Pukete Winter Fun Series Race 1

I finally got to ride my bike again last Sunday (now three weeks ago because it's taken me a while to post this!). Unfortunately, it wasn't at the N-Duro. After a couple of terrible weeks with a sick family to look after, I was not mentally or physically prepared for an entire day of road tripping and racing. So, I turned my attention to the local R&R Sport Winter Fun Series at Pukete.

The morning's weather was surprisingly good, but after lunch the temperature dropped and a few spits of rain blew through. I had decided to race, regardless of the weather. Oh, what was that?! Did I just type "race". Oh yes, I had no illusions that I was going to be riding hard, and not out for a cruise like I have at other events. Cough, cold, and poor physical condition be damned, I'm going to blow my guts out and enjoy it!

I managed to do a half-lap as a warm up, which confirmed that I was too cold, needed to warm up some more, and that my legs were already tired. Next thing I know, I'm lining up at the back of the start grid looking at the fast looking riders all around me. GO! We are off. S-l-o-w-l-y... too much traffic, some of it quite wobbly, and not altogether that fast. I picked my way through the crowd, spinning furiously and successfully passing a number of people. Into the Gurney trail and I found myself slowed by riders in front.

Through the new section of trail (nice!), and first traffic jam on the slippery climb. Hop off, and run! Pass one person, jump back on the bike - oofff! My seat is in my guts. Okay, so I need to work on my cyclocross style remounts. :blush: A laugh and a giggle, clamber back on the bike, and get pedalling. I caught a couple of riders up and found myself following another woman. The race is ON!

A traffic jam on the sand chute provided another opportunity to dismount and run. I picked up my bike, and clunk! The rear wheel had fallen out! What?!! I never get mechanicals - but I guess there is always a first time. Run to the top of the chute, re-install rear wheel, jump back on. Pedal! I passed the woman I had caught just prior to my mechanical and tried to settle back into a rhythm and calm myself down. Lap one complete. I thought I would have to do four laps, so I decided to try to ride consistently, but pace myself for the next two laps. I had found the 'hot line' out in the grass area during my warm up... basically going wide on the corner avoided the really wet mushy ground and I could comfortably pass people. Heh heh.

I found myself catching and passing the odd person over the next two laps... another woman too. I wondered how many more women were in front of me, two or three? The people I was catching were all having trouble with their gears - the cassette was chock full of mud and the chain did not want to run through the derailleur smoothly. Cue smug grin at the advantage of having just one gear. Near the end of the third lap I caught up to a guy that I didn't have the legs to pass. He was only a smidgen slower than me, so I needed to accelerate a lot to get around him... my legs didn't have it. As we rode through the last bit of singletrack, he commented that he was "over it" and hoping that this would be his last lap. I checked my watch, and yep, it looked like 45 minutes was up. I finished in 46:50, feeling just a little bit too fresh and slightly relieved I didn't have to go out again. Second woman, first (and only) 29er.

It was a great race, and I'm really looking forward to the next race in a fortnight's time. Things to try for next time... warm up properly, start near the front (those buggers can ride around ME instead!), check my quick release skewers are tight (or buy new skewers!), practice my cyclocross dismounts/mounts, and go 1 minute 50 seconds faster and squeeze in a fourth lap!

Results are here: http://www.hamiltonmtb.org.nz/pagefiles/results/winter09/14june09race1.pdf
Report is here: http://www.hamiltonmtb.org.nz/pagefiles/newswntr09.html

The photo above is was not taken at Pukete. That's me riding at the New Zealand Singlespeed Champs 2008 in Rotorua. Unfortunately I've lost the photo credit, so if you know who took it let me know. :)

I missed the second race of the Winter Fun Series due to a heavy head cold combined with fairly steady rain... not ideal conditions! I'm looking forward to the third race next Sunday... fingers crossed the planets align for me!

One-derful!

Ella turned one a couple of weeks ago, and we celebrated at home with the family. After a rough couple of weeks leading up to her birthday (illness), Andrew and I decided we didn't have the energy to cater to the whole family for lunch so we changed plans and opted for a much easier morning tea. Having just our families meant catering for 16 people (6 of them couldn't make it), so our little house was jammed full!

Ella had a great day, learning to open her presents, playing with the wrappers and boxes, and finding out that not everything comes second hand from her brother! She was a very lucky girl, getting lots of wonderful gifts - a ball popper, a big set of connecting building bricks, lots of books, some clothes, and a couple of soft toys.

She had decided to give walking a go earlier in the week - going for a walk with the trolley that Oli got for his first birthday. So she managed to walk a few days earlier than Oli did. Smart girl!

We had a great time playing with Ella's new presents, and Oliver loves playing with them too! Ella enjoyed her piece of birthday cake (as did Oliver... and everyone else), even though she hadn't really had cake before.

Another tooth has come through, so she has seven in total now. She was cutting that tooth during her couple of weeks of being sick - no wonder she was so unhappy. The eighth one is there, but not ready to cut through. She has since had conjunctivitis, but seems to be healthy again now.

Both kids are back at ABC's 2 days a week and I am working as a contractor for a small engineering consultancy her in Hamilton. There is not a lot of work on, but it is enough to keep me occupied.

Now I am hoping our good health continues, and the weather improves too. It's time for us all to get outside and for me to ride my bike!

Under siege

It feels like we've been bombarded lately... weather bombs, time bombs, and O-bombs (aka Oliver). Winter has closed in and it's all on. The temperature has plummeted, we all have colds, it rains a lot, we are surrounded by half-dry laundry, and we are left hunkering-down indoors away from all the fun things.

I started drafting this post almost a month ago. Since then we've had a good dose of what we suspect was rotavirus (Ella got it twice!), and the lingering coughs and colds. We are all tired from nightly coughing fits from various family members, and at the same time both Andrew and I have had the added stress of changes to our working conditions. Things have been quite miserable, but we are surviving.

I used to enjoy winter - the crisp air, frosts on the grass, rain to freshen everything up, and some good old mud to slosh through on the trails. Now? Not so much - sickness, dirty wet clothes, unhappy children, boredom, and a distinct lack of sloshing through mud on the trails. But what about the good stuff? Children to cuddle, hot baths and showers to enjoy, drinking milo, and learning the words to all the children's DVD theme songs. :D

Ella has been growing and developing lots. She is 11 months old now (the big 1.0 is next week!). She sprouted a fifth tooth at the start of the month, but we haven't seen any sign of it's partner coming through. Tooth number 6 (should be #7!) has emerged, but Ella is a bit lop-sided, with the top and bottom tooth missing on the left hand side... I'm sure it will all even up over time. Ella is enjoying her mobility, crawling everywhere and using the furntiture to stand and walk along for short distances. She is still wobbly and crawling is her preferred mode of transport - she has no desire to walk, even if I hold her hands for balance. Although just this week she has done a few short 'walks' using the trolley for assistance. Her speech is developing, with lots of babbling nonsense to amuse herself and us. She likes to clap, give 'high fives', put her 'arms up' (useful for getting dressed), wave, and is starting to mimick some basic baby sign language signs. I have started Ella at daycare, and is going for full days on Mondays and Wednesdays (the same as Oliver).

I am intending to work those two days a week, but don't have anything contractual yet. If I don't secure some work, things are going to be interesting!

Oliver has grown up a lot over the last month (or two!). He is well entrenched in the terrible two's stage of things, being very independent, and doing things his way as and when he chooses. He is officially 2 and a half now and recently (quite suddenly) decided that he doesn't need an afternoon sleep at home. Sleeping is compulsory at ABC's - the kids don't get a choice. They are bundled off into the sleeping room and it's lie down time. The teachers usually sit with Oliver until he falls asleep. At home he won't even stay in bed anymore! I knew this time was coming, but I had secretly hoped it would never eventuate. On a good day, Oli will play in his room by himself. On a bad day, he will keep coming out of his room every five minutes. About once a week he will fall asleep for 1-2 hours. And he's such a lovely fella in the evenings after he's had a sleep.

Of course, Oliver and Ella like to play together a lot, so I am trying to teach them about sharing, taking turns, and that sometimes you just have to go off and do something by yourself for a while. It's hard work! Oliver can be quite physical with Ella too, but what he doesn't realise is that one day Ella is going to be as big or even bigger than him...

We haven't done a lot over these past couple of months. I rode at Rotorua the weekend following the Rest of the World Singlespeed Champs, and throroughly enjoyed it. A good mix of trails, fine company, excellent weather, and plenty of grins. We topped off a 25km ride on our singlespeeds with a late lunch at Zippy's. Oh so good.

I had (ambitious) plans to do the full N-Duro Winter Series and the local Winter Fun Series sponsored by R&R Sport at Pukete, but the family illness put paid to the first N-Duro race, so I just did the Winter Fun Race instead. With no training done yet, and none planned for the immediate future... we'll see how the rest of the winter season works out.

Andrew and Oliver escaped for a boys day out at the Fieldays, enjoying a free lunch, watching the tractor pulls, motorbikes, helicopters, animals, and miscellanous other farming stuffs. I was pretty jealous, but chose to stay home with Ella to try to get over our colds (it didn't really help much).

Andrew also took Oliver to the Westpac Helicopter Open Day up at the Waikato Hospital heli pad (again, the girls were at home sick). The Armed Offenders Squad was also there displaying their full kit, and even allowing the public to try on the gear and hold the weapons. Oli wasn't keen on that, but he was keen on looking at all the helicopters, and had a little drive of the red tractor that is used to move the helicopters around.


Other than that, we are just trying to get outside when the weather is nice. Fresh air (no matter how cold) has got to be good for you!
Andrew turned down a couple of invites to the rugby due to potential conflicts of interest while a big contract was negotiated at his work. Frustratingly for me, it was the first time any of those invites were extended to include "the wife". My fingers are crossed for some more invites to include "the wife". :D

Rest of the World Singlespeed Champs 2009

Otherwise known as the New Zealand Singlespeed Champs, the "Rest of the World" SS Champs was held in Rotorua over ANZAC weekend. I wasn't sure that I would make it, because of a busy few weeks with minor illness, other events, and family commitments. But, lucky for me I got to go over on Saturday for the race (I missed the movie night (and booze-up) on Friday and the big breakfast (and booze-up) on Sunday). I failed in the costume department - time, motivation, and inspiration were all against me.

My trusty Haro Mary SS was all set to go, but I gave her a cleanup and once-over anyway, and I adjusted the brakes to get more stopping power. I left home just after 9am and headed off to Cambridge to pick up Steve. We got to the Pig & Whitsle Event HQ in good time and scored an un-metered carpark across the road. I mingled, registered, mingled, and then took mary to scrutineering. Scrutineering? What, exactly, are they going to look for on a singlespeed? Gears. Anyone running a flip-flop hub was threatenend with having the spare sproket's teeth bashed over with a hammer! The scrutineer paid special attention to my hip flask in its holder on my bike, then applied a yellow dot of approval to my number plate.

Hip flask and holder

Getting the yellow dot of approval

Cool, ready to roll. We rode out to the forest from town... taking in the scenic route around Sulphur Point and avoiding the roads - very nice. A rendezvous at the gate on Long Mile Road, then we rode en masse through the forest. I felt very slow on the first hill and got rather concerned about what was in store later on in the race - would I actually be able to ride the course if I was having this much trouble on a gradual climb up a gravel road? Our stop-start tiki-tour through the forest ended at 8 Mile Gate Road, where Race HQ had been established.

Race HQ

Our bikes were placed upside-down on their seat and handlebars along the side of the road. Tradition dictates a Le Mans start, so we walked off up the road "to a position just out of sight of the bikes" said the organiser, Dean. That's because tradition also dictates that competitors’ bikes will be moved and/or hidden. So when we came running (jogging, shuffling, walking) back down the road at the start of the race, chaos ensued as everyone scrambled to find their bikes. Some people took off on the wrong bike, others wandered around looking and not realising their bike was under a table or behind the portaloos! My bike had been flipped around with the handlebars buried in the blackberry, hiding my distinctive bright green grips. Sneaky. It took me a while to find my bike - I walked right past it - but I wasn't worried, it was all part of the fun. Fun was all I was there for... the race was way ahead of me, probably already into the singletrack.

Me, extreeeeme right

The four lap course started by going up 8 Mile Gate Road and onto Sandy Skid Road, then into Pondy New, second half of Rollercoaster, down a fire road, into Old Chevy (skipping the first section) and then the option of a shortcut, or carry on to complete the course. The short cut (in fine SS tradition) required the rider drank a beer each time the shortcut was taken - up to three times/beers. On the fourth shortcut, the rider had to take the "food option", that being dry weetbix.

Me, on right, passing start/finish line

I rode, I stopped, I chatted, I rode, I laughed, I walked, I rode, I stopped, I tried to fix someone else's bike, I laughed, I rode, I chatted, I stopped, I drank beer, I fixed my brake, I rode, I laughed. That was just the first lap. Yeah, I had to fix my front brake... it was dragging pretty bad, no wonder I had so much trouble on the ride out to the race.

Another lap, with a happy beer buzz

Second lap, we went down Yellow Brick Road rather than riding on 8 Mile Gate Road. Second beer was just as refreshing as the first.

Third lap, very tired. I contemplated pulling out, but really didn't want to see those three horrible letters in the race results - DNF (did not finish). So I went out again. It was a super hard lap with no go left in my legs, and a tired head from the beer - admittedly, the beer made me feel only slightly foggier than I usually do in my oxygen-deprived state when riding. Third beer was a lovely reward. :D

Fourth lap? No way! The winners had finished their four laps in the time it took me to do two! There was no way I could get a fourth one in... besides there was a time cut-off in place because of the bad weather on the way. And it was getting dark.

My passenger Steve was still on the course. I had endeavoured to beat him. Afterall, he was dressed as Fred Dagg and riding a BMX! Lucky for me, I also beat the other freak bike - Jeff on his Jeffson 36er with 36" wheels.

Dinner at the Pig & Whistle after the race was fabulous. Prize giving was good fun too. Winners were applauded and 1st and 2nd losers were applauded a little too. The biggest and most rapturous applause went to Steve, for his efforts dressed as Fred Dagg, but most of all for coming DFL (dead f***ing last)!!!

As the other happy and delirious singlespeeders settled in for a night on the cans, Steve and I drove home. I got back in the door just after 9:30pm. Not bad. What a great day. :)

Coverage, photos, results and discussion can be found at Vorb.

Muddling through...

The days, weeks and months are really flying by at the moment. And I feel as though I am just muddling through, not really achieving much, but managing to get stuff done.

Oli and Ella have both been well, just fighting colds as the weather changed suddenly with daylight savings. Oli has developed a minor fear of the dark, so we have a night light in the hallway to help him settle to sleep. After that it gets turned off, otherwise he wakes at 5 in the morning and starts calling out to us thinking we are awake because there is a light on! He is talking really well, and copying everything he hears. I'm enjoying being able to talk about more things, but we still have times when I don't understand the word he's saying, or he gets stuck - frustrating for both of us.

Ella is growing up fast. She has really perfected her commando crawl, or "ooch" as we call it (thanks, Richard Scarry), and is now crawling on hands and knees for very short distances. She will also try to pull herself up on the furniture to try to grab whatever toys or books might be sitting on top. She is really enjoying her independence, being able to get around the lounge and choose what to play with - she enjoys going through the tunnel too. I thought it might not be as exciting to witness these developmental stages the second time around, but I find myself getting very excited with the progress she is making, just like I did with Oliver. Ella is babbling a lot, obviously wanting to be part of the conversation. She learnt to clap her hands about a month ago, and just recently has started to wave hello, goodbye, and goodnight. So lovely. :)

I took Ella for her first ride in the bike trailer - she loved it. Unfortunately she didn't like it as much the second time when she wore her helmet. The helmet is quite big and seems to make it hard to turn her head (it gets a bit caught up on the harness). Still, I will persevere for as long as Ella will allow, and eventually she will get big and strong enough for the helmet to be less of an issue.

We didn't get to see any balloon launches during the festival this year, but we did have the pleasure of watching them float over our house a few times, and Andrew and Oliver chased "Mr Bup" the turtle balloon across town to watch it land. We headed down to the lake on the final morning of the festival to watch the balloons launch, but it was too foggy. Althought we did get to see the last of their fuel being burnt off before they packed up and sent the balloon home.


Andrew and I got sick in the week before Easter, but the kids were lucky enough not to catch it. And we were lucky in that I didn't really get it until Andrew had recovered, so one of us was able to care for the kids while the other tried to stop the world from spinning too fast. Unfortunately for Andrew, his week of illness coincided with his week of annual leave, bummer.

We recovered in time for Easter, and even managed to enjoy some chocolate. Oli spent the morning of Good Friday with his Nan, baking special easter biscuits. He loved it! And he keeps asking for the biscuits, even though he knows we have eaten them all. He is keen to head back to his Nan's place one day for some more baking.

We have just had a weekend of V8 racing in town with the Hamilton 400. We bought tickets to the Friday practice day and took the kids down for a look-see. We browsed the pits of the other racing classes - Porsche, Toyota, Corvettes, and NZ V8s. Some pretty flash set-ups in there and friendly teams. One guy offered to let Oli sit in the car (Trade Zone Toyota), but he didn't want to. :( The kids got their ear muffs on and we watched a bit of racing through the fence. The cars were close, fast, and loud! We snacked on the lawn in front of the big screen tv and then headed down to the V8 Supercar pits for a nosey in there. We had a lot of comments and attention from people about the kids wearing their ear muffs. I felt really sorry for all the kids that didn't have ear protection. We were stopped by Hayden Jones from TVNZ who wanted to talk to us because we had "cute kids". A series of questions and a bit of chit chat ended with Hayden smiling and saying, "I didn't hear anything she said, did you?" The cameraman shook the camera side-to-side to indicate that he didn't hear me. Out came the sound meter which showed about 94dB and there wasn't even any racing going on at the time! The resultant footage shows a shot of Oli, then Ella, then Dad with Oli. I guess I have had my split-second of fame already when I was on the news at the Mount Downhill back in 2004.


I haven't ridden much (again). This is starting to become standard practice! I watched a couple of cool events pass me by - but I couldn't resist entering the SS Champs this coming Saturday, despite my poor form. The following weekend I will be going riding with my friend Michelle, who is up from Christchurch, and then I'm hoping to make it to all three of the winter N-Duro races. I also have my fingers crossed that R&R Sport will be able to gather enough support to run some local winter races at Pukete. And I have also spent a little bit of time setting up my new bike, just the way I want it.

Mt Te Aroha Goat Challenge

This event popped up on my ride radar at quite late notice (the Tuesday before!), but luckily for me I didn't have to try too hard to convince Andrew we should give it a go. We decided to go as a family, and Andrew and I would take turns doing laps as a team of two, looking after the kids between laps.

It was a slightly early start for us, but we made it just in time to score a primo carpark spot right by the start/finish line (what a tin-bum!) and get our entry in before registration closed. We entered as "Team Mary" because we were both on our Haro Mary 29ers (Andrew with gears, me on singlespeed).

We arrived just as the kids race was getting underway. There were lots of kids there, some in child seats on their parents' bikes and some on their own bikes, including a couple of boys on balance bikes like Oli's one. Oli was pretty interested in watching the boys ride - they were very fast.

I quickly got my gear on and got ready to ride. I made the executive decision to ride the first lap. Then it was announced that it would be a Le Mans start. Bugger. Luckily it was only a 30m jog across the croquet pitch... now peppered with SPD shaped pock-marks from our cleated cycling shoes.

The start was pretty cruisey, and I knew I shouldn't go hard, or I would never last the distance. I ended up walking most of the long climb up the rocky road, and then got a bit held up on the singletrack. Pretty typical of any first lap really. I found my flow on some of the undulating sections of track, and the downhills were pretty nice too. The track used some of the walking tracks which were reminiscent of some Rotorua trails. The last section descending down to the geyser was by far the best. It was a slightly technical steep descent over roots and between trees. It was pretty tight in a couple of places - not something that you would want to get too overconfident with. I was a bit hesitant to ride it, but managed to slowly roll up to the top and view a good line all the way to the bottom, so I decided to give it a shot. Success! Whew! I was very happy with myself, because after all the time off I've had off from riding it can be a bit hard to have faith in my riding abilities - even if I have ridden much more difficult tracks before (like over 3 years ago!).

Oli the mechanic with Dad's bike

I arrived back at the changeover to find my cheer squad of Andrew, Oli and Ella all waiting. A quick exchange of instructions about the kids and the course and Andrew headed off for his lap. He admitted that he struggled with the same things I did. Uphills were hard, the rocky stream crossings seemed impossible, and he just couldn't bring himself to try the steep downhill bit at all. To be fair, he has ridden even less than I have over the past 3 years, and lately his riding has only been to commute to work. He did well to get around the course just slightly slower than me. I spent my time hauling the kids back to the car, and then hauling the kids and our campsite gear back to the changover area. I set the kids up with the picnic blanket and playtent, applied sunscreen and hats, changed a nappy, and then realised I hadn't had anything to eat or drink. Just then Andrew arrived back. Okay, gobble half an energy bar and get back out there... after the compulsory run-down on the status of each child (food, suncreen, nappies, etc). Needless to say, our changeovers were anything but swift.

My second lap went much better than the first. I rode more of the hills due to less slow traffic holding me up (you have to stand up and mash on the singlespeed, whereas the gearies get to sit and spin in a low gear). I still couldn't get the right balance of speed and mojo to get through the rocky stream crossings, but everything else flowed well. I conquered the steep downhill again, and felt good. I think this lap was about 5 minutes faster than my first one. Stoked.

Oliver and Ella compare lunches at basecamp

Arriving back for changeover, I discovered Andrew had moved basecamp into the shade - nice. Another briefing on the kids' current status and Andrew was off. I picked up the job of feeding the kids their lunch and this time I remembered to eat some too.

Our leisurely pace and casual changeovers meant that we would probably only have time for one more lap - my third lap. Andrew arrived back feeling and looking quite knackered. After one of our longest changeovers (about 8 minutes) I headed out on lap 3 with only 30 minutes remaining until the event was over. I wanted to get back before the race ended, but my tired legs were telling it wasn't going to happen. Trying to push hard just made me more wobbly and more likely to make mistakes. I decided to forget about the time, to relax, and just cruise along to find the flow again. After that things improved and I enjoyed the ride. I rode the steep downhill again, so that put a smile on my face. The smile quickly disappeared on the next uphill when I had to get off and push. Nearing the top I heard another rider coming up behind me. I waited on the side of the track for him to pass. As he passed me, I heard the air horn in the distance declaring the end of the race. The passing rider and I looked at each other and said, "bugger!"

Finished.

That was it. Game over. I enjoyed the last downhill bit to the domain, then wound my way back up to the finish line. We packed away our basecamp and waited for prizegiving. Andrew took Oli to the playground while Ella and I cuddled in the shade. Team Mary took away a tyre as a spot prize - unfortunately only a 26", not a 29". Oh well.

The kids survived the day surprisingly well. Oli tolerated not being able to go to the playground whenever he wanted, and Ella managed with only about 45 minutes of sleep. Lucky for us, both kids had a good sleep after we got home at 3pm.

At dinner time Andrew asked Oli what he liked best about his big adventure, he said "all of it". Then Andrew asked him what was the worst part, Oli said "next time I take my bike too". We've been told! :)

March Madness

I feel like I've been pretty busy lately, but I don't have any great stories to show for it. I've hardly been on my bike since the Black Stump Adventure Ride, except for a few short errands and cruises through town. I've bought myself another bike to have as a dedicated road bike, or what I would call a "townie". More on that another time.

I have booked Ella in to start daycare in June. She will go two days a week, on the same days as Oliver, so I will be looking for work. That is going to be quite a change - having to be places and do things that aren't child related. I am looking forward to it, although I will do my best to enjoy my last few months with just Ella at home Mondays and Wednesdays.

Ella is doing great. She is really growing up now - she's 9 months old today! She is sleeping through the night, since 8 months old. She only seems to wake up if she gets cold - the weather has been pretty unpredictable lately, so it's hard to know how many layers to put on her at night. Ella's four teeth were casuing me quite a bit of discomfort (no problem for her!), so I have weaned her now - she is having formula in a sipper cup. She is enjoying her solid food, and is doing well with the chunky texture and chewing the little lumps, eating pretty much anything I give her. She doesn't have any words yet, but the sounds ma, ba, and ga are used repetitively with screams and squeals used to gain attention. Her babbling is also coming along very nicely. She started commando crawling at about a month ago, and is really enjoying being able to move around. Oliver is very frustrated by Ella being able to drag herself across the floor to grab his toys - he does not like sharing at all!

Oliver is well, and growing into a little boy more and more. He is gaining confidence in his climbing, evidenced by him standing on the arm of the couch and grinning at me (whilst I try to hide just how worried I am!). I'm doing my best to stand back and let him explore his limits. I think he is learning a lot (good and bad) from his little mates at ABC's... I've been told that he is starting to stand up for himself more now, so I'm not quite sure what to make of that! He really loves going to ABC's and talks about the different activities, friends, and teachers when we are at home. He has even started trying to incorporate "mat time" into our day at home, getting his chair and some books out, singing the mat time song and then asking me to "come sit on the mat, mummy" so he can read to me. :D Oli has continued to improve his language, with his sentence structure starting to get more complex and complete. He is learning a lot by copying what he hears other people say.

So far I am managing having both kids at Jumping Beans. Ella sits on the sidelines and observes (with toys and a bottle to keep her happy), and Oli and I play on the gym equipment. Things are going to get tricky once Ella is crawling properly and ready to start her own class - I don't think Oli will sit quietly on the sideline! We had Nan come to help last Friday, which was fantastic. She fed and played with Ella, while Oli and I played on the equipment.

We've had a few birthday's over the past month - Nan clicked over another year (or are we meant to be counting backwards now?!!), our friend Claudia invited us to dinner to celebrate her birthday, and we went to cousin Benjamin's pirate birthday party last weekend.

We finally got to do our Waipa Delta Cruise. We went out on the afternoon tea cruise which was quite short - we only covered the area from just downstream of the Wellington Street Beach down to the Fairfield bridge. It was an interesting way to see the city and the underside of all the bridges, and their stress cracks (typical enginneers!).

We have also been hanging on to the last little bit of summer, by getting out for a picnic and play whenever possible. Oliver loves to go for runs in the parks, even though he's not a very good runner yet! It's all good practice. :)