So that's what 2's like.

The BIRTHDAY BOY. Arf can't hear the word 'baby' in any context whatsoever without yelling out, "BOY!"

The theme of his party was 'Dog-Dog-Hat'. We were so busy having fun that we barely took any photos at the actual party. They liked being dressed up as puppies, honestly!

See? Haha. I feel like a mean Mum, now.

Beautiful ladies (Emily and Miss Elizabeth with Lani and Miss Mae).

Only Murray remembered the hat part of the theme.

The Stayers (that yellow light again). Arf sat on the table so the next step was probably to dance on it before he got whisked off to bed. That's Mr Sweeney beaming away there.


So, not many pictures of the party but here are a few from his actual birthday. We went over to G'Marg and Pappy's, and Granny Ro came too. A delicious brunch, some opening of presents, and a quick stroll/bike ride along the river before the rain came.

G'marg, Granny Ro, and the star of the show: Mr Arthur.

Cheers!

Like the cropping? Creepy...

Pappy and Arf having a larf as always.

Frank on the phone to Uncle Hamish and Aunty Priscilla in LA. later he talked to Aunty Emily from a hole in the back yard!

What a BIG BOY.

Go G'Marg!

A huge thank you to all of you who helped make Arthur's 2nd birthday such a success. Thank you letters will be in the mail soon for the gifts.

So what's ahead for Arf as a 2 year old? Exciting adventures, the odd tantrum or thirty, lots of learning, plenty of playing. Two's pretty cool, eh?

Down on the farm

We hit the road for the Naki to visit Libby's cousin Karen, just south of Eltham on a dairy farm with her two boys about F+A's age (plus one on the way), dog, 850 cows, calves, lambs, tractors and cool toys.

The boys were in heaven...

Dog wrestling

Tractor driving...

More tractors...

Feeding the calves...

More tractors...

Frank hanging with his new best mate, Flynn

Building dams, or in Arf's case, smashing them...

Being cool...(and in Frank's case, avoiding the poos)

Fluffy's in W(h)anganui

the hangover.
Big thanks to the O'Sullivan clan of the Naki for a great time!!

Gold

The Macbrayne-Platt-Freeman-Smylie side

I'm sad to say that my twinkly Aunty Alison died recently. I can't believe how strong she was. I miss her but appreciated the time to catch up with my lovely family, including Nana.

Dougal and I escaped for a few days to the Gold Coast. Sun (mostly) and warmth and the first time we've left the country since we landed in Wellington going on five years ago. Granny Ro, G'Marg and Pappy kindly looked after the boys who had a whale of a time. I bet the Grandies are appreciating sleep and quiet time though!

Speaking of whales, we lost count of how many we saw. I spent some time with the lovely Isaac and we saw whales off Burleigh Beach, then Dougal and I saw more the following day at Byron Bay. Magical creatures. A huge ocean and they made themselves known.

The Gold Coast was fun. We'd been expecting lots of beach time but the weather didn't comply so we hired a car and went exploring. We also caught up with Ian, Sharon and their crew which was great. Cute kids!!!

That's the moon, believe it or not. D managed to write me an E - styly.


The view from where we were staying.

So big thank you's to The Grandies, Isaac, Ian and Sharon, and our love and thoughts are with Alison's family xxx