Here are a few pictures of our weekend. Very happy to find a new park right near the water - and about 8 puppies at church, one of which will be ours sometime soon, if the kids get their way! The photo of Ethan with the guard was possibly the highlight of his life so far. The guard couldnt even acknowledge his presence as he stood next to him nervous/thrilled/scared. Meanwhile the girls are in the car saying " can we just take the photo and get outta here before we all get arrested"??!!! Ha,ha!

Future fishing spot -and heaps of coconuts lying around too.

Must admit I was with the girls....Eth being that close to a bayonet was a little unnerving.

Playing after church

Our little church.

Family fun night

A few snaps of "Silly Night" -warning to my sister who may want to look away at this point before she starts gagging....! She knows why. Anyway, lots of fun with silly clothes, silly food and silly games. And yes, I suspect I MAY have too much time on my hands at present -now that I look at these photos!! Kids loved it though and we made some fun memories.

Happy days!!

The highlight of last week was getting a super parcel in the mail from the Mears back home. The shops here are pretty good but there are a few key things that are noticeably absent......not for much longer!!

A few of our favourite things. Hey, they should write a song about that!

Tony's goodies must have got lost in the mail ha!

Loving piano lessons.

We've had a good week all up -good health, new friends, approval from the home owner to have pets and a new blender to make smoothies after school! Hannah is really enjoying the kids at school, Ethan, apart from falling asleep on his desk at school, is loving every moment of every day - and Soph loved her first piano lesson and first play date with Jemimah. Probably not so positive was the the lettuce and cheese sandwich I gave the kids for school.I told them to stop being so fussy when they came home and said it tasted grose -and that things might just taste a little different here?.......until I realised I had given them raw cabbage in their sandwich....my bad...

Anyhoo, things are starting to feel more normal -we're loving the slower pace (most of the time), playing lots of family games and learning from the Fijians what contentment and thankfulness looks like on a daily basis. Didnt realise what an impatient whinger I was ......I'm pretty sure Tony had more of an inkling!

There are heaps of roadside markets but most shopping done here -not too much of a culture shock ha!

Tony's new sulu he wears to church - nice and breezy.

Tropical themed arvo tea

Decorating cupcakes after school

Valentines Day choc mousse treats -just before Ethan and Soph made cream moustaches on themselves which just ran down their faces due to the heat.

Yummo!

Little gems

It's the lovely moments like these that make up for the very rare occasions that the kids drive you insane...oops, did I say that out loud? Anyway, thought these were worthy of the blog.

Breakfast in bed!! - with complimentary flower and love note.

The kids have been waiting years for their own room and now they have it, they just want to bunk in together.

Right. Well, this is a little embaressing. Having spent months trying to explain to people that "no we are not living in a resort" and  "no, we are there to do ministry, not watersports" etc, these next few photos might make us look a little silly. We ARE here to do student work at the Uni of South Pacific, but  Tony has no work permit as yet, we are limited in what we can do for the time being. Then, school was off for 2 days as the teachers had planning meetings. So we thought we'd hire a car for a couple of days and explore our new surroundings. Here are a few of the things we got up to.

Suva flea markets

Very excited to find this yummy Chinese restaurant up the road from us.

Promised Ethan I'd include this for the cousins...ah 11 year old boys...

Roadside market

Church on Sunday

A resort not too far away that allows you to use the facilities if you buy a couple of lemonades!

One of my favourite things in the world -jet-skiing!!! So much fun!