Day 14  |  A spot of backyard cricket and a game of mini golf filled the afternoon today! 

Here's Austin hanging out in a little bit of shade at mini golf.  Starting to look so much more grown up, although he's still my cuddly boy X 

Day 13  |  Despite being the hottest day of our holidays so far, the boys have been on the go outside most of the day! We headed to the swimming pool this afternoon though to cool off for a bit! The boys were hanging out on the swings while they were waiting on us to go, so it's an action shot today! 

Day 11  |  And another gorgeous Central Otago day!  It was a great day to cool off at the swimming pool this afternoon, but first a quick photo of the boys.  Love finding great little spots for photos in the back yard!

Day 10  |  It really is turning into being a very relaxing holiday, with gorgeous sunny weather!  Today's main games of the day were backyard cricket and backyard tennis.

The boys got this tennis game for Christmas from family, and it has been lots of fun!  Starring Austin today!

Day 9  |  We had a pretty quiet day today hanging around home.  It was slightly cooler so Austin was the only one who braved the water slide today! 

The photo today is Hayden just sitting outside this morning after breakfast.  Austin definitely wasn't in the mood for photos today!

Day 8  |  MERRY CHRISTMAS!  It's 30 degrees so we definitely can't complain about the weather on Christmas Day this year!  The boys have had a great day, starting at a very reasonable 6.15am and had fun opening their presents, and then the annual treasure hunt from Granma and Dea for even more presents!  So very spoilt! 

After a huge and very yummy Christmas lunch, it was water slides and water balloons to help stay cool, before we retreated inside to some new card games.  So it was a great Christmas Day in Central! 

Lots of photos taken today, mainly of the boys opening presents, but decided to share my favourite of the boys with Granma and Dea!

Day 7  |  It finally feels like Summer has arrived!  Austin's big request today was to have fun in the water, so he hunted out the water slide and water guns and the hoses were on!  The boys had lots of fun on the water slide, so it's an action shot today!

Day 6  |  The holidays have officially begun!  We made the drive down to Central Otago, with our usual lunch stop at the Wrinkly Ram in Omarama.  After lunch Austin wanted to go and see the sheep, and the boys befriended the cutest wee lamb.  There were a few lambs, but this was the only one who came over to see us.  He even ran down the fence line crying as we left! 

Day 5  |  It's the day before we head away for the holidays, so it's been a day of cleaning, washing and packing!  The boys have entertained themselves for most of the day with the promise that they could open the presents under the tree before we head away tomorrow!

So, two very spoilt boys and one very happy dog (he loved ripping up the paper!!) and it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!  Thank you Nea, Poppa, Aunty Pauline, Uncle Rob, Aunty Rachy, Uncle Brennie, Rio and Sky! 

Day 4  |  It was the final day of Karate today for the year.  The boys are now going twice a week, and despite time off for broken arms (both of them!) they have headed back and continue to work through their gradings.  Hayden moved to Red Belt earlier this year, and Austin moved up from the Tigers to Panthers, and recently graded for his Yellow Belt.  (I finally got a photo of him today as he had to rush off to his school disco the day he actually graded!)

Hayden received a very special award this year for Commitment.  He has been going to Karate for 6 years now, and I'm so proud that he has continued to go, even though there's been a few times he's wanted to give up - especially when he missed a grading and fell behind his peers due to broken arms!  So this award meant a lot to him! 

Day 3  |  Another cold, wet day!  So it worked out to be a great day for the boys to spend at the local holiday programme for a trip to the movies while I finished off some last work for the year. 

I did, however, need an up-to-date individual photo of them each for an application form, so I grabbed a quick one of them together at the same time!  When they're not fighting, they actually get on really well, lol, and are often found hanging out together!

Day 2  |  It has been a very wet and cold start to the holidays today, and while the boys managed to escape outside for a while this afternoon, most of the day has been spent indoors.  So it was a little playstation time this morning while I went through all the boys clothes working out what still fitted them!  So whilst we haven't really done a lot, it was relatively productive and a good job ticked off the list!

Day 1  |  We're back!  How hard is it to believe that we've reached the end of another school year!  Hayden has now completed Year 6, and Austin Year 2.  They've both grown so much this year, and it's funny to think that Austin started the year with no front teeth! 

This year also marks the end of an era as the boys will be going to a different school next year.  We are farewelling our primary school as Hayden heads into the City for his intermediate years.  Austin will also be following as it would be too hard to have the boys in completely different locations.  So there will be many changes ahead - but more about that next year!

Right now, the holidays have officially started as of 12pm today!  And we'll be attempting a Photo-A-Day for the next 43 days - our 8th year of doing this Blog!  Hayden had just finished his first year at school the first year when we started.  So let's see if we can keep going for these holidays! 

As for today, the boys chose the location for their photo, next to their old school logo, continuing our tradition of taking our first photo at school before heading home for the holidays!