Today we took a family trip to Adventure Forest here in Whangarei - it's a huge complex out in the forest with several different ropes courses complete with flying foxes (zip lines) and tricky rope obstacles for all age levels. The top level course is 12m (40ft) high while the 'junior' level course is never more than about a meter (3 ft) off the ground. Even Dariah got in on the fun and did the 'junior' course - complete with ropes, harness, carabiners and helmet. Here are a few fotos - we'll have to edit the videos and get them uploaded once we get back to Wellington.
Thanks to Mama for staying on the ground and videoing and taking photos! And being ready to catch any of us who fall! ;-)
[caption id="attachment_1446" align="aligncenter" width="517" caption="Videographer & photographer - the many roles of a mom!"]
[caption id="attachment_1394" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="Goofballs or Adventurers?"]
[caption id="attachment_1405" align="aligncenter" width="502" caption="Ballerina"]
[caption id="attachment_1406" align="aligncenter" width="502" caption="Hanging on for dear life"]
[caption id="attachment_1422" align="aligncenter" width="461" caption="Zachy - one step at a time..."]
[caption id="attachment_1424" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Zachy - not so adventurous..."]
[caption id="attachment_1427" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Taliah - monkey"]
[caption id="attachment_1423" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Taliah - speedy gonzalez..."]
[caption id="attachment_1426" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Jesaiah - I'm ready to go!"]
[caption id="attachment_1425" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Jesaiah - spiderman!"]
[caption id="attachment_1421" align="aligncenter" width="504" caption="Daddy - dum-de-dum-de-dum. Bring up the rear...."]
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Adventurous Adventurers!
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Phamily Photo Montage...
Here are a few fotos from the last few weeks - just of various projects and things we and the kids, some of it in the first week of the 2-week term/semester break....
The kids had a painting day where they went to the local supermarket, got some cardboard boxes and each got to cut them up and paint them and decorate them however they wanted. Amazing how long a few cardboard boxes could keep kids busy and occupied. And inspired their imagination! Here they are hard at work...
On the first day of the term break, I took the kids (well, the 3 who wanted to go) for a bike ride along the stopbank. We stopped to skip rocks across the river and then to make a 'raft' out of reeds tied together with long grass. We then threw it into the river and raced alongside the river on our bikes, trying to keep up with the 'raft' and stopping off along the way down the river to watch for it. It worked for about half the way home, but then somewhere along the way the 'raft' got hung up and we never saw it again! Oh well, time to go home...
Here we have offspring number 3 waking up with pretty bad bedhead. Perhaps it was because he slept until after 10am that morning! Oh well, that's what school holidays are for!
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Fire!
After the kids got home from school and had a bit of a rest and something to eat, I took Zachy, Taliah and one of their friends for a short hike up the firebreak behind our house. It's a pretty steep climb up - about 1100 feet /330 m - some parts of the hike is literally 1:1 gradient (that's a 45% grade!). But they all made it, even though this was Zachy's first time up. When we got to the top, they begged me to go along the ridge to the radio towers, so we did and when we got there, we saw 3 crosses that someone had 'woven' into the chain-link security fence around the radio towers. Cool, huh? Here are a few fotos...
[caption id="attachment_893" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Cool!"]
[caption id="attachment_894" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Look, we live down there!"]
[caption id="attachment_891" align="alignleft" width="614" caption=" "]
[caption id="attachment_896" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Snack time"]
[caption id="attachment_895" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's superdad!"]
[caption id="attachment_892" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="We aaarrrre champions..."]
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
CCW Tennis Tournament
Wow, it's been a while since we posted anything here. Life got busy over the summer and Christmas holidays (not to mention moving house!). Hopefully I will be more consistent now that summer is over and the kids have started school again.
Anyways, we had a fun church tennis tournament at the end of Jan. Here are a few fotos from the day...
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Saturday, 21 August 2010
Clash!
The Pham girls really need to work on their color matching! On the left is Taliah at about 3 yrs old. She decided to dress herself one day. Notice the colors - pink, blue, orange and green!
And on the right is Dariah, also at age 3 - she also dressed herself. Notice the same colors - green, orange, pink and blue! And notice the gumboots - they both love gumboots (rubber boots).
Hahaha, I love it! Yep, the Pham girls need to take some fashion classes!
You might want to wear sunglasses to look at these fotos! ;-)
Friday, 20 August 2010
Clash!
The Pham girls really need to work on their color matching! On the left is Taliah at about 3 yrs old. She decided to dress herself one day. Notice the colors - pink, blue, orange and green!
And on the right is Dariah, also at age 3 - she also dressed herself. Notice the same colors - green, orange, pink and blue! And notice the gumboots - they both love gumboots (rubber boots).
Hahaha, I love it! Yep, the Pham girls need to take some fashion classes!
You might want to wear sunglasses to look at these fotos! ;-)
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Phamily Road-Trip - pt.2
Here are a few more fotos from the road-trip. We took a little day trip to the Kauri Forest and then the Whangarei Falls...
(again, just click on the foto to see it full size)
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Phamily Road-Trip - pt.2
Here are a few more fotos from the road-trip. We took a little day trip to the Kauri Forest and then the Whangarei Falls...
(again, just click on the foto to see it full size)
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Phamily Road-Trip - July 2010
Here are a few pics from our road trip to Northern NZ a couple weeks ago. This was at a local beach in the Whangarei area. The kids had sooo much fun collecting seashells and just running up and down the beach. It was pretty cold (remember it's winter here) but they did go in the water - at least up to their thighs. (I think you can click on the foto below to see it full-size).
Monday, 26 July 2010
Phamily Road-Trip - July 2010
Here are a few pics from our road trip to Northern NZ a couple weeks ago. This was at a local beach in the Whangarei area. The kids had sooo much fun collecting seashells and just running up and down the beach. It was pretty cold (remember it's winter here) but they did go in the water - at least up to their thighs. (I think you can click on the foto below to see it full-size).
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Bust-a-Move...
Just some random fotos of the kids bustin' a move. Or striking a pose. I don't know if they are pretending to be wild animals (don't have to try too hard) or pretending to be Jedi masters. Or both. You pick.
PS - if the video or music stutters/skips, try playing it twice. The second time around it should have been buffered (loaded) to your web browser and should be smoother.
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Bust-a-Move...
Just some random fotos of the kids bustin' a move. Or striking a pose. I don't know if they are pretending to be wild animals (don't have to try too hard) or pretending to be Jedi masters. Or both. You pick.
PS - if the video or music stutters/skips, try playing it twice. The second time around it should have been buffered (loaded) to your web browser and should be smoother.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Wood, Wood, Wood...
For those who wanted to see what 3 cords of wood looks like, here are a few fotos. It was a family affair getting all the wood sorted and stacked. At least we didn't have to split the wood ourselves, although some of the pieces might be too big for the wood stove. Becks got me a brand new hatchet for that - ooooh, new toy! Boys and their toys! ;-)
Kids wanted to help, so I put them to work.Hey, if you wanna eat, you gotta work...
Don't know what that look was for.... she was the one who wanted to help!
Hmmm, which one is the lightest??
Stacking is hard work - time for afternoon tea!!
3 cords...
....of pine and nz macrocarpa (hardwood)....
....finally....
....stacked....
....and we're now ready for a Wellington winter!Wood, Wood, Wood...
For those who wanted to see what 3 cords of wood looks like, here are a few fotos. It was a family affair getting all the wood sorted and stacked. At least we didn't have to split the wood ourselves, although some of the pieces might be too big for the wood stove. Becks got me a brand new hatchet for that - ooooh, new toy! Boys and their toys! ;-)
Kids wanted to help, so I put them to work.Hey, if you wanna eat, you gotta work...
Don't know what that look was for.... she was the one who wanted to help! Hmmm, which one is the lightest?? Stacking is hard work - time for afternoon tea!! 3 cords... ....of pine and nz macrocarpa (hardwood).... ....finally.... ....stacked.... ....and we're now ready for a Wellington winter!