I've had a lovely week toing and froing, celebrating various momentous occasions. First off was last Friday when we went to a surprise party for Mike's cousin, who's turning 40. He had a great time, we had a great time and got to know some of the friends that we've heard Graham talk about but never met. The birthday boy managed to get up close and personal with a chocolate fountain whilst trying to cut his cake and I'm not sure if his Tshirt will recover! He should look at it as a lasting momento of a good night....
Then we had the family meal for the same 40th birthday. It was a really lovely evening and the boys, as usual, kept all entertained. Graham bravely suggested that they sit either side of him to eat and so it took him a while to eat his own dinner, in between cutting up meat and catching drinks. All good practice for when he becomes a daddy in a couple of months.
Then today we've been down to Hertford to celebrate the baptism of the little boy of some of our closest and oldest friends. Catching up is such a good thing to do and it's always so easy to slot straight back in to how it used to be when we all shared a house at college. Plus 6 kids and one bump, obviously. My 6 year old explained it best when he was talking about them - he reckoned that "they're kind of our cousins, aren't they?" and that's how it feels. Not family in fact but definitely family in feeling.