Parties and post-GCSE revels

If it is a weekend it must be a 4th birthday party! Alex's last week and Flora's this weekend. The first snaps are from Alex's, when Nikki sent ACE off on a zip-line (sort-of a cross between being on a swing and abseiling)! Sitting on a ski-lift-type seat and clinging on for dear life, the rider takes off from a raised platform and plummets at increasing velocity till the pulley hits rubber at the far end; the rider clings tighter as she is halted with a bump before sliding back the way they have come, at some speed. Needless to say parents all pray their child doesn't fall off and feel inordinately proud when the squeals of pleasure indicate that the whole affair was a marked success.

Then, when Angharad teamed-up with two good friends at Flora's party we had a pretty picture:

Then it was shoes on and time to go see...

... Rob, Jan and Alex (not the four year old Alex who had a party a last week!) in Dunvant to help celebrate Alex's post-GCSEs party. He and his brothers have been Angharad's favourite fellers for some while and there is an earlier blog picture of them serenading her with guitars. More than that, Rob and Jan have agree to take Angharad off parental hands for a Saturday night soon, allowing Nik and I to book into the St Bride's Hotel and Spa in Saundersfoot for serious gastronomy and pampering. The party went well with high-spirits but decorum and dignities maintained. I've learnt so much about being a parent from my own mam and dad and from friends like Rob and Jan and Gary and Deb who show us what can be done. Our thanks and love to you all. A few nice images from the Swansea-leg of the weekend follow.

And, to close, the image of the weekend. Do-gooders note: the bottle was empty. Probably.