Pimm's makes it the Party of the Year!

The bouncy castle (complete with slide) arrived at 8:00 am. I, of course, was still in bed, trying to get a little more sleep. The next to arrive were Youngest's 'friends'. Friends is in quotes because I'm not sure he really understands what friends are yet. He's only 3, so the rest of the little boys are just playmates, really. Later on in the afternoon, around 2:00 or 3:00, Middle and Oldest's friends arrived. They are a group of about 16 screaming schoolgirls, with personalities that range from prissy princess to terrifying tomboy. The party games commenced, with two games of pass-the-parcel: one for the younger children, one for the older. There were face-painting and balloons (by me), which were a huge success! And much running around and bouncing on the bouncy castle.

The most memorable (and, quite frankly, scariest) time of day was when Middle and Oldest's friends lined up to smash the pirate ship pinata. Each girl had had two turns at smacking the pinata, but there was barely a crack in it. Finally, the boy from next store came by and gave it a few good whacks and split it open, spilling sweeties (that's what they call candy over here) everywhere! The children went wild! They rushed forward, diving onto the ground to grab handfuls of candies, emitting screams that would drown out a ambulance's siren. As the current au pair's boyfriend put it: 'They were like vultures!!!' I was, for a few moments, afraid for my safety. And of course, after all the sweets were cleaned up, a few of the girls began complaining… 'Hey! She's got more chocolate than I do!' and 'That's not fair!!!'

Around 4:00, the current au pair's friends arrived. There were a couple faces I recognized from 'Moorpool', but most were new. I met Nanny, one of the current au pair's friends who works as a nanny in Birmingham as well as next door's au pair, who is from Hungary (I will hereafter refer to her as Hungary). We had a nice meal of an assortment of barbequed meat, salad and delicious chocolate cake… with cream. Yes, cream. Like the kind you put in your coffee… well, maybe a bit thicker than that. I found it so odd. Why would I pour something on my perfectly good chocolate cake and make it all soggy?! But, then I tried it and found it so yummy.

Another delicious English thing I had today was Pimm's. Pimm's is a gin-based (are you reading, Andrew?) alcoholic beverage that you mix with lemonade and fruit to make a flavourful and very English cocktail. I think I had four or five Pimm's cocktails throughout the day! Yum, I shall have to bring a couple of bottles back at Christmas time to share!

A few of Middle and Oldest's friends are still here for a sleepover. Oldest's room is just next to mine, and unfortunately, she has some of the most rambunctious friends. It may be a bit of a late night for me.

Good night, friends!