Day 161: High Five

It's Exile #3's fifth birthday and we have had another very busy day. It started with presents and cards at breakfast time (including a bicycle cunningly hidden behind the curtains). Exile #4 has already got her eyes on it, but hasn't got the leg-length to actually threaten to use it. She seems happy to have now decided that the scooter and tricycle are now hers. After a late-morning piece of cake (actually a whole cake each as Exile #2 had made her trademark 2007-birthday cup-cakes), we set off to do car purchase two part one - a visit to the bank. After that we visited Hoffmans Playland - where the girls rode caterpillars, cars, buses, trains, boats and carousel horses. Exile #3 and I also went on the smallest roller-coaster I have ever seen. The operator has to push the cars onto the chain-lift to start it off and then he lets you go round four times before stopping it. However, Exile #3 would happily have got off after one circuit as it was possibly the most violent roller-coaster I have ever been on. One of the names painted on the side says "whipper-snapper" and there was plenty of whip and I can't be far from causing some snap as well. The whole visit cost in total $25 for 25 ride-tickets (and we didn't go on any of the multi-ticket rides). We did have some lunch there, but even that was reasonably priced if almost entirely devoid of nutritional value. I suppose the no-entry-fee policy means that they have not got a captive market for food unlike many more remote theme parks.

After leaving there we went to pick up our new car, drop off our remaining rental car and return home in time for the girls and me to venture out to our homegroup meeting. Exile #2 is currently nursing both a migraine and a baby and stayed in - although I suspect that she did a fair amount of tidying before allowing herself to have some rest.

Incidentally I haven't forgotten that an answer is required for the guess-the-babies competition, I'll get to it soon, but I'm enjoying the guessing.