Some more photos from our walk yesterday.















Bruce and I braved the very cold water for an amazingly invigorating swim













Byron is getting much better at going for longer walks. Connor just wants to run most of the time, and ends up running backwards and forwards between whoever he's up the front with and the person further back with Byron (a bit like taking a dog for a walk!).




















Walking along the beach after our picnic dinner















Quick stop at one of the dams on the way home

We've been making the most of the stunning summer weather, here are a few photos from the last couple of days.

The boys have been having a great time with the easel they got for Christmas. Have been painting everything from garden clippings to shells, all requested by Connor who has been reading a book in which the beautiful colours in the forest were painted by a group of rabbits when nobody could see them.








































We have been getting out and exploring the beautiful Waitakere Ranges, just over half an hour's drive from where we live (for those overseas). It's over 16,000 hectares of native rainforest and coastline, and has 250km of walking and hiking tracks to be explored. We started doing some walks there a few months ago, now that Byron will walk for a reasonable amount of time, and have been having a great time. Yesterday's trip was fantastic, on one of the most gorgeous days of the summer so far. We did a forest walk that detoured down to a spectacular swimming hole, then had a picnic dinner on a nearby beach. Here are some photos:

HAPPY (BELATED) NEW YEAR 2009! My new years resolution of updating the blog more often doesn't seem to have kicked off very well, but I do have good intentions! Bruce was off work for just over two weeks, and we stayed in Auckland for that time. Really enjoyed getting out and about, off to beaches, parks, bush walks and other outdoor activities, and having lots of time in the garden. I mostly forgot to take the camera, hence a lack of photos. I did snap a few though, some are below. The weather was beautiful, so water has featured a lot!

We've been really pleased with the way the garden is coming on. Will take some more photos to put on here, but it's absolutely amazing how things grow in Auckland. The boys and I decided to plant some sunflower seeds that I was given, and a few weeks later they were giants!
















The boys loved Dad's inflatable dingy, it's lasted well as it was this one that Paul and I used to have great fun capsizing in the waves all those years ago!














The Auckland Botanical Gardens are not only beautiful, but a great playground for the little ones. They have some great water features that they really enjoyed.














The paddling pool has been well used, the fountain on the front is a big hit.