NZ Acker's Family Blog: 2009

Hello. We have been so busy over the last month. So busy i have got behind in my postings so here is a little summary of our activities in the last 4 weeks. Hope you enjoy seeing what the kids have been up to. They have had lots of fun and are really tired, but nothing that some chilling out at home can't fix.

Santa Claus is coming ho, ho, ho.

Sarah's new haircut - not sure if i want to do this.

Wow! Who's that stylish new 8 year old!

Another month of building. Nice work Cam and Sars

Happy 8th Birthday Sarah.

Sarah's Hannah Montana Dance Party Sleepover.

Shake that boogie.

A few lollies later.

We made our own crazy pizza!

Recovering the next day with rejuvenating yoga. That's an interesting yoga pose Cam!

5 girls and a dog out for some fresh air.

Wow barely a few days to recover from sleepover party and we are off to camp. All good though - survived and had lots of fun. Nice raft - should have won.

A on the same day we poured our new patio areas at home. Miraculously managed to dodge the showers that day (it poured in town and just over the hill). We do have our own micro climate in Parua Bay - one of the many benefits of living in this wonderful place.

Speaking of the weather - it got really hot in Dec. It has been like late Feb weather and after a dry winter we have cracks in the ground big enough to lose toys forever. Long hot evenings too. The new house is handling the hot weather well.

Freeze frame. Cam's 4th ocean swim for the summer.

Here's his 5th with his mate Issac over for a play date. This is a photo of two little adventurers playing at the beach in front of our house. Don't worry grandparents and anyone else concerned that they aren't wearing life jackets. They are both coated in sunscreen, it is only a foot deep on the waters edge, doesn't get much deeper for miles and i was right next to them the whole time. Ok mum.

Go Cam.

Nice wheelie Mathew Wheeler. Cousin Matt came to stay for a week. Thanks Matt you were great - we loved having you. Hope to catch some fish next time!

Another trip to the beach. The marine reserve at Reotahi.

Then came Cameron's Kindy party at Pataua beach (our local) and Santa's helpers turned up in a Christmas helicopter. Had another swim - Issac's Dad Kevin towed us on boogie boards - it was heaps of fun.

Aahhh what is she doing to me!! Nothing like a bit of makeup practise on your little brother!

The finished product. Check out those Wilson eyes!!

Sandy and Sarah doing a self portrait. And the Wilson's popped up for a visit. Thanks for coming it was great to see you. Sorry a bit slack with the camera - not many photo's this time. I have a video clip that Sarah took of Cam and Tasha riding which is really cute - i will post it soon.

Cam riding his bike when the Wilson's were here. Cam spends half his free time on his bike and he has been riding home from Kindy almost everyday this term. You should see his leg muscles - you are pretty fit and strong now Cam.

We also had Sarah's end of year Christmas evening but we ran out of space on Camera so only got a clip of Sars doing her jump jam performance. Nice dancing Sarah. I will post that one soon too. Just got a few things to do tonight.

And to finish off a very busy year at Kindy for Cam, they had a very successful bike day in the new carpark. Mind you everyday is bike day for you Cam. A visit to the BMX track is on the must do list for the start of the holidays Cameron. You are a great little rider. I don't know too many other 4 year olds that have worn through their tyres like you have Cam. You do the best skiddies in the whole of Parua Bay.

Will keep you up to date with further holiday adventures soon. Hope you all have a really great Christmas. This is our first Xmas in the new house which is exciting. We even have a real chimney now to accomodate the man in red and lots of room outside for the reindeer to graze whilst Santa is doing his work.

We are home for the school holidays. We might do some day trips but otherwise we are home enjoying the new house. It's an open house - if anyone wants to come visit or stay we would love to see you. There is heaps of room and hopefully if the last month's weather continues we will be in for a great summer.

Yes we went swimming with some local dolphins at Pataua yesterday. We had them all to ourselves at one of our favourite beaches. Allister was practising his ocean swimming and got quite a fright when he saw a black fin pop out of the water right next to him. The pod of 5 dolphins (including mum and infant) came to say hello. I have never seen you swim so fast Al - you may do well in the Russell to Pahia swim if you go at that speed. We sprinted down the beach to join in, with both Sarah and Cam getting a shoulder ride out into the water (lucky they had their wetsuits on) so they could get up close and personal. This photo isn't us because we didn't have our camera but this shows you what we got to do. Cam and Sars were very brave as they are big and very fast creatures when you get close to them. It was the best experience ever. They are so friendly. They stayed and played in the waves for about an hour. We are very lucky to live in such a wonderful part of the world. Check out this video clip so of Cam and Sarah and Al talking about what it was like. Water still quite cold - hopefully it will warm in the next few weeks.