Thursday photo #162

My husband and I are very different people. I’m quiet and antisocial. He is loud and sociable. And sometimes, I am starkly reminded that Libby is her father’s daughter. Over the past couple of weeks, it has been particularly obvious.

How long is a birthday?

My husband’s 40th birthday fell just a couple of years after I met him. I booked a table at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck –  I had to be on the phone exactly three months beforehand to book it. I also arranged for us to go away for the weekend. We stayed in London, watched a musical and then headed to Bray the following day to eat at the Fat Duck. And I thought I’d nailed it.

I’ve never really been one for birthdays. They weren’t a massive deal when I was a child and that was fine with me. I’ve never celebrated my birthday as an adult as such, although I had a lovely day at Malvern Spa last year with my sister. So as you can imagine, a weekend of birthday celebrations seemed more than enough for my husband’s birthday.

But he had other ideas. There was an enormous party with his friends, which involved hiring a coach to and from the venue. There was dinner with his family and multiple other events loosely associated with his birthday. It seemed like his 40th birthday celebrations lasted most of the year.

Fast forward to the past fortnight, and it seems Libby is heading the same way. She has been proclaiming it to be her birthday for weeks. Sunday came and went, with a small party for family at our house. But Libby is still claiming it’s her birthday. Her party with her school friends is this coming weekend, so as far as she’s concerned it’s basically still her birthday. And what with my husband, Lia and then Libby having birthdays in consecutive months, I’ve had enough of them now.

A sporty week

Despite all the birthday celebrations, the week has also been about sport. Libby has now started cricket club, and of course she had to fit in some cycling on her new bike and her usual swimming lesson. I had a health check, which confirmed that I needed to do more exercise. And Lia’s ballet teacher has said that she’d like Lia to do her first ballet exam next month. Lia has also enjoyed plenty of time outside this week, with two trips to our local National Trust property at her request.

Our Thursday photo #162

Of course, this week’s photo had to be one from Libby’s birthday. She was so delighted with her new bike that we had to go out on it straight away. So off we went with two children, two dogs and two bikes to our local playing fields. As usual, things didn’t go to plan. My husband ended up having to call an ambulance for another dog walker who’d had an accident. Meanwhile, I headed home with dogs, bikes and children, one of whom was desperate for a wee. I suppose life would be dull if it always went to plan.