Birthday Part II

The finale to the weekend of celebrations and having just about enough puff left to blow out all 40 candles earned me a high-five from JJ.

The day started off a tiny, little bit ropey after the shenanigans of the welcoming the birthday in party but after approximately a gallon of tea and raiding the birthday lunch of egg sandwiches I was ready to start a whole different type of party.

This one could have been called the day the seventies came to Chiswick. Kids of all ages made animal sounds to find their teams, passed balloons in various fashions, passed a parcel in a strict pass it on when the music starts again regardless of whether or not you have finished a layer (and certainly don't bother looking for a prize in each layer as there is one present and one only and the person who happens to rip off the very very last tiny bit of paper will get that even if someone has half-ripped the layer off and we can all see it is a giant bar of Dairy Milk. Oh, and you might not even get to unwrap any paper as there is no-one carefully checking that everyone has had a turn. And more oh, in the team games only the winning team gets a prize and do you know what - the grown-ups loved it and the kids were entirely non-plussed). So lots of games, followed by a full-on party lunch with everything you would expect (though the jugs of squash had been exchanged for glasses of prosecco and organic apple juice) including Tunnocks tea cakes, Party Rings and jelly and ice-cream. And this fabulous cake.

All thanks to mom. With various members of the family she recruited as helpers. But essentially this was my mom's birthday present to me and it couldn't have been more perfect. So I got to have a properly grown-up, full-on party celebration and a friends and family celebration with the kids. Back-blipping this from Monday someone asked me if today was a bit of a let-down and I would have thought it might have been but it was all so lovely I think I am still basking in that glow.

Happy days
Lesley x