Morris family goes baking.

Returning to Hamilton also saw us return to the TSSG NZ, the group for girls with Turner Syndrome in New Zealand. A lot of the members are Waikato based and moving around we sort of lost touch with them. The group now has two branches, one for youth members like Denver, and one for older TS women. Vicky, mum to the lovely Molly organised a family bake-off recently, in Matamata, home of the Hobbit and where we used to live for a short time. It was great to revisit the adorable little town and show the girls our old house and the Countdown that was Roger's first appointment as manager, (was it always that small? lol). It was so ggod to see Vicky again, we used to visit the MacKenzie Centre together when the girls were little, but since we had moved away we had lost contact.

 The yummy entries :

 Some of the other contestants enjoying the fruits of our labour :-)

 Denver the winner with her trophy (above) Denver and Molly (below).

Being such a big family we had two teams in the bake-off. Team 1 Myself, Kyla and Sienna. Team 2 Roger, Denver and Madison. There was a little bit of rivalry, naturally, as we set to work. We were making a passionfruit shortbread and some cupcakes for Sienna to decorate. Roger's team was making red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. As you can see, the winners were Team 2, Roger, Madi and Denver. Nevermind, next year team 1 has vowed revenge! ;-) A really wonderful day out by all accounts.

Pet Show 2011

Hit the Pet Show at the new Claudelands Arena a couple of weekends ago. I have to say the newly renovated site is impressive, with a great cafe. I remember going to quite a few dog shows there with mum when I was younger. This was different, a full on expo of all things animal. The little ones (big ones opted out of coming), got up close and personal with cats, dogs of all varieties, rats, fish and a few farm animals. We picked up a few goodies for Gilby and the girls even got to ride a pony!

Climbing up the Walls

The Morris family are still alive, though some days barely. The bugs have been rampant in our house the last few weeks, when the spewing stopped the sneezing started. I had to wonder why we even moved back to this cold, damp area of NZ. I remember struggling through winters as a kid, with asthma and croop and one heck of a fog horn cough, and now I'm subjecting my kiddos to the same thing.

There has been some fun sprinkled around though. The kids have found a new favourite past-time, climbing at Climbzone the kids area at Extreme Edge Rock Climbing. The first time Sienna struggled to make it up halfway, but on our return visit she rocked it, getting to the top of many of the walls! Madi had a few attempts, but her fear of heights held her back and she declared climbing was 'not her thing'. Unfortunately it isn't the most economical of activities ($13 for Kyla and Denver, $6.50 for Sienna), so whilst the girls want to go back every weekend, its more of an occasionally type activity.

Spy Girl

 

What has the littlest Morris been up to lately? Well, when she isn't watching Scooby Doo movies and episodes (Oh I love Cartoon Network), she really enjoys finding things. It started with those Osbourne puzzle books. We got every one the library had out, and she delighted in finding all the little things. Turns out she was pretty good. She has a knack for noticing details, much like Madison, and I'd still be peering at the page long after she'd found everything in the list. Then we went to visit my mum in Rotorua. She'd got some big search books from one of those people who sell books at workplaces. Sienna entertained herself most of the weekend finding the hidden objects, amazing Nana at how good she was. In the end we took the books home, and weeks later she is still at it. 

She talks a lot about spies and mysteries. She wants this toy spy cam she has seen on the TV, with a little attachable snake part that can spy on people around corners. The other night she took to following me around the house hiding in the shadows and darting about 'spying', and her and Denver practice trying not to laugh in case someone hears them. So cute.

Fishy.

I just finished cleaning out the fish tank. Random I know. Why post about it? Well, it was on my list of 'things I need to do but don't want to so keep putting off.' It was green and icky and well over due, so today I whipped out the gear and cleaned it. This blog has been on that list too. What to do with it? Continue on, posting intermittently, somehow find the time and inclination to post more often even though I haven't yet, change it up? This was essentially just the kids space, and easy way to record those day to day events and trips. It's the longest running blog I have now, probably because it's about everyone else, so I don't suffer huge doses of insecurity and delete it. Gah, my brain hurts, I remember why I was putting this off.


What I know for sure is I'm not closing up shop or running off somewhere new. I'll try to post more, but probably won't. Maybe as well as updating you I'll ponder the Universe from time to time too, I'm pretty confident next to no one is reading these days, so it can't hurt.