Oliver's 4th Birthday

Today Oliver is four years old. Although last year he understood his birthday, this year he has anticipated it more, making it more exciting for all of us. (In fact Lucy had been singing Happy Birthday to him even before the big day arrived.)

He got up and we all sat in bed singing Happy Birthday to him before watching TV for a while as we came round. Then we all went downstairs to see him open his presents from us. He has consistently asked for one present in particular which thankfully Hayley managed to get hold of after some searching: a stretchy Scoobie Doo (pictured above). He loved it.

I stayed home as late as I could before going to work, returning in time for his party at Anchors Away at 4pm. It struck me how odd it might seem to him that 20+ of his friends, who he normally only sees at most 3 or 4 at a time, all turn up at the same time and place. But he didn't seem phased.

As well as playing happily on all the equipment the establishment had to offer, they all enjoyed a sit-down party dinner complete with ice-cream dessert. This was followed by singing Happy Birthday to Oliver and presenting him with his cake. I just caught on film him blowing out the candles.



Then it was time for pass the parcel before more play.

By the time he went to bed he was out like a light. But on the way home he told Hayley, quite unprompted, "I had a great party Mummy. Thank you."

There are more photos from the day here.

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

Today Lucy is 2 years old. To celebrate we arranged a fab picnic party in the park. Of course, thanks to our wet summer we ended up having the picnic on blankets in our living room, but hey, that was great fun too!

But before all that we started the day by coming downstairs to find the living room decorated with balloons which Lucy immediately spotted. Oliver then made a bee-line for the small pile of presents that I had intended to leave until Hayley got up (as Saturday is her lie-in and having got up to wish Lucy a happy birthday she had gone back to bed after an hour or so). Oliver then offered one of the presents to Lucy so I let her open it. It was a rather cute matching necklace and handbag which Lucy immediately put on for our Tesco trip.



After breakfast we came home and helped get ready before the party kicked off at 11am. There were 16 kids, some Lucy's age and some Oliver's age, but Lucy thinks she's four anyway so that doesn't phase her. When food was served it was in their picnic boxes. Lucy settled her Mama dolly down on the blanket.



She then presided over proceedings as well as getting some food herself.





The picnic boxes consisted of some sandwiches, raisins, crisps and a fruit shoot.... amazingly some sandwiches got eaten, albeit with a little persuasion from the parental overseers.

Then there was some games of pass the parcel. Two in fact: one for the two year olds and one of the 3 and 4 year olds. Stopping the music to make sure everyone gets a go is not easy with two games on the go.



There was pin the tail on the donkey and a rather splendid round of musical bumps reversed, where the kids sit down to dance and then have to stand up when the music stops. The last to stand up is "out" and gets a sweet. Everyone's a winner!

Lucy was a doll all afternoon. Here she is presenting Nanny with some chocolate.



Finally Lucy was presented with her cake.



To our surprise, one guest, Amber (a little girl Oliver's age who Lucy loves) turned up with her Mum half an hour after the end of the party. It turns out that Hayley had been in "wedding mode" when writing her invitation and had accidentally put the start time as 1.30pm like the wedding! However, all was not lost, as we had more fun with the few remaining friends and kids, including indulging in some ice-creams, ever popular with Lucy.



And anyway by this point the sun was out, so we eventually headed off to the park where Lucy had a great time with Amber.



We had a great day and more importantly the little lady loved it too. She got lots of nice presents, favourite amongst which was undoubtedly the ceramic tea-set in a wicker picnic basket.

And with no nap all day, she was out for the count after her bedtime milk. Probably dreaming of a picnic with her tea-set.

There are more pictures from the day here.

Lucy's 1st Birthday Party

Today was Lucy's 1st Birthday party. It was a joint bash with Cara and Isabel who were celebrating turning three. It was held at Heaton Moor Methodist Church, the same place we had Oliver's first birthday party nearly two years ago.

The Mums (Hayley, Clare C. and Clare P.) did all the hard work: buying all the food, cooking it and doing most of the decorating of the room. I just had our kids for most of the day up to the party, which was a breeze as it was sunny and they were in good moods. We went to the park for a while.



Then we headed home for a snack lunch. On the way, Lucy fell asleep in the back-pack carrier, bless her. Oliver bought some flowers for his Mummy and carried them home for her.



Then it was off to the hall for the party. Lucy seemed to enjoy the whole afternoon. An area was laid out for the young children in her age range with toys on large rugs, while the rest of the hall was free for the older children to run round and play with the balloons (which would periodically pop with a loud bang).

There was also entertainment. The ladies from Rhythm Time came and had the children singing, dancing and playing percussive instruments.



Lucy and Oliver both joined in with some gusto.



Rhythm Time also started by singing Happy Birthday to each of the three birthday girls in turn, starting with Lucy, which was nice. Lucy sat on my knee for Rhythm Time.



Meanwhile Oliver stood next to us. He was a great big brother, getting Lucy her instruments before getting them for himself.

After the entertainment, buffet food was served for the adults while the children sat and ate their party lunch boxes at tables at one end of the hall.



A cake was brought out for Lucy and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. Then we sang it again for the other two girls.

There was then some more free play for the kids before people started to drift away.

The little lady was notable for her contentedness and self-assuredness all afternoon. She played happily on the mat with toys and with the other children, even when Hayley and I were not right next to her, though there was always a familiar face for her and we always kept half an eye on her.



In fact I had the pleasure of being with the kids much of the afternoon while Hayley ran proceedings... in other words she did most of the hard work!

By the time everyone left, Lucy had decided that decorum should take second place to a nice rest.



There are more pictures from the day here.