Adrienne is 18 !!!

I can't believe I have an 18 year old daughter. My world has shifted slightly on its axis and I now have to adjust to having an adult child. Strange. Yesterday we had her party at the Conservative Club in Barnstaple. She went from not wanting one at all, to saying OK but it's going to be a masked party, to OK it's a full masquerade ball with posh frock and everything. Then there was the cake to-do. Adrienne didn't want one. I said she was having one and if she didn't agree to me doing a cake I'd get her a caterpillar cake like when she was little. She said, 'OK' - thinking I was joking!! Little did she know. So here she is, with Colin the Caterpillar 18th-birthday-style.

Ellie and Caitlin were allowed to attend. They didn't stay for the duration though, just until they got tired and bored. Carl took them home then came back to join me and our friends in the new cocktail bar round the corner. We left the 18 year olds to it, returning at the end to do embarrassing old people things on the dance floor.

Adrienne with BFF Brodie.

Me and my baby.

Dancing barefoot.

Those still left standing at the end of the night.

Harry Potter - the end.

We've just got back from watching 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - part 2'. The excitement in our house has been building up all week - the children started counting in hours about 2 days ago. We all went off in our Harry Potter t-shirts as you can see from the picture, but they decided to leave their wands behind at the last minute, just in case they lost them.

We were the first to book our seats the minute they went on sale and had the best seats in the house. We were the last to leave the cinema. I cried. I can't believe there is no more 'Harry Potter'! But it was a good film. Well worth the £30 in contact lenses just to see it in 3D properly. I need to go and see it again.

School Council Chairperson

Elections were held in school today for the Chair and Vice-chair of next years School Council. Each candidate had to give an election speech persuading the rest of the school to vote for them. When it comes to election speeches pretty much anything goes. We usually get balloons, party poppers, bubbles, puppets, etc all used to persuade the audience to vote for that particular candidate. Ellie decided to do a powerpoint - we've never had that before - and it was all her own idea. Part of her campaign speech was that if you want something done, ask a busy person. This was her photo to illustrate that she is a busy person - learning 2 instruments and taking 3 different dance lessons a week. It worked. She got voted in as Chairperson of the School Council. That's Head Girl equivalent in todays primary schools.

Well done Ellie!!!!!

Sunny Sunday

Hooray! Summer is here and it's on a weekend! We got out today to make the most of the nice weather. We cycled down to Fremington Quay. I offered them the choice of bike ride or dog walk and they were desperate to go on the bikes so we had to leave the poor doggy behind. Then Ellie moaned about her legs aching before we'd even got onto the Tarka Trail.

The thought of a nice cold drink and an ice cream at the end kept her going though. Except it wasn't quite the end cos then we had to come home again.

At home there were water fights. The dog ran away and sat by the front door. A hint if ever there was one. So I took her for a nice long walk along the river behind the cricket pitch. She was so knackered from chasing stones when we got there she ran straight into the water then stood there wondering how she was going to drink whilst holding her stone. After a while she realised she had to put it down. Then spent ages with her nose right under the water trying to get it back again.

It even stayed sunny long enough for us to have a BBQ too. The first one we actually had outside all year. I hope it lasts.