Birthday Weekend

On Friday Cole woke up to celebrate his 8th birthday.  He was not too excited at the birthday celebration I offered up ~ brunch with Granny G, but in the end he was lured by the thought of a good feed.  We came back to the Spa and he spent the rest of the day playing with his friend Dawson and Ewen came out later and we had birthday cupcakes.  3 days later, I realized that there was not one photograph of the birthday boy from any point over the weekend; stellar mothering, I tell you. 

On Saturday, the girls went riding and then Chloe managed to spend all day the stables.  The other 2 played outside while Granny and I got some things done around the house (mostly I think I internet shopped for toilet seats, since Chloe stood on ours and broke it and a replacement is impossible to find and the one I can find is £200 + VAT which is more than $350 for a toilet seat.) 

Sunday was our annual birthday outing to Tullymore with the Lyles.  Every year, the heavens open and we get soaked at this bbq.  It would almost be disappointing if there was no rain.  This year, we were not disappointed.  We arrived in Tullymore in beautiful sunshine.  I lit the bbq.  10 mins later, everyone else was sitting in the car while I wore a peterstorm and stood holding a golf umbrella over the bbq.  And then as suddenly as it started, the rain stopped and it was a gorgeous day.

Carys with Granda George. 

Getting the lunch started.  All photos by Chloe. 

A volcano cake.  We added sparklers left over from Hallowe'en (thank you Barbara Tate) for a more dramatic effect.  The strawberry sauce/chocolate cake combination went over very well. 

Look! How exciting is that? You'll be wanting a volcano cake for your next birthday, won't you?

We gave all the children a sparkler after they'd had their cake and ice-cream; oh my godfathers, 7 children with sparklers is a little bit intense. 

At this point, Cole went back to sit in a tree and read a book that Gwyneth got him. 

Chloe and David took off to the river with Peter.  They literally ran as fast as they could from the picnic table in a (successful) effort to make sure no small people joined them.

Granda George poured more wine. 

We all had a brilliant day. 

Even those of us who started out feeling a bit under the weather ;)

After Tullymore, I got to go and meet some friends from long ago to have a drink and a catch up.  It was really good to see both of them again and I hope we can manage to get together with our kiddos next time. 
The icing on the cake was that everyone was in bed by the time last orders had been called in the Primrose.  Don't think it gets much better than that.