Jamie is three!

Today is Jamie's 3rd birthday and we've had an absolutely lovely day.

It didn't get off to the best of starts though! We got to the soft play centre 10 minutes before it was due to open and could see the staff milling around in the very gloomy interior, obviously trying to fix something. Some of our party guests began arriving, as well as some other people (who turned out to be there for another party), and it was clear that they weren't going to be opening the doors at 10am to let us in. Eventually one of the staff came out and said they were having problems with the lighting, that someone was coming out to fix it, and that for now we couldn't come in.

So we stood around outside, with me feeling more and more stressed by the minute, imagining them saying they were cancelling the party...and then what would we do? There were too many people to come back to ours really, but it would be awful to turn everyone away, and for Jamie to have his birthday treat spoiled.

Thankfully, at about twenty past, they let me and Wayne in, and we could see that although some of the lights weren't working, others were on, and that combined with the natural light coming in through the windows, meant that actually, it wasn't very dark at all. The man in charge (who I used to teach!!) said we and the other party people could come in and that they'd put some staff around the soft play equipment to keep an eye on everyone and make sure they were ok in the gloomy conditions. He also said he'd extend the party by half an hour, and gave us tickets so that all the adults could get a free drink.

So we were underway, and from that moment on it was great. The kids all loved it, and because there was only us and the other party there for most of the morning, it was very quiet compared to a normal Saturday morning. After about 90 mins, we were called to go and sit down in our party area, where the food was brought out. Then, Paddy Pig came out with the cake we had made for Jamie an Daisy - which aptly enough, was decorated with two pigs! After that, the kids had ice creams, and then they said they'd do some party games - which I was a bit unsure about as I thought the kids were a bit young - but it turned out fine and they had a game of musical bumps. Then, the party bags were given out and it was time to go. Everyone seemed to have had a lovely time and I was so touched by all the lovely presents and cards for the kids, as well as the fact that everyone had made the effort to be there, at pretty short notice (due to our rubbish planning!)

We headed home for some lunch with Wayne's mum, and then my mum, aunt and uncle came over for tea and cake, and we opened all the presents. We decided to open Daisy's as well in the end, so that we didn't have to take them all on holiday with us. They both had some lovely things, we were very lucky.

Once they were both in bed, Wayne and I sat down for chip shop chips and a few glasses of wine - excellent preparation for our race tomorrow! (the pre-race junk food and wine was recommended by Nick, who has run several marathons, so he should know it works!)

All in all it has been a brilliant day! Can't believe my little man is 3 years old! Happy birthday Jamie!