Molly Turns One!

Happy Birthday Molly!  

We had a fun day celebrating Molly's 1st Birthday!  We started with a stroll to the beach - daddy went for an early morning surf in her honor, then we had an excellent breakfast at the Maranui Cafe - located on the beach around the corner from our house.  It had great ambiance, views and food!  Then JP headed to work while we took the bus to the Wellington Zoo.

The zoo visit was amazing - the hills were unbelievable so I got a great work out pushing to kids on our double pram (stroller) up and down the zoo.  The zoo keeper talks were awesome and you got a very close up visit with the animals.  Our favorite was an up close view of a live, one-legged kiwi bird, Tahi, feeding the giraffes (you can only feed them at the special time with the zoo keeper - note some of the effective signs posted around the zoo below).  The tiger talk was awesome too - we were literally a few feet from the massive feeding tiger...wow!

To end the day we enjoyed strawberry cupcakes at home.  Great way to celebrate Molly's first year!

Big Surf for Molly's Big Day

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Molly is 1!

Fluffy

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Bruised and Battered

Yes, the scenery is beautiful and there are many smiles, fun times together and laughter...but this is still real life and with that comes tears and a few bumps and bruises along the way!

Spending so much time together is wonderful...but leads to more tantrums and tears and Molly is quickly the fine art of drama.  The tears flow and she quickly walks away if anything is taken for her or she doesn't get her way.  Emma at age 4 has had lots of practice in the tantrum department.

Molly is walking now...she's practically racing through the house, so I was amazed that Emma got the first serious bruise. She was running in to get more clothes pins for me as I was hanging wet clothes on the line (remember we are working without a dryer) and tripped on the door frame and slammed the side of her head into a very nice solid wood coffee table.  I nice red and purple mark appeared immediately with a black eye the next day.  Molly, seeing the black eye on Emma, felt left out, fell head first onto the wood bed in our room, no black eye but a nice black and blue line along her check.  Not to be outdone by the girls, I smashed my face into the very solid play equipment at the beach playground (I walked into a low beam which I couldn't see thanks to the wide brim of my sun hat).

Fortunately no broken bones...yet!

Molly let's the tears flow!

subtle crying...

Molly's bruise

Emma's black eye

Summer Snowflakes

It's summer in Wellington (though not hot summer like we're used to in the South)!  I thought there would be a lot more summery Christmas carols, Santa in swim trunks etc, but I suppose since Santa's year-round home is the North Pole, most of the Christmas papers, decorations etc. here still feel very wintry.   I also learned that Santa is more commonly called "Father Christmas" in New Zealand.


One thing is certain, we will not be having a white Christmas in Wellington this December - so, we've decided to make our own snow.  Check out the snowflake, flower and snowman creations that Emma and I have been working on today!

Wishing you a happy Christmas whether it's white or green (or brown) where you live!

Snowflake creations!

Emma prepares to cut!

Molly reaches for Emma's Flower

Puzzle Masters

Emma loves solving puzzles.  She's really been enjoying mastering the puzzles in the house - so on a trip to the store this afternoon we bought a new puzzle for her that was on the sale table at one of the shops.  She has been working these on her own and we are going to start timing her!  Speaking of timing - I tracked the amount of time it took for me to push the stroller and the girls to the store.  The way we took was very hilly, but fairly quick - about 15 minutes.  The trip home seemed much longer (but only ended up being 3 minutes more) with the stroller loaded down with groceries.  Walking to and from the grocery store really makes you consider the size and weight of each purchase! 

Tonight, JP and I played Scrabble - the first challenge was to decipher the point squares (our home is owned by a German family - thus Scrabble was the German version).  Then we had a long round of Scrabble.  I thought I'd won and was celebrating my victory...when J.P. realized the score was wrong and he was the actual winner - ugh!  Final score 238 to 234...what a downer!

Emma aka Puzzle Master

JP calculating scores

Denise realizing defeat

being smug

Wellington Explorers

On Sunday we all took the bus to Wellington to explore the city.  The wind was incredibly strong...so we missed the Harbor market (they'd been there since 6am so with the wind blowing at near gale force...there was no one there and who could blame them for closing up early)!

We went to check out some of the fun modern art, and spent time playing at Capital E which offers some fun free play activities.  We finished the day at a local cafe while we caught up with our friend Alan.  Another fun day in the windy city!

Adventure Walk to Island Bay

Island conquerors!

We set off on Saturday to walk from Lyall Bay around to Island Bay.  Thanks to great pedestrian walkways and trails - we were able to navigate the curvy road from our house to a great picnic spot at Island Bay.  The stroll took nearly an hour and the day was absolutely gorgeous!  That afternoon Denise rested up while the girls and dad spent time at the beach playground.  While they were there, JP hung out next to Flight of the Concord Star, Bret McKenzie who was there with his daughter.  Fortunately Molly didn't tackle his daughter...though it sounds like she tried!

walking to Island Bay

Views from the walk

surfers in the cove

Island Bay - notice mountains of South Island in the distance

Molly and Daddy

Mommy and Molly

Emma

Picnic at Island Bay

Emma at Playground

Bret and family

 

Croquet Christmas Party

Only where it's summer at Christmas time can the office host an afternoon holiday party on the croquet lawn!  JP's department at NIWA invited us all along and we had a great day in the sun learning how to play "golfer's croquet" from some local pros.  During the first match Alan fired up the barbie and grilled sausage, steak, and the local favorite - lamb!  There was a wonderful lunch followed by more croquet.  Great fun!

The croquet club was near the top of Mount Victoria - so as it was a gorgeous clear day, we continued on up and walked up to the very top for a spectacular 360 degree view of Wellington, our home area of Lyall Bay and the surrounding waters.  Emma enjoyed being queen of the mountain and it was hard to convince her to leave her rock!

Emma makes a hit!

Emma on the Green

Emma photographs the action

self portrait

Alan on the barb-e

Molly and Emma

Emma Daddy and Molly take a break

JP, Emma and Alan (wearing Emma's flower chain)

At the top of Mount Victoria

Emma points to Lyall Bay

Queen of the Mountain!

Emma, Denise and Molly

Wellington Harbour

Denise and Molly