Shhhh, I'm knitting

Two gorgeous skeins of sock yarn arrived today from http://www.vintagepurls.co.nz/ . It was very exciting. I can't decide which to use first and for what pattern (and how I can justify knitting when there is so much else to do.)

Gorgeous, aren't they.

All this knitting goodness has inspired Hayley too.

Off to the beach

that's where we were heading after milking the other night! And it was beautiful. The water was still warm, but the heat of the day had passed. The kids had a great time.

Carly got dunked off her boogey board by a wave

Hay watched sensibly from the shore

and Emily tried to eat sand.

We walked round the mountain searching for treasure and then had ice creams while we watched the sun set. We need to do this more often.

In real life

We went to the Toy Castle in Tirau today for a bit of an outing. The kids were so excitied to see the castle and Carly exclaimed "Look Mum, they have castles in real life!" She is constantly trying to work out what is real and what is pretend or only on tv or in books. At the castle we saw a show pony that was only about the size of the kids - another "in real life" moment. We had a lovely day finished off with ice creams at the top of the hill.

New bikes!

The kids got new bikes yesterday. It was all very exciting - streamers on the handle bars and a Barbie bell. Carly loves hers and was out at 7:30 this morning to ride it again. "Come on Hay, let's ride our bikes!" she squeals. Hayley is getting the hang of it, but is quick to pack it in if it's not going right (where does she get that from??) Carly is looking forward to having the training wheels removed at some stage and really wants a helmut too. Hayley just likes putting her "babies" in the back carrier and ringing the bell!

You never know what you'll find...

Brad and I were out inspecting all the baby apples growing on the apple tree when Brad said "Hey, what's that?" He grabbed at a branch and a wee baby bird fell out and onto the lawn. At the same time we both yelled for the kids to come over and have a look. The little bird darted all over the lawn until Carly finally caught it. We went to put it back up in the nest and another 3 fell out! They couldn't fly, so were just hopping over the lawn madly flapping their wings. We managed to round up two of them and get them back in their nests. The kids were so excited. We found heaps more nests in the trees and Brad climbed up to the top of the apple tree to inspect another one (I wish I had a photo of that!)

Emily's shoes

Aren't these just the cutest? I wish these little feet would stay this small forever. Emily is 4.5 months old now. I think she'll be rolling soon - she can get halfway over, but dragging her big nappy but over takes a bit more effort!

Rip it

I've decided. The monkeys must be frogged! I've even started the cuff on the second one, so this isn't the second sock syndrome (SSS) talking either. The yarn and the pattern just don't go together and I'm just kidding myself by lamenting that they are only a practice sock, or that it simply doesn't matter. It does matter. So I'm on the hunt for a better pattern - maybe just a plain stockinette sock, or the Leyburn sock?? I think stockinette will look the best, but I know I'll get bored. Anyway off to frog that sock. (I can't believe I'm actually going to do it!)