Family fun

Last Saturday we went to the summer party held by the company Mark works for. They had really tried to make it a fun day out for families by putting on a bouncy castle and arranging for the nearby military base to bring a helicopter over for the children to explore.

Lily was a bit freaked out by the giant clown on top of the bouncy castle and immediately wanted to go back to the car. I therefore spent the first 15 minutes after we arrived in the car trying to persuade her to go and have some fun. We eventually coaxed her out with the promise of a look inside the helicopter. Tom and Lily were both thrilled to be able to sit in the pilot's seat and push a few buttons. Lily was quite annoyed that we wouldn't fly the helicopter for her and was quite put out that when the helicopter did take off, it didn't take her with it! Tom loved watching the helicopter fly away and later told me it was his favourite part of the afternoon.

"So tell me again why I can't fly this thing!"

Tom loved all the letters and numbers on the helicopter

After the helicopter left, Tom went straight on the bouncy castle. After some gentle coaxing and reassurance that the giant clown wasn't going to hurt her, Lily also ventured on. Once she was on, I didn't think we'd ever get her off again! Both of them had a great time and both managed to escape without anyone jumping on them, despite a very large age range of children using the castle.

With the addition of a large slice of chocolate cake to finish the afternoon, Tom was convinced he had been to a birthday party. He knew we were at 'Daddy's office', so I think he thought it was Daddy's birthday party. I dread to think what he'll expect at his party when he turns four in October!

Lily taking a breather on the bouncy castle