Our third upside-down Christmas Day was a very relaxed affair; the first half spent at home and the second half at Emma & Dan's, along with some of Emma's family over from the UK and Helen and Paul (Emma met them when she worked in the physio dept but, in the small world we live in, Helen also lived with my sister, Katy, when they were at uni in Cardiff!).
Matthew did seem to enjoy opening his presents and was more intrigued with his new toys than I expected (lots of people told me he'd only be interested in the wrapping paper). It took us a while to open them all because so much of a day is eating and sleeping! And there are more presents to come because we are still waiting for parcels from the UK (I feel very sorry for Elisabeth who, having posted a parcel surface mail last year which didn't arrive 'til mid-January, decided this year to post it air mail and it still didn't arrive on time) - so Christmas will be an extended affair this year.
Christmas food was very different with a whole salmon (expertly barbecued by Dan), cold ham (which honestly could have fed an army) and lovely salads and bread. We also had a chocolate truffle cake for Christmas cake which was amazing! We ate outside, though in typical English style; actually it was quite chilly but we had to eat out because we could and it should have been warm!

The one frustration of the day (which continued into Boxing Day) was difficulty with technology in trying to make contact with family at home. When we could get through on the phone, after several attempts, the connection only lasted a few seconds. The internet was not much better and when we tried to use the webcam it crashed.

The rest of the week has been very quiet and relaxing. The weather has been much warmer so we've been for a picnic and walks and generally enjoyed time to read and play with our new toys (and that's not just Matthew!).

Merry Christmas!

It's 1am and I've just got back from Midnight Mass and as we've just entered Christmas Day (and we're some of the first around the world!) I thought I'd send greetings! And also a couple of photos - our family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (because we're being Kiwis tomorrow with bbq etc) and Matthew with his stocking! Anyway, have a good one and lots and lots of love xxx. Off to play Father Christmas now...

Christmas Proper

Yesterday it was 30 degrees here and Matthew couldn't sleep because he was too hot. Today the wind has shifted from the north west to the south west; it's blowing a gale and absolutely pouring with rain! Neil has lit a fire and is out for the evening so the only thing for it is for me to put on my cheesy Christmas music and wrap presents. Everybody else is probably very ticked off with the weather but I love it! It makes me feel much less homesick and it's just the kind of weather there ought to be at Christmas!
Matthew is also getting into the spirit of Christmas and is obsessed with our tree. He's a little like the squirrel in Ice Age who is in pursuit of the acorn; he looks at where the tree is, appears to think out his route and then rolls - back to front, front to back, left to right, right to left (a skill perfected over the weekend) - and pushes himself however he needs to in order to reach those very pretty beads that hang nicely from the lower branches! Then, very cruelly, Mummy or Daddy swoop down and scoop him up - denied! I have a great little movie of it and if I ever figure out how to post it you can have a look but, for now, here are a couple of photos of his brief moments of triumph!

Youth Weekend Away

Just back from taking some of our youth on a weekend away to Hanmer Springs, a thermal resort about 90 mins away and we had such a fantastic time that I had to blog about it immediately (otherwise Christmas will be upon me and I'll be consumed by presents and food!).

So Sam (just finishing his breakfast in the photo!), Tim, Dan, Monique, Kirsten, Mel and Jaimee joined us in the rather large bach that we stayed in with Alastair and Helen and co when they were here in October.

The lads slept downstairs, the Shepherds on the middle floor and the girls had the top floor - though not sure the girls got a huge amount of sleep!
Our aim for the weekend was to hang out and deepen friendships by hearing one another's stories and by listening to what God had to say to each of us. This was all linked wonderfully together by food, silly songs, Cranium, street cricket, bedtime stories and the hot pools (which I appreciated far more today because the weather was dreadful). Matthew had lots of fun with different faces to entertain him and lots of cuddles! He also loved the pools - just a big bath really!

Anyway, our aim for the weekend was achieved and it wasn't for me but I feel totally blessed and encouraged by them all. They are fab!

Plunkett

Plunkett is the association responsible for looking after children under 5 years old and their families. When your baby is about 3 months old they get the mums together and have structured sessions on things like CPR, active movement, first foods. Then they encourage you to continue to meet together for mutual support. Some groups gel and work out (Carolyn's group are still friends and meeting up and her daughter is now 5 years old), some don't. Anyway, ours has been together for 2 whole months! We've been meeting fortnightly but still at the stage where we just talk about what our babies are doing - really gripping stuff, though it's amazing how much we can talk about teeth and sleep and poo! A couple of us suggested that we'd porbably get to know each other better if we met up every week so yesterday we went to the Blue Rooster (my favourite cafe, though they've changed the loyalty card so you have to buy 10 coffees/hot chocoltaes to get one free whereas it used to be only 5!). We totally took over the bar area and decided the huge leather sofas were just a good size to line our babies up and take a photo.

So here's our Plunkett group: from left to right - Tessa, Finlay, Braedan, Emma, Matthew, Ruby, Bradley and Evie!

Ah - how cute! What you can't see is that we had to give Matthew a toy because he kept hitting out at Ruby and you may spot Bradley pulling on Ruby's neckerchief - he wanted to suck on it and go to sleep! Poor little girl - she got the worst spot to sit! Finlay was very tired and about to lose teh plot and Emma nearly slipped and lay down chewing on her feet! Can you imagine the carnage when they're all moving?!

Santa Parade

Every year there is a Santa Parade along the main Rangiora High Street. Some of the floats are more festive than others (if you're interested see our friend Charlotte's blog
www.upsidedowncharlotte.blogspot.com) and this year our church entered as a walking group 'telling' the nativity story. Neil was an innkeeper, I a shepherd and Matthew a sheep! Matthew didn't seem too impressed and slept all the way so won't be scarred from wearing the little ears and outfit! Here he is with two gorgeous girls from church, Hannah and Grace.

He kept himslef amused by shaking the sleigh bells - maybe he thought it may drown out the bagpipes band marching just ahead of us!

The 'float' looked great with rickshaws decked out as camels and a stable and a host of angels, wise men and a star - such a success we won first prize!

The Christmas season is in full swing and we had the youth Christmas party on Sunday night. It was an 'S' party (because it's the youth gathering has been Sunday @ Six) so we had Star Wars characters, a stocking, Santa, soccer player, special agent, something and something else! We also had a sausage sizzle and played Singstar (Neil and I sang Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen; we had no idea the words were quite as dodgy as they are!). Lots of fun was had and it was a great way to end the year.

Fresh Air

On the last couple of Fridays we have been out walking with Matthew in the back pack. He absolutely loves being carried up high - he's the king of the castle - and he chats and giggles constantly (until he falls asleep!). In this part of the country you can either go for a stroll around the town or local park or go on a mammoth 3-6 hour tramp. There aren't gentle ambles between villages (and their local pubs) and along footpaths through farmer's fields. But we have found a few hour long walks in the local mountain forests which are really lovely, though can still be hazardous (Neil prefers 'adventurous') when trees have fallen and blocked the paths and we're trying to duck or climb over with a baby on our back - good job Matthew had a hat on is all I can say!

The beach is another favourite place to visit. Last week it was quite windy but the recent mixed weather (mixed putting it politely - it is so still spring here and not summer) had resulted in the tide bringing in an abundance of fantastic driftwood and somebody must have had fun building a tee-pee.

(PS: If anybody can instruct me on how to post two photos side by side without them touching I'd really like to know!)

Scott

Scott is one of our fantastic youth who Neil regularly spends time with - usually having milkshakes with him after school. Neil also gives him a lift home after Sunday @ 6 and tonight Scott called in to wait for Neil whilst I was updating the blog. He insisted that I mention him and so we decided the best way for me to do that was to post his picture. He wants me to say that he's very good looking and he was very pleased with the photo as it shows his best side!

Step into Christmas

I'm not usually somebody who puts the Christmas tree up as early as is reasonable (when I say reasonable I mean the beginning of December NOT the beginning of November like one house in our town) but this year December 1st it was. There were a number of reasons for this; the first is that it was very cold and miserable and we had to light the fire (in spite of the fact it's the first day of summer!). It still does not seem right to me to have Christmassy things happen in warm weather and on light evenings so the opportunity to decorate the house in 'traditional' Christmas weather could not be missed. The second factor was that my sister, Sally, had sent us two parcels full of Christmas presents which really needed somewhere to live for the next three weeks and where better than under the tree? The third factor was that I have recently accquired a cheesy Christmas album (from the church garage sale so didn't spend lots of pennies - well cents - on trash) so that was in place to add to the atmosphere. Neil was not impressed with the latter at all but Matthew seemed to giggle while I danced round the room with him - he was probably thinking his mother is barking mad.
Anyway, I have included a picture but it's not very clear because by the time the tree was decorated we were all roasting as the sun had come out and was streaming through the window - you couldn't even tell there were any lights on the tree!

Guests

A YWAM (Youth With a Mission) team have ben serving at our church over the last week and two of the team members, Hannah and Sarah, stayed with us during that time. It was lovely to have them around; they introduced us to falafels and baby sat for us so we could go to the cinema - the first time since Matthew was born! Matthew thought it was wonderful to have more people around to smile at but it also meant that the last three nights he's ended up in our bed because we didn't want him to disturb them. I do hope he's not got too used to it...

Birthday 'Treats'

Last week we went out to celebrate Carolyn's birthday. Carolyn is a great friend who has been especially helpful concerning all things 'mum'; she bequeathed to us many essential items including cloth nappies and a sheepskin rug (for chilly NZ floors), she was a source of tremendous encouragement when breastfeeding was a nightmare, she was the first one to get pillows and cushions behind Matthew to encourage him to sit up (Neil and I had been saying to each other "How do you think he learns to do it - does it just happen?!") and Matthew always has a big grin for her. Eighteen months ago Carolyn was diagnosed with cancer; she continues to fight bravely and we continue to pray for her healing so it was really good we could join her on her special day and eat cake!
While we had our cake and ate it, Matthew was trying a different delicacy. Another gorgeous friend, Lisa, had spotted the sand pit and thought Matthew needed initiating into this new world - her theory is if boys (and probably girls too for that matter) come in grubby and caked in mud and sand they've obviously had a really good day! Well, he was certainly intrigued, enough for it to take a good few minutes before he decided to take the taste test.

Rusks

Now Matthew is 6 months old he's allowed to suck, bite and generally mutilate a rusk. They say a picture tells a thousand words - enough said.

Icebergs off New Zealand

Yes, it's true. Who would have believed it!! We've said it can be cold in NZ but, honestly, it was 33 degrees today!

Well here's the proof:










If you want to see the news footage go to:

http://content.mediaworks.co.nz/tv/News/061115/3NEWS.ICEBERG.151106.300k.wmv

They say it has nothing to do with global warming, although Al Gore was in NZ yesterday - works as a good PR job!!!

We learned today that the iceberg broke off from the South Pole, 7 years ago - that's an epic journey!

Update

Well, life has been pretty busy but I wait to blog until I have some photos ('cos to me they're the best bit!). Unfortunately I get so immersed in the moment that I often forget to take pictures so updates are few and far between and not very pictoral. Anyway, we've had a Light Party for children to celebrate Jesus instead of Halloween, Christine organised a Princess Party for our girls at church and the little ones enjoyed the older girls giving them a makeover and painting their nails and then we had a family fireworks night which apparantly was lots of fun (I say apparantly because I was on babysitting duty) and I think less scary than on previous occassions. Instead of a huge bonfire they had a brazier and toasted marshmallows and since we've been having warm nor-wester weather they didn't need a fire to keep any chill off. It's still funny waiting til it's dark at 9pm to set off the fireworks!
Mike and Sally (from The Order of Mission) came to visit the TOMees here in the South Island; it was great to see them and, as always, brings a mixture of refreshment, challenge and lots of laughs.
Matthew has had his latest round of vaccinations; he screamed with the most vigour we have heard yet and gave himself rash (which the doctore and nurse had never seen before) but after his bottle he was absolutely fine, smiling and chatting and there was no grumps later in the day either. He's sitting pretty well now, just the occassional wobble and he's rolled from his front to his back twice but, yet again, we missed it! He can pull his legs up under him now and get his tummy off teh ground - he so wants to crawl! Well, there maybe a lack of pictures of anybody else but I'm snap happy when it comes to our son so you can see a couple of the latest shots.

Matthew went through a stage of being quite confused by the grey box Mummy and Daddy held in front of him so although smiling one minute (honestly) he looks quite perturbed when the shot is taken!
Now he's getting over that so we have many more smiles captured for posterity!

Teeth and food

Matthew seems to have shifted into another gear development-wise over the last week - maybe it was having older babies around him. But aside from being more interested in his toys and books, enjoying different textures and pushing off with his feet so he propels himself on his back across the floor, cot and his changing mat (the latter being rather scary from my point of view) and growing lots more hair he also now has his first tooth and has had his first taste of baby rice. Understandably, he thought it a rather odd sensation to start with but certainly didn't refuse it and even cried out for more. So the joy of peeling & pureeing has begun - what fun!

Here's a photo of the 9 of us which was being stubborn and wouldn't publish on the last posting!

Family & Friends

We're just recovering (that makes it sound like we've been through an ordeal - we haven't at all, it's just we're shattered!) from a 10 day visit by family and friends. Neil's brother Alastair, his wife Helen and daughter Emma arrived on the Wednesday and then their friends, Benji, Nicole and Jake, arrived from Adelaide on the Friday.
It started off pretty gently with a chilled couple of days; Matthew had his first experience in a swing, Helen and I ventured into Christchurch on the bus (more like a coach so the buggies had to be stowed underneath and apparantly the timetable is an estimate and they're "long gone" by the time quoted - very helpful - good job the bus driver knew us and waited as we ran down the street!) and had a picnic in the botanical gardens and Neil and Alastair had a ball skiing @ Mount Hutt.

Then the real fun began. 'Carnage' was the word most frequently used over the last week to describe our home with the presence of 6 adults and 3 babies. Great fun and lots of laughs; from food across children's faces/clothes/floor, an abundance of smelly nappies, to a pancake 'bake off' with different types of beer batter, mini golf and competition verging on the ridiculous (Neil and I being the main culprits) over the game of 'Cranium'. There was also the lovely Hanmer Springs with it's stunning mountains, hot pools and mini golf and Akaroa with the best fudge I've ever tasted. Everyone agreed that holidays are very different with children - it took us hours to get out the house and any plan we made rarely got seen to completion; if two of the children were ready the other would need a sleep, nappy change or feeding and then there's their parents too...
Anyway, it was "all good" and the house was strangely quiet when they left (though Benji, Nicole & Jake did return for a night at the end of their NZ jaunt so that let us down gently - and must have meant the whole experience can't have been too bad if they came back for more!).

Going Bush

Well Neil has had a very adventurous and energetic couple of weeks. He left early on a Monday morning with our very Kiwi friend, Ed, heading to a true Kiwi experience shooting, fishing and tramping. They had a three hour drive across 4WD only 'road' to get to the middle of nowhere (actually Lake Sumner) where they then had to finish the journey by boat across the lake to their accomodation. This consisted of a boatshed which had the facility for lighting & cooking but no toilet! I ask you - I mean I love my food and being able to see at night is important but not having to use a shovel is definitely higher on my list of priorities. The weather was absolutely shocking (the second excellent reason why Matthew and I stayed home) but they had great time and the fishing was far more successful than the shooting - I'm looking forward to tasting the trout.

The night before Neil went away, Matthew was up several times so I think Neil left slightly anxious that he'd come back to completely wrecked wife. However Matthew seemed to get whatever it was out of his system and we had a great couple of days, including flitting around getting organised for the arrival of family (more of that in the next installment), a reassuring first trip to the doctors for Matthew (he had quite a disturbing rattle on his chest which he was totally not bothered about, it was just his parents he thought it didn't sound quite right. Needless to say he's fine and it's cleared up now) and an awesome time with our youth at their small group. The strangest thing was not being able to share it with Neil at the time; he was out of mobile phone range and it was interesting to realise how much we're used to at least being in touch by text.

Heaven Scent

There are two things I'm very grateful to God for at the moment. The first is the fragrance of spring that surrounds me everytime I walk outside our front door - it almost smells like I'm walking into a florist's and I absolutely love it. The second thing I'm thankful for is blackout material! We bought some last week and made a blind for Matthew's bedroom as he seemed to be waking earlier and earlier in the mornings. He does still stir but gives up quite quickly, hopefully thinking "There's no way Mum is going to be up and around it's still dark!" The reason he stirs could well be the birds & their dawn chorus (they are the reason I'm awake at some ridiculous hour) but there's nothing I can do about them - and nor do I want to really as we never heard them in inner city Sheffield!

Meteorite

Yesterday a meteorite burnt up as it crashed through the atmosphere above New Zealand - quite exciting really. What's most amusing for us is that hundreds of people were highly concerned about the huge bang they heard (it could be heard over a stretch of about 500km in the South island) and phoned the police whilst we thought it was just a truck on the building site over the road! No photos of it I'm afraid - in fact nobody seemed to get any footage, so the TV stations keep playing re-runs of the meteorite that crashed 9 years ago!

Family Day

Now I'm back at work too and life is in a semi-routine we've decided to instigate Family Friday (modelled so well by friends). This week we visited a cafe and then headed for my favourite place in Christchurch, the Botanical Gardens. Matthew has been before but has always been asleep. But yesterday was officially the first the day of spring (though it's been very nice & warm all week) and the daffodils and snowdrops wanted the world to know it. So Matthew decided he'd wake up and check it out for himself. Not sure how excited he was about the flowers but the ducks certainly intrigued him!

Girl Time

Last Friday night I went away with some girlfriends from church for 24 hours - many of whom thought I was mad to leave Matthew for that long! I didn't see why not as Neil is more than capable of doing the do and it was very nice to go to sleep knowing that a baby would not be waking me up (though not sure how loud Matthew would have to be if Neil was to arise from his slumber!). They did great and had some good male-bonding time with Dan over a cooked breakfast on the Saturday morning.
As for us ladies, we enjoyed being princesses, eating chocolate and being in a superb location. Even though the weather wasn't fantastic the views were, as usual in this country, stunning.
I did fine until the lunch time and then I just wanted to get home - I was missing the smiles and cuddles from my favourite man and boy!

Baby Clothes

I really loved all the clothes we got for Matthew in England - especially this little set from Gap, courtesy of Rachel!
Also bought this top from Next - no need really because he's got so many clothes but I couldn't resist ("Probably the best baby in the world" - completely biased)! There are two pictures because if you get a photo of Matthew smiling he's generally so excited that his arms are all over the place so you can't see the rest of the picture.

Neil and John reunited

Getting some culture in London - Matthew was very attentive in the National Gallery but we realised it was because he was concentrating on filling (and spilling out of) his nappy; hooray for good baby change facilities!

The Shepherd grandparents with their grandchildren

Matthew with his seven month old cousin, Emma

Grandad Simms and his 'best boy'

Jet lag

Having incredible difficulty loading pictures of our trip but hoping there will be breakthrough soon - a bit like the breakthrough we had with jet lag actually. Matthew slept really well on the plane and was still sleeping Thursday afternoon so we thought we'd wake him up and keep him awake until the evening. No chance. He slept 'til 10pm (we'd gone to bed @ 7pm) and then was awake ALL night until 10.30 the next morning! I then tried to wake him up throughout the afternoon, again with no success, and beginning to wonder how the total reversal of night & day would ever occur if was going to continue to sleep through the day (and consequently was there any point in us trying to get our body clock sorted when he pretty much dictates it anyway?). Well Matthew did wake up at 7pm which was great because it meant Emma & Dan could catch up with him and then we thought we'd do the usual bath, bottle, bed routine at 11pm and see if we could fool him to sleep. And it worked! Gradually since then he's been moving back to 'normal' and last night he slept right the way through! Praise the Lord!

Home Sweet Home

We've now returned from our time in the UK and it's quite amazing how quickly five weeks can go. We had a fantastic time and it was so great to catch up with everyone we got to see; there's never enough time, I guess, but it did feel that there was real quality time with many family and friends. Nearly everywhere we went it felt like we'd only been away a couple of months which was quite bizarre (the greatest change was seeing the children of friends because they give the biggest reality check that we've been away two years - Sam Hewson was only the age Matthew is now when we left and now he's a proper boy!) but great because it felt we could carry on where we left off.
Matthew was adored and seemed to take the travelling in his stride; it did take a few days to adjust to the differences in time, temperature (minus 9 in Rangiora when we left to the heatwave of the UK!), food, bed etc but enjoyed all the attention and cuddles. He was very spoiled with gifts of clothes & toys too (so many that we had to post them back!). And he's changed so much - he's now smiling and chatting away and generally interacts much more with what's going on around him. The highlight was of course watching Matthew with his grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousin (our neice who we met for the first time too and who was dedicated while we were there) - very precious times.
Other highlights (not nearly as significant or memorable) included shopping at Tesco (Finest triple chocolate cookies), driving on motorways (you just get to drive faster than in NZ), listening to quality radio, eating great indian food, Neil finding trousers he liked and going to the National Gallery on our trip to London (actually, just being in London) and the hills & moors in Derbyshire .
Going back to the UK felt like going 'home' but coming back to Christchurch did too - especially returning to mountains and a home with a roaring log burner (stoked by Andrew) and homemade soup for lunch (from Christine).

Unimpressed

On Saturday we gate-crashed Emma & Dan's day together and joined them as they headed to the mountains for sledging. We headed to a slope that had been highly recommended to the Andrews, very near to Lake Lyndon (perhaps Emma will put a picture on her blog...) where Neil went biscuiting on Boxing Day - the difference now is that the lake is covered in 12cm thick ice and people were skating on it!
While the adults were drinking in the amazing scenery, Matthew slept. He missed the drive there, he missed his Dad sledging down a near vertical drop and even having been woken up, fed and dressed in his bear suit he still slept on (just blew a few bubbles). I know he's a baby and wouldn't have got very much out of the whole experience but he never sleeps that much (except on Saturday night when he slept for 8 hours. This would have been great but it was the night of the England match which we got up to watch so we missed out on the benefits. Matthew must have been unimpressed by the football too - or thought he'd save himself from the disappointment).
Maybe Matthew will be more impressed with the heatwave in England than the freezing weather here. Speaking of Engalnd, only 48 hours to go and counting...

Legal Alien

We finally got Matthew a visa yesterday so he can legally be here in NZ. Since January 1st only children born to NZ residents are entitled to citizenship which means that Matthew is a British citizen and not a Kiwi. We got a passport for him two weeks after his birth (with a photo that has to last for the 5 years validity!) and then yesterday waited two hours to get the visa and permit which allows Matthew to return to NZ after our trip to the UK. The conditions of Matthew's visa are that he does not undertake employment and cannot study here for more than three months - I don't think we'll have a problem with that yet!

Baby Sitters

Saturday was my 29th birthday (though my Nanna was shocked to discover I'm not 27!) and I kind of feel 29, if that makes sense. Can't really explain it, other than that I think I expected to be at this stage in life at this age so it seems to fit.
Anyway, Saturday night we went for a lovely meal (again, chocolate dessert being the highlight) and it was the first night we left Matthew with baby-sitters, the very able Dan & Emma. It didn't feel that strange to be honest. Matthew was sleeping peacefully when we returned, giving the impression he'd been like that the whole time but apparantly not! Generally he's a happy bunny but evenings have been more grouchy lately, giving the opportunity to try lots of different cuddling/bouncing/rocking positions!
Anyway, Emma & Dan did an awesome job (despite bits of information I think I forgot to tell them) and have said they'd do it again which sounds good to me!

Snow

Although we know the match wasn't fantastic, an England win was a good opportunity for Matthew to show off his England outfit sent over by his auntie and uncle. Kiwi friends weren't hugely impressed but seen as it's soccer there really isn't much competition.


On Sunday night the weather forecasters predicted heavy rain & strong winds (which did come & woke me up more than Matthew's night time noises) but did not predict snow down to sea level or how much there would be. Many areas of teh South island have been without power but our supply was maintained - good job too or we'd have been heading to friends who have a gas supply!
I was very excited about the substantial amount of snow and wanted to go out and play but Neil pointed out that Matthew is still probably a little young for such antics (and we may have lost him in his white bear suit!). The snow weighed so heavy on the trees that many branches broke and several plants have been trashed - a number of trees have blocked the path to the back door. So we stayed in and I had plans to curl up with the log burner roaring and watch movies all day but Matthew didn't want to play...

Having 'nappy brain' means I really can't remember what we've been up to and the days are merging into one somewhat. Matthew has put on lots of weight (like a pound in 6 days!) and is beginning to grow out of some of his clothes, though not his hats!

Emma, Dan, Andrew and Christine came for a meal to celebrate Dan's birthday and Matthew did a great job of getting Emma to sleep!

We had our first trip to the mall too on Saturday and had quite a substantial shopping time without feeding or nappy interruptions. Neil & Dan decided a round of golf would be more fun which left Emma & I to shop and eat very nice cake.

The other exciting event of the week was booking flights home to the UK for 5 weeks time! We'll be around from the 7th July to 6th August and there's lots of catching up to be done which we're really looking forward to. Now just trying to get our heads round long flights with a small person...