see along with a discussion. But no ...... don't get me wrong pets were present but in fact it was more like a mini agriculture show ... .call it an aspiring Ardingly!! The children had to enter a minimum of 3 entries from a list of 149 categories and that doesn't include the pets ... that would take it to 171!!! All the entries were displayed in the classroom and the pets (which included sheep, cows and horses!) were on the school field. A panel of judges then marked each category.

The children also had to enter the compulsory section which included a plasticine model, drawing, handwriting and a sand saucer (flowers arranged in sand ... on a saucer, just in case you were wondering!)

Cameron entered a construction model, a rose and a miniture garden and received highly commended for both the model and rose also getting third place for his drawing. Well done Cameron!!!

Inspired ....

Have been inspired by my mate Liz's fab blog which she uses to keep her friends and family back in the UK up-to-date. Will endeavour to keep this blog as up-to-date as I can, although can't promise to do it every day like Liz does ..........