Monday 31 October 2011

How did that happen?

What happened? Where did that week go so fast??

The school holidays are over, back to reality today. Kids were a bit hard to wake up this morning, we have all enjoyed the slow rhythm of the past week, and the relaxed life.
Only seven (or really 6 1/2!) weeks to go until Christmas holidays though! :)

Sunday 30 October 2011

It's back!

During this year's summer holiday in Sweden my big SLR camera started to behave really strangely. All of a sudden it would give me an 'error' message, freeze - and wipe all the photos currently on the SD-card!
This of course wasn't good at all. I couldn't bring it anywhere since I never knew when it was going to wipe the photos I'd taken that day. Sometimes it'd be after each 10th photo, sometimes not until after a few hundred.

Then, I must admit, it took me quite a while after we got back until I actually got it in to the Canon HQ here to have it fixed. (I guess I got used to the convenience of just carrying around the light little snapshot camera...). Eventually I dropped it in for repair, waited for a quote, and finally agreed to have it sent to Malaysia to get the card reader slot replaced (which had been the issue).
That took it's sweet time as you might imagine, but finally this week - I got my baby back! Yay!



I'm really happy to have my big camera back, I didn't realize how much I've missed it! It's such a difference between just taking photos to document events, and taking photos.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Halloween Party 2011

Today we went back to the Yacht Club for their Halloween Party. It was such a success last year that I wanted to do it again this year, for the kids.

We reused a couple of costumes, Lucas was a werewolf and Linnea a wicked witch.



The party was a success, once again. The kids had an absolute blast and it was near to impossible to extract them at the end of the night because they had so much fun with all their friends.
They got to throw "angry birds" at milk cartons, they had a costume parade around the pool, they wrapped-a-mummy, had dance competitions and did a big treasure hunt - amongst other things. There was a yummy Halloween buffet, and after the party was officially over they played with their friends, at the beach, in the dark, in the pool... you name it! A very lovely afternoon!

Here's a slide show of this afternoon's events:

The result

In the newspaper yesterday we could see the result of the Zumba Charity Masterclass I took part in a couple of weeks ago! $4600 donated, something to be very proud of!

Happy Deepavali!

Last night we were all invited to some Indian friends house to celebrate Deepavali with them. It was our first Deepavali celebration (apart from in school) and we had such a fantastic night!



Deepavali/Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year according to the Lunar Calendar. It translates to 'Row of Lights', celebrates the victory of goodness over evil and light over darkness; and it ushers in the new year. There are many different names for the days of Diwali in different regions of India and in the different languages spoken in those regions.

Our friends had put on a fantastic feast, with an abundance of Indian food, all cooked fresh at the party, fresh fruit, drinks and traditional sweets. Their house was decorated in colourful lights and they had organized a fantastic firework display to the delight of all the children, and adults!
The hosts and quite a few of their guests were dressed in amazingly beautiful traditional dress, fab!

We spent quite a while watching the chefs, as they had a traditional tandoor oven where they cooked all the prawns, tandoori chicken and naan bread.





The chef was really fast when he placed the naan bread on the walls inside the oven, fascinating to watch! Lucas had a long look:



Grandma learning more about the tandoor oven:



Linnea and her friend Khushi:

Friday 28 October 2011

Babysitting... or something

That our neighbour Oliver loves the kids it's no secret. ADORES might even be a better word! But even little brother Luca is feeling the big "sibling" love and seems pretty content hanging out with Lucas and Linnea.
Here they are playing Wii:



Love these!

Here's two more photos from our World Cup WIN last Sunday, I just love these!



The Rainbow Party (Misuzu's version)

Since I didn't have my good camera for Linnea's party, Misuzu took quite a few photos for me. Here's a slide show with her view of the party! Fab photos, thank you Misuzu!

Zumba Mami

Since it's school holidays Linnea came along to my Zumba class this morning, all dressed up in her new Zumba gear! She looked very cool and she took to the stage right away, as a natural:





Linnea and Mummy:





She did very well for about two tracks, then she already had enough and went to play with the iPad I had brought as a backup. She was also happy just watching everybody for a very long time, and it was nice to have her there to see what I do.
The other day she asked me a very big question for a 6 year old:
-"Mummy, why is Zumba so... (then she had to think, this was in Swedish, to get the right word).. i-m-p-o-r-t-a-n-t to you?

I would have expected her to ask why I like it, or why I do it but they way she actually worded her question baffled me a bit. My big girl.

And the answer to the question? Because it makes me happy.

Like night and day

Our neighbours had one of their little nephews from NZ visiting them last week, but as he was 8 years old, he was a bit big to play with little Oliver all the time. He came over here a bit, and Lucas was over there to play too.
One afternoon they asked if they could take Lucas with them to the Yacht Club for Corin to have someone to play with, and sure!
Afterwards they told us that it had been a very entertaining trip.

Lucas and Corin are two very different kids. Where as our son is all out there, Corin is a bit more reserved.
Upon arrival at the Yacht Club Lucas had jumped right into the pool with a big:
-"Canonbaaaaaaaaaaall!"
Seeing this Corin stood at the side of the pool very concerned and signed to Lucas to get out, whispering:
-"Lucas!! We are not being supervised!"

Ha ha, Lucas had no idea what he meant of course! :)

Thursday 27 October 2011

Life is good

We are enjoying the school holidays. Just relaxing, not doing much at all, although every day we have tried to do at least some thing to get us out of the house for a bit.
Today we did the Yacht Club, for some r&r.





A new lilo, a practically empty pool, sunshine and smoothies - life is good.

Sunday 23 October 2011

We are the champions!!!

YEESSSSSS!!! They did it - the All Blacks won the 2011 Rugby World Cup!!!
It was just, but it was a win - phew..!



I could bore you with lots of statistics, but I wont - I'll just show you some photos from our World Cup Final Fiesta at the Roses tonight instead.
Ready to go into battle:



Misuzu had dug out all the right attributes, NZ flags everywhere - we even had rugby ball-shaped and silver fern-shaped ice cubes!





The Haka:









It really was a nail-bitingly exciting game! Especially the last 20 minutes of the second half, very, very tense... Luckily we stood as winners when it was all over, even if it was just with 8-7.
Here's a relieved toast:



Then we watched them receieve the cup, of course! Big moment!




Way to go All Blacks - we are very proud to be Kiwis (or affiliated Kiwis..!)!

Somewhere over the Rainbow

Here's a slideshow from Linnea's Rainbow Party yesterday. I had very daringly opted out of hiring a bouncy water slide this year, and had planned to entertain the little ones with some rainbow craft instead. It worked out really well! They all seemed to love making their own bracelets, beads and door signs.

Also they got sent off on a treasure hunt to find the gold at the end of the rainbow, which was a success! One happy little girl managed to find the treasure chest, and also her beautiful birthday cake!

Friday 21 October 2011

Special Birthday treat

I told Linnea many, many months ago while painting her nails myself, that on her birthday I would take her to the salon to get a proper manicure. Of course, with a memory like an elephant, she has held me to that so this afternoon after having picked her up from school, we went to NailArtz for some girls time!

She was fully concentrated on what was going on and had lots of opinions on the colours and patterns, she knew exactly how she wanted hers.



Linnea and Grandma:



Drying, an important step:



Next, the toes. Linnea squealed with delight when she saw the big chairs!



Mummy and Linnea:



All three girls, getting nicely pampered!

Twenty First of October Two Thousand and Eleven

Photos from a very traditional birthday morning in the Watson house:
Birthday Girl being woken up by beautiful (well...) singing of 'Happy Birthday', Birthday Girl getting drowned by presents, Birthday Girl opening presents.
Today they were all opened nicely one by one, very calmly and the Birthday Girl was being very grateful and happy (even though she doesn't look like it, she was very happy with all her presents!) and excited.









In the parcels this morning came a doll she can bring in the bath, a bath tub for said doll, Zumba clothing (!), a big Lego tub, a hula hoop, a Lalaloopsy doll, a sticker book, Pippi Longstocking Hama-beads, jewelery, silly bandz, Hello Kitty parts for her little HK "village", new swimmers, a Fairy Barbie and many more things. Such a spoiled little Birthday Girl! :)

A photo taken this afternoon after school, with all the presents:



And tomorrow we have the party, so more to come!

Another Friday

Six years ago was also a Friday.

I had an appointment at Redhill hospital to be induced, as my waters had broken that Tuesday and I couldn't go more than a certain amount of hours before they had to get it started. The appointment was at 8 am, but I had woken up at 5 am and couldn't sleep anymore. I thought I'd just as well have some breakfast since I knew I wouldn't be allowed to eat if I was going to have an epidural.

Just as I sat down on the sofa to have my toast, it all started. As I had been induced last time, I didn't really know what to expect - but man, I wasn't in any doubt, I was in labour!
So then it all went pretty fast, I woke Nathan up, got help to get my clothes on (standing on all fours, moaning loudly with each contraction) and the seat got reclined in the car; then we drove as fast as we dared in to the hospital and our early arrival was excused!

I did have my epidural, and since that slowed things down quite a bit we spent all day at the hospital, until our gorgeous little girl was finally born at 7.38 pm.



It already seems so long ago... that other Friday.
Happy Birthday our Big Girl - already 6 years old!

Thursday 20 October 2011

Minibeast Madness

This afternoon we were invited to school to enjoy a Junior School Production called "Minibeast Madness", where the kids from Kindy to Year 2 participated.
They have been practicing for weeks and weeks and even though I haven't got much info out of Linnea, I've understood it's been a really big thing for the children and staff involved in this.



Well, it was very excitingly held in the new Art Center, but unfortunately not in the 700+ seats main auditorium but in the much (much!) smaller orchestral rehearsal room... It was very crowded and some parents didn't even get a seat, but the venue was decorated fabulously! It was like being in the middle of a garden with greens, stones, plants and flowers everywhere!

The story went: "It is Midsummer’s night and the garden minibeasts are gathering for their annual fiesta, an occasion of great fun and feasting. The fly narrators see everything that is going on, but the minibeasts are unaware of the lurking presence of the Bug Squad, who, in their bumbling fashion, are intent on exterminating them."

So, we got to meet all kinds of minibeasts - snails, bugs, flies, bees, spiders, mantis and... a millipede, which Linnea was one part of:





We hardly recognized her at first, with that headband on and the heavy face painting! But I really liked her look! Shame she never wants to wear anything in her hair, the headband was cool!

The Bug Squad:



Some of the other children/insects:





As you can see it wasn't only the stage that looked fantastic, so did the children! The costumes were absolutely amazing!
We so enjoyed this performance, both us and Grandma. It was a fantastic show, all the kids did really well and I'm so happy I am able to take part in all these happenings at school.

(I didn't take that many photos as I only had my snapshot camera. I'm still waiting for my big camera to come back from repair... boo...)

Grandma!

As you might have understood - Grandma is here!



She's on her way back home to NZ for the first time since June. She's been a bit of a globetrotter lately, with holidays in Italy and Scotland and staying with Grandad in India for the past month.
But now we get to have her here with us for a few weeks! Lucky us!

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Looking the part

Misuzu and I got together and did a little bit of a Zumba order from the Australian Zumba shop the other week (it's very addictive..!); for when Matt was down in Perth, and could bring the parcel back for us.
New cool cargos for me, and a whole new Zumba outfit; cargos, top and sleeveless jacket, for Misuzu.
Now we look the part when we go to Zumba in the mornings, both of us!

The Simpang Zumba babes:



Funny how all of a sudden we look nearly the same height, no..?
Well, this is how we looked in full figure! :)