Day 15  |  This boy never stops - talking or running around - he drives us crazy one minute, and has us in hysterics the next!  This cheeky face says it all really!
Love him to bits X

Day 14  |  Late this afternoon we headed over to Wanaka for a fantastic catch up and BBQ with old friends.  But before we went, Austin tested out his new scooter on the walk way just down the end of the road!

He was really excited to get a "big boy scooter" from Santa for Christmas, and as you can probably tell from these photos, he had really out-grown his old three-wheel Thomas one!  I just love Austin's fun-loving expression in these photos.  It was impossible to choose just one of them of them to share today ;)

Day 13  |  Time for the first instalment of holiday Mini Golf this morning!  It's a real favourite holiday choice for the boys!  No photos at golf this morning, but we then headed to one of the boys' favourite parks in Cromwell for a picnic lunch and play.  Lots of turns on the flying fox, especially Austin!  Unfortunately Hayden has gone down hill pretty quickly today and seems to have the same fever that Austin had this time last week :(  Fingers crossed he's feeling better tomorrow!

Day 12  |  It started off with a rain shower this morning when I walked Alfie, but not long later, it turned into a very hot day with gale Nor'westers.  There was the usual array of boardgames and lego this morning, and we even managed to squeeze in some of Austin's holiday homework reading!

This afternoon we headed into Alexandra for our first swim of the holidays.  Then when we got home later this afternoon, it was time for a DVD on the couch!  Two pretty tired looking boys!  I think I actually feel a bit the same!

Day 11  |  It was a gorgeous, hot Central Otago day today.  There were bike rides and ball games outside and board games inside!  Cluedo has been a real hit with Hayden, and he is a pro already - definitely his sort of game!   Even Granma is becoming a Cluedo expert!

Day 10  |  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas Day, Take 1 (4am)
Austin:  "Mum, it's Christmas Morning!"
Me:  "Shh, Austin, it's still the middle of the night!"
Hayden: "Mum"
Me:  "Shh, Hadyen"
Hayden:  "But Mum, my covers have all fallen off."
Me:  "OK, I'm coming"
Hayden:  "Be careful, there's a bike beside my bed!"

Christmas Day, Take 2 (5.45am)
Hayden:  "Austin, wake up!"

And so Christmas Day it was!  Despite a nearly very early start, we had a fantastic day of treasure hunts, present opening, eating (lots!), board games (lost count), and of course backyard cricket!  The boys have just finished watching a Christmas movie and are only now getting into bed at 9.30pm, so I'm hoping we may get a little sleep in tomorrow morning, lol!

In the meantime, a few photos from opening presents this morning!  Alfie included of course.  All very spoilt boys!

Day 9  |  Christmas Eve!  It's been a long day, mainly spent travelling today.  But we are now here in Clyde, there is Christmas cake and milk on the table, there's a carrot on the roof (so that Alfie can't eat it!), and the Santa sacks are laid out on the ends of the beds.  Something tells me the boys are awaiting a special visitor tonight!  I hope they've been good!

The boys are both sound asleep now, so I'll leave you with today's photo from lunch on the lake front in Tekapo.  On last job for the day to do, then it's time for bed for me too ;)  

Day 8  |  The annual 'Christmas Tree Photo' today!  For each of the past few years, I've tried to take a photo of the boys in front of our Christmas tree.  This year required a bit of effort, as although he is looking a lot happier in this photo, Austin is still not back to his full self, and it's been another day mostly on the couch.  He definitely is on the improve though thankfully!  Must be time for a family holiday ;)

Day 7  |  Sometimes when you're sick, you just need Granma's quilt (laid 'flat' so he can see all the pictures), a pillow, and a day in front of the TV (luckily fixed 2 days ago!)  Poor wee boy :(

Day 6  |  With a 30 degree day forecast today, we decided to squeeze in a bike ride and trip to the park this morning before it got too hot!  It was really sunny and already pretty hot though even by 10 o'clock, so we found a tiny patch of shade to stop and take a photo!

The rest of the day was a 'home day' after a pretty busy start to the week!  And for some reason on the hottest day of summer so far, I decided to clean out the boys drawers and wardrobes!!  I was meant to be starting to pack for our holiday, but got a little carried away!  Oops!

Day 5 | As you may have seen earlier on my Facebook page, today we finally made it to see Santa!  We thought we'd head in first thing to get a park and 'beat the crowds', but by 9.30am the carpark was full and we had to queue for an hour!  But it was worth it to see the amazement and wonder on Austin's face!  And we've got our Santa photo for another year!

We don't really go into the City very often at all, so we made an outing of it, and ended up having and unplanned lunch with Steve and then we went for a ride on the tram before heading home.  Couldn't choose just one photo from our day out!

Day 4  |  More bike photos today!  This morning I had a delivery to do, so we put the bikes and scooters in the car and headed to a small bike park about 15 minutes drive from home.  We have been here a few times now and the boys really like it.  It's a great level for them, similar aged kids there doing the same thing (Hayden even hung out with another Hayden this morning!), plus there's a playground there too.  The sun was out, and the wind hadn't really gotten up yet, so it was a really nice way to spend the rest of the morning!  I'm sure we'll be back again before the end of the holidays!

Day 3  |  There was a little surprise today for a little boy!  A little early Christmas present if you like!  When Hayden was 4 and a half, Santa gave him a new bike for Christmas, a new blue bike.  And today, it was time for Hayden to pass his old bike down to Austin.

Austin had actually been watching old videos this morning of when Hayden got this bike, so he was super excited when he saw it!  I don't think he could believe it!  

I was a little worried it was going to be a bit too big for him (he is a lot smaller than Hayden was at the same age), but he just jumped straight on it and took off, shouting that did this mean that he didn't have to ride his 'baby' bike anymore!  I needn't have worried!  In fact, he spent most of the afternoon riding his 'new' bike!

Day 2  |  When it was time to get dressed this morning, Austin had well and truly decided that he was going to be an "All Black" today - Dan Carter in fact - so the clothes that had been left out on his bed for him were discarded, and replaced with his All Blacks shorts and t-shirt!  He stated that he would, of course, need his rugby boots too!

He also told me the for our photo today, he was going to kick his rugby ball on the back lawn, and promptly went off and got his ball and tee, not forgetting the boots too.

Extra hands were needed from Dad to keep Alfie from stealing the tee, but Austin definitely had the right moves happening (maybe it helps that his middle name is Carter!)   Here are some of the resulting shots from my mini All Black photo shoot!

Day 1   |  You know, each year when I open this Blog up to start a new Photo-A-Day, I end up spending half the night looking back on the posts from the past few years! And I think that's why each year I continue my "Summer Holidays Photo-A-Day" tradition. The boys are still happy for me to bring out the camera too, so I guess that helps! And because I don't take nearly as many photos of them now during the year as I used to, they're not 'photo'ed out'! It might be a different story by the end of the holidays of course, lol!

So, here we are, nearly at the end of another year! As I've done in previous years, I'm starting off with the last (half) day of school, but the difference is, this year, there's two boys in the photo!! Austin started school 7 weeks ago, and I think I'm still getting used to the fact that both boys are 'school boys' now! He has settled in very quickly, although I definitely have one, actually make that two, very tired boys at home tonight.

With 44 days til school goes back, I'm hoping we can have a fantastic, relaxing, fun summer holidays - and hopefully not to much brotherly fighting!! But in between, lots of photos too!! And I know I say this every year, but who is going to join me!! The kids will LOVE looking back on the photos in years to come - as will you! Definitely worth it!