family

it was jane’s birthday yesterday and the girls decorated this fantastic cake (millions of thanks to Kim for doing this as i’d totally forgotten that cakes were an essential part of my wife’s birthday celebrations.  ooops)

esther has two birthday parties this year.  here’s #1

then we went to tgi friday where we ate so much we felt ill.  quality stuff.

jane’s dad with a tray of plumbing bits and jane’s mum with a bowl of fruit sala

i was greeted with some great cards and rosettes yesterday morning which i wore with pride throughout the day

this time of year is fantastic. everything is so green and grow-y.  jane even climbed in to some stingy nettles to check a geocache for travelbugs.  there were none.

earlier in the day we went ice skating with friends.  i noted that ice skating is like a mini-example of parenting:

* you start by pretty much carrying your kids round the rink
* then they trust you and you go round hand in hand
* after a number of exhausting laps you start to let go
* eventually they go free and start zooming round on their own much faster than you do
* and finally, you fall over in a very dramatic way, and they laugh their heads off.

mmm

things warmed up with the cheerleaders doing their hoolah hooping

bother-in-law kev spent a while geting in to the zone and wasn’t going to be moved by the pre-match frivolities

before we knew it the egg and spoon race was underway

the oldies showed the youngiest how it was done

it mostly seemed to be about the level of concentration

there were other games involving water, which eventually broke down in to a sponge water fight

bother-in-law (bil) kev threw himself (and his sponge) in to it

but ultimatly the excitement was too much for him

and he ended up with a soggy face (this looks quite impressive big so click for full fun)

people them moved on from sponges and simply started chucking water at each other

here kezia shows her airborn throwing technique whilst thomas recovers from a wetting from esther

as james decided it was time to sit somewhere a little drier.

finally we hung some doughnuts on a washing line which were to be eaten without touching

sarah’s string was longer than the other’s and it was dangling in the middle so she had the hardest challenge.  i like how the blurred background on the picture above makes her look like she’s breathing fire (a bit)

anyway, sarah stayed well in to the night after everyone else had finished trying to eat her doughnut.  which she managed in the end.

so, all in all, big fun had by all

we saw my mum yesterday afternoon and had a lovely time !

jane’s mum kindly had a birthday which gave us a great excuse to get dressed up smart and have a raclette

much fun and laughing was had

health and safety restricted candle-age to 1

and esther even invented a board game for the occasion which we all played.  it’s called Animal Adventure and was rather good actually, so if you ever come round, be sure to ask for it by name !

it involved rather more vertical walking than originally anticipated, but was great fun for all involved (and the space hopper)

and here is cousin chris.

kezia came up with a scheme to get the see saw started.  she sent esther up the pole to balance her out.