1st December

1st December is my sister's birthday and this year it was her 21st! She woke up to this view out of my spare bedroom in the morning.

Kate didn't do what normal 21 year old girls would do for their birthdays as she has a 1 year old son to think about, but we had the absolute best time in the world.
We went out Sunday night into Liverpool for a meal, then she and Jack came back to our house to stay. We woke up on Monday which was her birthday and opened presents and took Olive and Jack for a walk. It was snowing for the first time this year and the first time ever on her birthday. She was delighted. We don't think Jack had ever been in the snow before, and Olive certainly hadn't, she realised as she slipped over!

We piled into the car and went to meet mum at Knowsley Safari park. Its not the typical thing to do for a 21st as I said, but the most important thing for all of us is that Jack has a great time and then we know we will have a great time!!

Mum didn't want her car destroyed by monkeys so Al drove us all round in his car. We were a lot more fascinated than little Jack who just looked at the light shining down on him from the car ceiling.
..... until we got to the tiger.....
The tiger was just huge and really gorgeous. Jack seemed amazed it was so big. It plodded about it's little strip of ground by it's den for a bit, and then, once all the other cars had got bored and driven off, it came up to us and lay on it's back, showing us it's gorgeous white belly. It was brill!

Then we drove through the lions which was scary. I'm a wuss with things like that.
Again, there wasn't a huge amount going on and when a lion corssed the path further down, all the cars took off to see it close up. What they didn't realise was that the lion crossed the path to herd all the rest of the pride over to us!! And suddenly we were surrounded. I was petrified actually, brushing it off as 'having a deep respect for lions and their abilities!'
More petrifying was when Jack developed a fascination with the car door, with a huge lioness sniffing the wing mirror!

It took a good 10 to 15 minutes for the lions to stalk us and take in some of the heat from the car before they sauntered off and formed a sunburst off the side of the road.

What we had been most looking forward to, and dreading, was the monkeys, who didn't disappoint! From their little hut where they were sheltering from the snow, on the command of the pack leader, they all headed over for a go on the new Audi climbing frame they'd been presented with. Al decided to keep the car slowly rolling forward to hopefully still lure them over but to keep them off. They weren't put off and there we were being attacked on all sides, monkeys sliding down all windows, hanging on to door handles and wing mirrors, running along next to the moving wheels and sitting on the bonnet having a little ride. Jack loved it! They actually didnt cause any damage that we've noticed yet, but when we parked later, our car was covered in tiny handprints!!

We drove back to the car park to go and see the animals that had been kept indoors for the winter - the elephants and giraffes. The elephants didn't really want to play and hung about in the door to their house, unsure about braving the freezing conditions. They were huge and we were pretty glad we hadn't come across them on safari in case they'd crushed us! (You know my fear / respect of elephants!!)

And the giraffes were just great. So unusual and strange. I can never quite get over their appearance with their lumpy heads, huge long necks, round bodies that seem too short, front legs longer than back, and massive tongues and eyes. Kate thought these were Jack's favourite animals and actually they were the ones he made the most noise over!

On our way back to the car we can across a little pond of otters. There were two, right on the side next to the wall, seemed to be literally standing on some grass that was floating, although they must have been on some kind of bank. They were cuddling each other and making a high-pitched very cute squeaky noise. They loved us and climbed on top of each other to get a closer look. They were just absolultely adorable and seemed to be real little soulmates. For, me they were the best things in the whole safari park. I just really really loved them!!

After the safari we headed to Cheadle where Al and I had tested out TGI Fridays the week before! I'd never been there before believing that they wouldn't do much for veggies but actually they are just great! It's not often a vegetarian gets choice, but here they do a delicious San Fran burger (mozzarella and vegetable type burger) and you can have it with all the regular meaty combinations!
But what really made us choose it for Kate's birthday were the absolutely over-the-top, American desserts. Kate is a real sucker for huge, gooey desserts.

I had a BBQ San Fran burger which comes with gherkin (which veggies don't normally get), BBQ sauce, salad, onion rings and chips. Massive and really great!
But in the end, only Jack had a dessert and that was only because we couldn't resist ordering the childrens' 'dirt and worm' pudding!!
Mum let it slip I'd got Kate and birthday cake so I think we all forewent the dessert menu.

So, I dragged everyone back to mine and presented Kate with her Thornton's chocolate cake, boasting 6 Thornton's chocolates on top, and surrounded on ALL sides (incl base) with crisp proper Thornton's chocolate. Soooo goood!!

Mum left a bit later and we got ready for the Chill Factor!!!!

We'd booked to go tubing which we were all looking forward to loads! We got there slightly early and had a drink in the cafe where we met everyone else, and then checked in, got our boots and helmets, got jack kitted out with his snow suit and boots, and headed to the slopes.

We did feel a bit uncool next to the snowboarders, and us with our rubber rings, but all those inferior complexes were over-ridden once we'd all had our first go!!!
It was great. Why do we all love experiencing fear and whiplash and backache and nausea???

Jack stayed in the children's playzone which he had all to himself and we all just took turns to look after him. It was actually a good break from the tubing and at one point, we had all snook in there to 'look after Jack'!!!

Afterwards, when we'd all had several 'last goes', we found ourselves in Nando's (the only alcohol-serving place that we could take Jack to) eating burgers and drinking beer and wine.
Wasn't quite apres-ski but a great end to Kate's 21st birthday celebrations and really really good weekend!