NZ birds and Christmas party

Isnt this kea just beautiful? He was so nosey he got really close to us no doubt eyeing up my phone! We had Andres work kids Christmas party today at willowbank and so before it all kicked off we walked around looking at all the NZ native birds and other animals.

I''ve been thinking about having a focus topic at home for a few months at a time to teach Mar about other things than construction. The initial topic i thought of introducing him to was NZ native birds/ plant life. Theres so many options for him to see birds and plants in Christchurch, like travis wetland and quail island. I'm hoping that we can head along to a couple of volunteer days tree planting and cleaning up to also teach him about conservation and why its important to take care of animals and their habitat, especially in NZ.

It sounds like a lot for him to take in but i'm going to bring it right down to his level and the department of conservation have activities for kids to learn.

Today he learned about Kea, Kakariki, Kereru, Weka and Kiwi, he knows their names, he knows that keas are orange underneath, that weka eat takahe eggs, that kiwis are nocturnal. So already he has a base and he is such a sponge he really enjoys learning, that was something his school said he loves to learn.

So after we walked around we headed to the barn where Marley climbed atop the donkey for a ride while he did he sang wonky donkey! He got his face painted like a lion, ate a yummy cupcake provided by Andres work, participated in a balloon popping game then received a present from Santa (he got a lego build it up flatbed truck with back hoe, kanye got a ukulele, Harper got new teethe toys for his pram). Wow did mar's face light up when Santa arrived i wish we had caught it on video.

Unfortunately Kanye had a few seizures thought the night and one big one this morning so he didnt come with us. Towards end of term he gets exhausted and he has them more frequently, So we left him with my mum to rest. It was a good idea too as it was hot and the stimulation for him would have been too much.

Andre and his colleagues get to choose a present $20 and under for their children, the company then pay for it and it gets given to them at the party, the company also pay for entry to willowbank, donkey rides, face painting and cupcakes. They are such a great family oriented company and they throw an awesome kids party!

We went and picked Kanye up who is still exhausted and we headed home, Mar and Andre have just finished building mars lego truck, Kanye has been watching Wiggles Ukulele Baby and Harper has been chewing his toy so great day indeed.