Four - two .....

It's not over yet ..............

But unfortunately Rods results in the sweepstake are looking a bit better than Team NZ's odds and the All Blacks spirits after their loss yesterday. Not much to say other than we will have everything crossed today...........

Two - One

VERY EXCITING!
What a great race of tactics. We thought we had lost it after rounding the last mark....but the boys played a great race back to win. Fantastic!
Let's hope it's 3-1 by the end of the day.

We had taken a heap of photos of "out and about" the village ...but they have mysteriously disappeared off my camera. We will try and get some more for you today.

Two All!

Fantastic to see Team NZ pull away on leg three to end with a win today. Yippee!! Two all - bring it on!

We enjoyed a day of sun burn in front of the "big screen" at the village yesterday watching the first race and attempting to catch ourselves on camera with TVNZ. Forgot the "Hello Appleby School" banner but Hunter wore his All Black shorts with NEW ZEALAND printed across his posterior. By the end of the afternoon he had shaking his "toosh" to the offending Alinghi supporters (and man with swiss cow bell) down pat ...and managed to win him (and his toosh) a camera viewing on what I thought was a TVNZ camera. Turns out it was a camera man from "world feed" ... so sorry NZ...we have moved to bigger and better audiences!

The grass is always greener ....

Well - it was wonderful to get a change of scenery ...and we were actually looking forward to some cooler weather.........little did we know it was going to be almost single digits in Scotland! We managed to time the trip immaculately to co-incide with a week of rain...
Hump you say? Yes, I know you are now well used to it...... but hey it IS suppose to be Summer over here!

I did have a wee lump in my throat as we flew into view of green fields and hedges ......

We enjoyed catching up with Rods relatives in St Andrews (an hour north of Edinborough), and then a couple of days in the Lake District which is just beautiful. Visits catch up with friends in Newcastle and London with a ride on the "humungous ferris wheel" (the London Eye)...and of course a trip to Hamleys toy store.

One of the many highlights was a trip to a bird santuary on the Farn Islands (an hour north of Newcastle). We were excited to see Puffin birds (very cute)...but not too sure about nesting Turns and Shags, who, as any new mother would, fiercly protected their newborns by divebombing any intruder who passed along the 300m path from the boat onto the island. No amount of recommended waving hands above our heads stopped the attempts (yes -Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" reminded us of a wet sunday afternoon watching "Bambie"). However, Hunter took being "pooed on" with a sense of humour and it was well worth risking our lives for. We got VERY close to the birds on the tiny island.

We arrived back at 11.30pm on thursday night, 2 hours late when the plane was delayed...which under normal circumstances would have been "OK" had we not missed our one and only chance to attend the America's Cup Ball . Oh well - had nothing to wear anyway! I'm sure Niomi Campbell missed our catch up though.

On holiday ...again...

Well - you've got to make the most of these things!

Racing doesn't start until the 23rd June with the comencement of the America's Cup.
So we've got to fill in the time somehow!
We are planning to visit Rod's aunt in Scotland (via some friends in London and Newcastle)..and will be back on 21 June.

We have started saying good bye to some lovely friends we have met during our stay. Particularly a few from Victory Challenge ..... only Kiwis and Swiss left now!
We are looking forward to a few more visitors when we return from the UK.

Major excitement today - Hunter has touched the bottom of the swimng pool! He is now happily jumping off the side of the pool and putting his head under....... (a milestone for a boy who wouldn't get his hair wet 6 weeks ago!)
Zoe is "hyperventilating" at the thought of spending a day in Hamley's toy store in London.....

Hope you all have a good week.

Love,
J,R,Z and H
XXxx

We won!!!

Yippee! We have the first cup...let's hope there's another coming our way.

I think I have a bit of"buyers remorse" after nearly 12 hours shopping with the girls yesterday (and we still didn't get around the biggest shopping mall in Spain) - HEAVEN! ...even if I did have very sore feet!

We excitedly greeting Lisa and Gary at the train station this mornig. Wonderful to have them here and be able to show them around. Will keep you posted...

Four down one to go!

Well - looks like the America's Cup village will be the place to be tomorrow!
Yippee...let's hope it will be 5 out of 5!
The gap seems to be getting bigger....but who wants to count the chickens yet?

On the social front...yes - we may just get a few extra days to play with Rod home!... what?... of COURSE I care about the racing!

We have had a few lovely days with a wee treasure hunt around Valencia to help celebrate Zoe's 6th birthday. The clue leading up the bell tower, arriving 2 mins before 12 noon... to witness a VERY LOUD bell tolling 12 DONGS for mid-day was a little unfortunate however. Maybe 1pm would have been a better choice. Never mind - we made our way back down the 207 steps with ears in tact...if a bit wobbly from the experience!

We are looking forward to our NZ visitors...Lisa and Gary Reilly arriving this friday afternoon. A bit sad that the LV racing might be all over red rover though. Bugger.