Daddy and me time

We went to the yacht club today to get some fresh air. It was so so nice. We didn't go in the pool as we have someone obsessed with the beach at the moment.

He had lovely time with his daddy. Splashing the water, looking at a boat coming in.









We got smart and took the boys' pajamas with us, so they were already fed and showered and ready to go to bed when we got home. Lovely quiet night for us parents. Happy days!

Swimming at the yacht club

We finally made it to our favourite spot here in Brunei - the yacht club. Having Oliver at school and him requiring a good nap made it difficult to visit. I was starting to worry we couldn't take Corin there. Luckily Lucas was free to come along too. So both boys had a ball running around swimming in the Brunei sun!



Merryn and Dennis:



It was Corin's first swim for this summer (it is still late spring in NZ). He hasn't swum for the whole winter so was a little bit cautious swimming without floaties.



Oliver was chasing a rugby ball as well : ) Go! our little All Black!



Luca recieved new swimming togs - had to put him in! He looks so good in yellow : )





Yummy lunch after a big swim!





It was a very hot day but we enjoyed the nice sea breeze and relaxing time together.

New hobby

Matthew might have found a new hobby - sailing! His friend and him went out on this yacht last week and they really enjoyed it. Finally visiting the Yacht Club for the correct purpose!

Where is Luca?

Can you see him?



Very well hidden ha?



He loves the fresh air - Fast asleep while the others enjoyed their swim.

Yeah! Finally back in the water

Can you believe it? Living in Brunei and not being in the water for over 3 months? Oliver had not enrolled in his swimming lessons last term as I was heavily pregnant with Luca and we were away a fair bit of it. Somehow we haven't taken Oliver to the RBRC nor the yacht club for a long long time.

Since his wound got better we finally managed to take him for a swim! Yes the pool renovation is completed plus we had the whole pool to ourselves - wonderful!



Oliver was a bit scared... but had so much fun with daddy!



Aunty Caroline took Oliver down to the beach too.



He spent so long chasing the waves : ) Do you like his new togs? I think he looks great in blue.

Happy kids and adults

Here are some photos from yesterday's pool and beach fun. We had such an awesome time.

As usual we had beautiful beach weather! (pretty much everyday is a beach weather here)





Saskia and Talia



Boys in the pool



Oscar



Gus



Talia looking very lady like.



Oliver enjoying his favourite orange juice with his daddy : )



Lots of fun at the play area too!



Lucas, Linnea and Keira joined the boys to have more fun at the beach - just perfect!

Fun day at the beach

Matthew had a whole day off today - yeah! I thought it's time for Hinata to have a break from Oliver calling "Nata, Nata!" and dragging him around everywhere.

So Matthew took Hinata to the Berekas Forestry Reserve and I took Oliver to a playdate at his friend's place. I also thought them spending time alone would be good for Matthew's Japanese and Hinata's English.

Here are some photos from the boys excursion this morning.





Hinata told me he was just checking out the waves but the wave got him pretty badly. He was soaked!!



Later we met up at the yacht club for lunch and enjoyed some more beach activities. Hinata wanted to try kayaking.

Here is Matthew giving him a quick lesson on how to row.



Getting the kayak in the water.



It was a very hot day but the sea was very calm and perfect for kayaking - Off they went!



While the big boys were at sea, Oliver enjoyed his afternoon nap in a fresh sea breeze - Bless him!



They went quite far out.



Our little boy woke up and wanted to go for a swim - Lucky I had a sun hat for him today, it was just so hot!!



Swimming with Hinata and daddy.



Hinata was kind enough to make a sand castle for Oliver but his fear of having sand on his feet came back again and he didn't want to stay on the beach...



Instead he had a dip in a temporary kiddy pool (Unfortunately the yacht club pool is still under construction) he had a wonderful time : ) I love it so much that he can now entertain himself for quite a while and I don't have to stay right beside him all the time.



Hinata has reached halfway through his Brunei excursion, we are planning to do some more swimming and a visit to a mosque tomorrow. On Sunday the English Roses are arriving so our house will be full!! And we are planning a surprise for Hinata at the very end of his holiday!! I think he has been so great with Oliver, he deserves a special treat : )

Busy Sunday

We had such a full on day.
This morning we were at the yacht club by 8:30 to join a surprise birthday party for our friend Keira. We haven't been there this early for a long time. The sun was still nice and soft and the tide was in - very peaceful.



A few of us sat by the pool and waited for the birthday girl to arrive. When she walked in her face lit up and yes she was surprised! As well as organising this special morning one of our friends baked a birthday cake for her so Keira was double surprised!!



Birthday girl - Happy Birthday Keira!

After a nice breakfast the children had a dip in the cold kiddy pool.



Just after taking this shot, Oliver got very confident and decided to jump off the little step - of course he cannot reach the bottom of the pool so he had to learn the hard way to float (well...half drowning). I was very proud of him though, he didn't cry nor get scared - one of the mummy's said "sometimes they have to learn the hard way" - I totally agree now. We have been too protective of him...

We all had a swim in a big pool too. Oliver was very keen to learn how to surf - And he was very very good!



Having a big dunk in the kiddy pool he accidentally learned how to float properly.



By the time we got back home Oliver was fast asleep in the car (two days in a row!) and didn't wake up even when I changed his clothes. He had to put on his nice clothes as he was invited to his little friend Noah's birthday party.

Noah had so many toys to play with. They even had a nice trampoline outside! The children had a ball!! I got distracted by Oliver and didn't have my camera ready for the birthday cake shot - it was a very nice ice cream birthday cake : )



Three of us were exhausted when we got home - it was such a full on day!!

Yacht clubbing without daddy

There are two good reasons why I don't go to the yacht club without Matthew. One, the kiddy pool is very cold (it is under a roofed area - very good for keeping the sun off kids but the water never gets warm) hence Oliver cannot be in the pool long enough to make it worthwhile. Two, the big pool is a little bit too deep for me to stand up - makes it very hard to get comfortable looking after Oliver in the water.

But yesterday I became a brave mum. While Matthew was out flying, two of us went to the yacht club for the first time. We had a lovely lunch together to start with (he loves the potato chips they serve, well... I haven't seen many kids who don't like chips).

It was such a beautiful hot day - without a dip in the water we could have got toasted. We put lots and lots of sun cream on and jumped in the water. I was lucky to find some of my friends there to help me until I got myself comfortable in the water. Once I got to the shallower end (even there I was tip-toeing!) it wasn't so bad in the end, especially since Oliver sort of learnt how to float by himself (with his floaties of course). We must have been in the water for almost an hour!



Oliver chilling out by the pool side - Need an another hair cut ?

We had such a great fun time together and you know what's great about swimming ? Oliver was so exhausted, he fell asleep on the way home. While he was asleep I had a very nice nap too. I haven't done it for a long time... I just love the lifestyle here...

Now we are both comfortable with the yacht club pool, I am keen to get out there more often.

Love the water

We went to the Yacht club for a quick swim and lunch today. It has been a while since Oliver has been in the water as he had a wee fever 2 weeks ago and his nose never stopped running, finally it seemed much better today.

We pumped up his new tube (with a cool shade!) and tried it out. He tipped over once but very quickly learned how to sit in it (or rather Matthew learned how to balance Oliver...).





Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!!



Giggling away while practicing his backstroke

The boys had a great time in the water. Even though it was the last Sunday of the school break there weren't many in the pool, at one stage they had the entire pool for themselves. And while they were swimming I had a great time chatting with some friends : ) It was just what we needed!