Tom is 10!

Birthday Tea

So we had a birthday coming up.  Tom was going from single digits to double digits!!!!  Apparently that makes it a big birthday?!  Anyway this year it fell on a Sunday.  Tom wanted to do the same for his birthday this year that he did last year - ie have the boys round for a film, hot dogs & burgers and then have a mad game of hide and seek directly after school.  This time we invited a couple more boys from years 4 & 6.  It was as easy as last time - the boys watched Early Man an Aardman production about a football match in the stone age.  They were giggling away so seemed to enjoy it.  We certainly didn't need to do any supervising.  

Blowing of the (many) candles

Birthday Cake

They then had huge amounts of food and then a ridiculous game of hide and seek - where Ellis discovered that the airing cupboard shelves could easily hold the weight of a small boy.  They kept going for over an hour - finding more and more places to hide which was pretty impressive considering our bedroom and the office were out of bounds.

Anyway it went very well and Tom was happy.  We were happy too - very very easy to organise and do and very very cheap.  A good thing about having only a small number of boys in the class, all of whom are reasonably sensible.

Birthday Tea at Bollywood Cottage

Saturday was a miserable day: wet and windy so we decided to head over to Leeds to go to the cinema - so Tom could have his train fix.  Was a good idea - until the storm blew down some trees resulting in the closure of the train line.  By the time that had happened, we had already bought cinema tickets so we had to go by car instead.  Never actually driven into Leeds since we have lived here - it wasn't actually that bad and we found a park and ride meaning we didn't have to negotiate the city centre which I know is a nightmare from the many times I used to get lost there when I worked for Compass.  We decided to try out a new place for lunch - a steamed bun place with a craft beer bar attached.  It didn't disappoint.  The steamed buns were amazing and filled with things such as beer battered king prawns, chinese pulled pork, tofu etc.  They were delicious.

We then headed to the cinema to watch Lego Movie 2.  We had booked tickets at the Everyman Cinema which is full of lovely comfy sofas and chairs, with cushions etc.  You can have food and drink delivered to your seat too which is very novel (shame we weren't hungry or thirsty!).  The biggest problem with the cinema is that the furniture is so comfy, it is really difficult to keep your eyes open.  I had that problem at the start and Matt at the end.  The movie was ok - not as good as the first one, but it had jokes on many levels - so a bit of something for everyone.

We drove back afterwards and stopped off at Bollywood Cottage in Gargrave where we had arranged to meet up with Grannie and Grandpa for what is now Tom's traditional birthday meal.  Curries all round (we were hungry as only had small buns for lunch) before driving back home.

'Special' birthday boy in his new buff and hat!

Sunday and Tom turned 10! Wow!  He is a proper person now - with his own opinions, point of view etc, but always tries to please, is kind and very huggable.  He can sometimes frustrate me with his stubbornness to not understand something he finds slightly hard and lack of resilience towards pain / rough play etc, but would I have him any other way - no of course not.  I love him to death, he has enriched our lives beyond words, life before him, although a lot less complicated was dull in comparison and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring.  Anyway, back to his birthday - he had a lot of presents and cards to open and was very very happy with his gifts - so thank you everyone.

We had a slow morning - Tom had smoked salmon for breakfast and then we headed to Goat Gap for lunch as he wanted their giant sausage roll and chips for his birthday lunch.  We then headed to Settle to see Grannie and Grandpa (more presents) before going to the swimming pool for Lucas' swimming pool inflatable party which just happened to fall on Tom's birthday!  He was very happy to spend his birthday celebrating someone else's day - the inflatable party is always a good one.  As it was a nice day Matt and I headed out for a walk and drink as Julie was pretty much shooing us out of the door.

Came home and Tom was in bed almost immediately (still not completely over his illness).