The Baynhams

Today was Rhiannon's actual birthday. It was busy at the breakfast table with her four friends who had stayed the night before. Byron was busy flipping pancakes furiously trying to keep up with their appetites.

When the madness of breakfast was finished the girls packed their bags and were picked up one by one by their rested looking parents who had no doubt had their full 8 hours of sleep the night before.

When we were finally back to being just us we put the kettle on and sat back to look at our trashed house so we could decide where to start with the tidy up before the next part of the day, the family BBQ!

We deflated beds, put linen in the washing machine, vacuumed, mopped, filled the dishwasher, collected scraps of wrapping paper and abandoned envelopes and emptied the bins.

We sliced potatoes, prepared meat, made brown bread (for Joe), emptied the dishwasher, set the table, poured wine to breathe, put bubbles in the freezer to chill, iced another cake (half for Rhiannon, half for Joe), wrapped gifts (for Joe), Why Joe? My brother Joe will be away for his birthday next month so we were going to celebrate his today too!

Another cup of tea and then in poured Joe, Rhonda, Cian, Anne, Kel and a little later Tenelle.

The next few hours were a flurry of laughter, cooking, eating, kids playing, opening presents, singing double Happy Birthday, and endless topping up of glasses until night fell, kids wilted, plates were empty, candles dimmed and we waved goodbye to everyone under the light of the front porch.

We spent ten minutes blitzing the kitchen, throwing things into the dishwasher, cleaning down surfaces and pouring the last of the wine into our glasses before all five of us cuddled up on the sofa to watch Rhiannon's choice: Dr Who. A perfect end to a perfect day!




Happy Birthday Rhiannon!