Big Ben strikes 24

Ben woke me up at 0845 which isn't bad. I would have had another hour and a half, the others would have had 2 hours but then again, they're old and need it. We woke Jof up to ask if it was OK if we played quietly in our room with the door closed so as not to disturb her. From then onwards it was a relaxed morning with lego and train track, to make a change from yesterday. We both had egg + black pudding on toast, except Ben had a boiled egg with toastie soldiers whereas I had mine scrambled, and he didn't like black pudding but at least he tried.

We were in danger of failing to leave the house by noon so rushed down to Gunwharf for our special treat. You can pay for cinema tickets using Nectar points: we have £27 worth and a family ticket to see Arthur Christmas was £26: job's an absolute good'un and we took popcorn and mini-cheddars and drink and Jaffa cakes so Bob's your uncle and since the operation, so is Auntie Sandra. However the card readers were non-functional due to a systems error. So Bud queued for 10 minutes at the 1 functioning cashpoint (other 2 temporarily unavailable due to systems glitch) and we were in.

Arthur Christmas was ace. We watched 20 minutes of adverts even though we were 10 minutes late for the screening but then it finally started, at 73 decibels more than was strictly necessary. There were many industry in-jokes and splendid puns and gags that assume you've been a film-goer for 40 years but we didn't mind, because we didn't notice. I got very sad at one point, distraught that little Gwen (who lives just up the road from Ben's grandparents) might not get her present so I hugged Jof lots and it all worked out OK in the end.

Blinking in the unexpected sunlight of reality, we boogied and drummed along to the brass band playing in the courtyard and headed to the Customs House Pub for chicken and chips. Our little fingers were slippery with chicken fat so Ben spilled his large glass of juice all over the table. Luckily, Bud and Jof were wearing absorbent trousers otherwise the floor would have been even wetter.

After a little dance on the torpedo we headed home and got stuck in to lego and train track, as we'd not done any for 3 hours (we can give it up any time). Sadly, BensDad came to take him from me but at least I had him for 24 hours. It's been a busy time, but worth it.