The King's

Christmas and stuff

2012-01-13T13:41:00.003+13:00

I noticed the other day that it's been nearly six-weeks since my last post. I am a little annoyed I haven't kept it up as much as I would have liked too, but the main reason for my slackness is this bloody blog! It takes sooooo long to format and load photos that it drives me batty. I started loading photos around midday (yesterday now) and I've had to go back and re-load 3-4 times because it keeps crashing. Face book is WAY easier but I don't really want a bunch of people I hardly know reading all about the kids. Anyway, I'll give it another few weeks and see how it goes., but I feel better now I've had my rant.

Christmas was very cruisy this year - we had Mike and Carol (Ingrid's father and his wife) up for a few days along with mum. Mike and Carol stayed in their very cool house bus and mum stayed with us. Christmas Day was a stunner and Sophie and I spent a lot of it in the pool. Max won't go in the pool yet, he has a real phobia when it comes to getting his hair wet, to the point where bath times these days are nothing short of traumatic, the poor bugger gets hysterical and almost passes out with fear. No one knows why either.

Mum took Sophie down to New Plymouth for 5 days after Christmas and from all accounts they both had a wonderful time. It sounds a bit mean, but it was kind cool spending a stack of 1 on 1 time with Max while Sophie was away, something we haven't done a lot of.

The rest of us went down to New Plymouth last week and stayed at mums for 5 days. It's always great going back home, except the more we go , the more Ingrid gets home sick. It would be a great place to live and bring up the kids their, but we'll have to wait and see if anything ever eventuates with work there.

While we were there, we did a cool day trip around the mountain and stopped off at a couple of coastal beaches along the way and found time to take in the lights at Pukekura Park one night too with Sophie, she absolutely LOVED it - I reckon the lights are the best I've seen yet!

Next week we're all off to stay at Ngungaru, a small beach town near Tutakaka in Northland. I manged to scam a free bach for 6 nights form a mate at work - fingers crossed the weather holds out!

Lots more happening - Sophie is enrolled in her new school :"Sunnybrae Primary" and starts early Feb, she's really looking forward to it because she'll be in the same class as two of her former KidsKlub buddies Isaac and Tailor. Anyway, blog has crashed again so I'll sign off. Ciao.

Max is growing up so fast. He'll be 3 next month, and despite his phobia over wet hair...he's an awesome kid.

Sophie has grown into a beautiful young girl who finished top of her class at school and knows far too many things for a 5 year old

So many presents - the kids were spoilt rotten by everyone and Santa!

Video here of kids opening pressies from Santa

Happy holidays.

Mike and Carol enjoying some grand kids time

Sophie loves climbing, sports and athletics too

Some Christmas day play with mummy

sibling love!

Sophie on Xmas day - she's getting pretty good at diving in and going under now too

Taking after her Auntie Rochelle in the kitchen - a cool pressie

A well deserved beer on Xmas day...life is tough sometimes

Max and his train set. He loves it!

We took mum to Piha beach for a day, Sophie and I climbed up Lion Rock - great beach!

Max loves to copy everything Sophie does.

My gorgeous wife and little man.

Happy times at Nana's place.

Helping Auntie Rochelle make a birthday cake for Nana

Video here of Nana's birthday

"Say cheese Max!"

Sophie was in her element - she has a little stage at home that she performs on each night - today she got to experience a real stage was on cloud nine!

Video Here

In the Fernery at Pukekura Lights.

Daddy cleaning up the beach at Oakura.

A little more salt in this thing than our pool...

Sophie the water-rat

Massive Wave!

Max and Daddy around the same age

Sophie and Dad go to the Basketball

2011-12-04T18:12:00.000+13:00

Hot Weekends

2011-11-12T08:17:00.001+13:00

Rugby World Cup Champions!

2011-10-25T21:49:00.001+13:00

A picture says a thousand words.

A great deal has happened since my last post. We've had our survey results and The Rock is number 1 music brand in NZ for the 6th consecutive year; Max and Sophie have both had nasty virus's (at different times), Sophie had 2 weeks of school holidays, Grantz stayed for a few days over the holidays which was great, Mike and Carol, along with Tara and Graham (Carol's daughter and new husband) came up for the Semi Final stay for a couple of days and of course; I managed to get to 4 Massive RWC games all for free! and The All Blacks are Rugby World Cup Champions!

Fish & Chips at the beach on Game Day

Good mates Sophie and Leo

Max looking more cute each day

Sophie spent a day with the neighbours on Saturday during Labour weekend, so we returned the favour on Sunday (Game Day) and took Leo and the kids to Orewa Beach for the day - they had an absolute blast and it was good to see Max isn't as scared of the water this time around. Yes summer is well and truly on it's way and I can't wait.

We had a couple of invites to watch the RWC Final at friends houses and at different bars in town, but we struggled to find babysitters (I guess they all wanted to watch the game too!) So we thought it would be nice if we invited Row and Justin and their two kids, Sabine and Piper around for a BBQ evening in front of the telly...and a couple of beers to boot. We all had a great night and the kids knew something special was happening - as none of them wanted to go to bed so they all ended up staying up super late while watching most of the game! Max is pretty clever and recognises and yells out every time he sees The All Blacks logo and Sophie seems to understand the magnitude of what happened and has been asking a zillion questions about Rugby and other countries taking part.

The day aftert the big win, we wanted to show our support so we headed into town along with 250,000 other Aucklanders and stood and cheered on our boys in black during the parade. Two out of the four of us enjoyed it! (that's all I've got to say on that one)

Loads of fun on the trampoline

Half time 10pm RWC. -kids have progressed from the 'over-tired' stage to the 'gone freakin crazy' stage.

Just a couple of people in town for the parade!

at least someone was happy to be there!

We got pretty close in the end

I've kept the pool clean all winter as it's been easy and relatively inexpensive to maintain, a few bags of salt every few weeks, a vacuum once a fortnight and making sure the pump goes on for a hour or two each day, pretty easy. The water's been tested a couple of times and it's in tip-top condition for summer. I've even braved the elements a couple of times and jumped in...and then very quickly jumped out.

Both kids love playing by the pool (while we're watching them of course). Bring on Summer-time!

Fun outdoors

Yum...a cockroach ice-cream!

Nana's (this time with words)

2011-10-01T15:29:00.002+13:00

My I Phone has died and I can't find the camera so sorry, no photos. The photo below was taken a couple of weeks ago when the kids went to Nana's for the weekend. Ingrid and I were intending on heading to a family reunion in Palmerston North (on her side), but we ended up getting last minute tickets to the Rugby World Cup! The game was fantastic and the break wasn't too bad either.

We've been to check out a new school for Sophie: Sunnybrae School. We turned up without making an appointment, hoping just to find out some infor about enrolling, but before we knew it, the principle met us and took us into her office and explained everything about the school - (that's more contact and communication in one visit there, than we've had since Sophie's been at Willow Park!). It makes perfect sense to send her there next year, a lot of her buddies from Kids Klub are all going along, it's pretty close to Ingrid's work and - they will allow Max there in a couple of years too! Sophie seems pretty relaxed about it too . syaing "I;m going to Sunnybrae next year"

Speaking of Sophie, I'm heading along to her first 'show' tomorrow at school - she's very excited - her role in the show/performance is the Taniwha - I'll try and find a camera to take some shots/video. She's topped her class for reading too and now enjoy's reading stories to us every night (not to mention the odd story to her baby brother which looks very cute)

Max is on fire these days...his vocab is getting bigger by the day and he's communicating pretty well. He still has trouble with number 2's, but then so did Sophie and she managed grew out of it. So as long as we continue to give him daily medicine and watch his diet - he's ok

Ingrid and Sophie went to visit friends on Sunday while Max had an afternoon kip - the girls ended up staying a while so as soon as Max woke, I slapped a All Blacks beanie on his head and whisked him off to the pub to watch his first game of All Black rugby on the big screen. The bar was packed and very loud but Max LOVED it. Every time the AB's scored - the place burst into cheers and claps - Max started going around hi-fiving everyone and clapping everytime we scored - he looked very cute. (and no camera to take photo's)

Tomorrow night Ingrid and I are off to see Chris Cornell (review of Sunday's show here)- who happenes to be the best male vocalist in the world...the dude is playing a 2 hour sold out acoustic set and we can't wait to see it.

The Shield

2011-09-10T13:46:00.001+12:00

Couple of weeks ago I made an impulse decision to drive to the Naki for the weekend to watch Taranaki defend the Ranfurley Shield. Sophie thought it would be a great idea to tag along and catch up with Nana and Auntie Rochelle too. We left Saturday afternoon and came back Sunday night. The Naki defended the shield and we all had a great time!

Soph going on a road trip. You think she looks excited?

Having fun at Brooklands Park

Soph and Nana

Sweet view

The kids are getting really well together as the photo's show below. Soph's also reading Max books and mothering him loads. Max is at that age where he must do EVERYTHING by himself. It's cute but also extremely frustrating, especially when you are running late and you're trying to get him dressed for kidsklub and he wants to undo or do up all his buttons (which takes about 15 minutes!). He's talking a lot more too obviously, he can't pronounce his 's' at all - so poor old Soph is known as Gofi now.

Sophie is enjoying school still and seems to be making lots of friends - she has had a couple of after school play dates with classmates recently too. The only shitter is the school has changed their policy which now means if you enroll you kid and move out of zone within 1 year (which we did) then they have the right to remove the child from school, and the other new rule is siblings no longer have automatic entry if you live out of zone. It's a real concern because she loves the school so much but we may have to move her.

A Day at the Beach

2011-08-22T21:26:00.002+12:00

The weather was extraordinary over the weekend so we packed up a picnic lunch and headed East to Bucklands Beach for the day. Max had a little kip in the car on the way out (only took 40 minutes to get there) but that saw him through the day.

35 Minutes drive from home...a pretty sweet beach.

Great park for the kids too

Max and Sophie getting a lesson on Sea-Shells from Mummy

Max passing on his extensive knowledge of Sea-Shells to Sophie

Dressed for a day at the beach...

Max showing us how to walk a straight line...that was after he had 4 beers too!

Sophie the tree explorer

A kind lady let Max walk her doggy

...or did she let her doggy take Max for a walk?

Sophie stoked with her tree climbing efforts

Sweet day at the beach

Computer gone bung

2011-08-14T14:47:00.000+12:00

Our computer has died - im trying to retrieve 5 years of photos and video's from it - but not looking too flash. Thankfully I wrote down the address and passwords for the blog - here's a couple of photos from the airport when mum came up last weekend.

Family Portrait

2011-08-07T13:27:00.000+12:00

Longtime between posts

2011-07-31T17:00:00.001+12:00

Busy busy busy. I'll let the photo's do the talking.

Max and his Great Grandma NanFlo (looking pretty chuffed). We went to the airport to see off Mum and nan before they headed off to Aussie for my cousins' wedding

Now if I jumped in the photo, it would have been four generations...but someones gotta take the pics.

Trip to the Park - Max loves his slides

"mmm how am I going to get past her?" - Sophie is a whizz on the jungle-gym

Sophie and Daddy going through the car wash

Max got crook - luckily it only lasted a couple of days...poor wee thing!

School holidays have been on which has meant a bit of juggling. Sophie has been in a School Holiday programme every second day (it costs $70 per day!) So Ingrid took a couple of days off, Me 1 day, and Sabine's mum Rowena another day. This day Was Daddy's turn - so off to make lollipops with Sophie and Sabine - They had a blast!

Check out the lollipops they made - pretty sweet.

The lollipop shop in Takapuna- a kids paradise

...and more lollies

Video 1 here of making lollipops

Video 2 here of making lollipops

Video 3 here of making lollipops

After making lollipops - we jumped on the ferry and headed into the city

Soph having a great day

...still eating their lollipops from two hours earlier!

Sugar rush at the Ferry terminal - kept them entertained for ages!

Sophie is really looking forward to going back to school tomorrow though - it's the most excited she's been in over two weeks!

I picked up a virus and had a little lapse in concentration...damn the work vehicle too...

Soph hanging with Leo and his dad on their cool tandem bike

Chipmunks

2011-07-16T15:32:00.000+12:00

The weather has been ordinary lately so we decided to Head off to Chipmunks for the day. We grabbed Leo from next door and headed up to Albany. All three kids absolutely loved it...we stayed for a few hours (although it seemed like a few months to Mummy and Daddy).

On Friday's, Ingrid normally finishes work around 5:30pm, so I pick up the kids, and last night Sophie was singing , giggling and chatting along, but soon as I mentioned it's now the holiday's and no more shcool for two weeks....the poor thing started bawling "I want to go to school on Monday...Two weeks is too long before I go back...Why do we have to have holidays!". I wonder how long that's gonna last...

Mummy, Sophie and Leo outdside Chipmunks

Daddy and Max...Soph and Leo were off!

"Yay Chipmunks!"

Good buddies

A refreshing iceblock after hours of play

Damn...this is good!

We like Chipmunks!

...and so does Max

Video here of Max on the slide

Video here of Sophie on the slide

Lamb for dinner..."Yum Meat!"

Sophie's first school report

Pretty clever our little Sophie King xx

No Kids for the Weekend

2011-07-04T21:49:00.000+12:00

It was my Birthday last week and Auntie Nicky gave me a sweet as present by taking the kids for the weekend!

Sophie and Max loved it and were perfect little angles from all accounts. They went out on a couple of adventures, checked out the park, played at chipmunks, made Pizza and of course, didn’t want to come home. When Nic left on the Sunday the both of them started sobbing their little hearts out...

Ingrid and I on the other hand weren't crying…at all, we were hi-fiving each other and had a very eventful weekend. Saturday we went for a cruise to Mission Bay, (it was a cracker of a day), then followed up with a Movie in Albany, we had dinner in the city and then decided to stay in town and booked a night at Sky City Hotel, we even got a cheeky upgrade to a harbour view!...sweet. The next day we took in a morning stroll around the city then went off for a relaxing bite for breakfast, we even managed to get in a couple of hours of long over due spring cleaning around the house. All and all - a pretty sweet weekend.

Chipmunks playground with Auntie Nicky

Enjoying a ice-cream on a hot winters day

5 minutes later, Sophie was bawling when Auntie Nicky left

A hot date

Stunning weather in Auckland over the weekend

Gold Class Cinema (Scabbed some tickets through work) - You sit in massive lazy-boys watching the movie and buzz the waiters to bring you in drinks...it really is O for Awesome.

Impulse to stay in town for the night

An upgraded room...check out the view!

Brekkie the next day

A trip out Sunday afternoon when the kids got back...we did miss the little buggers!

Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth...Yeah Right!

A busy Sunday

2011-06-19T21:32:00.005+12:00

Weekend's have become a little bit like Groundhog Day recently with the winter weather - so we thought bugger it, we'll head out for the day and brave the elements. We threw the kids in the car and went out on a Sunday family adventure! We started the morning off with fluffie's and scones in Ponsonby, then headed over to the Auckland Museum. The weather was torrential and we got absolutely soaked going in and out of the Museum (there were no parks near the entrance and our very small umbrella got ripped to shreds in the howling winds!) - but the kids thought it was hilarious running in the rain and they both really enjoyed the Museum too - it's an awesome place for families and to top it off..it's free!

We then braved the weather some more and drove south to Sylvia Park for lunch. After a quick bite we jumped back in the car and headed over to Aunty Nicky's place! - the kids haven't seen her for a while and they were super excited when we got there.

Normally Max has an afternoon sleep for a couple of hours, but today we thought if he was tired he would crash out in the car travelling between locations - but the little trooper managed to stay awake all day so we topped off the Sunday outing with a sneaky trip on the way home to the local pub for hot chips and beer. All and all a pretty sweet day and the kids loved it too!

(the weather was so bad I couldn't take a photo from the front...I had to steal this off the Museum website!)

One of Max's favourite animals...a 'Wellafant!'

They even have a food section in there too...Sophie of course ran straight towards the lollie display..and then pretended to eat them all up!

We forgot the push-chair - So I ended up carrying Max most of the time, otherwise we would have lost him - he was off running everywhere!

The very scary big bad wolf!

This display was full of around 200 big fat LIVE cockroaches - Soph and Max were transfixed on it for ages

The nature section is great - you can pull out different draws and look at different insects/birds/butterflies

the spider draw was their favourite

Even Polar beers too!

Max was a bit dubious about this one

Having fun!

Now that's a big Penguin!

Now lets go to Aunty Nicky's place!

Sweet as!

Lunch at Sylvia Park - Subway!

Mummy and Sophie on one side...

Daddy and Max on the other...

Topping off a great day with a cold beer at the pub! (the kids only had a couple each though..)

ps. Another post below too if you missed it

Kids at School

2011-06-19T17:36:00.001+12:00

new video here!

Ice-Cream at McDee's!

2011-06-05T14:19:00.002+12:00

Ingrid worked late Friday night, so I took the kids to McDee's for dinner. They thought all their Christmas's had come at once...video here

Leo and the Kids

2011-05-29T14:07:00.000+12:00

Leo, Sophie and Max hanging out together.

Sophie and Max have been playing with Leo from next door loads lately. Leo's parents (Maddy and Sione) are really great, they've taken Sophie on a few half-day trips and she spent most of yesterday tripping around Auckland with them. This morning we returned the favour and took Leo and the kids to the park to feed the ducks and have a play all morning, and when we got home Ingrid did some baking and got the kids to help out.

Mum popped up last weekend to look after the kids which was great and Ingrid and I went out to friends 40th. Ingrid got shitfaced.

Sophie is really enjoying school, there's around 12 kids in her class now which is better than the 3 only, when she first started. Ingrid and I are still not entirely sure what is happening with Soph in regards to her starting level. The school may be regarded as one of the best primary schools around - but their communication with parents is appalling. At this stage, Sophie is starting the year at 'year zero' which is OK, but both her mates who are only 1 day older than her, automatically got put into 'Year 1' because of their birthday's and cut off dates. We've been told that they will assessing all new entries at some stage to determine if they go into next year as Year 1 or Year 2 - but when and how are still questions we're asking. In saying all that, Sophie does genuinely love the place and looks forward to going everyday.

Max is growing bloody fast - he can string a stack of words together now and is VERY independent. We had to keep him home last week for a couple of days, there's a flu going around and he got it along with gunky eyes which is a big no no at daycare.

Anyhow, Max is due to wake up soon and then we're off on our Sunday afternoon ritual to the local pub with the kids...classy.

Max and his new PJ's

Sophie enjoying Nana and Aunty Nicky time

A very pissed Brad and Dr John (The Rock's on-air Doctor) - I took him out for his annual thank-you lunch/dinner. Wasn't flash the next day.

Sophie and Leo

Cheeky.

Brad

Couple of Video's below

2011-05-12T20:14:00.000+12:00

"Happy Birthday To You"

Max the DareDevil

Soph Rides the Bike

Sophies Birthday in photos

2011-05-09T20:58:00.000+12:00

Happy 5th Birthday Sophie - Mummy and Daddy love you so much xx

The awesome cake that Ingrid spent 5 nights making

Birthday morning...Max watching Sophie's excitement

So many presents!

On Saturday we had the party at Ivy Cottage. It was a Princess and fairy themed party venue...very cool too

and then a party the next day - this time a cool Bike party - Just as well Sophie got a new bike for her birthday then aye!

Daddy and Max at the park.

Daddy teaches Max cool tricks at the park

You should have seen him jump from this one!

Our little girl is growing up

2011-05-07T08:33:00.002+12:00

Sophie turns 5

2011-05-04T19:37:00.000+12:00

Soph had her first day at school today...and loved it! - Her actual birthday party is this Saturday so I'll give you an update then on all things then - but tonight we had an impromptu dinner at Denny's with one of her buddies Sabine.

Last day as a 4-year old

A birthday Princess dress - Soph LOVES Princesses!

Her packed lunch and ready to go!

"How excited about school are you Sophie?"

Our little cutie

A couple of nerves when she first got there...

then she got excited and said "See-ya Mummy and Daddy I'll be alright"

Dinner at Denny's

Max and Mummy

Little cake before her big one on Saturday

Max and Daddy

Lots on

2011-04-16T20:17:00.002+12:00

Kids waiting outside for the others to arrive before going into the Zoo

Yeah OK - It's been a while I know, but things have been crazy lately, so here's a quick highlight package of what's been going on:

We had our 6th year wedding anniversary
Had a bunch of Rock stars filming a music video in our backyard
Ingrid got sick and has been off work for almost 2 weeks
Sophie's had three school inductions and is now only two weeks away from going school!
Max is well and truly hit the terrible two's
I've been mad busy at work and need a root canal
We sold and bought a car all in the same day

Amongst the chaos, I did manage to take a sneaky day of work a couple of weeks back and help out with taking the kids to the Zoo for the day, and man it must have been one of the hottest days we've had all summer! There were around 12 kids from Kids Klub along with 4-5 parents for the day - Soph and Max had a blast (after her traumatic experience that is...I lost lost her, but thank god for bright yellow vests and kind random strangers helping her find us all again!) After the Zoo the parents dropped the kids back at daycare for a couple of hours and we all hit the pub for a debrief...or four.

We finally ditched our Holden and traded it in today...it's been a complete pig lately and costing us a fortune in gas and getting the bloody thing fixed so got Serena from Kids Klub to come over for the afternoon and Ingrid and I went South-side and bought a Honda Accord.

We've also been to a ridiculous amount of birthday parties lately and Sophie has had a stack of play dates and is even going to the movies tomorrow for the first time ever with Leo and his parents from next door...while we're left home dealing with Lucifer's Spawn...

"look he just did a poop!"

"That's not a poop...I'll show you a poop!"

Sharing their lunch...ain't that sweet

She preferred this one to the one underneath!

Every single kid in awe watching an Elephant out in the open right in front of us!

Max wanted to stay and watch the Elephant (I think that's when I lost Soph)

Trying to make her nose grow into a trunk...

A hot day at the Zoo...so a nice cold ice block for everyone

Someones birthday party...it was pissing down so they stayed inside and watched movies

Max and his sweetheart Lilly-Rose

"Yeah so what?"

Pretending he's sweet...

Lights camera action at the Kings house!. 4 hours of filming for two scenes in a music video!

Looked like UFOs had landed in our back-yard

Out for the night on our wedding anniversary

The new car!

Happy 6 Year Anniversary

2011-04-03T13:14:00.000+12:00

Sweet as Weekend

2011-03-16T21:23:00.002+13:00

Ingrid and I sat back Sunday night and both said what a great weekend it was.

The weather was hot, we had plenty to do and the kids had a blast! Sophie had her first sleepover and after Sabine left on Sunday, we invited Leo our neighbour over. Sophie and Max love it when Leo's around. Ingrid took them all to the park for a while, then later we all swam in the pool and afterwards we slapped together a wicked water slide (the kids couldn't get enough of it!).

We've also started a new tradition, Sunday afternoon's we take Soph and Max to the local pub, they share a packet of chips and a glass of water together, while the two grown ups unwind with a cheeky cold one...it's pretty cool indeed.

After the pub, we ended the weekend sharing a picnic dinner with subways outside on the lawn, and to top it all off, Max and Soph went to bed nice and early to end a memorable, sweet as weekend.

The water slide was a hit

Leo from next door

Mum and Max watching on as Soph and Leo have fun on the water slide

Then kids at the pub - they love being all grown up.

Video Here of Sophie and Leo on playing.

Sophie has a sleep-over buddie

2011-03-13T13:14:00.000+13:00

Sabine stayed over last night. Sophie had been looking forward to it all week! It was a stinking hot day so the girls swam in the pool, played with in the sprinkler, bounced onn the tramp and made lots of iceblocks.

I asked Sophie if she enjoyed having a friend over and she siad it 'yip, it was awesome'.

Max's Birthday (with photos)

2011-02-28T20:40:00.000+13:00

Yay - Finally got the bloody photo upload working on the blog!

Our future surfer dude

A party fit for a (2-yr old) King

Max hardly moved from his spot at the head of the table all afternoon

Lots of food and lots of kids

Auntie Nicky made an awesome "Bob the Builder' cake...Max's favourite

"Bob the Builder!"

Max being a little cutie

The Pinata went down a treat with everyone

Max and his girlfriend sharing a yarn

What the?

Even snuck in a couple of beers with Nana at the party

Sophie and dad hanging at the beach the next day.

Dancing with her shadow in the water

Kids playing in the sun

Sophie's water slide!

Max turns 2!

2011-02-26T16:44:00.003+13:00

With the carnage of Christchurch this week - I've had no time to update Max's birthday party from last weekend (plus I didn't really feel it was appropriate showing loads of photos of Max and his mates having fun while so many are suffering) but now I have some time over the weekend and the damn photo upload won't work!

Bugger, I'll try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, you can views some video's of his birthday below (thankfully YouTube still works!):
Birthday Cake and buddies
Max chasing his girlfriend Lilly around the pool
Sophie bashing the Pinata...sort of
Max enjoying Bob the Builder

Birthday party fun!

2011-02-13T22:24:00.002+13:00

Yesterday was the start of the birthday season...for the next 6 weeks or so there is a birthday every weekend - (including Max's 2nd next Saturday)...and boy do the kids love them!

Leo from Kids Klub 4th Birthday

Leo's parents win the prize for best kids birthday party ever!

Even organised a freakin' traveling zoo!

Soph was ecstatic!

Her BFF from Kids Klub Nadine

Sophie's first horse ride...and she loved it

Max and his girlfriend Lilly-Rose..the two of the are inseparable!

Mr. Romantic - check out his hand cupped around her back...

More swing-time

Caden and his ladies

Games down the hill - Sophie won the sack race but blew out on the rolly-polly race

Leo's Birthday Cake

Max knackered and full after a big day

Video here of Sophie riding a horse

Video here of Sophie reading Max a story

Ouch!

2011-02-05T09:29:00.005+13:00

"Don't slip Doc!"

After months of talking about it...I finally plucked up the courage and went in for the big snip yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I'd been told and the entire procedure was done dusted in just over 30 minutes. I got some great sedation so I had a nice afternoon buzz going on along with plenty of pain killers afterwards for when the swelling and throbbing kicked in.

Auntie Nicky came to the party out and grabbed the kids for night too (I was pretty much parked out on the couch afterwards and the last thing my boys needed was 2 energetic kids jumping all over them)

They couldn't get into her car fast enough when she arrived - it was like Christmas all over again!

On the downside, Sophie has been having the odd night-terror lately too, she woke up last week screaming about monsters in her room ...every time she closed her eyes or drifted off back to sleep she would start screaming in horror again...not nice. (and just spoke to Nic then and she said Sophie woke up around 2am this morning screaming again about monsters in her room again....will keep you posted.

Brad

Funtimes on the tramp!

2011-01-31T14:33:00.000+13:00

Our holiday is over...boo.

2011-01-17T22:15:00.006+13:00

Jeez, a month off work goes too bloody quickly! It only seems like a couple of day ago we drove down to Mum's for Christmas. We ended up spending around 10 days in the Naki, it will go down as one of the more memorable trips back home...poor Max had days of incredible constipation and then a horrid 24 hour spewing bug swept through us all at different times. We did manage to grab a few days in between sickness to chill out and and enjoy family time, but rat shit time for everyone to get crook!

The kids went back to Daycare (KidsKlub) last Monday (and my god were they excited about going back! - the two of them practically leaped out of the car and ran inside to see their buddies) - Ingrid and I were a bit cheeky and took the week off so we could have some relaxing time to ourselves while they were having fun...and yes...it was bliss. After we dropped the kids off we both got to do whatever we bloody wanted! We went out for lunch a couple of times, spent a day up at a beautiful beach near Waiwerea, swam in our pool (of course), organised a new bed for Soph, put a million things on trade me (and sold most of them) and even managed some spring cleaning!

Today was back to work and back to reality...boo. I enjoyed hanging out with family along with spending some overdue quality time with just Ingrid and I last week.

Summertime and iceblocks at nana's.

Max growing up way too fast

The pool rocked.

Shot puts and Beach's

2010-12-31T11:54:00.000+13:00

Happy to report Max had the explosion we've all been all waiting for. After two trips to the ER, four enema's, days of torture and severe stomach cramping...he finally let it rip...the poor bugger almost passed out too - it was the size of a regulation shot put and just as bloody heavy!

Max was shattered and crashed shortly afterwards, and poor old Sophie hasn't been given much attention while Max has been crook so we decided to take her to Urenui beach for the day. I remember spending a large chunk of my holidays at the place when I was young, so it was kinda cool going back this time with kids. I think we may even look at camping there next year - Sophie had a blast!

Braving the cold river

Sliding down the mudflats - Soph (and Daddy) thought they were pretty cool

Show us your triangle

The Beach

Done the mudflats - so we moved around to the beach

View from then other side

Fun on the swing-bridge

The mudflats (and Rock car) from across the river

Sweet day

Christmas in the Naki

2010-12-28T12:08:00.001+13:00

Things got off to a rough start when we got to Taranaki. We arrived late on the 23rd after a sweet trip down and awoke Christmas Eve morning with Ingrid having a nasty tummy bug, the poor thing spent most of the day in bed and couldn't keep anything down! Things did improve later on that night and Xmas day thankfully, she was back to normal - she thought it was a quick 24 hour bug...my guess was she drank too much the day before...

We had a great Xmas Day and had a massive feed for lunch, Nan, Ray, Rochelle, Darren, Nic, Nana and the four of us all pigged out.

The only shitter (literally) is Max's bowels - he's taken after his big sister and is going through a hideous constipation phase, we even took him to the emergency doc's while we were here because the little bugger was dropping to his knees in agony with stomach cramps. We ended up giving him two enema's which didn't relly help, a bucket of 'lactalose' and more fruit than you would see on Pononsby road! He's being stubborn and not wanting to push anything out - lets hope it comes soon!

We've got Riccardo from work looking after the house and no real plans when we're returning to Auckand - we'll play it by ear and chill for a few more days - the kids love it here!

Sophie's reaction when she saw the milk and cookies gone she left out for Santa!

Sophie helping Max unwrap the pressie's

Xmas morning at Nana's!

Thanks Santa for the presents

A little natural...go Max!

Cool paddling pool that has become a tent

Nana's rockin chair

Max taking a peek at someone's clevage...dodgy.

Xmas lights

Sweet mountain

Dad and Soph at Pukekura Park

10,000

2010-12-17T21:34:00.001+13:00

I checked the blog statistics the other day and noticed that it has had over 10,000 views! - that's pretty impressive, just imagine if we updated it more regulary...

Life is pretty good in the King household. The kids are in superb form, they love the house, the pool and playing with each other, I'm officially on holiday for a month now, Ingrid is enjoying her new job and we're off to the Naki for a week or so in a few days time...what's not to like!

Sophie phoning Santa

Happy after a swim with her old man

Our little man growing up

My hot wife

Feeding the ducks on a lazy Sunday

Sophie and Max decorated most of the tree by themselves

Pools are awesome!

Hot days and U2

2010-11-27T23:46:00.000+13:00

I managed to scab a ticket to U2 on Thursday and man, what a show!. Apparently it's the biggest stage show ever in NZ and all of 50,000 people there went nuts all night long.

The weather has been great the past few weeks but today was an absolute scorcher! - Max still hates the pool but he's quite content playing with toys and reading books by himself (with his shirt off) while we hang by the pool swimming. Max and Soph are pretty good at entertaining themselves now too. They often run off together playing in the sandpit or in their rooms while mummy and daddy sneak a few moments of adult chillin' time! - On ya kids!

Relaxing and enjoying Bob The Builder (his favourite show)

Stage set up was pretty surreal for U2...looked like a giant spaceship

Pretty good view form our cushy spot!

Down on the Farm

2010-11-24T20:41:00.001+13:00

We went on a little adventure in the weekend and vistited Poppa and Nana Carol in Pukekohe - they were house sittnig a farm for a few days. The kids had a blast!

and a video here of Max feeding the goats

Who said you need a big tramp?

2010-11-20T11:50:00.000+13:00

Bee stings & broadband

2010-11-14T20:25:00.001+13:00

Playtime in the sandpit

What you looking at?

Story-time

They both love books

Sophie got a bee sting today.

The poor little thing was playing with her dolls out by the pool when all off sudden she started screaming – I freaked out and ran towards her and then saw a bee stuck to her arm. I flicked it off and scraped the actual sting/barb that was sticking out – but Soph still had no idea why it was stinging so much. After lots of cuddles, ointment and an ice-pack, she started feeling a little better. She kept on asking though why bee’s have stings in their tails – mmm, I had no idea but I told her “bee’s have stings bubs so birds and naughty animals won’t try and eat or hurt them – because if they try, then the bee will sting them with their tail” her response: “but I’m a nice girl daddy, I wasn’t going to hurt the bee…so why would it want to sting me?

Max is talking up a storm these days and growing quicker than the Asian population in Auckland and Soph is becoming far too clever. She’s a whiz with technology and nothing for her to jump on the computer and:

• Log on

• Click on the internet icon

• Jump into favourites

• Scroll down to her 6 or 7 U-Tube clips she has saved

• Then watch them over and over and over again – or she’ll turn the TV on, swap remotes, then flick on MY SKY , scroll down to her favourite (Ariel the Mermaid is flavour of the month at the moment) , then hit play, fast forward the adds and watch that over and over. The one downside to her computer skills…she’s eaten up our monthly broadband (the one thing she doesn’t do well is log off… – so now were on shitty dial up for the next 15 days)…and she’s lost the blimin’ camera! another new passion of hers – taking a million photos. (Just as well I’ve got a camera on my phone)

Brad

Goodtimes

2010-11-08T16:29:00.000+13:00

Sweet As Long Weekend

2010-10-26T14:28:00.001+13:00

It's been an absolute scorcher here in Auckland since Thursday last week. so hot that I decided to take today off to make the most of it and have a four-day weekend (and just quietly a chance to have a swim and enjoy the outdoor area without freaking out that the kids were going to jump in the bloody pool!)

We spent most of the weekend playing outside and having a couple of bb'q's with friends. Sunday, Roe and Justin, friends of ours from the anti-natal class, came around with their two kids Sabine and Piper, both kids similar ages to Soph and Max - they had a blast as they destroyed the house inside playing, while the adults stayed out by the pool eating...and of course drinking

It's really is a great feeling not having to think of places to take the kids during the weekend now to avoid cabin fever, they really love it here....and so do we!

Got sent this on face book - Freaknipple - photo taken 1997 - check out the cool guy hanging off the power line with his hand in his pocket...!

Max getting stuck into the barrier cream - he thought it was sun-block and caked himself head to toe...charming

Baking...you think Soph was licking the bowl afterwards?

Cheeky...

Just plain cute here

Soph and Daddy enjoying the pool in October!

Pool's rock

Sophie's new dress...picked it herself and proud as punch!

Brad

Metallica Rocked!

2010-10-16T16:10:00.005+13:00

Ingrid and I were greedy and went to Metallica both nights...and man, it was good.

Camera a bit dodgy but video here and here

We've moved in!

2010-10-11T22:22:00.001+13:00

It's been a long time between posts (I seem to be saying that every time I update this thing now), but truth be told - we've had some drama's with broadband and getting the bloody computer set up, but it's all sweet now.

The new house is great and the kids seem to be really enjoying it. They both absolutely LOVE playing outside in the pool area, but it's a tad scary seeing Max out there, all he wants to do is jump in the bloody thing! Soph's a little more cautious and knows to stay well away from the edges, she also loves helping her daddy out with scooping up all the leaves and winding back the pool cover.

Both of them are playing and getting on well together and Max is certainly talking and understanding a lot - his favourite word at the moment...you guessed it "NO" - and boy he says it with some conviction when he doesn't wanted something..."Max time for bed now "NO!!!!"...ouch.

So much to write about, but I thought it's best to chuck a few pics on first and slap something more substantial up later in the week - so talk more soon.

The pool at night - sweet

Going for a long walk - Soph got tired and jumped in the stroller - Max loved it!

Happy kids!

The park no less than 4 houses down the street

Everyday they want to go along and play

...everyday...

Sophie the little actor - bringing all her dolls out and putting on a performance for them all

We've had a couple of stunning weekends and I've even been for a few swims already.

Fun times at the mall

Brad

2010-09-24T19:31:00.000+12:00

Soph bringing in the rubbish for the last time at the old place

We've finally moved into the new house! I thought it would be a lot easier this time, given half our stuff was still packed in boxes from our last move, but it's still a massive undertaking (yes even after moving house 5 times in the past 10 years!). It would have been harder still, if mum hadn't come up and treated the kids to a weekend of fun and games while the two of us packed and started taking things over to the new house.

Monday the movers came...or should I say cowboys came...they turned up with a truck far to small to carry our furniture, and then spent half a day trying to work out how it would all fit into the truck...which it didn't... so 4 hours and two trips later...we were in. We manged to assemble the kids beds along with our own, set up the tv - then it was time to grab the kids from daycare! I had to go back to work Tuesday and Ingrid was working the rest of the week - so the place still looks a bit of a site - (especially the basement that resembles something closer to downtown Baghdad now!

The kids really seem to dig the place now though - there's a playground/park no-less than 4 houses down the road that they absolutely love! - The only scary thing is the pool - I took the cover off today to clean and vacuum it, but I but spent more time trying to stop Max from leaping in...I doubt there will be much lazing around the pool this summertime!y

I'm taking Mon/Tue off this week to get a few things done around the place while the kids are at daycare - hopefully might even sneak in a lazy swim!

Max loves the Ladies

2010-09-13T20:56:00.004+12:00

We've been told that Max is a bit of a hit with the ladies...so I asked him what his secret was.

"Well daddy - you start by puckering up your lips and looking all sweet and innocent"

."..then you do the old - 'I'm gonna pretend to bite your head off trick...'

"Then, you shut your eyes and plant a big one right on the lips"

"then you reveal in your awesomeness..."

Soph loving the camera

"I'm not cheeky at all..."

Soph's great camera skills..not bad

Chillin' outside on a lazy Sunday afternoon (one of my favourite photo's)

Daddy has taught her well

The New House!

2010-08-21T22:53:00.001+12:00

After looking for more than a year - we finally found our new home!

The place came on the market last Saturday and we were the proud owners the following day...(it paid to wait as we got a great deal on the house). You could tell it was well priced and very popular considering more than thirty people went along to the first open home on an absolute shitter of a day.

It's as solid as buggery (we checked out buliders report and lim in deatil) - it's a 3 Bedroom (with additional room in basement) on a quite cul-da-sac street with a little park at the end of the road, perfect for kids, good zoning and not sure if you noticed...but it comes fully equipped with a very stylish heated pool too...

We move in Sept 17 - you ripper.

Overdue Update

2010-08-08T13:22:00.000+12:00

Long time again between posts sorry. Safe to say things aren't slowing down at all here...I'm just about to go into another ratings round at work so things are mad there, we're still looking for a house to buy, Ingrid is working and studying now and the kids growing up way too quickly!

We did however, manage to steal a breather a couple of weeks ago...I dropped the kids off at Nana's for 4 nights while Ingrid and I had some long over-due, and much enjoyed time to ourselves over the weekend. Simple things like sleeping in then reading the paper in bed felt like a luxury holiday. We spent an afternoon at Leigh beach which was very cool, went out for dinner and lunch a couple of times, took in a movie and even went to the casino for the first time in years (and waked out with more money than when we stated - score!)

It was a nice way to re-charge the batteries and we only felt a little bit selfish as the kids absolutely love it at Nana's (so much so that Sophie woke up in tears the day she got back home saying she wanted to go back to Nana's house!)

Leigh Beach - Stunning place

Kid less for the weekend

Leigh beach - a Marine reserve, beautiful water and fish the size of basketballs swimming around the rocks!

Sophie at the park having a blast!

On the way to Nana's place - driving at night - Sophie's still fascinated with the Sky Tower!

Groovy waterfall (and wife) at the Beach

Me and me ol' mate Colin...not a bad rugby player apparently...

Pirate Day at Kids Klub

Max playing it cool in front of the ladies...

Fun indoors on a wet and wild weekend

7pm and time to hit the road to Nana's - a couple of excited kids - they both crashed out 20 minutes into the 4 hour trip - not bad!

Grantz was great too - helping out with the kids over the weekend

"Mmmm yum!"

Sophie the little princess

Eating and playing at Nana's

Fun-times on Rochelle and Darren's farm

Soph, aunty Rochelle...and Friday's dinner.

Good times

Thanks Nana!

Brad

More Skytower fun with Daddy

2010-07-09T22:24:00.002+12:00

"Daddy took the afternoon off work on Wednesday and took me up to the Skytower - He told me there was a big lollie display up there...and I like lollies!"

"Yip - I know where these stairs lead to - the Skytower!"

"Just a wee bit excited before going up the lift to the top floor"

Check this out - the highest lollie shop in the world apparently! - Did I mention I like lollies?

Daddy tried to tell me this stuff was nice -I told him it was like eating Charlie's fur...but I still ate it.

"I do like the Skytower."

Haircuts & Birthdays

2010-07-03T15:28:00.006+12:00

Sophie had her very first hair-cut last week. The salon is right across the road from Kids Klub so it was nice and easy for Ingrid to drop Max off there, and then take a very excited little girl in to the hairdressers.

Soph had a blast too and lapped up every minute she had there! She got a full hair wash and all the trimmings and absolutely LOVED staring at herself in the mirror for almost 30 minutes!

"Wow this is pretty cool"

"Check out how long my hair is!"

"Wot-chu you lookin' at?"

It was my 26th (oops 36th) birthday on the same day so Sophie was extra pumped that day - a first hair cut and cupcakes to look forward to that night! - It worked out well; Grantz was staying for a few days so after cupcakes with the kids that night, Ingrid and I went out on a hot date. The following morning was a little tough though; think we both had 1 too many that night...

Soph has been around at a friends playing all morning today which has been great for her (and us, as it's given Ingrid and I some rare 1 on 1 time with Max which had been pretty cool ).

"You eat it Daddy"

"I know I've got some in my mouth - but I reckon I can do more" - thinks Max

"more please"

My two gorgeous girls

Little video of us all singing "Happy Birthday Daddy"

Brad

When a t-shirt says it all!

2010-06-27T11:08:00.002+12:00

Sophie & Daddy Go Running

2010-06-26T13:30:00.000+12:00

Update

2010-06-19T23:48:00.004+12:00

Last week we piled the kids in the back of the car and headed on down to Taranaki. We got to see the All Blacks thrash Ireland on Saturday, then Ingrid and I stepped it up a notch, and checked out some local theatre starring Max and Soph's very own talented Nana!

We all had a great time while we were away, and want to say cheers to Grantz, Auntie Rochelle and Darren for looking after the kids for a couple of nights while Mummy and Daddy hit the town - and of course, a special thanks to Nana for putting up with us all and allowing her house to become trashed while we were there - thanks mum!

Max getting excited momens before the big road trip

Arh, we miss this place...

Tickets to the All Blacks at Rugby Park - we had a great night!

Sophie made us chase a rainbow down to the lake

Couple of happy Kings

Yay - Nana's place!

Here's a short video of Max learning nursery rhymes

+ A video here of Max laughing

ps. Was getting bored with the layout of blog so gave it a fresh coat of paint - hope you like!

Kids Playing

2010-05-23T12:38:00.001+12:00

Playtime video here

Max saying "Oh Ooh" video here

Sophie's Big Day Out

2010-05-16T22:19:00.001+12:00

Every time we drive over the Harbour bridge, Sophie gets really excited when she sees the Sky Tower out the car window. So today we decided to check it out

Dressed, lunch packed and ready to go!

Do you think Soph's excited?

"Wow - this sure is pretty cool!"

Mummy admiring the view too

Not bad...

I'm not sure if Sophie liked the fact that there was only one sheet of glass, between her and the main road 500 feet below...

Max couldn't care less about it - he spotted another kid having a fluffy!

"Hey lady with the fluffy - I'm over here!"

Designer fluffies...must be from the designer prices it costs to get up here- $25 per person! - (thank Christ kids are free)

"Hey Mummy, wadda doing - that's mine!"

I'm not certain - but I reckon that's Jesus out the window

Did you have a good time Sophie?

Quick snap by the waterfall at reception and then it's time to go home

"I like the Sky Tower"

I'm 4 now!

2010-05-12T07:43:00.001+12:00

Sophie dressing Max

Soph at a princess party

Up at 5am singing "happy birthday dear Sophie"

More presents

"Come on Soph, I'll take you for a ride"

Kids love bubbles!...and Auntie Nicky

Soph the dare-devil

Fun at Lollipops

Soph's buddies

The hungry Caterpillar...tasted good too

"Make a wish Soph"

More presents...

...and even more!

Max loving the wheelbarrow

Happy Max

Sad Daddy - The day after getting my wisdom teeth out.

It's been a while

2010-05-01T14:39:00.002+12:00

It feels like forever since the last blog update and plenty has happened over the past few weeks:

Max no longer walks – he runs
We were agonisingly close to owning our dream home
Ingrid had a birthday
Sophie made cup-cakes all by herself
Max smashed his head against the wall…again
Sophie got sick last night
The Rock won a stack of awards including Best Metropolitan Station in NZ
Max dances every time he hears music here
Sophie turns 4 in a few days
Ingrid came close to telling her boss to shove it
I need my bottom wisdom teeth out

Here’s a couple of videos here and here of Max

Brad

Easter at Nana's House

2010-04-17T15:38:00.004+12:00

(Click to enlarge each pic)

Holiday in the Naki - 4 days of relaxation

Sophie absolutely loves the beach at Bell Block - and walking distance from her Nana's house too

More beach time - nice sunset!

...and a little more

Dad's turn now

Park-time - Litte miss adventurous

Max takes after his sis - loves the swing!

Sophie and Nana - good times

Aunty Rochelle and her cool chickens

Plane in the freaky Taranaki sky

We had a blast over the Easter break - the kids travelled really well too and loved every minute of their holiday at Nana's!

Easter

2010-04-01T08:27:00.000+13:00

Tutakaka

2010-03-24T21:39:00.007+13:00

Last weekend we made an impromptu decision to go away for the weekend to a place that Ingrid and I absolutely love...Tutakaka. It's less than 2 hours drive from Auckland, a great place for kids, nice beaches, stunning views and most of all - very relaxing!

Sophie taking in the breath-taking views

Kids enjoying lunch together on our very own patio

Photo taken from inside - the view from the lounge was pretty cool

The Kings on holiday

Kids playing and sharing

Sandwiches and beer for lunch...you beauty

"You take a photo of me Brad..and I'll take one of you"

"Ok Ingrid"

Max Video Here - Looking very relaxed and happy on holiday.

...And a private beach for guests...Sophie had the place to herself and had a ball!

A great trip up North and even better way to see off summer. The kids absolutely loved the place, especially playing in the park next door to our room, swimming in the pool and even chilling in the groovy spa pool afterwards!

We also managed to catch up with our friends Jonesy and Kaye and their 2 very cool kids, Cassidy and Ryan.

A great trip and just what the doctor ordered.

Brad

First Steps

2010-03-10T22:36:00.006+13:00

Brother and sister...and good buddies

The little one...growing up very fast

Max took his first steps today and I managed to catch it here on camera!

...this video shows why babies shouldn't climb stairs...

Happy 1st Birthday Max

2010-02-15T23:40:00.002+13:00

We left 2009 behind without a backward glance after the bad luck we had that year and leapt straight into 2010 with a bang! We got our first all family tummy bug where we all went down one by one over a period of five days. No idea where it came from, but we got through it with Max being the only one who pretty much bounced back straight away! The rest of us took a couple of days of headaches and aching muscles to come right, but Max didn’t even cry or wake up! I went up to get him out of bed as usual on a Sunday morning and he was just playing happily with the vomit in his cot! GROSS The day after I came down with it I had a job interview. Was a bit of an effort to get out of bed and dressed up and try and focus, but managed it in the end and must have done ok as I got the job! I am going to be a consultant at the Jenny Craig weight loss centre in Takapuna. I am so stoked at this is totally my dream job and have been waiting for this opportunity to come along for about five years! However it does come with its difficulties as the hours are longer than I had thought and have some pretty early and late start times, so a bit of pressure on Brad, but I am sure we will get through it.

I had surgery on my ankle again yesterday to remove one of the screws....(And that’s all Ingrid wrote folks – Brad here now)

Ingrid opted for the ‘local’ as apposed to the ‘general’ for the screw removal. She chose the wrong option as the local worked brilliantly on nullifying the pain in the bone – but not the skin – she reckons she felt the scalpel go in and cut all the way down her leg and felt the needle thread every stitch too…ouch.

Ingrid had a week of intensive training last week, gearing up for her official 1st day at work tomorrow…that was until Sophie decided to throw a spanner in the works, and develope Chicken Pox over the weekend! I have just hit ratings time at work this week which is FULL on and can’t take anytime off – so Ingrid has had to delay her starting date until next week…lets hope her new boss is understanding...

On a more positive note – Today Max officially turned 1 year old! Crazy to think how quickly this past year has gone. We had a small celebration yesterday – Aunty Nicky came over and made a very groovy train-cake for Max, we were going to have a few people around for a big birthday party but sly old Mr. Chicken Pox put an end to that one...in saying that, it was a great day and the kids loved it!

We bought a bargin pool from the Warehouse for only $75! - Comes with a filter, pool cover and hours of fun for the kids!

Max's new trick...guess what it is?

"What's that you say- is it smoko time already?"

The beauty of having younger siblings - Sophie enjoying Max's birthday even with Chicken Pox!

Max's clever Aunty baking a stunning cake

"What do you mean I look crazy...what are you talking about - I've only had 4 pieces, I can easily do another 8...come on, give me some more!!!!

Mother and daughter helping out the birthday boy

"Let me see...yes, good texture, the right consistancy...mmm, not bad at all"

Poor bubs - unfortunately, they look as bad as she feels...

Friday night she showed no signs at all...this photo taken first thing Saturday morning...

Video here of Max's 1st birthday

ps.
We're lucky parents - Soph and Max are pretty awesome.

Brad and Ingrid

You can take the Kings' out of Taranaki...

2010-02-09T23:15:00.001+13:00

Metal-head boys and knife dancing girls -what the?? Watch Here

Clever Max

2010-01-19T20:29:00.001+13:00

"Mmm I wonder what's going on over at the neighbours house?..."

It only seems like yesterday Max started crawling (It was actually a couple of weeks before Xmas) - Now the little bugger has given up with that - today we caught him doing this! Check this video out!

Brad

2010-01-17T16:25:00.000+13:00

Kids on Holiday

2010-01-09T10:31:00.002+13:00

Sophie pretending to be all grown up

Max starting early on the bike

'Come on - who wants to go for a run!'

Sophie and her boyfriend Issac

Max the DJ

Yip - this is the life

Other foot now

Mummy entertaining the kids outside

Sophie lovin the Rock tent

Xmas in the Naki

2010-01-01T15:57:00.004+13:00

My little All Black

2009-12-21T22:39:00.001+13:00

Reports and X-Rays

2009-12-19T07:32:00.012+13:00

Sophie and Max finished Kids Klub yesterday. Even thought it's going to be great having the kids home for three weeks - the two of them will certainly miss all their friends and teachers. The care-givers do a great job there for sure, as Soph and Max both came home with port folio's of all their work from throughout the year and report cards too!

(If you have trouble reading - click on each photo to enlarge)

Ingrid's report card for the year: FAIL.

Brad's report card for the year: FAIL

The year that is 2009

2009-12-13T14:17:00.011+13:00

Chillin' in the back yard on a summers day

Well a post is long overdue, but there are very good reasons for it. The main one being that Brad and I would really like to forget that 2009 even exists! The only good thing that came out of this year is Max and he really has been an absolute delight and a baby that I would wish on everyone lucky enough to have children. The rest of the year however was cruising along – not great, but not bad either until Brad went out for a night to the fight of the century without the wife and kids and came home with a broken arm. Surgery and a few days in hospital followed along with some slow healing. After laughing at him for three weeks and being a meanie about the fact that he can’t be trusted to go out for a night without me I decide to attend another boxing match with him to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble when low and behold I misplace my footing getting out of the car into the gutter and fall very awkwardly. What ensues is a loud crack and a munted ankle and foot that looks far from normal. In fact no normal foot should be facing the way mine was…so off to the emergency department at the hospital where I am informed after x-rays that I have dislocated my ankle and broken it in three places! WTF, talk about karma.

I ended up staying at the hospital for just over a week waiting for the swelling to go down before they could operate. Finally they operate on 6th November and a couple of days later they kick me out. It was awesome to go home, but reality sets in that I can’t do anything. I can’t put my foot down on the floor and with crutches I can’t carry or lift anything including my kids. So ACC sends them off to daycare for the next six weeks. So here I am, stuck at home on the couch for most of the day with the kids gone and Brad at work and I can’t even carry a cup of tea! Now four weeks have passed and although I am still on crutches I can put a bit of weight on my broken foot and it’s getting a bit stronger every day. Brad has been an absolute trooper and has had to become the full time worker, house dad and cleaner, while his leper of a wife watches on and he has done all this with a broken arm. We really are not great role models for our kids are we! And all Max can do everything he sees me hobbling along on the crutches? He laughs like it is the funniest thing in the world! (Ingrid got bored and hasn't been back to update the story! - so I've jumped in)

Anyhow - Max is crawling and into everything now - Sophie 99% of the time is a great big sister to Max and Ingrid is moving around a loot better now - she can at least drive a car and managed to get Max up and down the stairs yesterday - that's been the hardest part up till now - Ingrid couldn't put any weight on her foot so getting the kids out of bed and down the stairs has been impossible - but now there is light at the end of tunnel. My arm is getting better, but I still can't bend it very well - going to Physio once a week to get the strength and movement back in - worst part is shaking bloody hands! - In my job I do a lot of that and it nearly cripples me every time! - arhhh!

On the go the little bugger!

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Max's first real meal - he's a complete hoover! - especially loves his meat - just like his old man!
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Sophie was a trooper when Ingrid was in hospital - she stepped up and almost ran the house - "here you go daddy, I baked a cake for you"
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Role models.
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Ouch...that's gotta hurt!...moments before 4 doctors pulled and twisted Ingrid's leg back into shape

"Oh you have got to be joking...."

Also check out Max crawling here in a video!

And Max laughing opening up a draw - video here

2009-11-21T08:42:00.001+13:00

Bath-and scream-time!

2009-10-21T21:56:00.006+13:00

Click here to see Sophie and Max playing and squealing together!

Eventful couple of weeks

2009-10-18T14:31:00.002+13:00

Happy kids playing together

Max 8 months now

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Sophie and Grantz playing 'Little Red Riding Hood'
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Ringside seats...what a view!
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that was quick...
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"Oooh that's gotta hurt!"
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I should have gone home at this point

Initially it was a bit of a laugh – the first night away from the wife and kids in a long time – and I come home with a severe hangover, an empty wallet and a broken wrist.
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We (The Rock) sponsored the Tua v Cameron “Fight of the Century” in Hamilton and part of the deal included a ringside table valued at a whopping $15,000 and even though the fight was short and sweet– the atmosphere in the stadium justified the price-tag and some…nothing short of electrifying.
So after dining on fine food and free wine for over 7 hours a bunch of us headed into Hamilton City for the official after party – I knew I was getting a little tipsy that later on in the night when I found myself on stage in a bar…singing in a band …and it became abundantly clear, pretty quickly, that I was the only person in the bar that thought I sounded O for Awesome too– the rest of the evening was a bit of a blur – I do remember the kind gentle bouncer dragging me outside, I remember a few verbal pleasantries being exchanged…(apparently I can get a little cocky and arrogant when pissed, Ingrid says) and then I have vague flashbacks of me sliding down a wet footpath like a bowling ball on a slippery lane...
So after a politely thanking the bouncer for throwing me – I rounded the night off with a few games of pool, a couple more drinks and a long drunken walk back to the motel.
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I knew something wasn’t quite right when I jumped in the shower the following morning and felt sharp pains shooting through my wrist whiled I tried to wash my hair and by the time I got back to Auckland that afternoon, my hand had almost doubled in size and was really quite painful at this stage. Ingrid drove me to A&E and the docs confirmed that I had a broken my scaphoid in my right wrist - and shortly afterwards dropped the pleasant news that due to the severity of the break, I had to have surgery later on that week to get a couple of pins inserted…
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So after a couple of days of getting the piss taken by everyone at work – I headed into surgery. Thankfully I was first on the list for the day, so it was nice and early when I went into theatre – the operation took a couple of hours and after waking up and spending an hour in recovery, I was allowed to go home. Ingrid picked me up and we stopped for a coffee and some lunch – I was even talking about the Music Awards that night and feeling up to going! I still felt a little dazed from surgery so decided to have a bit of kip in the afternoon…I slept for about an hour and then woke with what felt like lightening bolts surging through arm – going from the tips of my fingers to the base of my elbow – I’ve never had surgery so I wasn’t sure if this was a normal reaction or if I was just being a bit of a soft-cock, so I downed a few pain killers. Instead of nullifying the pain, it seemed to increase it…I couldn’t touch my arm by this stage and was trembling, as white as a ghost and felt like throwing up – Ingrid rushed me back to Hospital and they admitted me straight away. As it turned out I had developed a rare reaction called R.N.S. (Regional Nerve Syndrome) – It happens sometimes when the anesthetic wears off too quickly and the nerves don’t have enough time to register or react properly – so then the nerve endings start freaking out a little and become extremely heightened and super sensitive– and believe me – having nerves that are freaking out to that point, ain’t pretty! I spent the next couple of days in hospital feasting on combinations of morphine drips, nerve pills and pretty sweet painkillers.
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Thankfully Nicci (Ingrid’s mum) had come to stay for the week which turned out to be a blessing as she became the built in care giver for the kids while Ingrid ran around looking after her leper husband…

I’ve had my arm re-cast since theatre and I have to attend hand physio a couple of times per week. I’ve only just started to move my fingers un-assisted the past couple of days, so I still can’t tie my shoe laces, change nappies, bath the kids or hold anything in my right hand…and to think, I thought it was kind of funny finding out I had broken my hand and not really remembering it…I know one thing for sure though, I sure won’t forget the days after breaking it…

You can take the boy out of Hamilton...

The only good part of hospitals...visits!

Max happy to see his old man home

You think Sophie likes her Ice-Cream?

Brad

Growing up fast

2009-10-02T18:17:00.002+13:00

Fun with chalk

2009-09-19T15:40:00.002+12:00

A natural at this game!

ps. Check out Sophie's first bike ride here

What's this - Ingrid does her first post since Max is born!

2009-09-13T14:34:00.018+12:00

Well nothing like a bit of pressure! Brad said he refused to update until I had done one and the stalemate was getting a bit ridiculous, so I caved. However, now that it has been so long since an update was done I don’t really know where to start. So below is an outline.

Growing fast

Family outing down the park

Max

He is now almost seven months old and I really have no idea where the time has gone. I am trying really hard to just soak up every minute of the day as he is growing so quickly and does something new everyday. But with time flying by he seems to be leaving his babyhood behind so quickly. He is a really good little boy. A great feeder (loves his solids) and sleeper and is pretty chilled out most of the time – as long as his belly is full he will pretty much entertain himself. He ADORES Sophie and just sits and grins at her and just watches everything she does. He has two bottom teeth which popped through about three weeks ago and gave him a bit of hell – he’s certainly a boy when it comes to sickness or pain!

Sitting up quite nicely by himself now

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The two of them playing togther in the blow-up boat
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Sophie
Loves her brother and totally mothers him, making sure he has his favourite toy in his hands at all times and picks up after him when he drops something. She can get a bit rough with him, but I guess that is just because she is bigger and isn’t aware she is being a bit boisterous. Her vocabulary is coming along really well and has a lovely sense of humour which is really sweet to see and is a really good girl most of time. She still goes to Kids Klub and is now one of the big girls who gets to boss around the littlies (although she likes to mother them all too really). Her bottom has been good now for about six weeks (in fact ever since we moved from the last house), so it has been such a relief for Brad and I. She has a ‘boy’ friend called Isaac who goes to her Kids Klub and she says he is her ‘best’ friend! They are really sweet together and he too has red hair!

Birthday party at her best friend Issac's house
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Showing off her beautiful 'strawberry blond' locks
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Swing time!
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Great idea - making trains from boxes and chew-chewing arounds all day
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Fiji
Thanks so much to Christine and Nicky who looked after Max and Sophie while Brad and I selfishly went off sunning ourselves in Fiji. We stayed at the Hilton on Denerau and just had the most beautiful time. We relaxed and slept and drank and swam and walked and basically forgot for a couple of days that we had the responsibility of children. (Although we did miss them dreadfully), But by all accounts they didn’t really miss us and were very well behaved.

On the Bula Bus - cruising the resorts...life was very tough for 4 days..
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What we did most of...yip - bugger all!- justing chilling at the pool...

View from our room...arh, I wish we were back there!

Brad and I

Brad is busy as at work with survey and I am busy at home running the house and cleaning up after a family! I guess at some stage I will probably have to look for another job – but at least I have a good excuse at the moment to stay at home and look after my babies and that is that the employment market is pretty lean on the ground at the moment! So that is about it at the moment. To my friends that have been emailing me. I am so sorry I haven’t replied for ages, but have been having problems with my email and haven’t been able to get anything sent – hopefully by the end of next week I will be able to get in touch.

Last night in Fiji - we even ran into freinds and ended up having dinner on the beach!

Nana did a sensational job!

Ingrid xx

Waiting for Ingrid to update...Come on woman!

2009-08-16T14:25:00.004+12:00

video of max

Alton Ave

2009-08-09T21:30:00.000+12:00

Max 6 Months old and now sleeping from 6:30pm - 6:30am and enjoying his solids - growing fast

Hanging out to walk already

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The little actress up front
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Cook the bloody man some eggs woman! - The new kitchen

Dining room

(Small) backyard

Side of the house

View from our room

Moving in

2009-08-03T22:12:00.010+12:00

quick post - just got back from indoor cricket and about to feed Max - the move went pretty smoothly - Ingrid dropped Max off at daycare with Sophie on the big day (Sophie was proud as punch telling everyone at Kids Klub that she was Max's big sister)

No Photos of the inside just yet - as there's still boxes of crap everywhere...but a couple of the outside and some shots of the kids - will update properly later on in the week

The Front - Internal access...you beauty!

Happy kids (most of the time...)

the day before the move..."Bye old house"

Moving on out

2009-07-18T14:02:00.005+12:00

Max and Soph's parents...a couple of nut jobs!.

In less than 10 days we will be gone and we haven't even started packing yet! We've decided to rent a house for 6 months or so, or until we find a place that ticks all the boxes (to be fair, there are bugger all properties on the market at the moment, so no wonder we got a good offer on ours).

The new place isn't too far from where we are now- but that's where the similarities end - The rental is brand spanking new (in fact it's still not quite finished yet) - it's 2 stories, has 3 bedrooms and a study, not a great deal of land, but there is grass and enough of it for Sophie to play outside - but the best part...the neighbourhood is very quiet and the place is nowhere near a main road!

The kids are well - hard to believe Max is already 5 months! - Gonna start him on solids when he gets to 6 months and hopefully by then we can drop the 10pm dream feed. We've tried dropping it now, but he's not quite ready - so better to feed him at that time and have him sleep though night, than wake up at 3am starving.

As you can see in the photo at the top of the page, Ingrid and I got dressed up and headed out to a themed Rockstar/Popstar night. It was a mate from works' 30th and pretty much the first night we've been out for longer than a quick meal since Max's was born - so thanks again sis for babysitting!

We had a great night too - I went along as the gay construction worker frm the Village People and Ingrid was decked out like Cher - I ever won a meat pack for my costume! The venue was a private bar in the middle of Aucklands's CDB...in one of the more seedy areas of town - so you could imagine how strange we both looked leaving the place well after midnight...still in full coustume (and a little light on the feet by that stage) I was also lugging a huge box of meat on my shoulder, and we were on our way, walking towards a cab when a police car pulled up besdide us - as they slowed down we could see the coppers inside pissing themselves!...cheeky buggers...

Brad