(The unofficial) Day 51  School is back and sleep ins and late breakfasts are once again replaced by busy mornings and school lunches!  This morning there was a little bit of excitement and a lot of nerves as the thoughts of a new class, new teacher and new friends came to the fore.  Hayden is not one to like changes and had to be reassured, that yes things would be different, but that that can be a good thing, something to look forward to!  And by three o'clock, a certain boy came running out of his classroom with a big grin on his face, so it can't have gone too badly!

Hayden, I wish for you a wonderful school year; one that inspires you, excites you, and makes you reach high for new goals and successes.  Be you, be good, and be the best you can be! X

Day 50  We've made it!  After 50 days my Photo A Day for these summer holidays is officially finished.  I now have over 600 photos sitting in an album on my computer, so it's pretty safe to say that I'm not exactly great at taking just one photo a day either!  We've had quiet days where there has just been the odd shot taken throughout the day, and we've had busy days with many photos taken!  Some days it's been easy to choose a photo to share, a special photo that jumps out at you; other days it has been a really hard decision as to which favourite to pick.  I feel like I have shared so much of our holidays, but yet there are still so many more photos that I could have taken and even more ideas of what to do for 'our photo'.  However, it's definitely time to get my camera serviced, clear some memory cards, and get some other things done!

And if you've made it this far, I want to thank you for following my blog these holidays!  I have loved hearing all the comments from people that have enjoyed seeing what we've been up to!  I am always a little surprised by how many people actually look forward to our photo each day!  Although this is technically the last day, I will be back tomorrow with one final special blog post for Hayden's first day back at school.  I loved how my last PAD project ended with Hayden's first day of school last year, and then this one started with his last day for the year.  So the tradition might have to continue! 

But for now it's time for me to leave you with our last photo of the holidays.  It has been an absolutely gorgeous day, ironically one of the best summer's day we've had these holidays.  We finally got to get the paddling pool out, the sprinkler was on, and it was time for lots of fun in the water in the back yard.  The boys had a great time, running around all over the place, and I literally had to drag Austin inside out of the water for dinner tonight!  It was definitely a great way to finish the holidays!  (But we do desperately need a new paddling pool next year though, lol!)

Now, who's up to join me in about 11 months time??  Go on, you know you want to!

Day 49  Each year as part of my Photo A Day,  there has to be one day that I 'save' my photo for late in the evening when I can sneak back into the boys' bedrooms and take a photo of them all tucked up, sound asleep.  There's something quite enchanting about a sleeping child; you seem to forget about the day's tantrums, the fights for independence, the stubborn moments, and exhausted cries.  They are simply that little child that can melt your heart once again.  So tonight it's very simply my two boys.

As soon as you put Austin into his cot, he wriggles himself all the way up and then squashes himself right across the top of the cot on his tummy, which is becoming more and more of a squash as he grows.  He always has his 'cuski' and his Pooh bear close by, exactly as I found him tonight.  He goes to sleep to the sounds of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" most nights.  He moves a lot in his sleep and often has nightmares, which seem to range in severity.  It's impossible to keep him covered in anything other than his sleeping bag.  I took a few gorgeous shots of Austin asleep this evening, and originally chose another one to share, but in the end I went with this one as it tells the full story!

Hayden still has takes his 'Blue Bear' and 'da zar' (a little muslin cloth, which still has the name given to it by him from before he could even talk) with him every night.  He struggles to get to sleep at nights, and we are currently trying to shift his body clock back to school bedtimes after a long relaxing holiday of late nights!  However, once this one is asleep, he is asleep!  He is such a deep sleeper it's amazing.  He can literally sleep through anything, including 7.1 earthquakes, and even his brother being born!  It was a little harder to get his photo tonight though since it was practically dark when he went to sleep, and the beautiful light of earlier in the evening was well and truly gone. 

Angelic is not a word I would ever use to describe my boys - awake or asleep - but looking at these photos, they come pretty close.

Good night world, sleep tight, and may tomorrow be another beautiful day X

Day 48  Today we took the boys to Steam Scene, a miniature railway only about 10 minutes drive from where we live.  We have only been there once, about three years ago, and I'm not sure why we haven't been back sooner, as it is an absolutely fantastic place to take the boys!  We had a picnic lunch, the boys played, and I think we managed a ride on all of the different trains there.  It is an incredibly affordable day out, and lots of fun - for Mums and Dads too!

I spent most of my time on the trains with the boys, but I did hop off for a couple of rides so I could take some photos!  Every time the boys saw me, they waved, hence every photo I have they're waving at me!

Day 47  It's another Saturday morning photo today.  Boys on the couch, under a quilt (Hayden's, made by Granma), iPads in hands.  What better way to start the weekend!