.......and then it was 2014!

Happy New Year from Rurutu! 

Ia ora na i te matahiti api 2014! 

Hold on, my last post was for halloween, and somehow we're already well into the first week of january 2014! How did that happen?

We've completely skipped Amaiterai's 10 months (out longer than he was in!), his first six teeth and going from no legs,

to four legs,
to upright, with even a few first faltering steps unaided 

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We've missed the girls school Christmas celebrations.

And the grandparents, who returned to us for an odd sort of festive season filled with unexpected visitors and a good dose of island epidemic diseases. Amaiterai's first Christmas and the girls' new bikes. 

A good few afternoons at the beach.

 The creation of our new equestrian association on Rurutu, and a new arrival to our equine family

Trick or Treat!

Halloween is a new invention here in Rurutu and nobody really seems to know or care why we dress up as pumpkins for the occasion, but we all like collecting kilos of bonbons - the girls did trick or treating at school!

Mato is seven!

For her seventh birthday Matotea wanted cupcakes, so she could take some to school to share with her friends......I found an awesome, if rather wicked recipe here (I didn't do the ganache it seems too much, but I did do a rather good white chocolate frosting with lots of sprinkles).

Delicious!

What's new!

So it's been another eternity since my last post, seems like it's going to be this way for a while! School was in and was out again and now back in again!

Here they are whalewatching at the bustop! I can't say it's not a relief to have the girls back in school, particularly after the september school hols, when we were packed up to the gills all fortnight, and without Meme for help with the kids (She was on Tahiti for an artisans fair, coinciding with the Beach Soccer World Championship, which incidentally the Russians won! Tahiti coming a respectable fourth).

Now it's already mid-october, the whales seem to be getting a bit restless, it may be the beginning of the end of the season! Which is all good for me as we'll have some time to breathe and recuperate, and also our poor garden is sagging from neglect, so hopefully can get my hands dirty.  It's already getting hot and the lychees and mangos are starting to grow.......we've even got our first pineapples..yum...roll on the summer!

We're also preparing ourselves for big trip back to the UK next year, the passport service were here on thursday, so the girls and Viri got their paperwork in, it's all taking shape!