Day 49  This is it; the very last day of my Photo-A-Day!  It's going to seem a little strange not picking up the camera and taking a photo tomorrow, or the next day, and always thinking about what my photo will be for the day.  Of course, I could never stop taking photos of my boys, but it may be a couple of weeks before the next one!  Instead, it's time to give the camera a good clean up, clear some memory cards, and get some other work done and get ready for 2013 Client Sessions after taking January off.  My main website is also about to be completely updated - new logo, new look, new images - so there's some exciting things happening very soon! 

As for today, my last photo is one that I have been wanting to include in this years Photo-A-Day, as I've done in previous years.  The photo where you sneak into the bedroom, up the ISO, try to quietly pull back a curtain and find as much light as you can, and sneak that photo of your child sound asleep.  There's something always so peaceful and beautiful about a child sleeping, and I didn't want to miss it this year.  However, by the time bedtime has come each night, I seemed to have already taken my photo for the day.  In some ways though, it seems quite fitting for my last photo anyway; the end of the day and the end of my little project. 

So tonight, it's the two boys, both sound, sound asleep after a very hot day.  Funnily enough, today is the first day that I nearly forgot to take my photo; I'm so used to having it done earlier in the day!   

Finally, thank you again for popping in and seeing what we've been up to over the past 7 weeks, and I hope you'll join me again next year for whatever project I decide to do!

Sweet dreams xox

Day 48   Yes this is Day 48!  Just in case you missed it in my last post, I've decided to keep going for an extra couple of days so that my Summer Holidays Photo-A-Day manages to complete the traditional "January Photo-A-Day" at the same time! So two more days to go : ) Plus, since I started this project with Hayden finishing school, I kind of wanted to end (well nearly end) it with a photo of my big Year 1 boy all ready and excited to head back to school for his first full year! 

Hayden couldn't wait to go to school this morning, and was even all keen for some photos for his first day back!  (After 47 days of me taking photos, this was in itself an achievement!).  And I'm pleased to report that he had a great first day back, probably helped by the fact that the majority of the children in his class this year were together in the same class last year.  They have a lovely young, new beginning teacher, who one of the boys has already said is "pretty" : )  And apparently she didn't growl all day!  No homework tonight, which is probably a good thing since with the start of school - and soccer again - on a very hot day, there's a very, very tired boy in the house tonight. 

Have a fantastic year at school this year Hayden.  Continue to learn, grow and enjoy your school days as long as you possibly can xxx

Day 47/47  Wow, I made it!!  Forty-seven days of our summer!  Congratulations too if you've made it this far with me! And as the amazing weather continues, it was a perfect day to end what now seem to feel like a very quick school holidays.

I asked Hayden yesterday what he would like to do for the last day of the school holidays and we decided on Orana Park.  I can remember a little going there as a child on our family holidays to Christchurch (well mainly I can remember getting bitten by a rabbit!), so it's quite funny to think that it's now just a 10 minute drive down the road from where we live!  We've been there a few times in the past few years now, especially as Hayden has gotten a little older.

We got to the Park just after 10.00am and headed off to see the animals after much discussion on which way round we would go.  Hayden had the map!  We managed to time our walk to see the Lemurs and Tiger getting fed, and then the boys both fed the giraffes - there was no way Austin was going to miss out!  Unfortunately with holding a wriggly Austin I couldn't get any photos of that, but I did manage to grab a shaky iPhone video! 

After a picnic lunch and play at the playground, we jumped on the 'tractor train', and took the easy way around the park.  Austin fell asleep about half way around so we ended up staying on and going around again so that he could sleep a little longer!  I though we would only be staying half a day, but since Austin had had a sleep, we ended up staying longer and watching the lions getting fed, then time for an ice cream before heading home - at 4 o'clock!  So you can definitely say that we made the most of the last day of our holidays, and had a great day out!

And with that, the holidays are now over and it's back to school tomorrow!  I could quite happily have another couple of weeks holidays, but I guess it won't be long before we're back into the routine of it all!  Hayden is looking forward to getting back to school though, so that's the main thing. 

So thank you to everyone who has been following our 47 days of summer holidays. I have really loved reading your comments over on Facebook and I'm glad that you've enjoyed our holidays too! And although this is technically the end of my 'big summer project', there will be just another couple of photos to come ;) Usually you do a Photo a Day for the month of January, so since I've done that in the past and considering there's only two days left in January, I thought I might as well finish off the month. But I promise, Day 49 will definitely be the last day!

But for now, our boys!

Day 46/47  Hayden has always been an active, 'hands on' sort of boy, who loves a little (or a lot!) rough and tumble.  So I always thought that some form of martial arts would be a great activity for him to participate in, giving him the chance to be active, yet with discipline, control, and learning respect and gaining confidence at the same time. 

So when I heard about a local Karate class towards the end of last year, I was really pleased that Hayden was keen to give it a go, and he has now been going for just over a term.  Every Monday afternoon it's straight from school, in the car and down the road!  Unlike many sports or activities, Karate continues pretty much throughout the holidays, so it has been nice to have something to go to when everything else has stopped over the past few weeks.  And most importantly, he seems to be really enjoying it so far.

Because we are usually rushing straight from school, I hadn't taken a photo of Hayden in his Karate uniform yet, so this little project was the perfect opportunity to tick another photo off the list!  Meanwhile, Hayden is practicing his kicks and punches before his class this afternoon : )

Day 45/47  And yet another gorgeous, hot day!  After a bit of a lazy start to the day, we decided to head to the swimming pool after Austin's sleep this afternoon.  As those of you who know Hayden will know, he has a true fear of swimming and swimming pools.  Even as a small toddler, we went through a stage where for months he screamed and struggled and we had such a hard time even getting him into a bath or shower.  There was no one particular incident, and we used to go swimming quite often when he was little, but then earthquakes happened, pools closed, and then we moved out of town, so with one thing after another and Hayden really not wanting to go swimming, it wasn't something we pushed ourselves to do.

But of course, water and swimming is part of growing up in New Zealand, and being able to swim is such an important skill.  So, one of the aims this summer was to try to the swimming pool more often, and get Hayden used to the water again.  He had been doing really well whilst we were on holidays, and his confidence had definitely grown, which was great.

It has been a couple of weeks since we've been swimming now though, so today it was off to Jellie Park, the first time we'd been there.  Unfortunately though, back into a 'normal' and unknown swimming pool environment and the confidence was completely gone again.  However, on the other hand, I think Austin might be our little water baby! 

Here is Hayden all goggled up, ready to go (and looking happy enough!) before we left home.

Day 44/47  After staying up late working most nights the past couple of weeks, my wonderful husband gave me a very much needed sleep in this morning.  Of course, it ended up with two boys jumping all over the top of me, but the extra couple of hour sleep I got made it worth it.  Anything past 6am is a bonus these days!

Here is the big cheeky munchkin, ready for some cuddles!

Day 43/47  As the school holidays come to an end, there suddenly still seems to be so many things that we had planned to do!  I don't think we'll get to cross everything off our list now, but today Hayden got to choose where we were going, and Willowbank it was.  Willowbank has been a favourite place of ours to visit for many years now.  We have had annual passes ever since Hayden was one, and we have spent many, many a day there.  With Hayden starting school this past year, it's been a while since we've been, but Austin is now just getting to a great age to take, so I would say that we will once again become frequent visitors!

It was Austin's first time at Willowbank today (if you don't count a visit when he was just a few weeks old), and Hayden had a great time showing him around!  Hayden also had a great time feeding the deer (even though they 'stole' his first bag of food and we had to go back and buy more!), and although Austin wasn't too sure about these strange big brown animals, he did incredibly well considering they were nearly in the buggy with him a lot of the time - well their heads were a few times!  We saw most of the animals, although a few were hiding on us today.  Austin signed 'dog' and said 'd, d, d' for most of them, but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed himself.  I think his favourites were the ducks and chickens though, a little more his size!  He was following a peacock around for a while at lunch until it turned around and looked at him, literally eye to eye as they were the same height!   Hayden's favourite part of the day was his donkey ride.  A little sad though as it will be his last donkey ride there as he only very much just made the height restriction today! But, as always, it was a fantastic day out! 

So if you are in Christchurch, or just visiting, you should definitely make a trip to Willowbank! 

Day 42/47  Well, with less than a week now until school goes back, it was time to start covering and labelling Hayden's school books today!  And since the weather wasn't overly great, it was the perfect day for it.

When I was at school, I remember loving the start of the new school year and having all new books, pens and pencils, and that includes when I was a teacher!  Hayden helped me out with some of his books this morning, and is pretty excited about his 'dinosaur' coverseal that he picked out.  When he started school in the middle of last year, we could only find clear contact, so dinosaurs are much more exciting!  He's also chosen a red Reading Packet this year - because it's the colour of the Crusaders of course : )

Day 41/47  Hayden had a playdate at a friend's house today, so it was just Austin and I for the most part.  We spent most of our morning outside, playing in the fort, going down the slide, 'bouncing' on the trampoline, and doing some weeding and watering the veggie garden.  Then since it was such a hot day, we found a spot out of the wind and in the shade and filled up Austin's water tray.  He played in the water for ages, having a great time playing with the toys and scooping the water out! 

It was probably a good thing that we did spend the morning outside because by this afternoon the horrible very hot and windy Canterbury norwester had really set in, so it was one of those afternoons that you just put the air conditioning on and hang out inside!

Day 40/47  Wow, it's day 40, which means it's only one week now until school goes back!  I've gotten used to being in holiday mode though, and although I know Hayden will love getting back to school, I'm not looking forward to making school lunches again!

Hayden had a little friend coming over to play this afternoon, so we spent the morning making mini cupcakes and then decorating them.  It was almost a disaster though as just after we'd put the first batch in the oven, I noticed the butter still sitting on the bench!  We'd weighed it out and put it to the side whilst we were getting all the other ingredients ready, and then completely forgotten to put it in!  (Maybe baking and photographing don't go so well together after all!)  There wasn't much we could do other than wait for them to cook and then do a taste test.  It was all thumbs up though (Hayden giving them a 10/10), so in went the next batch, and the decorating commenced!  Now, I just wonder if leaving out 60gms of butter makes cupcakes a 'healthy' treat ; )

Day 39/47  If the names Optimus Prime, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper, Sideswipe, Megatron and Starscream mean anything to you, then you'd be welcome to come and play at our house anytime!  Our Thomas the Tank Engine days are now few and far between (although still do make an appearance much to Austin's delight!), and the Transformers have well and truly taken their place.  However, I have to admit that I was a lot better at learning all the engines names compared with all these Autobots and Decepticons, but I am learning!

Hayden will play with his transformers for hours and hours, and this morning he decided to have a bit of a sort out, putting back together transformers whose certain parts had fallen off during the numerous battles they seem to have!  He then lined them up on the bench and asked me to take a video of him showing how to transform one of them.  So of course I had to get a photo too!

Day 38/47  Sometimes when you're wondering what you might take for your Photo-A-Day picture, an 'opportunity' arises when you're least expecting it!  Hence today's photos. 

I was doing the last of the clean up from lunch when Austin started wandering around pulling his Buzzy Bee toy.  I didn't think too much of it as he headed up the hallway buzzing along, looking all very cute.  Then suddenly you realise that everything has gone just a little too quiet!  Sure enough as I make my way up the hallway... not in his bedroom... not in his brother's bedroom... bathroom! 

Of course, this is not the first 'toilet paper incident' we've had by a long way, but I do usually catch him much earlier than this.  Mind you, you do have to take into consideration that when I found him I then had to run back down the hallway to get my camera, run to the study to get another lens, run to the lounge and get my flash, change lenses, put the flash on (all while he's smiling away at me), and THEN take the photo!  (Just for the record, we have a very dark bathroom - and a long hallway!) 

Meanwhile, Austin thought this was all better than ever; not only did he manage to sneak away and get hold of the toilet paper, but Mum sat and watched him and let him carry on!  I did get my photo for the day though!  Next time he won't be so lucky : )

Day 37/47  Today we headed over to Akaroa for the day and a little belated lunch out for my birthday.  The weather forecast was for a hot day, and we had a gorgeous lunch sitting outside a cafe opposite the beach.   After lunch it turned out to be an even hotter day than expected, almost too hot to enjoy wandering around.  Instead it was more of a wander from the shade of one tree to the next, and then to the ice cream shop!  It was nice to spend a few hours over there though; it's somewhere we always enjoy going too. 

As we walked through the town this morning, Hayden was quite fascinated by the tide and the water.  We had to keep stopping every few metres so he could have a look and discuss how deep it was.  I grabbed this photo (with my head stuck through the fence as you do!) as we were walking to lunch and Hayden had climbed down and sat down at the top of some steps.  I really love this photo of him as it's not very often you can get a really natural photo of him looking at the camera.  He actually looks so grown up in this photo!

Day 36/47  Hayden had a playdate with a friend today, so it was just Austin and me hanging out for most of the day.  The house seemed very quiet after having Hayden at home for a few weeks now!

I did attempt to get some housework done, but of course with a one year old in the house 'helping' I'm not quite sure how productive I was!  Austin is at that age where he loves to copy everyone, no matter what you are doing, and where household objects (often that he's not allowed) are so much more interesting than any of his toys!  It's such a shame that the love of 'tidying up' doesn't last forever! : )

Day 35/47  Rain, rain and more rain today, so it was definitely a day at home and inside!  Now, since it is my birthday today, I decided to do something I've been meaning to do for ages, and take a photo of myself with the boys.  And it's well overdue, especially considering Hayden was three the last time I did this! 

Hayden did a great job helping me out, although Austin was a little overcome by it all today, and just wasn't too sure about these lights going off 'by themselves', and of course no one behind the camera!  So no smiles from him for the most part, but on the upside, it did mean he sat in one spot instead of running towards me and the camera for a change, lol!   Next mission, get Dad included too!

Day 34/47 Today was a bit of an out-and-about day getting a jobs done: things to pick up around town, prints to drop off at the framers, and yes, you guessed it, grocery shopping!

Day 33/47  Our run of gorgeous, hot, sunny days has finally come to an end.  It has pretty much rained all day today, which meant a day indoors with toys, drawing, writing, books and DVDs.  It was so dark this morning that we had the lights on, and I even popped the flash on the camera! 

Hayden got a new Hot Wheels toy at Christmas time, and it is popular with both the boys.  Austin can't work it by himself yet (although he knows how it's meant to go and definitely tries!), but loves it when Hayden 'makes it go'.  And as you can probably tell by this photo, Austin already wants to do just what his big brother does!

Day 32/47  Something a little fun and different today : )  Each year in Spring we plant our vegetable garden, and I think every year we seem to end up with more and more strawberries!  The boys (and I!) both love them, so it's definitely not a problem.  More often than not the strawberries don't make it inside, with tell-tale red juicy chins instead walking in from the garden instead!  But what's better than being a child and eating the fruit and veggies straight out of the garden!

Day 31/47  It was yet another 30 degree day, so a great day for a picnic and a bike ride through the forest.  We headed over to McLeans Island to the McLeans Forest Mountain bike track, which is only a 10 minute drive away from home, so nice and handy. 

After our picnic lunch, we biked the 10.5km Main Loop Track.  Hayden had a fantastic time flying around the track, and loved being the 'leader' for parts of the ride.  Austin also loved his first 'mountain bike ride', and I think he even learned a new word along the way, "bump"!  And of course we had to have our day-out icecream before heading home again!

Here are the boys just before we head out on the track.  Austin isn't looking too impressed as he just wanted to get going!

Day 30/47  It was such hot, sticky day today, so sometimes you've just got to sit down and have a drink - and play with the bottle!  (I just love the reflection of Austin's little feet and toes in this photo!)

Day 29/47  Well it has only taken us 8 years, but we have finally made it to Hanmer Springs!  (And of course we are already wondering why on earth it took us so long!)  It was yet another gorgeous day, and we decided last minute that we would make the most of Stephen's last 'official' day of holidays and head to Hanmer Springs for the day.  It is something that we've always been meaning to do ever since we moved to Christchurch, but we've just never made it.  So sometimes last minute decisions can work the best!

We got there around lunch time, so grabbed something to eat and then heated to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools, and what a fantastic place to spend the day!  The boys both had an absolute ball, loving the little kids' play area and going down the little water slides!  We also went around the "Lazy River" and hung out in the big pool for a while before 'warming up' in the rock pools, just beautiful!  After an icecream it was back in the pools and the family pool this time.  Hayden even put his head under the water twice (once by accident!), which if you know Hayden and his fear of water, was a huge, huge thing for him!  He really did have the best time, and has been asking constantly if we can go back again!

We ended up staying so much longer than we ever thought we would, so it was a bowl of chips for the boys for dinner before we made the two hour drive back to Christchurch, getting home around 8.00pm.  So you could definitely say we had a great day out, and yes, we will definitely be going back again - and not waiting another 8 years either!

A couple of photos today.  I didn't get my camera out too much while we were there, but I did grab some fun shots of the boys coming down the waterslide together.  Mind you, trying to get Hayden to come down at the same time as Austin was a major effort all in itself!  I've also added in a photo of the four of us (since it hardly ever happens!), taken by the Hanmer Springs photo team : )

The boys...

Day 28/47  It was one of those very hot, but very, very windy Canterbury days today, where the Norwester is just unrelenting.  There's only so much time you can spend outside before you head indoors again for some reprieve!

And so after lunch today I found Hayden playing in his bedroom with his lego, busily creating and enjoying his time to himself while his little brother was sleeping!  I love the tongue out in concentration!

Day 27/47  We realised today that we are half way through the last week of Stephen's holidays, so it was time to get out of the house again and make the most of the gorgeous day!  It was a hot 30 degrees out, so what more could you want for than swimming and ice creams!

So after lunch we headed into Hagley Park, and if you know me or have been following my blog for a while, you will know that this is probably my favourite spot to head to in Christchurch.  We have spent many, many a day there - and taken a lot of photos there!  No matter what the season, it's a such a beautiful place to go to.  And it certainly was busy there today!

After a quick play on the playground, the boys headed to the paddling pools.  Austin had his first 'swim' at Hagley Park, and I got splashed lots by Hayden!  Mind you, I definitely didn't mind the cool down!   Then more playing at the park before it was time for an ice cream.  And it was another first for Austin, his first icecream!  He's had a couple of little tastes before, but this is the first time he's had a whole (little) icecream to himself.  He absolutely loved it; once he got hold of it, there was no way he was going to let it go and he practically ate the whole thing, right down to the last bite of cone.  It was so funny to watch!  Hayden wouldn't even eat ice cream until he was about three!

With two special 'firsts' today, I couldn't decide on just one photo to share, so I'm sneaking a few extra in!

Firstly, swimming...

Day 26/47  The trampoline is up!  This year Hayden asked for a trampoline for Christmas, but since we were down in Central Otago for Christmas Day, Santa left the trampoline in Christchurch!  And today was the day to put it up.  After about three hours of relatively good going (they say it takes two hours to put up, so we - Steve - didn't do too badly!), Hayden was up and jumping!

Hayden of course thinks that it is great, and after the first few bounces I managed to find my 'feet' again after not being on a trampoline in years.  Austin isn't too sure about the whole big bouncy thing yet, but I'm sure it won't be long until we can't keep him off it either!

Day 25/47  It was a pretty typical first day back from our holiday away today, catching up on washing, doing lawns and having a tidy up in the garden.  (Seven lettuces picked from the veggie garden all ready to eat, so salads on the menu for the next couple of weeks!)  I even managed to clean the car inside and out, so it's been a busy day!

It has also been a typical day for the boys.  As I've mentioned before, Austin is my outside boy.  From the moment he gets up, he's keen to get outside.  So he's more than happy to 'help' out in the garden - or drag me away from it to put him up and down the slide!  Of course, if there's water or watering involved, even better!  So as soon as he saw me washing the car this afternoon, he was there, and hose in hand.  

Hayden, however, often prefers to stay inside doing his own thing, drawing, making something, playing with his toys, or playing one of the many 'imaginary' games he makes up at the moment.  He does enjoy coming outside for a while, especially if we're playing a game together, but he's never been obsessed with being outdoors like Austin is.  Today he was more than happy to stay inside and decorate a big box and pretend he was a transformer with it.  Later this afternoon he decided he wanted to write letters to his grandparents.  He loves to checking the mail box every day and has quickly worked out that if he sends mail, there's more of a chance he might get mail in return!
 
So today it's my inside boy and my outside boy : )

Day 24/47  Our holiday away has come to an end.  Today it was time to pack up and make the long drive home.  It's always so amazing how quickly two weeks disappears when you are on holiday, and you really do wonder where some of the days went.  This always seems especially true for our holidays in Clyde too! 

It's never easy to say goodbye to family that you don't see all that often, and Hayden has found it especially hard this time, asking why we have to go home and why we can't stay.  He has such a great love for his grandparents (as they do for him!), and loves our holidays with them.  Austin has also developed a wonderful bond with Granma and Dea, and loves to follow Dea around outside. 

This morning Austin climbed up on Dea's knee, and Hayden was not far behind, not wanting to miss out on a cuddle!

Day 23/47  The last day of our holidays in Clyde, and a hot, hot day!  So with the temperatures in the mid-30s, it was an afternoon of water fights, water balloons, sprinklers, the paddling pool and slip 'n slide!  Lots and lots of fun, even though the boys seemed to team up together against me!  So a very hot end to our holiday away.  Even now at 9.30pm it's still 30 degrees.  No blankets needed tonight!

The boys cooling off, and a quick photo before getting shot at again!

Day 22/47  You just never know what you're going to find when you go looking in Dea's shed!  Often it's something that's been kept for many, many years and there's also many a thing that surfaces that brings back fond childhood memories for me. 

Today's treasure was an old blackboard from when I was a child, and even a few small bits of chalk (which we've now added to).  My Grandad made this blackboard for me, and I can remember playing 'schools' on it for hours and hours and hours!  I doubt that Hayden even associates a blackboard with school now (yes, he did call it a whiteboard today), but we still had lots of fun playing Hangman and Naughts and Crosses.  Austin also enjoyed joining in, copying his big brother as always.

Day 21/47  The rain has stopped and the sun has been back on and off, so after two days at home it was time to head out today for a game of Mini Golf.  Most holidays we go through to Cromwell for a game, and a little friendly competition! According to Hayden, he was the winner again today.  There may be a few shots he 'forgot' to count, but he did get a hole in one, and always has lots of fun!  Austin was also keen to join in, although that usually meant trying to collect all the balls mid-hole!

Day 20/47  Today was the first really wet (and cold!) day of our holidays down in Clyde, which meant a day at home.  Thanks to the heavy rain, most of the day was spent inside, but during one short break in the weather this afternoon we all managed to get outside for a quick game of cricket.  A budding cricketer in the making maybe??

Day 19/47  Happy New Year and welcome 2013!  It was a very quiet New Year's Day here.  The weather was warm one minute, a shower the next, and blowing a gale in between, so it was just a day hanging out at home.

Hayden is one of those kids who just loves being at home and would much rather be at home than out and about anyway.  He always manages to find something to keep himself busy, and I don't think I've ever heard him say that he's bored.  Often there's pen, paper, scissors and sellotape involved, although today we also did some painting with the water paints.  We also headed outside for a run around this afternoon.  Hayden got a new scooter from Granma and Dea for Christmas, so there was that to ride. And, Hayden being Hayden (and a boy!), he has invented a 'shooting' game over the past couple of days that we play with his old Duplo, which involves lots of chasing, throwing and hiding!  Time to be a kid again : )  

A little collage of photos today.

Day 18/47  The last day of 2012, so a last photo of my two boys for the year.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, and hoping that 2013 brings you health, happiness and special times.