Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandma

We hope you have a wonderful day and look forward to seeing you in April !!


Lots of Love ..... Philip, Debra, Sian & Reece ....

run up to christmas

Hi everyone ...hopefully this little update finds you all well in the run up to the new year

It's a bit different from Europe where you have Summer hols separate from Christmas hols , here we get the both at once. People have really been hanging out for the summer break and the chance to recharge the batteries and spend time with family.Have to say I have really been looking forward to it this year …. Not got all our plans are firmed up but I can guess it will be day trips , barbecues and swimming locally at Long Bay and the Western beaches.

As you will see from the piccies Reece had his 7th Birthday ( 7 going on 17 as they say) ... with a few friends around the house plus a magician came along - did a good job of impressing all the kids ( have to admit I wasn't sure when 1 minute into things one of the kids said " i can do that , that's not magic) - he was really good. Not sure where Deb found him but she pulled one out of the hat :)

Christmas day itself was a nice quiet one ... opening the presents, Debs mum and Brother came round for dinner ... far too much to eat...you know the score .. and it was a v.pleasant 24 degrees.

So, with the new year in mind - I thought you might like this snippet taken from the NZ evening news last night .... apparently according to the academics we should be referring to 2010 as 20 10 and not 200o and 10. As you will see people on the street didn't exactly agree with them .. loved the pacific island guy at 1min 47 ..class...

ta ta for now...and speak to you in the new year .....

Phil , Debs, Sian and Reece

halloween - watch out

Be on the lookout for a ninja and a purple witch in your neighbourhood .... they are a mischevious pair and will halt at nothing to obtain treats ......

Happy Halloween !!!

What dust storm!

Hi Everyone

Been a wee while --again !

Hopefully this little note finds you all well … its been a bit quiet of late , full on at work and recharging the batteries at the weekend - playing some footy and spending time with the family. So a just a few snippets of news from down under :)

One bit of news news is that its 5 years and counting…yes five years in New Zealand is fast approaching … can’t really believe it to be honest its all gone so fast …we had only 1 little un in tow back then and now we have a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Lot’s of highs and the odd low and a feeling that we have still only seen a smattering of this country. I did manage to finally get down to the south island last year at least - Queenstown is just brilliant . Still not managed Wellington, Dunedin, Napier or Invercargill though … So 1 commitment I have made to myself is that it won’t get to 6 years without a visit back home (yes old blighty is still “home”).. It was going to be be about now but the planets didn’t line up ;(

This doesn’t happen very week … A little bit of Australia landed on New Zealand overnight and this morning .. I will explain … Oz had one of the biggest dust storms in recent memory and after hitting Sydney and Brisbane it carried all the dust across the Transman and dumped on litte old New Zealand !

Changing direction a bit , the Prime Minister of NZ (John Key) was on David Letterman this morning - although scripted by Letterman’s producers / script writers , John Key’s Top 10 reason for visiting New Zealand was as follows.. Quite true in most respects apart from number 10 which was just not true.

10 The Auckland Airport now has a cinnabon (this is apparently the leading cinnamon roll retailer in the world - so it’s a fib - we don’t have this chain in NZ -- yet …)

9 We have the loosest slot machines in the Pacific Rim

8 Only a convenient 20-hour flight away

7 It’s like England without the attitude (not so sure I agree with this one)

6 Down there Leno’s on at 9 o’clock

5 Get the whanau (family) together, stay in a bach (beach house) , crack open the chilly bin and slap on your jandals (flip flops)

4 Visit in the next 30 days, I’ll pick you up at the Airport

3 70% of our energy is generated through renewable hydropower – look they don’t all have to be jokes

2 We drive on the left side of the road, like the British and Lindsay Lohan

1 Unlike most of the world, we still like Americans

Okey dokes …going to shoot …need my sleep - we have a long weekend ahead - last game of my footy season , premier league games on at some ungodly hour , and the school holidays have started, so need to get our act together..

Speak soon

Phil …

Ps.will have an update on Reece and Sian next time round


Pss. If you fancy a good family trip to the flicks go an see UP (in 3D is even better) …. Great fun.

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

Superheros and Cycling !

Hi everyone

Sian wanted me to share with you what she has been up to over the last few weeks .... a bit of theme going on as you will see ....cycling and superheros.....

Here are a few vid clips taken in and around home. Rain or shine Sian is out on the bike. Won't be long before those stabilisers come off ... I think there is a littlebit of competition going on with the big brother going on ...








Superheros has also been bit of theme of late ... Sean is Superman , Sian is Miss Incredible !!



okey dokes , hope you like the clips .will send a more general update soon

take care

:) Phil ( & Sian)