This week has been such a joyful one – celebrating Thomas’s birthday, having fun doing various activities on our summer activities list, watching Sophie compete in the final festival of the dance festival year followed by the All England Dance national finals and watching her perform in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Thomas was very excited for his birthday on Sunday. He wanted to stay up to midnight but thankfully we managed to persuade him to go to bed at a more reasonable time! Sophie made the rainbow sponge for his birthday cake and I made Colorball figures to decorate it. My husband made him a Redy Robot (one of his Colorballs characters). He was absolutely delighted with his robot and his Colorballs cake as well as his other presents and he had a great time at his birthday party which was nice and relaxed with a couple of friends and a few family members, plenty of food and a bouncy castle and garden games set up in Grandma and Grandad’s garden.

We’ve ticked quite a few things off the summer activities list – making fruit sculptures, making fruit salad, making smoothies, making lemonade, playing mini golf, finding a few elephant sculptures from the Trunks on the Thames trail and starting the summer scrapbooks.

Sophie’s had two dance competitions this week – dancing with her tap group at Surrey Dance Festival on Tuesday and then competing in the All England Dance National Finals on Thursday. It was a joy to watch them dancing both days. They didn’t place but being national finalists is still an amazing achievement and dancing at the All England national finals was a lovely end to the festival year for Sophie.

I’ve also had the joy of watching Sophie in both her Chitty performances this week, once with a couple of friends and once on my own. I’ve seen it several times now and still enjoy watching it just as much as ever. Each time I go I see different little details which is lovely and it really is such an amazing show. I’m going again tomorrow – this time with my mum (her second time) and two of my sisters who will be seeing it for the first time.
What I’ve been grateful for this week:

- Day 205 – I am grateful that my husband is back home from his trip to California.
- Day 206 – I am grateful for a joint effort on Thomas’s birthday cake this year with Sophie making the cake and me decorating it.
- Day 207 – I am grateful for 8 years of my beautiful baby boy. So glad he has had such a great birthday and enjoyed his party. Thank you to everyone who has helped make it such a special day for him.
- Day 208 – I am grateful for some fun playing mini golf.
- Day 209 – I am grateful that Sophie and Thomas had fun making (and eating) fruit sculptures.
- Day 210 – I am grateful for homemade lemonade and fruit salad.
- Day 211 – I am grateful for an amazing festival year for Sophie, finishing with her first time competing at the All England Dance national finals with her tap group. A beautiful performance to end the festival year and an amazing achievement to be national finalists. Well done girls!
Joining in with Raisie Bay for Word of the Week.
Also joining in with #Project365:

