"See ya later Oma" - Ezra

Well, tonight was Oma's last night in Wellington. She seems to have enjoyed her stay and even shed her cardigan a couple of times! Ezra had great fun and we think it will take some time for him to realise that Oma is not just downstairs anymore - he constantly calls out to her :) We had a last storytime with her (reading Scattercat of course - Ezra's favourite book at the moment.)

Wellington highlights for Oma: Ward picnic at Willowbank, church in Wainuiomata, lots of visits by Grace and Uncle Martyn, a trip to Te Papa, throwing stones in the water with Ezra, Lindale farm, visiting Tante Ali in the Wairarapa, visiting old residents of Titahi Bay and Elsdon, a surprise birthday dinner and cake, plenty of parks and malls, lots of early morning walks (while we were all still fast asleep!), Wellington Zoo, dinner at Dennys. Then of course there were was a week with Tante Ans and family; and a week in Whangarei with Allie, Rob and the boys. We hope she enjoyed her stay and was able to relax.

The Pool (our lame version)

Happy New Year to all! The weather has not been too shabby (for NZ standards). Wellington even reached 25 deg C one day! Woohoo! ;) And we have even got the pool out a couple of times for Ezra and he loves it.

Our New Years Day was busy; the Eve was low-key. We visited Janet and Tony and their kids they are looking after: Te Shaun and Brayden. Ezra had a good time there, then it was off to the shops for some bargains, McD's for lunch and an extended session down at Willowbank to quench Ezra's thirst for stone throwing! He could've stayed there all day but after 35mins of non-stop stone action we had to leave - so I had to carry his writhing body back to the car while his screams attracted the attention of others at the park (including a police officer! Lucky I didn't get snapped for smacking!! haha) An ice-block out in the backyard snapped him out of it ;) While enjoying our treat we saw the young fella next door unloading heaps of plastic outdoor chairs from his van... and his mates turning up with their guitars and amps!! So we thought he'd be having a good loud night. He is a hard-worker and has only had a couple of parties since he moved in so we weren't too fussed. That evening the wind got pretty strong and it was overcast and cool so we think most of it was inside and we didn't really hear anything (only some voices as they were struggling up the driveway at 4am - haha). Anyway, Martyn, Vicki and Grace popped over after having dinner out, and then me and Nance watched a DVD.

Having this time off has been great but all good things eventually come to an end... Nance is back to work tonight - and I have one more week off until it I get back to the grind. But it has gone nice and slow. We spent time with the Pomares, had the cuzzies over for a swim and a BBQ, watched plenty of DVDs, laughed as Son demolished his birthday party cake, had a park date and lunch with Alec, Melissa and Kyle visiting from Brisbane, webcammed with the Haynes on Sarah's birthday, and had dinner with the Harveys. I even managed to switch out the case fan on our desktop PC so it no longer sounds like Ezra's Thomas the tank engine! I have a PS3 lined up for a week or so and am looking forward to testing the 1080p on the Samsung out!