Glory Days Vintage Magazine

the 2nd issue of the amazing New Zealand Vintage Magazine

Glory Days

is online today

you can check it out here

and see some more pictures of Isabella

modelling in a

 Land Girls

photoshoot

as well as read the rest of the fabulous magazine

Riding & Climbing

the small people were very pleased to find a

 letter each in the mailbox this morning

especially with a gold coin inside

thank you Nana

we headed north

to meet up with some friends

 from when Billy was at playgroup

and try out the junior bike trail at Woodhill

Harriet got to share a proper mountain bike with our friend Jo

while Billy & Arlo preferred

to use their feet as brakes on the jumps

after a picnic lunch

we thought we would check out the tree climbing

they were pretty quiet for a school hol Mon

and had a 2 for 1 deal

so Harriet & Billy tried it out

Arlo was not so pleased he didn't make the height limit

but he was allowed to play on the rope swing

Harriet was soon confident

and tackled the high course on her own

Billy is not really keen on heights

so I was impressed he even wanted to try

he determinedly made his way round the training course

all on his own

even feeling brave enough to let go towards the end

both the bike trails and climbing course were great

and provided fun and challenges for all 3

on the way home we stopped at the place

we picked strawberries in summer

they still had their amazing freshly made berry ice creams

so they spent Nana's money on one of those

Big Cousin Weekend

Thursday morning there were some very happy small boys at our house

Arlo & Billy woke to find their cousins had arrived late Wed night

for a 4 night holiday sleepover

and we were pretty happy Hamish was here

to build a new deck for us

after a little more demo

(our back garden really does resemble a demo yard)

and Leon doing a phenomenal job of

carrying up an amazing 560 metres 

of decking timber plus posts and joists

the building began

the Grans joined us for morning tea

homemade Gingerbread loaf

then we took this crew to meet up 

with Dee, Sara and cousin Lennox at the park

we got home to find the joists all in

a new platform built

and even some timber on

Friday morning was some solar system crafting

before another park visit

even though we met up with our playgroup

this wee cousin gang just wanted to play together

and we came home to a top level of decking

Hamish did an amazing amount of work in 2 days

cousin bath time

a Saturday morning Skype session with Isabella

and we met up with cousin Lennox again

for a Kelly Tarltons outing

somewhere Awa has always wanted to go

the five wee boys were amazingly well behaved

and had a very fun time

so we treated them to badges and little sharks

the deck had a bottom level that afternoon

in time for a family dinner with Sarah, Sila and the boys

and some dressing up

Sunday morning while Hamish did a little finishing

we headed out on an urban adventure

for coffee and fluffies

although I have to say the Northland boys

weren't that impressed by fluffies

Arlo couldn't understand why

a little cupcake baking and decorating

and we waved them all goodbye

the boys had such fun with their cousins

its amazing how much difference a deck has made

and we are very grateful to Hamish for all his hard work

(and to our friend Tonya who helped demo the remains of the old one)

and to Leon for all his help on Thursday

now to tidy up the rest of the back garden

and unpack the boxes left inside

and we can organise a housewarming party