Gwendolyn's Birthday

Gwendolyn had her sixth birthday on the 21 June! It was a different kind of birthday for her. In the US, she is always out of school for the summer holiday, and often we are travelling on her birthday. Here, school is still in session. She had a great attitude about it and was excited to go to school on her birthday.

She started the day with her favorite breakfast: soft-boiled eggs and toy soldiers. She also opened presents: there is plenty of time in the mornings here because school doesn’t begin until 9:00.

Kids in the UK wear buttons on their birthday showing their age. Here you can see that she’s proud to show off her button.

And, of course, her big sister is happy for Gwendolyn's big day.

Christine baked cupcakes for the Year 1 and 2 students in Gwendolyn’s class. Gwendolyn was happy to share them. After school, the fun continued. Gwendolyn had swimming lessons at the St. Mellion Pool, as did Rebecca. I even went along, which was a treat for them since I’m not a big fan of swimming. Their grandfather, Bill Lail, also went along: he was in town visiting.

We finished up the evening with Gwendolyn’s favorite dinner: tofu and greens over udon noodles with a peanut butter drizzle. Here I am with a wok-ful of spinach.

While Christine and I were cooking, the girls had a raucous game of cards with their grandfather.

And the evening ended with more cupcakes!

Gwendolyn’s party was on the Sunday after her birthday at the Donkey Park in Metherell, scene of a winter trip with Rebecca and her friends. The Donkey Park is a donkey sanctuary that also has indoor and outdoor playgrounds. Kids around here love to go there. Gwendolyn took three of her friends from school (L to R: Niamh, birthday girl Gwendolyn, Rebecca 2, Rebecca 1, and Nancy) and her big sister.

The best place for the girls, according to them, is the indoor playground

because it has a near-vertical slide,

a jungle-gym vertical maze to climb around on,

toy tractors to drive, and, given that this is a donkey sanctuary, donkeys to groom.

Gwendolyn was always on the move, but I was able to get at least part of her in a picture as she sped by me.

Here’s a close-up of Gwendolyn and Niamh. They’re definitely having fun.

We all came back to the cottage after about three hours at the park for some crafts and cupcakes. The girls had a great time making mobiles.

Rebecca did a great job helping to corral the girls. She was a good sport, too. Our car could only fit Gwendolyn and her friends, so Rebecca and I had to walk the mile to the park. We ran back on the way home (fortunately downhill!) so that we wouldn’t miss any of the fun.

We finished up with some cupcakes. Gwendolyn was exhausted, but had a great day.