The Pool Situation

This weekend we have been to the QE2 pool on the other side of Christchurch. New Zealand takes swimming pools seriously and this one is amazing! It has an in-pool playground complex with Greek statues and plastic starfish. It has a huge lazy river with whirlpools and a fake beach with real waves that crash on the shore. It's quite overwhelming actually. I couldn't really take it in when I first got there.

We are hoping to get our own pool in Rolleston but it has split the community. Half of us want it because we have to drive for half an hour each way to get the nearest one in the city. The other half don't want it because they don't want to pay the extra rates. The Council will make a decision soon.

Lily's Party

Last weekend was Lily's fourth birthday party. One of Jo's friends dropped us in it by asking what theme Lily was having for it - so then we needed a theme. We did the house up like an underwater grotto. Here are some pictures.

Band of Brothers

TVNZ has started showing Band of Brothers. It’s an American series about the Americans in the second world war after D Day. The British only appear occasionally and then only to cock things up for the Americans. Is this really what happened in the war?

No wonder the UK is in such a mess.

Soap or Deodorant?

We are going away to Oamaru for a few days, camping by a river. I am just deciding if I need to take the the soap or just use deodorant? It's only a few days...

I asked Jo what she thought. She just gave me one of her special glares!

194 and counting

About 3 months ago I got a new mobile phone. It has a counter which tells the user how many text messages they've sent. I am on 194, with 213 received.

I try not to but I check my total all the time. And I have become obsessed with sending messages to get my score up. I get 100 free texts to use in the month after I top up with credit. That's at least 3 a day I need to send to get my money's worth.

Whilst you contemplate the above statistics, why not take a look at this picture of Toby in his walker.

More Crap Telly

Tonight on telly seems to be tacky documentary night. We have a choice of Half Ton Son (fat people) or My Monkey Baby (mad people and their pets). Or a program about estate agents.

A few months ago I was wishing we got channel 4 in this country. Now I am thinking Channel 5 would do.

Here's a picture of Toby, aged almost 5 months now.

Imagination

I took Lily to the playground today. She mostly likes to play imaginary games, pretending she is someone else, like Dora the Explorer or a dog called Angustina-kneela. We are usually expected to join in. I was hoping she would run around and tire herself out and give me a break from trying to remember who I was supposed to be.

Instead we pretended the climbing frame was a house and the loose bark chip ground was a sticker album, with the stickers being the individual bark chips. One was a ballerina. Another was a ballet man (whatever they are supposed to be called). Another was a ballet dog.

Sigh.