Everyone was up early again for present opening 🙂
Scarlett hadn’t really asked for anything specific this year other than a penknife and firesteel the same as Davies. We discussed the wisdom of this briefly but decided if we sent the children to Forest School which was all about lighting fires and using knives then it was only fair to give them the tools to continue using those skills. The firesteel hasn’t actually arrived yet but Scarlett can open that parcel when it does. The knife is on the same basis that Davies has his – they always have to check before taking it out of the house that it is appropriate and okay to carry it with them where we’re going, it is only ever to be used as a tool, not a weapon and all of the safety measures that they are ‘trained’ in are to be observed at all times. I had a penknife when I was a child and I wasn’t anywhere near as ‘outdoorsy’ as Davies and Scarlett are. Realistically it will only really be on camping trips or in the garden that they are used.
So Scarlett got her teeny penknife (with scissors, tweezers etc on it), a couple of crafty kits (fimo one, pressed flower one, some new felt pens and a Playmobile Noah’s Ark – chosen specifically for the many (pairs of) animals it came with. She also got Ice Age 3 on dvd which we’d not made to to the cinema for when it was showing for some reason so had earmarked as one to buy when it came out.
Davies, as ever, got a present too – Monsters Vs Aliens on dvd and a little mechanno style kit. They both got stuck straight in to building the ark and when Scarlett realised it was designed to float Ady ran a bath so they could get in and play with it proper flood recreation style 🙂
I made a birthday cake for Scarlett, she’d asked for a victoria sponge with cream and jam which was probably the most straightforward cake request either of my children has ever made! 😆 Scarlett and I were talking at camp about some of her more complicated asks over the years including the princess castle when she was four and the teddy bear when she was five. I still think my personal favourite was Davies’ oversized chocolate eclair :). I made two sponges and left them to cool for dealing with later.
Everyone got dressed, I sat and brushed Scarlett’s hair and we watched Ice Age 3. Then my parents arrived.
Scarlett got her usual premium bonds from them and a very Scarlett outfit of a long top with a leopard on the front, a pair of leggings and a leopard print scarf. It is white, which isn’t a colour she wears very often and she’s not a big fan of leggings so I can see the top getting the most wear but it was a – for once – very good present choice. She also got a ‘camp rock’ puzzle which was rather more inkeeping with usual presents (she has no idea what Camp Rock is, infact actually neither do I!) and there was some lego to add to the lego stash and some magnetix to add to the geomags for both Davies and Scarlett. My Mum does spend a whole afternoon with the kids every week so I think it wouldn’t be too tricky to talk to them, listen to them and get a handle on what they might like but she’s always been more about chucking money at presents and ensuring they are big, showy and overpackaged than actually thinking about what the recipient might like to own!
Presents opened and suitably cooed over we headed off out. Scarlett had asked to go to the Sea Life Centre this year. I do feel for her as most of the things she’d love to do are outside – zoos, safari etc. so pretty much ruled out in December. On her first birthday we went to Stockley Farm which is a Farm visit place in the Manchester area with tractor rides, baby animals to bottle feed etc and my parents still moan about how cold it was that day, six years later! 😆 Drusillas for her Keeper for the Day last year was pretty bleak I have to admit. So, Sealife Centre it was.
First though we went to Frankie and Benny’s for early lunch. We were conscious of going out for dinner again later so noone wanted to eat too much so we all went for breakfasts. Mum, Dad and Ady had proper full breakfasts, the kids and I went for pancakes and syrup. Unfortunately Scarlett didn’t like the pancakes but she made do with one of Ady’s fried eggs. I was really proud of her actually, it was her birthday, she didn’t like the food and she could have kicked off about it but she just sat happily picking at the egg and chatting. She told the waiter it was her birthday and at the end he appeared with an ice cream sundae with a candle in and they played ‘Happy Birthday’ on the speakers and the whole place joined in :).
Then to the Sealife Centre. We went for Scarlett’s fifth birthday and haven’t been since and a few new bits have been added in the last two years. It is pretty pricey – £40 for the four of us and another £30 for my parents and you could walk quickly round the place in under an hour so my Mum was a bit gripey about the price but I think you need to view it as a donation to the conservation and education work Sea Life centres provide and Scarlett and I particularly were very happy to stand and gaze at various fish for ages and ages. I’ve also realised, belatedly that there are lots of advance booking offers online which I should have researched and taken advantage of.
We had a great few hours, enjoyed the turtle feeding and talk session and were disappointed that the advertised shark feeding and talk didn’t happen (it turns out they only feed the sharks three times a week, I’d have thought their leaflet could have said that really) but got to ask some questions (Scarlett: why don’t the sharks eat all the other fish then?) and the guide did turn off the air bubbles for 15 minutes so we could go back into the underwater tunnel and get a far clearer look at the fish in the stiller waters. Scarlett was very excited to learn they do a Junior Aquarist day although you need to be 10 to do that so I suspect we’ll be back there again for that in 3 years. I like the rays and Davies spent ages with a catfish. I bought Scarlett a book about oceans on the way out and for some reason, although if we’d thought about it we’d have realised, we were all surprised to come out and find it was dark!
Brighton Pier was all lit up and sparkly looking so we decided to have a quick walk along it before heading for home. It was incredibly windy and earlier when it had been high tide the whole pier was being soaked with high waves breaking and splashing up over it but it was low tide now so just blowy rather than wet. Dad still complained but we reminded him it was traditional to get cold on Tarly’s birthday 😆 He stayed in the amusement arcade while the rest of us walked to the end and back again.
Back to the car and over to my parents via a quick stop at our house to put the chickens away and collect Tarly’s cake and decorating bits. At my parents I decorated the cake and we waited for my Granny to arrive as she was meeting us there. We’d decided to go to the carvery restuarant across the road from my parents house. There was friction between my parents and my grandmother (all three ways :rolls:) but the rest of us managed to ignore them all and had a drink in the bar before we were called through to our table. It’s a flat plate price and you choose which meats you want (pork, beef, turkey and gammon were on offer that day) along with a huge yorkshire pudding, then serve yourself with vegetables and condiments / sauces. You can go back up for more veg but the meat is single serving. I thought it was pretty good for £8.50 (although Ady and the kids both said the Christmas dinner at camp was better ;)) but my parents were moaning about it (are you getting a theme of the day yet? ;)). Ady, the kids and I had a great time though and took lots of pictures to entertain ourselves. I might have also topped up my wine reserves in order to keep spirits high. It was most amusing to hear my parents, Granny and Frazer all ribbing me about cooking and preparing food when I peeled the skin off Tarly’s new potatoes and mashed them for her (she is a mash addict and they didn’t have mash, only new or roast potatoes) given how everyone last week was telling me I spent too much time in the kitchen. Does anyone else have family who genuinely think they are crap, even at things they are probably pretty good at? Maybe I should have invited them to Truleigh Hill when we were so close so they could get to know me a bit better? 😉
We didn’t have dessert but went back to Mum and Dad’s for birthday cake. We did sparklers on the cake again and all enjoyed coffee / tea and cake.
We ended up staying later than I’d planned and finally got home just before 10pm. Davies and Scarlett went straight off to bed although Scarlett was awake quite late coughing. She had a great birthday, lovely to have it extended from earlier in the week with friends. I think seven is going to suit her!