Bruce spent last weekend building a sandpit under the little deck in the garden. He had a brilliant plan to get the large amount of sand from the trailer into the sandpit, using a chute he made. Bruce and I shovelled sand into the top of the chute over the fence from the neighbour's driveway, and Pat and Bob (Bruce's parents) pushed it down into the sandpit. It saved us hours of pushing the wheelbarrow backwards and forwards round the back of the house and up and down stairs. The boys love it and have already spent hours in there.

The 'chute' in action









Bruce looking justifiably pleased with himself









Photos of the boys taken a couple of days ago

Yesterday we got back from a week in Arrowtown, near Queenstown. We had such a fantastic time and it was over all too soon! The weather was amazing - clear blue skies and still every day. Very cold and frosty in the mornings, but by once the sun was up it warmed up quite a bit. We stayed at a friend's holiday house, so had lots of room,a big lawn for the boys to run around on and a spa pool which was great! We spent most of our time in Arrowtown or Queenstown, and went to the snow a couple of days (unfortunately didn't get any skiing done, but maybe when the boys are a bit older!). Connor loved the snow, I think Byron found it a bit frustrating as he was so bundled up with gloves, boots and glasses that he couldn't really do a lot. Here are a few photos from the week...

Bruce and Byron on the plane (the boys were both really good and Connor fascinated by the whole thing)












On the Gondola from the top of the mountain. We all went on the luge at the top, which was awesome










One of the boys favourite activites was playing by the river, which was right next to the house we were staying in. They loved throwing stones and playing with sticks, it kept them busy for hours.












Feeding the birds On the edge of Lake Wakatipu, with Queenstown in the background

It was incredibly bright in the snow, so we bought Byron some little sunnies, he looked hilarious!













Connor loved the snow - jumping in it, throwing it and rolling around he had a great time










We hired a sled one day, which came in useful for pulling the boys

Just a quick update as busy packing to go away tomorrow. We are going to Arrowtown for a week (near Queenstown in the South Island for those non NZers). Really looking forward to a family holiday and showing the boys the snow! More updates and photos when we get back, but here are a couple of recent photos.










Byron has really taken off now and in the last week has started walking everywhere. He seems rather confident and happy to just wander off on his own, as shown here at a playground last week. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing...










Playing at the beach recently, it's been a very mild winter.