Our puppy...currently 4 weeks old!!!

Yes we are mad. We have succumbed to a family dog - she has not yet joined us though as she is only 4 weeks old so far. She is half labrador, half spaniel - with a ridiculous crossbreed name of a Spanador! Pics to come when our individual pup has been allocated.

Arthur's 9th birthday

The 'rock climbing wall' party is yet to come but we had cupcakes in the park with Gummy and Gumpa and the neighbours on Arthur's actual birthday. Can't believe how old he is already!

Seem to have roped myself into doing a 1km ocean swim myself on 7th March! Got a bit over keen watching Dunc do the Cole Classic and after too many champagnes at a recent wedding I had talked myself and Klaire into taking part in the next one (having only met Klaire at the hen weekend the week before!) Madly training and not ready at all but all part of the fun. Dunc and I are also BOTH training for a half marathon in May. My first one - pre-40 challenge and all that - not long to go now! Dunc has done a half before so he will no doubt do it in half the time that I do!

Poor Iona is already being subjected to 'girlie' hairdos! I realised that she had just enough hair to pull into two bunches - managed to keep them in for a total of 2 mins before she wrenched them out

Cole Classic - 2km Ocean Swim

Today was the 'Cole Classic' 1km and 2km Ocean Swim from Shelley Beach, Manly. Dunc had been preparing for this for a few weeks and all went according to plan. Having sent an email to lots of mates recruiting them for this race, Tom Highnam was the only one mad enough to say 'yes' to Dunc! Both of them are shown below sporting their medals.

Due to torrential rain for the past two days and a huge swell the route was changed at the last minute to start and finish at Shelley Beach, as opposed to finishing at Manly Beach. This was great for the kids as we got a spot on the rocks next to the finish line and saw Dunc emerge from the water to cross the finish line and collect his medal! Lots of banter now about me and one of the boys doing the 1km swim - distance would be fine but I am NOT keen on ocean swimming, and so far Arthur doesn't seem too keen. Swimming in the pool is one of his strengths though and for the 2nd year running he has come 2nd in the 50m freestyle race at the school swimming carnival which takes him through to the Zone Carnival in a few weeks time. Barney, on the other hand, is desperate to do the 1km Ocean Swim but is only 7 and I think the minimum age is 9.

Dunc's age group wore the dark green hats - after dropping him and taking 45 mins to park we were lucky to get to the beach just in time to see his pack set off.

Tenzin's 4th birthday

Tenzin had a fabulous 4th birthday. All of us (except Dunc and Iona) had been to the movies the day before as his birthday treat to see "The Tooth Fairy" (don't rush!) The kids enjoyed it which is the main thing! On his actual birthday he had pressies, swims in the pool, cake in the park with friends and neighbours and then a birthday BBQ with Gummy, Gumpa, our au pair Isabelle and her friend Aurore. Dunc bought him a new fishing rod so no doubt there will be lots of competition between Tenzie and his big brothers!

Barney's tooth

Barney lost tooth No. 3 - the first of the top big ones. I have been dreading this moment as he has such perfectly spaced small teeth and it always changes how they look so dramatically. He is still my gorgeous Barney though.

Taronga Zoo

We had half a day at Taronga Zoo with all the kids except for Arthur, who had gone to a party. The baby elephant - Luk Chai - stole the show as always - he is just heavenly.

Barney's 7th birthday party - Waterworks

We had a delayed party for Barney, having set off camping on 2nd Jan. Towards the end of the school holidays Barney invited four school buddies and Arthur was allowed one. We took them all to a water slide place in Manly called Waterworks. Sadly Tenzin is not tall enough yet so he stayed home with Gummy and Gumpa waiting for the onslaught of seven boys coming back for a BBQ and sleepover! One of the other mums kindly sat with me for two hours at the bottom of the slides to keep me company and provide drinks/snacks. We hardly saw the boys apart from flying down the tunnels. The BBQ was fun and the night was late (11pm for them!) but they had a ball.

Jet boating with Gumpa!!

The big boys were treated by Gumpa to half an hour of zooming around Sydney Harbour in a jet boat. Afterwards, Barney said to Dad: "Gumpa, that wasn't fun...it was SOOOOOOO fun!"

Mum and I were more than happy staying on dry land!

Botanic Gardens with Mum and Dad...

We spent a wonderful day going to the City on the ferry from Manly. We spent time at the Botanic Gardens, had lunch and then Mum and I took Tenzin and Iona around the gardens on the little train looking at bats and botany while Dad, Arthur and Barney went power boating around the harbour! Pics above.

Maxi Finucane is born...

Our friends, Jen and Chriza, had a divine little boy - Maximillian - on 5th Jan while we were away camping. It didn't take us long to get over there for a cuddle/newborn fix!