At the River

Andrew had the weekend off and when we woke up and it was a nice day we quickly packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the canoe, fed the lambs, and headed off to Te Anau and found a great place to eat, hang out, cast the fishing line, and take the kids on rides down the river.  (Note: Mommy forgot the camera - thank goodness for cell phone cameras!)  They each got to go down at least once.  We only have one kid life jacket and they did really well taking turns.  While waiting both the big kids played in the water and entertained Mommy and Edith.  It was a nice way to spend the day.  We returned home with tired, happy kids and to hungry lambs. :)

Marshall playing on the river.

Eleanor playing in the water.  Her pants got wet so she went, well, pantless.

I love Eleanor's hand on Marshall's back. They were playing while waiting on Daddy to get the canoe ready for the next rider.

Edith enjoyed playing on the cushion.

Eleanor having a snack.

Marshall on the way down the river.

Let's play "Where's Marshall"!

Here he is!

Off the cushion, into the grass.

Even Edith got a ride!  She loved going down the river, but I think she felt the same way Eleanor did when she wore it at her age - not impressed.

Groups shot

Fishing with Mommy - we didn't get one, but I don't know if that really mattered.

Marshall!

Having our picnic

I asked them to open their eyes so they closed them!

See above caption...and the tongue sticking out.

Lovin' it

Ready to go!

Off and away

Bit of This and a Bit of That

Well, we have had a lot of fun playing with the baby lambs.  On the nice days we let the lambs and the kids out in the backyard and they just play!  Its great!! 

Just home from school.  The lambs had just been fed and Eleanor and Marshall were "hiding" in the garden.  Looks like the Elizabeth and Baby were successful seekers!

Edith on her first bike ride

Sister cuddle.  (Eleanor had covered up Edith with Bubbie to keep her warm.)

 

Edith loves playing in the grass!

 

Eleanor learned some yoga techniques at Mother's Day Out in Kentucky and she and Marshall were showing me their moves.

The last day of Term 3 we had a dress-up day at Preschool.  Marshall wore his UK track suit from Kentucky and was a basketball player.  He says, "Go Cats!"

 Remember Elizabeth well.  Unfortunately, she passed away on Sunday.  (We think she had bloat?  Not sure.)  Anyway, Eleanor took the news very well and there were no tears.  I don't think Baby handled it quite so well as she looked for her pal and sister all day and was very noisy all day!  Marshall has been a very loving though so she made it through. :)

Our Elizabeth

 She decided she wanted to give her a funeral and an hour later she said, "Mommy, maybe I could get a new lamb and I'll name her Ashely." 

At the graveside

Ashley

 We picked Ashely up this afternoon.  She is a super cool black Romney with white bits around her face that make her look like she has whiskers.  There were a few tears at the pick-up because I think Eleanor was expecting Ashely to look more like Elizabeth.  (I think a nap would have also helped her emotional state.)  On the way home after calming down she started talking to her and she helped Daddy put her in her pen and try to get her drink from a bottle.

Trout season starts October 1st in New Zealand.  Yesterday was a short work day.  Bob, Andrew's boss, is also a fisherman and he bought Andrew and the family a trout fishing license.  Not only that but he caught and gave us two large rainbow trout yesterday.  Andrew took both the kids out for a spin after their naps yesterday.  No luck on our end, but the season has only just started! 

The kids and Andrew with our second present.  Marshall got himself ready and was insistent that he needed his sunhat - it was a rainy/drizzly day! :)

Reeling it in!

"Catching" up with Bob on the river.

The Wiggles

Did you know that three of The Wiggles are retiring from performing this year?  No?  Then you are not in the loop like a mother of a preschooler might be! :)
Anyway we were able to score some tickets to the concert locally and the kids had a great time! (Sorry the video is sideways and I wanted it at the bottom, but couldn't get it to move.  Also, please excuse the non-Wiggle, adult singing. :))

Waiting for the show to start

Intently watching

Obligatory shot of group on stage...(for Alison)

They know the answer

Still watching.  His eyes never left the stage. :)

Adventures in Naptime

Lately there have been some interesting sleeping positions at nap time.

Eleanor is tucked up under "Skippy" the kangaroo. (Thanks Gran and Aunt Kimmy!)

The photo isn't clear, but Marshall has his monkey hat on over his face.

Eleanor likes to make "nests" out of random boxes.  On this day she convinced me that she would sleep here well and tucked up in her box and slept for two hours!!!