Our family's life in New Zealand
Little Henry is thriving in the house. He loves attention; if he feels neglected he starts fussing till someone picks him up. The last couple of days, he’s been able to jump out of his box occasionally; this may mean banishment from the house. I don’t relish the idea of a duck on the loose in the house, not even a cute little one. He still makes messes. He would get stepped on, too. He loves to sit on shoulders and nibble on clothing, cheeks, necks, and ears.
I am not one to plan a wonderful birthday party, but Seth turned 12 today and we had a small party for him. He got to have a friend over for the night last night, and another friend’s mother brought her children for a couple of hours this morning and then took the first friend home with her so his dad could pick him up. I had imagined that the boys would spend their time playing outside–but it started raining this morning! They were out for about half an hour, but then came in. We had to quickly think up inside games for a group–not my forte, either! They ended up playing Musical Chairs, and then Elephant Stop, which is a fun variation of Blindman’s Bluff. After that, they each made an individual pizza, and while the pizzas were baking they played Pin the Tail on the Donkey. I learned how not to do that! I had printed out a donkey, on four sheets of paper, and they felt the edge of the paper. Then, they felt each other’s tails and used them as a reference point to put their own on. I decided that it would have been better to trace the donkey onto a larger sheet of paper, and then draw the tails on with pencil or marker–have to make it more challenging for my crew! They seemed to have fun, though.
Musical Chairs–down to the last two!
Elephant Stop
The birthday boy with his cupcakes!
Enjoying his ice cream!