Joshua turns six

Joshua turned six today, and I had to face the fact that in ten years' time he'll be trying out for his driver's licence. But right now, all he wants to drive is a train engine like Thomas:National Geographic had an amazing sale on recently, so we gave Joshua some "thinking" games that he thinks are really interesting, such as this arctic camouflage game where he has to place the tiles so the polar bears, fish and whale are safe in their correct environment (water or ice) without being near the hunters.
Not everyone was quite so impressed with the present opening, however.

Joshua made a creditable effort at reading each of his cards, and I was impressed that he always wanted to find out who the present was from before he opened it.
And Anna thought reading the cards was something she could be involved with, so she cheered up. Anna wants so desperately to be the eldest child.

Joshua took cupcakes to school to share with his class, as is apparently the tradition. (Thanks to Mrs B for giving me advance warning!) The girls cooked them with Jeff on Thursday ("Science" lesson) while I was dropping Joshua off at school, then I iced them and Joshua and I decorated them with M&Ms and sprinkles. As far as I can tell they were a success.

After school we walked a hundred metres up the street to the local oval and set up Joshua's new cricket set to have a go. He was tired from school and got grumpy quickly with frustration, but he did manage to hit the ball twice or thrice. He is very excited to have his own cricket set, having watched cricket on the TV intermittently over the summer, and seen people playing cricket on the oval quite often when we walk past.

Dinner was take away Thai. We had salt and pepper squid, which was one of my favourites, so it was a little bit special for me as well. And carrot and walnut cake for dessert, which I somehow managed to cook this afternoon after sweeping and washing the floor throughout the house and cleaning bathroom, toilet and kitchen in the morning. I didn't want to do any housework on Saturday. Those who know me well can probably work out why...

Joshua had a wonderful birthday. Thank you to all the family and friends who made it so.