The weekend whirlwind that was Toby's birthday

Hi,

Phew - one of the busiest social weekends in the Gilbert calendar has ended for another year.  Why did we have a child born so close to Christmas?  Such poor planning.  On top of work being so busy, I am under-prepared for everything that comes my way at the moment.

Let's see how the weekend panned out, eh?

Friday afternoon was our work Christmas party and the venue at the Boatshed was a good one.  Mike stayed to kick on a bit and I caught the bus home to collect Toby.  Toby and I had a good evening watching movies.

Mike got home quite early - we decided it must have been the earlier than usual start.  We all slept well until swimming the next morning.  Toby had a water safety session in the 3m deep end of the pool.  He loved it.  Afterwards he dived in like a pencil and I think he touched the bottom.  He definitely got within a whisker.

Then off to Sally and Andrew's place for lunch.  They are off walking around int he Wairarapa so we wouldn't see them on Toby's birthday.  Toby got a yummy cake with candles and his first presents.

Home to prepare for the Kea sleepover/Toby birthday combination.  Packing and gathering food/utensils.  It went well until we realised we hadn't had dinner.  A quick run to Burger Wisconsin (and additions for Jack and William who turned up without dinner) and then we were ready.

Off to the Scout Hall.  It all went rather well for 16 children or however many it was...  We didn't lose any.  Well, only one, but that was intentional.  Turns out wee Jonathan (Toby's birthday chum) hadn't had much in the way of sleepovers before.  It was a bit daunting for his first one to be in the huge Scout Hall with 15 other kids.  By 10.30pm it was obvious Mike would need to take him home.  So we bundled him off into the car.  poor wee chap.  There isn't a lot you can do to comfort a child in a hall full of other sleeping kids.

Still, once the excitement levels dropped, we all had a good sleep.  And Michael (new Kea leader) cooked up a storm on the BBQ in the morning.  Bacon and eggs and toast.  Scrumptious.

Home for Toby's presents from us.  And we never saw him much for the rest of it.  He got a Donkey Kong Wii game and loved it.  Well done, Dad.

Preparation for the family dinner started and when Mum arrived Toby was excited to open more presents.  Then dinner kicked off when Vivienne and John arrived with Benjamin.  Dad got there too and Mum cooked the chicken schnitzels to perfection.  It's Toby's favourite meal.  His choice.  The birthday cake was yummy (thanks, Mum) and it all went well.

Now we can relax and get ready for Christmas.

Hooray.

Love,
Angela