Aargh!

Miss S decided on a Pirate Pricess-themed 5th birthday party in September.  Conveniently, GranDora and Aunty Voo sent along an amazing couple of costumes.  The youngest child, of course, only wanted to wear the fairy underdress, and not the lovely pink overdress with sparkles.  Then again, at this point, she was in week 3 of her "defining boundaries" stage - she had refused to wear pants (only dresses), socks or shoes.  Drove me batty.  At daycare they told her she couldn't go outside without shoes - her response?  "Ok."  Future lawyer or politician, that one....

But back to the party - she was delighted to be a pirate, and we eve had a spare eyepatch around.  She kept saying "aaaargh", and squinted her eye just so.  I organized a treasure hunt in the backyard, and we painted ceramic pig piggy banks, and glued/stuck sparkly fake gems on pirate hats.  It was a beautiful, beautiful Spring day, and to give you a sense of how well it went, when I called them all in from playing outside to come have some cake... they didn't want to!  

And jsut to compete with Aunty Lisa, I made a giant cupcake shaped cake, frosted it brown, stuck jewels in halfway around, and it made a great treasure chest. 

Cousins

Here's the wonderful Miss S at Lindale in Paraparaumu with her much older, cooler 7 year old cousin Jovahn.  They fed the animals there, hence the packages of pellets.  They went with Nana, who told me a funny story.  When they were getting ready to go home, Jovahn asked if he could ride back with Nana, not his Mum, since on the ride up Miss S had talked the whole way.  That's my girl!

Ballet and Rugby aren't all that different

Miss S had her first ballet lesson last Saturday.  I was afraid that she would arrive and be overwhelmed with shyness, or decide that it wasn't her cup of tea.  You can get a sense of my reticence in the fact that she is wearing old, black dance slippers.  I refused to shell out for proper slippers until I was convinced she'd do this more than once. 

As you can see, I needn't have worried.  Her teacher, Miss Amy, was wonderful and the 30 minutes flew by.  You couldn't wipe the grin off of her face. Except, that is, when she was imitating an alligator, or practicing her face for her "sad toes."

At the end each girl stood in the hula-hoop, put their hands on their shoulders and one leg on the other knee, and balanced.  Some more successfully than others, but they all loved it.  We're hooked!

 Later that day we went on a great adventure, to Mangatinokoa, pop 200.  Also the home of the famous Tui Beer Brewery.  They had arranged for the Wellington Hurricanes to play the Christchurch Crusaders in a stadium built on a paddock, with seating for around 8,000.  To give you an idea, this is akin to asking the Washington Redskins to play in your front yard.  These guys are "bloody legends" around here, not least because many of them are All Blacks, and just came off of a successful Rugby World Cup campaign.  In fact, the guy carrying the Tui keg-shaped trophy is none other than Richie McCaw.  Wow...