We spent most of the evening of day 535 preparing the house. Putting banners up, blowing up balloons, that sort of malarkey and then we went to bed.
Penny woke up at about 7am which was good. We amused her for a bit up stairs, then took her down stairs. First we Skyped my brother, his fiancée, and my cousin in New Zealand. To clarify, that's 3 different people. My brother is not engaged to my cousin, or his, for that matter. So, yeah, 3 people. Unfortunately my brother was at work, so it was just his fiancée and his cousin (two different people). They watched Penny open her first present, very slowly. Shoes. What girl doesn't like shoes? Thanks guys!
Once we'd Skyped them, we Skyped my mum and dad, and chatted to them for a bit, while Penny tried to eat the camera.
Shortly afterwards my father in law turned up, followed by my mother in law who had brought with her visitors from Devon. They turned out to be excellent present unwrapping assistants.
After what seemed like a long time, all Penny's pressies were unwrapped and Melissa took her to The Jungle, with the girls, to meet Harry and her cousin. I kept well away. Screaming kids? No thanks! I stayed home and tidied the house a bit, and soon enough I was collected and taken to the pub where we all had a few drinks (Penny's a big fan of Ruddles Best, but she really enjoyed my Magner's too), then we went back to the in laws and soon enough it was bed time.
Not a bad first birthday. Much less stressful than this time last year, that's for certain.
Saturday saw us up early to prepare the house and garden for the bouncy castle.
Exhausting. I nipped home to pick up some stuff and have a shower, and then me and my father in law decided to put up a gazebo just in case it rained. Bad idea. We had no instructions, for a start. Also, it was hideously humid. Long story short, it was dripping with sweat once I'd finished and had to go home for another shower.
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| Found these online, not quite right, but not completely wrong either. |
What followed was a lovely afternoon with family and friends, and alcohol and barbecue and fire. A picture paints a thousand words. So,
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| On this occasion my mother (in blue) made it on to the bouncy castle. This was not the case on her second attempt. |
I ended up going home alone at the end of the night as there was no room at the inn. We'd acquired another child who took up my space in the bed. I could have slept on the couch, but I've tried that before. Never again.
I woke up at 6am with indigestion. Took an Rennie and went back to sleep until about half 8. Nice. I was collected from my solitude and taken back to the in laws for breakfast, then my mum and dad came by to say thank you, and good bye, and to give snuggles to Penny, but she was still asleep. Alright for some.
She's awake now, out with Melissa and the girls, dropping the child we acquired off at home. I've had my eighth shower in two days, and I'm writing this.
Thank you so much to every who came yesterday. It really made for a great day. Thank you for presents, cards and general company. Penny's been spoiled rotten and, as usual, has been as good as gold.
Normal service will resume tomorrow!
