Let's get this party started

Bobert turns 5 today, a full nine months after Erin, what's he been doing all this time? It's dressing up as a pirate time again, I've got great mileage out of the pirate costume, splendid value for money and life extended by me not growing. It's probably my longest-serving uniform after my birthday suit. So we were the first there (apart from Bobert, only fair, it's his party) and once Bud had fed the parking meter with numerous Jersey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar coins we got inside and I got stuck in straight away. One by one the rest of the Puddlers arrived but so did other kids (is Bobert allowed other non-Puddler friends?) and it turned into the usual sweatfest. The soft play area for under-5s is a perennial attraction and we gravitated there to throw big cushion things at each other (including the fabled lost pirate map of Celebes which eluded us last time) which was not fair on Pops as she doesn't like being hit in the face by cubic cushions being thrown by the larger boys, so she spent a lot of time retreating.

In a well-rehearsed party format we got chased by Mr Silly and then beat him up: even a relatively fit 41 year-old can't defend himself while carrying Erin and Ben on his back. Give it a couple of years and we'll all be bigger than him anyway. Then it was food: I ate almost all of it, bit more play and then caketime: bit more play and then home time. This didn't stop us as we drove to Waitrose to pick up Jof and met some complete strangers called Erin and Poppy in the car park (once we'd taken the lift to the top floor and climbed up the railings) so we gave them some balloons and the wine and lemons to save Jof taking them round for the PuddleGirlies party tomorrow. Apparently Cal (JoniBobsMum) has a birthday party tomorrow which is why all the ladies will be absent.

Second supper: pasta and avocado. Shouty bedtime ten-ish.

It was shortly after this video was taken that Ben landed on my hand and bent all the fingers the wrong way.