Avast there me hearties

I think that national "speak like a pirate day" occurs some time around mid-September (at least in the UK). However, there was no shortage of pirate related activities at the weekend during A.'s birthday party. What to do with 34 four year olds (the invitation take up with rather higher than expected)? We decided on a party by the beach at a cafe which had an outside terrace with a play area overlooking the beach. To keep the kids entertained the entertainer came dressed as a pirate (A.'s current obsession) and a remarkably good job she did too - treasure hunts, magic tricks, lots of dancing around. Slight panic at the beginning as (a) we were late due to delays in picking up the cake (Thomas the Tank Engine since you ask) so we had various guests asking if they had come to the right place (the nature of these things is that you tend to only know a handful of the parents by sight let alone by name); and (b) the cafe had ommitted to stock up on children's drinks so it was an emergency trip to the supermarket for Dina to buy up their stock of fruit juice.

Still everyone seemed to have a good time and the pizzas were excellent. Dina was an absolute star as she battled with the hordes of kids who were intent on blowing out the candles on the cake and then licking off the icing before it was cut - I have a particulaly good picutre of her holding the cake aloft whilst surrounded by a sea of hands as the guests (and A) tried to stick their fingers in.

Everything calmed down at around 1.30pm and after we had transported the remaining food and the presents home (A. will be opening them until Christams - never a bad position for a child to be in), I took him to the reservoir for a ride on his new bike - very picturesque and ideal for a first major bike ride (nearly an hour there and back although it helped that he found a friend to race around with).

In the evening we celebrated our 6th Wedding anniversary with some champagne and a take away curry which made it a very pleasant (if somewhat exhausting) day all round.