Beached as bro!

We love our swimming hole but the water's edge was rather stony, 1 cubic meter of sand was all it needed to turn it into our own beautiful beach! The kids love it!

Mily milky, very milky!

Bernie has been doing an ace job, milking our cow (called Milky of course!) most days. She gets 4 to 5 litres a time and has been making cheeses, every type of cheese you can think of almost! This picture was taken after dinner one evening, it beats sitting in front of the TV! Although we dont think that when the cows decide to run throuh the veggie garden when we move them, thats the time we think about the lovely steak we'll be eating soon!

Alright me 'duck?!

Our neighbour kindly lent us an incubator and supplied over 30 Muscovy duck eggs, but sadly none hatched. We have now got a breeding pair off her and hope to have more success with them... the drake was getting very affectionate in the box on the way home so fingers crossed for ducklings soon...

Back to Blogging!

We moved to a 'lifestyle block' 7 months ago. Six acres, cows, chooks, veggies and trees, a tractor two ponds and as always our two kids and Bobby dog! There is even more to keep us busy, but we all love it!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

 Will continues to develop well and keep Bernie on her toes. He is so energetic and a real explorer - click here for a video of him on a Friday afternoon!

 He goes to playgroups and has friends like Wyn to visit... his gumboots (wellies) are his favourite footwear!

 When down the pub, he tends to go for a sophisticated fluffy

 My colleague (Tomek) and I went to the school ball which was good fun - I had to get my suit mended after my last break-dancing routine at a wedding...

Here's Bernie's boys playing in front of NZ's oldest building by the sea which is a short walk from our house... good times!

Whangaroa Dreaming!

My first Euro final - the right team won!

We've just spent the (very) best part of a week on holiday - all of 45 minutes up the coast! Our next door neightbours own property at a little fishing harbour village called Whangaroa. In exchange for looking after their dog whilst they visit family in Queesntown, we got to stay for free in an awesome appartment - happy days all round!

Will is walking heaps and loves calling out to cars, boats and an increasing number of other things...

 Here we are on our way to the Marlin bar which was about to jusge a game fish competition with fish dwarfing Bobby being hooked up and weighed

 Will likes stopping to pick flowers!

 And incesantly hugged the neighbour's dog Ben - he isn't a fast dog any more, but got good exercise trying to allude Will!

 We had full use of the spa pool, which was situated in this cool room

And was nice for Will to practice his swimming!

Thats a window behind, not a picture - we watched the boats go by for quite some time!

Will keeping warm

He spent most time outdoors looking out from our balcony

Bernie cooking with an awesome view

Gotta look cool when you're heading to the bar! 

Our view each morning... not bad eh?!

Still a week of school holidays to go and we're preparing to take on two international students as home-stays, which will mae the house a little busier and give Will a little more interaction throughout the day... plus B and I might be able to sneak out for an evening stroll once in a while!

A weekend in Hamilton!

Apologies for the long absence of pictures and news. We're all well and have been settling in to life up North more with each passing week. Will and Bernie are getting into more Mum's and Bubs groups and Will is developing so fast now. He's walking freely now - still wobbly, but hilarious to watch! He also loves talking / shouting / singing which words cannot describe... literally!

We made the most of a long weekend to visit Paul, Shirley and Bradley in Hamilton - quite a long drive south, but well worth it! Click here for a video of Will and Neo the cat

 Will enjoyed his first fluffy! (Can you tell that B and I cut his hair - its a bit 'bowl-cut' in places!)

 And has an obsession with many things now, including balloons!

 Another obsession is cats and he finally got to touch them on a regular basis this weekend - he was so gentle and chuffed!

 Bradley and Will got on awesomely and Brad shared his gear so well - the boys got to know each other so well!

 We went to a kids play centre with heaps of fun activities...

 We fed the ducks on the river...

 And the boys became more closely united as the hours passed!

 We hit the beach on the way home

 Paul and Shirley were great hosts - we even had a night out thanks to Shirley's Mum Lesley and came back to Kerikeri with two avocado trees courtesy of Shirley's Sister Hazel and her green-fingered daughter Karmen! Here's to it happening again soon!