Busy weekend

Tyler's birthday wasn't the only event happening over the weekend. We had a really full-on few days!

Friday: I took my Dad to a live filming of NZ Idol on Friday night. The tickets were his Father's Day present. We ended up sitting right up the back in the corner, so unfortunately we didn't get on TV :-(
But it was still a lot of fun and I was surprised at how much better all the contestants sounded in the studio. They honestly sounded 10 times better, and I don't think they get the mix right for TV. It was a pretty cool show to be at, the theme was "what gets you in the groove?" so there was heaps of variety.
Dad really enjoyed himself too and it was nice to go out together :-)

Saturday: After Tyler's party, Rob's sister Liv, her husband Hamish and our newest niece Georgia came back to our place to stay the night.
They asked if we would like to go Ten Pin Bowling since they don't have one up in Whangarei. We'd never taken the kids before but we decided to go for it! So after Tyler and Georgia had a sleep, we went up and played one game.
Ethan played with the gutter guards up and he used the ramp for rolling the ball down, but he did great! He beat me and Liv, and he was beating Hamish until round 7! He ended up with a score of 88 I think! Ethan really loved it and was so proud of himself whenever he knocked some pins down. And he didn't get upset when he missed, either. He had such a great time and we're definitely going to take him again!
Tyler was very well behaved. I had visions of him chasing the balls down the lanes, trying to carry heavy bowling balls around, and running around the whole time. But he sat for much of the time, watching and clutching his new Buzz. Near the end he got a bit restless and was climbing all over the bench seats, but generally he was very good considering he wasn't playing! Next time we might let him have a turn as well, I'm sure he will love it.

Sunday: In the afternoon we took the kids down to the beach. It was quite hot so they were wearing their boardshorts.
Ethan decided to go for a swim, despite the water being icy cold! He was in there for about 10-15 min before we made him get out. He wasn't just paddling, either. He was completely immersed in the water, running in and out and lying down on his stomach. I gave him a warm shower when we got home and dressed him in trackies and socks, but he still took a little while to thaw out. Crazy child!
Tyler didn't swim. He took his shirt off and stood at the water's edge, but he didn't go in. I don't blame him!!! I dipped my foot in and ran away yelling!
Rob actually found a crab in the shallow water. The boys were really interested in it and wanted to hold it (don't worry, it was dead).

I want to post some photos of baby Georgia, Ethan bowling and the boys at the beach. First I need to resize them and upload them to photobucket, so I'll do that tonight.