Hi everyone .... Two updates in a week …………… well it has rained most of the week so its nice to be able to catch up on things ...

A few people asked what the little bandits have been upto of late , so here is an update on the twosome …

Reece is coming to the end of his first football season with Bay Olympic - he's a had a great time so far and appears to like it. Got a bit of a competitive streak it would seem ......

with the end of football it will be back to the swimming lessons, more walks in the bush (we have hardly done any of that lately ) and possibly Kung Fu (mothers idea before you ask ….). All in all he is having a great time of things ....

Sian is developing her own individual nature at the moment …. Apart from being a little socialite going to more “princess” parties than I can count she seems to spend most her time either riding her bike or trying on clothes. The latest request is to take up roller skating ….Not so sure about the that just yet but once she sets her mind to something she generally sticks to it, so we will see ….

Forever the helper , she is currently moonlighting as a fruit picker as you can see in the movie clip…we got enough fruit off the tree to set up a stall (little note - watch til the end of clip and you will see what happens when little boys spend too much time looking at the camera and not enough time looking where they are going !)

Anyway … cheerio for now …early night to night as its up at 4am for the first Liverpool game of the season … come on you Reds

:) P

Hi everyone .... Been we while I know , so a couple of blogs in quick succession me thinks .... first up winter fun ...just got back from a little trip 4 1/2 hrs down the road to Ruapheu last week .....

Most people think of Queenstown and Wanaka when it comes to skiing in NZ - they are the best places to go but if you only have limited time and you want to do it relatively cheaply then the North Island at Turoa and Whakapapa (hope I spelt it right )...is great. Not many places you can ski next to a live volcano ( it only had its last major eruption in 1995 ...)

Just check the weather forecasts before you head down there .... I was lucky and got great weather .....

I was lucky enough to stay in a bit of an iconic hotel in NZ - the Chateau - its all a bit like stepping back in time to the 40's / 50"s - ballrooms , plush furniture and big lounges with roaring fires ..... the bit I like is that its only 10 mins from the slopes , so no 30- 45 min drives from the nearest towns ....

Anyway ..hopefully if I'm lucky I will be back down there in 2-3 weeks ...

ta ta for now

Phil