Holly's Ballet Exam

Holly completed her ballet exam last week, to go from Primary Ballet up to Grade 1. We couldn't watch her but apparently she did very well. Now we just have the wait for the results. She look so gorgeous all dressed up properly. She was a little nervous but coped so well. I have complete faith that she would have passed.
UPDATE - Of course she passed with flying colours...YAY!! Go Holly xxx

Holly

Tyler's Rugby Prize Giving

Well the rugby season has finished and last week, we had our prizegiving. Tyler was lucky enough to receive a trophy for 'Most Improved' player. Very exciting. Tyler has come so far with his rugby and is playing extremely well. It's just a shame that there is such a big gap until next season.

Its Been A While

Well, we haven't been on here for some time so thought we would just put up a few pics from our year so far.

Ngamawahine Day Trip

Last weekend we spent a family day at the river at Ngamawahine. Its such a nice quiet place to relax and explore the river.

We built a dam in the river using the rocks. We found big bush spiders under the rocks and learnt that they hunt in the river for nymphs and other small insects. Mum's not sure if she will go in the river again after that. They are pretty big!!

We played some ball games on the grass too.

It was a really fun, relaxing family day. It was cool because Gran and Grandad came and so did Aunty Ang, Uncle Aaron and our cousins, Kaden and Zane. You should take a trip up there one day. Its fun and free!!

'Nobbie' the Orca - 27 September 2008

Today at Papamoa, a 30 year old male Orca (Killer Whale) named Nobbie, became stranded on the beach. We went down to see him and were lucky enough to see the rescue and the moment where the Orca could head back out to sea.

Apparently this particular Orca has been stranded 3-4 times in New Zealand before and the lady that rode out on him as he swam away, had been flown in by helicopter to help with his rescue, as she has helped him before and has been studying his family.

There were so many people at Papamoa watching the rescue. It is so rare to be able to see a wild Orca this close up and we were just pleased that the rescue attempt was successful.

The orca was pretty big (7 metres long) and seemed happy to finally be back out to sea. We could see him surfacing pretty high as he got further and further out to sea. We hope he found his family and doesn't get stranded again.

We will try and load a video of the final moments where he was sent back to sea but for now, we have added some pictures.

Taupo Holiday

These school holidays, we went on a family trip to Taupo and Whakapapa Ski Field.

It was the first time Holly and I have ever been to the snow. We were really lucky because we got to touch and play in brand new, soft, powdery snow. It even snowed on us heaps when we were there and it was so cool.

We weren't too cold because we had our new snow gear on, but my hands were freezing and Mum had to get me some new gloves because mine got wet. I now have some really cool, proper ski gloves.

We went down a massive slope and the snow was so soft and powdery that we went skidding down it really fast. Mum went down so fast that the snow went flying up into her face and her ears were sore from the cold.

The next day, we went and did a few things in Taupo. Mum grew up in Taupo so she new some cool things we could go and see. We went to Huka Falls and saw the huge amount of water.

Then we went to the Volcanic Experience. We saw lots of different things there about how volcanoes, gysers, tornados and earthquakes work. They had lots of neat things showing how the plates of the earth sit and move. The thing I like the best was the earthquake simulator. We got to sit in it, press a button and feel how the Edgecumbe earthquake felt. It was cool so we did it lots of times.

We also went to Craters of the Moon to look at some geothermal craters and then on the way home, we went to a cool 3D maze. We had to find clues and answers in there. It was so cool cause the walls were really high. Even Mum and Marcus couldn't see over the top.


Here are some more photos of our holiday...