TIME FOR A CHANGE!

So, here we are, back in the land of kiwis. I thought it must be time for a quick update of the last couple of months (can't believe it's been that long already!)

Dave is loving his new job learning the ins and outs of piano restoration. It's great to see him arrive home happy and excited about his latest project. And luckily he hasn't tired yet of the one and a quarter hour drive to work, including the notorious Rimutuka Hill bends.

I've been doing some casual teaching which has been great and a good chance to check out a few schools in the local area.

And we most definitely can't complain about our current lodgings with my very accomodating parents. After a pretty crap winter for them which we luckily arrived just in time to miss, we found the surrounding area to be lovely and green. February is a great month and we have been blessed with many wonderful warm sunny days to enjoy.

Not a bad view from the front door:



And an equally good place to enjoy a summers dinner:




Beautiful sunsets:



One of the less enjoyable things has been the cricket. Yes, we did enjoy a couple of wins but that's about it. Dave's not complaining though. We went to the 20/20 and the one-dayer at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington and Dave and Dad have just spent the weekend at the test Match at the Basin Reserve (how embarrassing...)

20/20 at the Stadium:



And in other news, most of you should know by now that we are expecting a little bundle of joy at the end of July. Our 20 week scan was all good:



My expanding waistline, taken today at 22 weeks. Hmm, I wonder what will happen to my tattoo?


So we will keep you updated on how things go with the pregnancy and beyond - only four months to go!

Our Big Day out with Jez!

Dave and I offered to look after Jez one day when both Darren and Di were working. We took him to the mall to be a Mallrat for a day:

Breakfast:


Fun with Escalators:


Good times at the playground:

"Giddyup!"

Lil Monkey:

Best Friends:

Lunchtime:

Reverse Parking:

Tuckered out at the end (and yay, we finally get a good park!)

More fun with the Hales!

Here are a few more photos of our time with the Hales - Cheers to Snowy and Di for some of the photos.

Jezza hard at work on the lawns:


A couple more photos of snorkelling the wrecks at Tangalooma:

A natural musician?

One day we drove up North to Mooloolaba to meet up with Dave's brother Ian, his wife Sharon and their children - Alana, Holly and Joshua.

We went to Underwaterworld a fantastic aquarium.

Jeremy enjoyed the otters:

Alana and Josh:

Alana, Dave, Holly, Jeremy, Snowy, Di, Joshua, Ian and Sharon:

Admiring the Stingrays:

A good photo op:

One day we all hit Dreamworld together - something Dave has been going on about for a while as I've never been to a theme park in my life (don't spose Fantasyland counts, does it Foo?!)

Wipeout:

An oldie but a goodie - The log ride:

Dave and friend:

Messing around:

Jeremy and Di having fun in the tea-cup ride:

The Big Red Car!!! This is the only ride Darren went on all day. It was a bit scary.

Tiger Island was very impressive - they do a few shows each day:

Catching up with the Hales...

So we left Leroy and Noosa to head on down to Brisbane to catch up with Snowy, Di and Jezza, for what turned out to be a fun 2 and a half weeks.

We arrived to find both Daz and Di at work and little Jeremy in the care of his Nan and Pop, running around with no pants on having a ball:

The next day saw even less clothes (well, it was hot!)

Dave and I headed into the city one day and checked out the nice pool by the river:

And we spent a lot of time hanging with Jez who is the coolest kid I think either of us has ever met! (Testament to his parents, I think)

One day we took the boat out to Moreton Island - a pretty bumpy trip on the day we chose! We headed to the wrecks which have been purposefully put there for the snorkellers. Lots of fish to be seen!

Snowy and Di:

After the snorkelling we moored up nearby and Di convinced us to climb up the HUGE sand dune. This was extremely steep and very hard-going but the view wasn't half bad.

You can see D & D's boat in the water and Darren and Jezza walking in to the shore:

Halfway: wrecks in the background:

Towards the top the sand was blisteringly hot so we had no choice but to sprint the last part - not an easy task given how steep it was! Here you can see Di struggling up on hands and feet and me even further behind her:

The downhill journey was much easier and we joined back up with Darren and Jez and headed to Tangalooma Bay where we moored up for a bit of a swim and play in the sand. And a cold beer or two:

Great trip overall and we even spotted an enormous turtle in the water!

On another trip we went on a drive to the glasshouse mountains (rather misty) and stopped for a picnic lunch and some fun on the play equipment (never too old for the merry-go-round or swing!!!)

It was a long day and at the end, it wasn't just Jezza who was tuckered out!

(Sorry Di, but I just love this photo!)