Holidays: Day Fourteen

reading a clue - wearing her new b'day crown

It took Till a long time to fall asleep last night - she was just too excited. Well this morning, her birthday got underway at 2am - yes you read that correctly - 2 AM for goodness sake!!!!!! Of course she was promptly sent back to bed....but her fabulous brother set his DSi alarm to sound at 5:30am.  So, it's been a looong day....and there's a very tired birthday girl here who right now should probably be in bed (you know how these things pan out...the tears have started and we, or rather Till, is feeling a little bit fragile).

Months ago, Till had requested a present-finding treasure hunt after reading a story where a little girl had to solve clues to locate her birthday presents from around her home.  I assigned Ben the task of writing the clues (he's by far more poetic than me), and he did a fabulous job. Till and Harry had a blast solving them and finding her gifts.  The first present was located in the fridge, the second in the under-stairs cupboard, the third was hidden inside the BBQ, the fourth in the shed, and finally, the last gift was located under our bed. It was so well received, I'm imagining Harry will be asking for a birthday treasure hunt for his next birthday, and perhaps this will be a new family tradition.

Breakfast tastes better when someone else does the cooking!

After opening presents we headed out the door to the 'Golden Orb' cafe for a special birthday breakfast.  The birthday girl had one thing on her mind: pancakes! Funnily though, she ended up ordering French toast. Harry ate the Big Breakfast, and didn't leave a crumb.  This boy of mine is eating as much as Ben these days - he must be having a growth spurt. Till's most favourite and precious gift accompanied us - a pretty little treasure box with it's own padlock and key (to say it's prized is an understatement). She also received a jar of cashew butter (it was a request - and VERY hard to come by on NI) and her very own grown-up teacup and teapot. Would you believe, Till loves a cup of herbal tea!

Till spent the day playing quietly with her new toys; Lego, puzzles and a hoola-hoop. Tonight we had a special pizza dinner, with Matilda's friends Abi and Ellie joining us.  After dinner Till's birthday cake made it's debut.  Birthday cakes are a big deal in this family, with much love, thought and creativity going into each masterpiece. Till has been ogling the Women's Weekly Cake Book for the last 6 months (it's probably the most read book in our house).  She set her sights on the swimming pool cake about 2 months ago.  I tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail. Well it has blue jelly in the middle, and well, er.  Look, I really don't mind what ends up on a birthday cake - I just have an aversion to jelly. But, it wasn't about me, and Till got her wish.

Here are some of the clues...and the gifts they led to

Well all in all, Till had a great day. And she sure was super spoiled! Thanks everyone for your birthday wishes!

PS I actually didn't eat any birthday cake - I'm still on my sugar-free mission.

Hip hip hooray, Matilda is 6 today