We have survived the Scooby Doo party! In just over two hours, sixteen excited children consumed a whole lot of sugar, hunted for clues in the muddy garden (there was a good reason that the invitation strongly recommended gumboots), seriously smashed our beloved pinata, made a dent in the birthday cake, squeezed in some party games, and helped make Grace's party a huge success. At the end of the day, all that remained of the cake was the van from the top, which Grace still won't let anyone touch.

As for poor old Scooby Doo, at least all those hours of work took quite a bit of bashing before breaking.

Grace and I were both a bit sad to see him destroyed, but at least someone is still getting mileage from Scooby's remains....

Grace has never forgotten how she didn't get to have a proper party for her 5th birthday, which fell in the middle of moving from Taieri Mouth to Wingatui. Apparently a family party doesn't count. And she never failed to remind us that 'EVERYONE has a party for their Number 5 birthday'. So for the past year, Grace has been planning her 6th birthday party. The theme? Scooby Doo. I must admit, when she told me, I didn't feel like this -  

But it is her party. And all she wants is a Scooby Doo pinata. So I looked up Scooby Doo pinatas online and almost passed out in shock at the cost. But when I told her that they were too expensive, she simply said, 'You can just make one'. I love my daughter's unfailing faith in my ability to make a Scooby Doo pinata when I've never made a single pinata in my life. So Grace and I researched pinata making on the internet (what did we do before the internet??) and, after a few weeks, we have something resembling Scooby Doo (you may need to squint a little...).

And not before time, considering the party is in a few days. Nothing like cutting it fine.

Our favourite girl turned six today. I'm still trying to figure out how six years crept by so quickly.

Even though she has a party this weekend, you can't not have a cake on your actual birthday. Happy birthday Gracie girl! 

It's. Officially. Freezing.

But that doesn't stop 'the girls' from hanging out together. Rain, hail or shine (we've had quite a bit of the first two but unfortunately absolutely none of the latter), Grace is out there with her best friends. And every time I see her earnestly chatting away to them, I find myself thinking that buying these ducks was quite possibly the best thing we've ever done.

Meet the cutest pirate ever. Argh!

The children spent hours today picking and eating our grapes. And feeding them to the hens. Until I realised what was going on and managed to save some.

Unfortunately the hens aren't interested in our monster zucchini. Which seem never-ending. There's only so much zucchini one family can eat. 

And believe me, we've given it a good crack. Zucchini pie, zucchini chocolate cake, zucchini pickles, zucchini muffins....not to mention the twelve or so bags of grated zucchini in the freezer. It gets to a point where you can't even give them away. Not if you ever want your friends to visit you again.

  

It's taken many weekends and weeknights of sanding, more sanding and painting...

 

but Charlie's big-boy bed is finally finished. And to think it's come all the way from a little old house in Nethercote, across the Tasman, to Wingatui. I bet old Billy Fourter never thought in a million years that a little Charlie Morrison would be sleeping in it.