Tobe and Tom to his right
Tobe
Tobe
Both boys in there somewhere following a game against a touring Australian team in the school holidays.
Tobe there leaning on Tom on the flank
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
June in our House is all about Rugby!
Rugby, Mud, Cold wet mornings, Mud, Rugby!
Tobe and Tom to his right
Tobe
Tobe
Both boys in there somewhere following a game against a touring Australian team in the school holidays.
Tobe there leaning on Tom on the flank
Tobe and Tom to his right
Tobe
Tobe
Both boys in there somewhere following a game against a touring Australian team in the school holidays.
Tobe there leaning on Tom on the flank
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Rugby Season...... Again Already!
Toby and Tom playing in the U15 Sevens tournament today. 4 games, 7 minutes each way made for a very tired team and the realisation that we aren't really fit enough for the new season!
Tobe
Tobe
Monday, February 8, 2010
Boys are back at school.... my haven't they changed!
Thomas and Toby Feb 2010
Toby and Thomas Feb 2009.
Toby and Thomas Feb 2009.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Thomas and Ewe
Thomas loves animals and being at Aunty Line's in Nelson lets him be at one with the minds of the mammals. Oh and the chooks, they aren't mammals of course!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Antarctic Clothing Distribution Warehouse
Our friend Guy works out at the airport at a special clothing distribution warehouse for Americans travelling to the South Pole - Antarctica. Americans all wear Red and Black clothing, this is how they distinguish one country from another. NZr's wear Blue.
Today he invited Al, Thomas and Toby to go out and have a look round as the season has opened and up to 3 flights a week leave for Antarctica from Christchurch.
A flight is due to leave in the morning, so the boys watched as a group of workers arrived and were given their pre packed kit bags of the clothing they will be wearing while on the ice. They have to go away and try it all on as it is not much use arriving down there to find that the size they requested is either too big or too small, as there is no way to swap it!
They pack the clothing up to 7 flights in advance with information they are supplied. Up to 110 people go per trip. That is a lot of clothing! Below are some of the kits all bagged up in row 7 for the 7th flight to depart.
Once they are kitted up, they leave and are due back at 6.30am the following day to await their flight. They proceed through a departure gate and go through a security check before boarding a bus and heading to their plane.
The Hercules takes approx 8 hours to travel to Antarctica, and a C17 jet takes approx 4 hours. Up to 3000 Americans travel to Antarctica in a season, NZ sends around 400.
Once they had had their tour, Guy let the boys try on the full kit to give them a taste of just how much clothing you have to wear in such extremely cold temperatures in order to stay warm - or more to the point - alive!
Today he invited Al, Thomas and Toby to go out and have a look round as the season has opened and up to 3 flights a week leave for Antarctica from Christchurch.
A flight is due to leave in the morning, so the boys watched as a group of workers arrived and were given their pre packed kit bags of the clothing they will be wearing while on the ice. They have to go away and try it all on as it is not much use arriving down there to find that the size they requested is either too big or too small, as there is no way to swap it!
They pack the clothing up to 7 flights in advance with information they are supplied. Up to 110 people go per trip. That is a lot of clothing! Below are some of the kits all bagged up in row 7 for the 7th flight to depart.
Once they are kitted up, they leave and are due back at 6.30am the following day to await their flight. They proceed through a departure gate and go through a security check before boarding a bus and heading to their plane.
The Hercules takes approx 8 hours to travel to Antarctica, and a C17 jet takes approx 4 hours. Up to 3000 Americans travel to Antarctica in a season, NZ sends around 400.
Once they had had their tour, Guy let the boys try on the full kit to give them a taste of just how much clothing you have to wear in such extremely cold temperatures in order to stay warm - or more to the point - alive!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Last night at Scouts
Tonight was the boys last night at Scouts.
Connor and Toby with their hole dug and placing their lighting layer
Their group went out to Rimu Park - 8 minutes west of their scout hall - and had a group cookout. They were in 4 groups, and each dug a rectangular hole in order to build their fire to cook their dinner.
Thomas' group with their fire burning
Toby's group with their fire burning
The 4 fires burning
They lit their fire and let it burn down to some pretty impressive embers and then placed their main course meals in and let them cook.
Once these were ready they placed their dessert in the embers while they ate their main.
Thomas , Toby and Connor making their orange/chocolate cakes
To make these cakes, they cut a small section off the top of the orange, hollowed the orange out, filled the cavity with chocolate cake mixture, replaced the lid and covered with aluminium foil. The heat cooked the cake!
Similarly they slit the banana in its skin, placed chocolate buttons in the slit, covered in foil and cooked.
Main course was Tortilla wraps and Calzones. To make the Calzone they kneaded out scone dough to a flat round and placed a mix of cheese, ham, pineapple, mushroom, onion, capsicum and tomato paste onto half of the round, then folded it in half, pressed the edges together and wrapped in foil.
Julie releasing her calzone into her dinner bowl. And below the inside of the calzone, a bit out of focus sorry, but yuuuuuummmm!
A great way to end their scouting career - cooking out in the open on a fire - their favourite.
Connor and Toby with their hole dug and placing their lighting layer
Their group went out to Rimu Park - 8 minutes west of their scout hall - and had a group cookout. They were in 4 groups, and each dug a rectangular hole in order to build their fire to cook their dinner.
Thomas' group with their fire burning
Toby's group with their fire burning
The 4 fires burning
They lit their fire and let it burn down to some pretty impressive embers and then placed their main course meals in and let them cook.
Once these were ready they placed their dessert in the embers while they ate their main.
Thomas , Toby and Connor making their orange/chocolate cakes
To make these cakes, they cut a small section off the top of the orange, hollowed the orange out, filled the cavity with chocolate cake mixture, replaced the lid and covered with aluminium foil. The heat cooked the cake!
Similarly they slit the banana in its skin, placed chocolate buttons in the slit, covered in foil and cooked.
Main course was Tortilla wraps and Calzones. To make the Calzone they kneaded out scone dough to a flat round and placed a mix of cheese, ham, pineapple, mushroom, onion, capsicum and tomato paste onto half of the round, then folded it in half, pressed the edges together and wrapped in foil.
Julie releasing her calzone into her dinner bowl. And below the inside of the calzone, a bit out of focus sorry, but yuuuuuummmm!
A great way to end their scouting career - cooking out in the open on a fire - their favourite.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Castle Hill Rock Climbing
Al went up to help transport the boys back from scout camp, and they all stopped at Castle Hill on the way back for a climb on the boulders.
The area has 100's of rock formations/boulders and is quite an amazing sight. This is where some of the filming of the movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was done.
Below the boys are on top of one of the formations.
The area has 100's of rock formations/boulders and is quite an amazing sight. This is where some of the filming of the movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was done.
Below the boys are on top of one of the formations.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Scout overnight to Craigeburn
Today the boys headed up to Craigeburn which is about an hour west of Christchurch, for an overnight camp and hike with their Scout Group.
They were a small group, just Toby, Thomas, 3 other scouts - Connor, William and Hamish and the leaders Julie and Peter.
They were the only ones in the area for the night, and the leaders pitched their tent and the boys made a bivvie, laid their goundsheets and sleeping bags on top and that was to be where they slept the night with all the creatures of the forrest!
They headed off and did a bit of navigation work going for a hike then having to navigate their way over a set course off the track, to meet back up with Julie and Peter.
They returned to camp and collected firewood and built a campfire which they lit after tea.
They awoke the next morning, had breakfast, tidied up their gear and headed off on a hike to the top of a nearby mountain. They got beautiful views up there and did some more navigation work on the way back down.
On return to camp they packed up their gear, had some lunch and headed back home, stopping off at Castle Hill to climb the amazing boulders for an hour or two.
The boys leave Scouts at the end of this term, so this was their last camp/tramp/hike. This is the end of an era for the boys, they have had a fantastic time at Scouts and learnt so much from the amazing leaders they have had in Julie and Peter. Thank you to them, and the Scouting movement for enabling boys (and girls) to have these awesome opportunities.
They were a small group, just Toby, Thomas, 3 other scouts - Connor, William and Hamish and the leaders Julie and Peter.
They were the only ones in the area for the night, and the leaders pitched their tent and the boys made a bivvie, laid their goundsheets and sleeping bags on top and that was to be where they slept the night with all the creatures of the forrest!
They headed off and did a bit of navigation work going for a hike then having to navigate their way over a set course off the track, to meet back up with Julie and Peter.
They returned to camp and collected firewood and built a campfire which they lit after tea.
They awoke the next morning, had breakfast, tidied up their gear and headed off on a hike to the top of a nearby mountain. They got beautiful views up there and did some more navigation work on the way back down.
On return to camp they packed up their gear, had some lunch and headed back home, stopping off at Castle Hill to climb the amazing boulders for an hour or two.
The boys leave Scouts at the end of this term, so this was their last camp/tramp/hike. This is the end of an era for the boys, they have had a fantastic time at Scouts and learnt so much from the amazing leaders they have had in Julie and Peter. Thank you to them, and the Scouting movement for enabling boys (and girls) to have these awesome opportunities.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Burnside Male Voice Choir - Fa'afetai I le Atua
Tonight I went to watch the Showcase Concert at the boys High School. Thomas is in the Male Voice Choir and they performed 2 pieces.
Thomas 2nd from left as he arrived on stage, then the front row arrived and I never saw him again as the boy in front blocked my view. Oh well, I knew he was there!
The song I have added the video clip to below is a Samoan church song/prayer celebrating their religious faith in The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Samoa is an Island in the Pacific. North East of the North of Australia for my Irish rellies!)
Burnside High School Male Voice Chorus singing - Fa'afetai I le Atua
Thomas 2nd from left as he arrived on stage, then the front row arrived and I never saw him again as the boy in front blocked my view. Oh well, I knew he was there!
The song I have added the video clip to below is a Samoan church song/prayer celebrating their religious faith in The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Samoa is an Island in the Pacific. North East of the North of Australia for my Irish rellies!)
Burnside High School Male Voice Chorus singing - Fa'afetai I le Atua
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Take it away Biggles........
Thomas has aspirations to join the NZ Airforce when he leaves school, he wants to fly planes... really fast planes. I told him we don't have any of them in NZ anymore........ well we do but they are wrapped up in bubblewrap somewhere and stored as an historic reminder of when we did have a fleet of fighter planes in our Airforce!
Anyway, enough of the sarcasm, I can't knock the kid for having a dream and going for it, and right now it looks like he is hell bent on achieving it. He took some online maths test on the website on reasoning and did incredibly well for a kid so I guess he can only get better.
He is gearing his subject choices for next year for the entry requirements so I guess we just let him. He has had aspirations to be a paelentologist at 6, to be a worker for Gooogle at 11 and now the Airforce at 14.
On Sunday his mate Robbie's Dad took him up in his Tiger Moth for a real taste of flying a fighter plane. A little slower than his dream plane, but oh so much more exciting! The wind in your face and nothing between you and the sky!
He was in boy heaven, especially when they did the big swoops and dives to please anyone on the ground that was waving their way!
How fortunate to have a mate whose Dad is a pilot and just happens to have a Tiger Moth in the garage out country......... all we have in our garage is a car, a motorbike, several bikes, a beer fridge and a lawnmower!
Life doesn't get any better right?
Anyway, enough of the sarcasm, I can't knock the kid for having a dream and going for it, and right now it looks like he is hell bent on achieving it. He took some online maths test on the website on reasoning and did incredibly well for a kid so I guess he can only get better.
He is gearing his subject choices for next year for the entry requirements so I guess we just let him. He has had aspirations to be a paelentologist at 6, to be a worker for Gooogle at 11 and now the Airforce at 14.
On Sunday his mate Robbie's Dad took him up in his Tiger Moth for a real taste of flying a fighter plane. A little slower than his dream plane, but oh so much more exciting! The wind in your face and nothing between you and the sky!
He was in boy heaven, especially when they did the big swoops and dives to please anyone on the ground that was waving their way!
How fortunate to have a mate whose Dad is a pilot and just happens to have a Tiger Moth in the garage out country......... all we have in our garage is a car, a motorbike, several bikes, a beer fridge and a lawnmower!
Life doesn't get any better right?
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Sunday outing for Thomas
Today Thomas went out with his mates Robbie, Jack and Michael to do a bit of rowing on the Avon River. Robbie's Mum Sue took them.
We went out for a walk round the botanical gardens as it was a such a lovely sunny day.
We saw Thomas and Robbie in their Canoes on the river and took some photos.
Al took Katie and Toby on a big walk round the perimeter of the park and I bought a coffee and walked along the boulevard and looked at the outdoor photography displays that were a special feature in conjunction with the city art gallery this month.
We went out for a walk round the botanical gardens as it was a such a lovely sunny day.
We saw Thomas and Robbie in their Canoes on the river and took some photos.
Al took Katie and Toby on a big walk round the perimeter of the park and I bought a coffee and walked along the boulevard and looked at the outdoor photography displays that were a special feature in conjunction with the city art gallery this month.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Happy 14th Birthday Thomas & Toby
Today the boys are 14. Wow time flies!
We went out to a Vietnamese restaurant for tea and had a lovely meal. We chose a banquet as it was too hard agreeing on what dishes to get so we just let the waiter choose and we all shared.
Thomas got a PSP for his birthday and a new TV for his room and Toby got tickets to the V8 supercar finals in Sydney, Australia in December. He was very excited at his surprise and can't wait to take the trip with Al.
We went out to a Vietnamese restaurant for tea and had a lovely meal. We chose a banquet as it was too hard agreeing on what dishes to get so we just let the waiter choose and we all shared.
Thomas got a PSP for his birthday and a new TV for his room and Toby got tickets to the V8 supercar finals in Sydney, Australia in December. He was very excited at his surprise and can't wait to take the trip with Al.
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