It's been months since I last checked in. I'm not really going to try too much to fill in the blanks, suffice to say we had a great Christmas and a lovely summer which I am not at all pleased to see the back of given how much I detest winter.
We had a surprise visitor for Christmas, Auntie Dee from Australia and it was lovely to spend some time with her. We spent three weeks at Whitianga so there was much swimming, relaxing, beach-going, horse-riding, boating and eating.
The children have both had summer growth spurts, with lots of people starting to comment how tall Lachy is for his age when he has always been on the smaller side. And Isla. Wow, that girl just keeps getting longer and lankier.
We've really noticed they play together so well now for hours sometimes. They have some great fights too, but I love how they forget their troubles and are best buddies again. They have a lovely bond these two, that I hope will keep them close in years to come. I did have to laugh yesterday when, hands on hips Isla came out with "Mum, Lachy has no respect for my toys".
A few anecdotes/pieces of info on them both:
Lachy
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| Looks like such a big boy here. |
Over Christmas Lachy stashed some chocolate coins under his pillow for a "feast-night snack". Love the kids word mash-ups that have forever changed what we call certain things ("wetsuit-case", "panpies" - pancakes, germable).
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| First proper pony ride |
The little guys perception of time needs some work! He trapped himself in the bathroom for about thirty seconds and when I asked how long he'd been stuck he said in a droll voice "Three hours".
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| Helping drive Grandads new boat. |
He was charmed by our new years fireworks - especially the "sprinklers".
Lachy's swimming confidence has grown in leaps and bounds over the summer and he is thrilled he can now touch the bottom of the pool at swimming. He is very much looking forward to his third birthday in a few weeks time, we finally settled on a creature party after going through Robots, Whales, Dinosaurs and many more ideas.
Current obsessions: Octonauts (if i have to hear "Mum, I'm Kwaazi and you're Dashi" one more time...), Insects (not quite as much as Isla but pretty close). Chocolate. Sweets of any kind. Quoting funny movie lines. Volcanoes.
Isla
Always independent and seemingly older than her years, our girl seems in an even bigger hurry to grow up. While driving to school one morning:
"Mum, I can't wait to be a grown up. I don't want to go to school".
Cue rather long lecture from me on how she should appreciate school while she can, being a grown up means responsibilities etc etc.
Her response?
"But Mum, I do like school. I just want to be grown up so I can drink coffee."
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| Riding Tahi |
Still, getting older/growing up and therefore being able to do more things seems to have a strong hold - while riding Tahi, her first ride on a big horse she asked why we couldn't try a canter. I told her that I couldn't run fast enough. "Well, maybe next time we come you will be a bit older and then you can run faster".
We had our first ever 3-way conference (modern day parent/teacher interviews) recently and Isla is doing really well at school - particularly with her writing and publishing. In her opinion her greatest lessons are being able to miss two bars at a time on the monkey bars and teaching herself how to click her fingers.
Our girl is growing into such a caring and supportive big sister, helping and encouraging her brother through some experiences away from us which have been hard for him.
Current obsessions: Insects (still). Mice (wants some, but may settle for a rat for her birthday). Bacon. Capers. Olives - basically, salt. Perfecting the cartwheel.
Some more summer pics:
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| Beach carnival - no fear |
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| Boat trip to Mercury Island |
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| We had some lovely evenings and afternoons at Bethell's Beach this summer, which we haven't visited since our wedding day more than 7 years ago. |
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| Maxi at one of our favorite spots, the waterhole at Egan's Park | | | | |
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| More interested in playing with the squishy smelly squid bait than actually fishing. |
