Easter Holidays - Week Two!!!

After all of our travels in week one of the school holidays, I was really looking forward to some time at home with the kids in week two! 

 Of course, Tony the achiever had to accomplish something tangible over the holidays so on Saturday and Sunday he (with the help of the children) re-barked our backyard and chicken coop... 

 it really does look so much nicer...

 and the girls seem to be happy with their new source of entertainment and protein! Well done Tony!

 And well done happy helper!

On Monday we said "have a great day at work" to Tony as we were still in pj's... but quickly changed because we had a buddy come over for a playdate. Hunter had been desperate to hang out with his friends so we were stoked that Will could spend a few hours with us to start the week. The kids all played nicely together at home... but it was such a beautiful day I just had to get us outside...

 We hit Lyall Bay with a bag of sand toys and jumpers... the kids didn't seem to notice how overcast and cold it had become... they happily carried on digging in the sand... 

 or chasing birds...

 in fact, we had a visit from two other friends who were doing errands on our side of town which meant all five kids were out there bare-footed and frozen fingered because the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped... what's a mum to do? 

 Well... the local fish n chips shop provided shelter, entertainment and sustenance til the other mothers returned!!! Good times were had by all!

On Tuesday we had a legitimate pyjama day - pretty much all day! In fact, I think I only changed out of mine because I had somewhere to go in the late afternoon, but let the kids stay in theirs as they weren't getting out of the car... NICE!!! We will definitely plan one of these next hols!

Wednesday was LEGO day sponsored by Toy World!!! 

 I took photos of the kids' latest creations and entered them in the LEGO national building competition... it's a pretty sweet system - the kids build something, I print out 2 photos of the creation, take them to Toy World, fill in an entry form and dundadaduh... the kids get a certificate, a LEGO prize and a chance to win a trip to LEGOland!!! Not bad at all!!!

 We actually did all of that competition entry on the same day that Toy World had an in-store event...

 This was such an incredible day... the kids got to play with piles of LEGO, then they had a tower building competition - again with spot prizes! Seriously... not bad at all! We were thankful that Trey and Matthias were able to join in the fun!

After washing the car, in her spare time, Helena decided to transfer one of the songs she wrote to the computer... so here she is on the computer! WOW - this is just the start!

 On Thursday we had another fun day with some school friends at a local park... but then we had some crafty fun at home with good friends Elizabeth and Elena-Jin. Hunter had been wanting to make playdoh so we gave it a go... but somehow I didn't get the recipe just right...

 and the kids didn't seem to mind the sticky texture as they really just wanted to squish it around anyway... good times!

Friday was "back-to-school blowout!" as we picked up our friend Taya and headed north to the Junglerama in Petone! FUN FUN FUN with friends from the Hutt Valley! It was a blast to hang out with friends that we haven't seen for a while! 

 But the fun didn't stop there! We visited a new friend's cafe... then headed to an old friend's house for high tea to support the Parenting Place, NZ. Phew - what a day! A blowout indeed!!!

Saturday was 'weekend per usual' with a Revolve bike ride - though it wasn't 'per usual' as it rained on an uphill/downhill ride. All in all, it was well worth it. Afterwards, I needed to do the supermarket shopping and Helena came with me and with her came "Daisy"... her pet butterfly. 

 Note to parents - a pet butterfly makes a really good distraction to a child while shopping through a large supermarket... and it makes lots of friends.

To finish off a great week - on Sunday it was "2G" (2nd Generation) day - so I spent the morning in Rocket Jr where Helena was serving as a praise leader and featured in a promo dvd. It was great to hang out with her and her friends!

All of that... and school started on Monday! YAHOO!!!