Cake!

Sunday baking. There was only ever going to be one choice of colour for the icing...

This 'pink' phase is bordering on the obsessive and is often the cause of a calamity - "I want the pink crayon" etc. Yesterday I found myself requesting that hot chips be served on a pink plate to cafe staff. The things we do. People tell me this phase will pass. I certainly hope so!

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Olive cruises

Today the Deans kindky gave us a trolley for Olive to use. We got home and she was away immediately

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Else and Rosa

Today was 'Social Saturday' and we spent lunch with Kitty, Liss and Maia then to Jaron and Charlotte's for dinner.

Maia and Else had a great afternoon largely tormenting Oscar the dog and pretending to drive Liss's car. Pass the baby sharkies (which incidentally they have, in hot pink, in the toy box at the New Plymouth Library).

Rosa and Else played really well together again. Check out these little monkeys in the bath.

At least Rosa is looking at the camera...

Nice one Rosey...

It was really nice for Joel and I to catch up with our friends, eat some food and drink some wine. We are lucky that our friends are such great hosts.

I keep forgetting to mention Olive! Olive was great. She really is such a good baby. I finally collected myself enough to have some decent snacks/meals packed for her when we were out (I bought a small fishing tackle box and I can't tell you how satisfying it is to fill each compartment with little bits) so today she ate more than her usual bit of bread, cold sausage and baked beans (poor child!). She had egg (her new favourite food) and lamb and pork and roast veggies and nice yoghurt (not the nasty 'pink' stuff we've been buying for Elsie either). She smiled and burbled and crawled around and pulled herself up all day. She slept in the car when she should then she went to bed at Jaron and Charlotte's for...12 hours. Yes she slept through. Hurrah. Although I now know better than to think this is some sort of turning point. I know that this will merely be a (welcome) blip most likely due to her being exhausted from last weeks nighttime shenanigans and that she most likely only slept through in order to garner sufficient energy for her next episode of sleepus interruptus majorus.

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Auckland Zoo

Today we went to Auckland Zoo with Charlotte, Rosa and Milly.

Else and Rosa were double trouble. Holding hands and racing off here there and everywhere. They had a whale of a time. It was so amazing to see them behaving like old friends when they'd only really ever met once since we got back from London.

At one of the pavilions they started to play this funny game the rules of which were only known to them but seemed to involve running around in circles and them falling down. They did it for a long time

Oh and some spinning around....

And more falling down...and more running around

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Auckland here we come!

Today we headed up to Auckland for a fortnight to spend time catching up with friends and hopefully picking up our car which has arrived from London at last.

The car trip was rather long. I think these images epitomise a bored toddler....

I turned around to find Else had stuck a bucket on her head

Oh that's all very cute and funny...

So cheeky and cute....

Strap is a bit uncomfortable though...

Bit tight....

Bit chokey...

And then there was a inevitable "bit stuck", with crying and me trying to pull it off and making it worse scene. We had to remedy it with many rousing verses of  'Coming Round the Mountain' ala Beachman:

Me: "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes"
Joel:  "Yeee-haaa!"
Me: "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes"
Joel:  "Yeee-haaa!"

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Happy Birthday Joely

Today was Saturday and Joely's birthday! Elsie must have known it was a special day because she came running into the bedroom this morning and gave Joel the longest and least wriggly cuddle ever.

Nothing could improve on that but we tried by baking a humongous chocolate birthday cake and heading out to Onaero beach for lunch. The sun shone (another crappy winters day), the wind dropped, the setting was lovely, friends and family.

Happy birthday baby x

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Pukeiti Gardens

Today we went for a walk amongst the giant rhododendrons at Pukeiti Gardens in Taranaki. Afterwards we went for a BBQ lunch at Oakura Beach with our friends Sian, Christian and baby Emma. Great day.

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Olive pulls herself up

19 August
Today Olive crawled over to the bureau, opened a drawer and pulled herself up to standing. Yikes!

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Olive claps

Today Olive started clapping! So delightful. She's developing so fast now. Still no teeth though!

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Olive Crawls

Today while Mum and I were at Waikato Hospital Olive crawled properly for the first time. She has been up on her hands and knees for ages now, rocking back and forth and even standing on her feet (downward facing dog!) but she hasn't crawled properly. But today she definitely did a sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4 with her knees. She's on her way!

Do you think Elsie might be a teeny bit jealous..?

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East End Reserve

A lovely bit of winter sun today so Elsie decided to take all her clothes off at the beach. She was just splashing in the puddles but even they were freezing. Although after a while she did say "where is the warm water?" and ended up wrapped in Joel's merino hoodie.

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Snapper

It is fair to say that Max was rather pleased with his 15* pound snapper

*weight verified with digital luggage scales.

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Lavosh and Smoked Kahawai Dip

We made Jo Seagar's version of Lavosh tonight to go with our smoked Kahawai dip (still eating our way through Max & Joel's huge catch last weekend). We used a pasta maker to get the dough super thin. Good!

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Olive Nearly Crawls

8 months old and so so close. She has been up on her hands and knees for a while now but largely only managing to push herself backwards. But over the last couple of days she has managed some forward propulsion via this caterpillar-style move.

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Winter Sun

Today the wind dropped and the sun shone giving us a much needed dose of warmth and the outdoors. The winter weather had been getting me down more than I'd expected. In London we'd had only one months warm weather after the "coldest spring in 60 years" (AKA seven months of winter...) before moving to NZ. As I've told anyone and everyone will listen that one month was positively revelatory for me in terms of how much easier my life became. Toddlers are happiest outdoors, somewhere there is nothing that they aren't allowed to touch/climb on/jump off etc. So instead of saying "stop that, get down, leave that" all day you can just pack a sandwich, bung the baby on a picnic blanket and head to the park/playground for the morning. Easy peasy, happy campers.

Anyway after a short month of this new found freedom we are back to "coats on, hat and scarf packed, in the car, pushchair and storm cover, off to the library etc" and it's just been a little bit, well, tiring.

Anyway today we packed a sandwich and headed down to East End reserve. There was sunshine, there were ducks, there was incredible scenery, there was coffee, there was the coolest playground ever (a working digger!) and there were friendly people. It was wonderful, affirming, great.

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Pincer Grip!

I suspect Olive's had this mastered for a wee while now but today I got the hard evidence courtesy of Else dropping a trail of sultanas on the floor. 

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Grandma's Garden

Roast chicken for dinner tonight. I had a wander around the property to find some bits to go with it.  Here is the haul. Joel and I have been loving living the "good life" courtesy of all Max and Marjan's hard work in the garden.  Last week it was operation "eat cauliflower". My cauliflower risotto was not what you'd call a runaway success. This week it's "focus on broccoli"...

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Rocking Horse

Grandad restored a knackered old rocking horse for Elsie (and Olive one day!)

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Into the Lounge

Tonight we went to an exhibition opening for one of my very good friends, Sarah Sampson. The exhibition is on at the Kina Gallery and features a group of women who have created a vintage lounge using traditional crafts and skills. The opening was a great party with many guests in vintage dress. It didn't seem at all odd to greet my old friend for the first time in two years with her swathed in a fabulous 70s kaftan. The catering was also fantastically retro.  Asparagus rolls were a big hit with Olive.

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Local Media

The caption reads 'Magnolia Grower Vance Hooper with "Deryk".

Deryk!

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Local Media

This leapt out of the Midweeker, a Taranaki newspaper, today. The article opens with the line "as we recover from the excitement of the National Brass Band Championships..."

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Olive Swings!

Today I took Olive on the swings at Kawaroa park. It was the first time she's had a proper swing and she loved it. Not sure Elsie is enjoying sharing the attention though. Check out that face!

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Spinach and Ricotta Canneloni

Home grown: spinach, tomatoes, garlic, onions
Home made: passata, pasta and the casserole dish!

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Puke Ariki Playground

I reckon Matt could do a cross fit session at this playground. Elsie did a great job of climbing.

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Roctapus

I'm sure this toy has been in this playground since I was a kid.

Today we scoped out Brooklands Park. Absolutely loved it - what's not to love? A petting zoo, aviary, great playground, monkeys (!), it's free and you can park right outside.

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Wrong Way Olive

Olive's 8 month birthday today. She's trying so hard to crawl but mainly managing to move backwards away from her toys. Frustrating for her!

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Grandma's Garden

So here we are in Taranaki! We've been here for five days and Elsie is LOVING having a garden to run around in. Grandma's vegetable garden is a source of delicious delight for all of us but Elsie in particular just loves to go and pick her own vegetables for dinner. She's eating all her carrots and cauliflower and broccoli at meal times too. Probably because she's had a role in collecting them and also because they taste amazing!

This morning we worked in the strawberry patch (very dear to Elsie's heart) clearing away all the weeds and dead leaves and snipping off all the new plants and runners. We ended up with so many plants that we had to dig a whole new bed to put them in.

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