Sick bubba boy!

Have had a pretty rough week this week with Ryan being very unwell. Started on Mon night with him being a bit irritable thru the night and by Tues night he had uncontrollable fevers. I had him dosed up on paracetamol, ibuprofen, was doing tepid baths and he was still burning up with fevers over 39 degrees. Poor miserable thing. Took him to the Dr on Wed (not my normal Dr who was away) and he said just a virus, nothing they can do... blah, blah. Woke up good on Thur, but had come out in a rash and by late afternoon he had the uncontrollable fever again so had him back to the Dr yesterday (my Dr this time). He got out the book on the jab reactions and everything fit Ryan's symptoms, so he literally has a 'textbook' reaction to his MMR jabs last week. Nice knowing now, but sadly we may still suffer the fevers on and off over the next week. Hoping for more off than on. We had a much better night last night. I managed to sleep in my bed and only got up to him three times. He still has the rash, but seems to be doing okay.
The silver lining in all this is being glad i got him immunised as if the dead virus cells can do this much damage i really wouldn't want him to get the real deal!!

Adam, Eve and the forbidden fruit - And they say history never repeats!

It's is just human nature to want what you can't have. With young kids i am discovering that this must be an inherit part of our nature as even my little boy is more interested in what he is not allowed!
Now while i am so so so so NOT having any more kids, if i were to, i have come to the conclusion that i will start out with a box of toys in a clear corner that i will pretend said child is not allowed. All in the hope that when i am sidetracked they will go for those toys instead of the remotes, phone, DVD, anything in the cupboards we can reach, anything in the fridge we can reach....Dah de dah de dumpty do!!!!

Kaiteriteri

We had a fabulous day in Kaiteri on Friday. In fact i had one of the best days ever! As a child we went camping there every year and it just bought back so many memories and it was so much fun sharing some of the fun things i did with my kids. We went crab and starfish hunting, swimming, dug in the sand and Charlotte even learnt to snorkel.
Maggie couldn't sit still. She was so cute running from here to there, she was just so excited and just loved jumping in the waves.
Ryan just loved eating the sand! He even took to using a shell to scoop it into his mouth, LOL!
Charlotte loved hunting for creatures, although as you'll see in the photo was a bit unsure about holding the crab!
I'm really looking forward to getting into camping again. Last time was two Christmases ago when we went to Mapua with friends. Last Christmas i had just had Ryan so stayed home while Daryl and Charlotte went camping in Kaikoura and this year we're in the new house and wanted to have some fun at home with our pool (which has been fabulous). Next year camping is definitely back on the menu though!

To cut or not to cut!

Sometimes it's not about pulling the kids away from the apron, it's about Mum's reluctantly cutting the ties that she has firmly KNOTTED around her child.
Charlotte had her first weekend away camping without Mum or Dad this weekend. She went to Pohara with her best friend and they had a ball. Didn't miss us at all! And came home buzzing.
On the other foot Mum and Dad were pretty uptight about letting her go in the first place. Had to have the very serious stranger danger talk. Hard to know how far to go on this topic with a 5yr old! Don't want to petrify them, but they need to know enough to be aware and keep safe.
Thankfully her bestie's Mum was fabulous with little old neurotic me and put up with upteen texts a day with a lot of patience and care!
Charlotte was bought home safe and sound yesterday and very tired! Very relieved parents at this end!!

Also had a babysitter to watch the littlies while we went to a wedding on Sat. More Mummy neurosis!! Daryl's cousins 16yr old daughter babysat for the first time (and did a fabulous job). Felt bad though, her first time babysitting our kids and she had to do the works. Feed them, get them ready for bed and actually into bed! All apparantly went well, although Maggie tried it on a bit at bedtime! When she got up in the morning i asked if she had fun with D. She said 'yes, she makes me so happy!'. Pretty good feedback for the babysitter.
Oh and i did manage to only ring once, after tea!

Pool fun

The pool has just been so wonderful this summer. So nice to not have to pack a million bags to go swimming and nice not bringing loads of sand home after a day at the beach. Just jumping in the pool at our leisure. It's great! Charlotte's confidence has grown soooo much in the pool and she is swimming really well, under the water too. She is a real fish! It's a struggle to get her out and when she is out she's asking when she can get in, LOL!

Playhouse renovation

The girls and i painted up the playhouse. Also put some of our old carpet in and it's so lovely in there now. The girls have a blast playing house.