Wooooo Hoooooo!!!!!

The Cousin took us out biscuiting while we were in Gisborne!
How much fun was that!
The Lad and L4 helping out on board Legacy:


The Lad having a turn:


The Niece going hard:


H7, The Cousin's Wife and Our Mate - all set to go:


That splash is The Cousin's Wife taking a tumble!

Happy Birthday!

It's a Birthday!
It's a Birthday!
And we're here to say -
Many Happy,
Many Happy,
Returns of The Day!

You are such a honey to be around and to have around, H7!!!!!!, hopefully Grandad will send us some photos of the cake we had at his house while we were away on our holiday.

Ducking and Diving.....

We had a visit from Gill and some more of her ducklings today:


Gill took me up the 'Stairway to Heaven' - an appropriately-named staircase going straight up the side of a hill (you can see them from the main Highway on the way to Te Puke) in the middle of Gail Blaymire's garden - and what a magical place that is to visit! I'm taking the kids next time I go, it's just down the road further from us and they stage candlelit plays there in any of the fabulous outdoor stadia, they have the Three Little Pigs' houses, they have a Fairy Circle and a Neverland wood. There are fantastic buildings and structures and boutique chickens and sculptures and 'garden art' pieces scattered throughout and it is a truly magical place (I'll take the camera next time, too!)

While I was galavanting round the enchanted garden, L4 was tearing round down in the forest on his scooter and on A10's trolley:

Merry Christmas!.....

I don't even think it was light yet when we were being awoken by excited little voices wondering if they could open their presents yet.....






We were fortunate enough to be able to share the day with our three NZ uncles and their wives and partners that could join us, as well as Nana and Poppa. Although we were a bit disappointed that *all* of our visitors left and *no-one* stayed the night, we did manage to all be fast asleep by 8pm!

The Christmas Card Photo.....

After not having sent a Christmas Card out last year and getting loads of comments about how people love them and it was a shame that I'd missed a year because people have the whole collection, etc. in True Debbie Style I took the Christmas Card photos on the morning of the 23rd!


I was determined to send them out this year, so I got them printed while I visited with The Aunty for her birthday, then I spent till early hours of the morning writing them out - very rude, considering The Cousins and Our Mate were staying the night! I had thought it may have been beneficial of me to have highlighted the "Happy New Year" part of the best wishes inside the card as I posted them on Christmas Eve night!

Christmas Family Fun.....

It was L4's turn to organise the Family Fun Night* tonight, so he chose the Christmas Tree this afternoon (it had a really nice shape and fullness this year and was 8 feet tall!) and after The Lad got home from work we decorated it and the house. Then he chose Sashimi for dinner (raw fish, rice with a raw egg stirred through it, seaweed strips, dried salmon sprinkles and soy sauce - try not to come to our house when it's a sashimi night - we're utter pigs scoffing it, it's one of the few dishes we all LOVE). While we were having dessert we each chose another's name out of a hat and thought about what we might buy that person to put under the tree. While we waited for it to get dark, we did some late night present shopping and then went on the Christmas Light Trail.


*Family Fun Night: Every fortnight we alternate between a Family Fun Night and a Date Night.
On a Family Fun Night, whoever's turn it is thinks up a plan for the evening, including the menu. The aim of Family Fun Night is to do fun 'stuff' - watch favourite dvd's, playing spotlight or bat down, picnic in the forest, board game challenge, etc. - as a family, usually at home and usually not costing anything (we make exceptions for Christmas and Birthday's and other special events).
A Date Night involves The Lad or I taking each of the kids (and eachother) out on a rotating roster so everyone gets a turn with both Mum and Dad. A date has a ballpark budget and the aim is to have some one-on-one time doing stuff that interests the person but it may be cost-prohibitive to do as a family - like blo-karting, rock-climbing, dinner out, etc.

Life's a Drama!.....

A10 was a down-and-out tiemaker in this years Dramatic! Education production for his class:

The amazing Devon Williamson, whose talents surpass anything I could write here - Drama Tutor Aficionado:

The Rocking Boat.....

Poppa made us one when we were kids and we had endless fun on it scaring all our friends who came over and didn't know the 'secrets' to holding on and staying on!

Poppa made the grandkids one, too, and after establishing (through trial and error) which of your uncle's you *don't* mind pushing you on it, a whole new generation of Rocking Boat Memories are being made:


You guys ROCK:

The Bike Ramp.....

You can run up it:

And you can ride up it:


You can practice on the 'baby' ramp:


Or you can just plain show-off with no ramp at all!:

The 'Actual' Birthday.....

We all traipsed to Hamilton for the *actual* birthday - we went out for dinner and had cake and sang Happy Birthday and had a thoroughly fabulous time.

Dad, you are a special man and I owe you more than you know, and we want you to know that we all love you xoxoxo

Hangin' Wit Da Cuzzies.....

While The Aussies were over, we tried to spend a bit of time with them.
V.E.R.C:


E.J.T.A.C:


A.P.A.C:




And my doll Sally, who is as old as me ;o):

Poppa's 60th.....

It started early in the afternoon with "The Kids Party".

Aunty Sheryl invented a new game - you had to bob for a lemon in a bucket of cold water, then you had to find a lolly without using your hands that was buried in a tray of flour, and then you had to go and kiss your respective Grandmother!:





And there was the pool fun:

And the cake for Afternoon Tea:

Then some Really Cool people started to arrive:



And as soon as it was dark enough, the fireworks were started:

Dressing Up?.....

Can you just imagine how the conversation went when Huia went back to her house after staying at ours for the night? "Yeah, we raided the washing pile and dressed H6 up in her Mum's underwear!" They didn't even get a matching set!

The New Toy.....

Finally, The Lad managed to find the right roofracks for our van so after he attached them, the kayak was lifted on and we all traipsed along for The Christening: