Finlay's first tooth ......

..... put in an appearance today :o) Very exciting!!

Hot, Hot, Hot .....

Today must have been well into the 30's again .... phew. Whilst Cameron was off at a friends birthday party Ewan helped out watering in the garden.

Cameron's Birthday Party

Although it was Cameron's birthday a couple of weeks ago because it's the school holidays we postponed his party until today. We met up with a few of Cameron's friends at the Discovery Zone at the museum for a dinosaur party. The Discovery Zone is the Museum’s natural history centre for children, and is bursting with weird and wonderful things to explore including fossils and the new tarantulas. They party was excellent, really well run by the museum with lots of games and activities followed by lunch in the cafe and of course birthday cake.

Opening the presents .....

Making masks ......

Playing with the toys .........

Finished mask.

Musical cushions ....

Watching the fun ....

Just how many children can you fit in a dinosaurs foot print .......... 6 it turns out!!

The really big dinosaur ....

Lunch.....

and of course cake!

After the party we stayed into town to check out the World Buskers Festival. This is a fantastic week or so when buskers from around the world decend on Christchurch from all around the world ... there are some really amazing acts and the majority of it is free. We jumped on a tram from the park and headed around the city. We headed home with three very tired but happy boys :o)

Today the boys went to the beach while Mum recharged the batteries at home. We went to North New Brighton there were free surf lessons, boogie boarding , sandcastles and beach volleyball. The boys got their faces painted:

A not-so-fierce tiger...

and a slightly jaundiced looking spiderman...
Tiger and Bear not too sure about the ocean...

After lunch at the park, we headed into town, jumped on a tram and went to the Arts Centre for a spot of chilling out on the lawn to some free music.

Didn't manage to get a picture of Ewan there but he was the best dancing tiger I've ever seen!

A long day, lots of sea air and all three boys straight to sleep tonight. Maybe even get a lie-in tomorrow!!....maybe

Cicadas and Elephants!

Yesterday we were in the park and Cameron came across this Cicada which had just come out of it's shell .... a bit further along we came across the elephant ... yes really!!!!

Update on Finlay

Today we had an appointment at the hospital for a check up with Finlay's Dr's. He is continuing to put on good weight - weighing in today at 7.13kg (15.7lbs). His Dr had the results from his Echo on Monday. She had been on the phone with his Cardiologists up in Auckland and they agreed with her putting his heart meds up. Apparently he has a diastolic dysfunction which means that he will now need to stay on the extra heart meds for at least 6 months. If things do not improve the Cardiologist wants to see him at their clinic. Apart from that we'll continue to manage his Diabetes as normal ... a few tweaks here or there on the pump etc

We go back to clinic in two weeks. Will keep you posted.

The Gondola

Today has been another beautiful day so Cameron, Finlay and I took a trip up the hill on the gondola. The views were just stunning .... doesn't it just make you wish you were here?!?

Gorgeous Boys

Cameron's fab dinosaur puzzle ....

Cameron got this fabulous puzzle for his birthday and finished it all by himself today ...... needless to say he was very proud of himself :o)

Lunch with the girlies .....

Had a lovely day out at Loburn with my mates Karen, Rachel and Claire and all the kids. We had a very yummy lunch and a really good catch up whilst the kids had a fab time running riot. A good day had by all. Thanks girls :o)

Finlay ... the latest

As you may have read we were at the hospital today for a review. He has certainly become much less 'rattly' and his breathing has improved since Friday. Even so his breathing is still a little laboured so our Dr has upped his heart meds again with a review on Friday at the Diabetes clinic. Today he also had a full echo ... it was interesting to see the pictures, we haven't had an echo since he had his heart op in September. Things looked ok but we will have the full report on Friday after it has been sent up to Starship for the cardiologists to look at. We will keep you posted. Fingers crossed that the drugs will do the job and stop him from going into heart failure again so soon. Now the pneumonia is clearing hopefully all will be back to relative normality .......

Happy Birthday Cameron!!!!

Though neither Alan or I can quite believe it, Cameron turned 6 today :o) The day started with opening his presents, a puzzle from Mum & Dad, a fab Dr Who game from Grandma & Grandpa, a game from Granny & Grandad and (Alan's favourite!) a Scotland Rugby Shirt (thanks Lisa & Graham)!!! We had also bought a new bike for Cameron at the weekend as he was starting to get a bit big for his old one!!!

Unfortunately we had to take Finlay into hospital for a check up after last week but we thought that we would combine that with a birthday lunch with Dad by the river. We then went onto the park whilst I fed Finlay then back to the hospital for an echo for Finlay. Then home for some games, a yummy tea and of course a birthday cake. Not quite the day we had planned as we ended up spending most of the day at the hospital but Cameron was fantastic throughout ... really patient and enjoyed playing his new Dr Who game (thanks Grandma!). What a star!!

Birthday boy!!!!

Chilling by the river with a hot choc!

Speedy boy .....!!

Our big boy .......

Everyone enjoyed the cake ... especially Ewan!!!!

Brotherly Love .....

Helping Dad on a Sunday afternoon .....

Need I say more .............

What a scorcher .............

Ok I'm sitting here at 11pm and it's 26 degrees .... seriously hot ... following a 40 degree day in town ...... phew .......

Finlay Update

Unfortunately Finlay seems to have taken a wee backwards turn and this morning started vomiting again. As he was also sounding more 'rattly' we phoned his Endo Dr who thought we should take him in to the Childrens Acute Assessment. He was put straight onto IV antibiotics which we will continue for 24 hours. Luckily we were allowed to come home tonight after his 10pm dose, so long as we go back tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll see an improvement by then and we'll just have another couple of IV doses and then onto more oral antibiotics, if not more x-rays to check that the pneumonia hasn't got worse. All in all though he is still the happiest wee boy I know :o) Will keep you updated.

Phew ........ 32 degrees

Definately a day for the beach today so Cameron, Finlay and I went over to our mates Jen & Si's for lunch and then down to the beach in New Brighton. As you can see it was packed ... school holidays and all that! It was a welcome relief from the heat and even I went in ..... initially cold but just beautiful once in. Cameron had a fabulous time playing with Tess the dog in the sea.

Finlay Update

Just had a phone call from the hospital with the official report from his chest x-ray he had on Sunday. Turns out he's got a small bout of pneumonia and we're on track with the antibiotics we've got. Apparently quite normal for children his age and not related to his other problems. Poor wee man .....

Good news is that the antibiotics are doing their job and that he is much happier and keeping his feeds down and sleeping through the night again .... phew ......

Messing about on the river

Yesterday was (suprise,suprise) another beautiful day so we headed back to the Ashley Gorge for a picnic with the boys. It's about an hours drive from us but a fantastic place for a day out. Great play park and open spaces and everyone goes in the river ... either swimming with canoes or dingy's ... it's fantastic. Cameron was very quick to get changed into his togs and wanted to head into the river so I rolled up my trousers and off we went. The river is mostly very shallow but there is the odd hole which people use for swimming and it's suprisingly warm. Ewan was feeling a little under the weather with an ear infection so stayed close to dad at the play park after throwing a few stones in the river. We topped the day off by driving home past the Waimakariri Gorge before heading back for some tea. It was a really nice way to finish off the holiday as Dad and Ewan went back to work/kindy today.

Local wildlife .....

The water was so amazingly clear ...... beautiful.

The Waimakariri Gorge ...... Venue for the next picnic maybe!