All partied out

I'm feeling a little partied out tonight.


After our big days on Wednesday and Thursday, the Little Big Fella and I spent most of Friday morning on the couch, just veging out together.  Normally he gets a bit antsy and is ready to play after being quiet for about an hour, but he was quite happy just sitting there with me so I'm guessing he was ready for a slow morning too.


We spent a bit of time in the afternoon at the park and that evening headed to the local pub for dinner.  The Big Fella was a little put out, I think, that when we were there I caught up with a couple of the girls - he thinks I have a massive social life... and he's kind of right!


Saturday the Big Fella worked until about midday, so the Little Big Fella and I headed to the next town to do some shopping.  We'd attempted to make chocolate mousse the afternoon before and it hadn't worked, so I was collecting the ingredients to try again.


That afternoon the Little Big Fella had been invited to a 5th birthday party.  We rocked up and there were kids everywhere!!!  A quick headcount by a friend said there were at least 30 kids there, and apparently some had not attended!  That's a big party for a 5 year old!


The Little Big Fella wanted to go on the swing (as he always does if there's one around) so I went and gave him a push.  Soon I was juggling three swings, stopping them after a bit and helping kids swing across the monkey bars at the top, then pushing a new lot of kids on the swings.  If I'd pulled some balloon animals out of my pocket I reckon I could have charged as the entertainment for the afternoon ;-p


After the cake and such, we had to race home to help finish preparing for our dinner guests.  The Big Fella was having a second attempt at making the chocolate mousse and so far all was going well.  Okay, that's not quite true.  He added some rum essence to the melted chocolate and it went almost solid again!  Frustrated, he returned it to the stove to try to re-melt the chocolate. Eventually it did so he took it off to cool a little before adding the eggs.  After adding the egg yolks it looked like it was starting to go bad again so he folded in the whites and... success!  It looked (and tasted) like mousse!  The last step was to add a cup of lightly whipped cream.  Unfortunately he missed the "lightly whipped" part of that instruction and tipped the liquid cream in.  He told me it didn't look right and asked me to read the recipe for him.  As soon as I said "lightly whipped" he collapsed on to the floor, completely frustrated!  I stepped away from the dishes and looked in the bowl and decided I could probably tip off most of the cream, whip it a bit then try adding it back.  It worked and the mousse was saved!  Hooray!


Our guests arrived and the Little Big Fella went absolutely hyper!  He insisted on showing them his bedroom and telling him about everything that was happening (including the knife in his hand story).  Thankfully he showered and went to bed after the main meal.


The Big Fella is a great cook you know!  He made a delicious potato/carrot/pumpkin/sweet potato soup with a little cream, thyme and fresh nutmeg and it was so lovely!  The mains were lamb shanks, which were lovely but not quite as lovely as some that he's done before.  And the mousse turned out to be absolutely delicious, especially with some cream and berries! I am a seriously lucky woman to be married to that man!


We had a really enjoyable evening, sitting around and chatting.  Although the guys talked trains for a little while, it was a pleasant way to spend a few hours and I'm looking forward to doing it again.


This morning the Big Fella was at work again but the Little Big Fella and I went next door for a baby shower.  I must have been warm after my workout and shower because as soon as I got there, I realised I was going to be cold! After about 20 minutes I snuck back home and got changed, and I felt so much better for it :-D


As you do at baby showers and such, we played several games.  My little bit of competitiveness... jumped out and reared its ugly head!!!  We played one game where everyone was given a nappy (diaper) pin and if you caught someone crossing their legs or arms, or saying "baby" or the shower-ee's name, you could take their pin.  Yep, I turned out to be a horrible little monster, pouncing on unsuspecting ladies with shouts of "give me your pin"!  Okay, that's a mild exaggeration... but only just.  Happily, I won that game :-D


I also won the dummy (pacifier) spit :-D


It was a great morning!  The kids all played well together, the ladies had a good time, and the shower-ee didn't look quite so tired as she has recently so I think she was having fun too.  And I was stoked when she liked the gift of coupons I gave her - for things like babysitting, massage, housekeeping, shop runs, venting sessions etc.  Now to ensure she uses them...


After the shower I took the Little Big Fella home, gave him some solid, non-sugary food, heated some leftovers for my lunch and sat down for 5 minutes, realising that I was actually quite tired.  Sure enough, the Big Fella calls.


"Honey, I need you to come down to the pub."


"What for?"


"You need to bring the jerky down."


"Really?"


"I'm not kidding, we need it."


I sat there for another 5 minutes, willing my body to get itself together and get up.  Eventually I got there, packed a couple of things in my bag, got the Little Big Fella all set up with his bike and we rode/walked to the pub.  I met a few people that the Big Fella works with; names I've heard, and some I hadn't.  He seemed very relaxed and happy, which made me happy too.


The Little Big Fella was ready to go to the park pretty quickly so we said our goodbyes and headed back.  I'd left my picnic blanket on the fence of the park on the way past (I love our small town!) so spread it out while the Little Big Fella started riding around the skate park and playing.


By this stage, I was tired!  I just needed to lay down for 5 or 10 minutes.  So I did!  I lay down on my picnic blanket, in the sun, listening to my son happily riding around, and had a little doze.  I can't tell you how good it was to have those 5 or 10 minutes!  I revived much more than you'd think was possible!


After a little while some of our other friends turned up and we spent the next few hours hanging out at the park, kids happily playing, mums happily chatting.  I really enjoy that you can get out of your house and go to the park here and it's pretty likely that someone else will turn up and you can have a chat, vent if you're having one of those kinds of days, or just socialise and feel that connection with other people in your community.  I'm sure I've said it before, but it's a definite strength of this place.


When it started getting cool we all headed home and did the evening routine. The Big Fella slept on the couch - he has a little catching up to do I think.  The Little Big Fella went to bed really easily, but unfortunately had too much to drink this afternoon and has already had a bed and pj's change.  He goes to bed with a nappy and then wakes to use the loo, struggling to get the nappy out of the way, but if I agree to leave the nappy off...  Oh well!  He'll get there eventually.


I'm hoping to get an hour or so tomorrow to go through the paperwork and phone calls that need dealing with in the office tomorrow.  We also have our first house inspection this week, so I want to make sure the house is relatively neat and tidy (and the yard isn't completely toddler and puppy trashed).  Other than that, there's no major plans for the coming week.  Let's see how it turns out hey?