A Fourth Birthday – Living Arrows {35/52}

I had so many photo from last week that I’ve decided to share a few of Lucas’ birthday for Living Arrows this week. It was a busy few days for him and when he woke up on Sunday morning he was asking me if he was four. For a few days before he was telling me he was going to need a bigger bed when it was his birthday because ‘his toes wouldn’t fit in it’. I’m sure he had imagined this epic growth spurt the night!

Like all good birthdays the celebrations spread out over a few days; we had his Grandparents and cousins round on the Saturday morning so we decided to the do the birthday cake then. Every year I bake a cake for his birthday and it is always quite stressful and ends up not tasting great because I’ve covered it with so much icing. This year I wanted to try a Rainbow Cake; they always look amazing and I found this fantastic recipe on Kerry Cooks that was so easy to follow. I would really recommend it if you want to try a rainbow cake, I bake quite often but I still think it a beginner could get it right. I did six layers which had gone so well I decided to add another two; I was pretty nervous when my husband sliced into it but thankfully it looked just how I had hoped inside – I was so happy with the end result and so was everyone else! I would definitely make it again, it looks so impressive and tastes great. Check out Kerry’s lovely blog for more rainbow cake inspiration.

The boys ended up having a run round the garden and there was lots of shrieking while they all played the most chaotic game of hide and seek I have ever seen, basically there was a train for five boys running round the garden all hiding in the same place. The twins were so excited and I got a glimpse into how crazy Christmas will be this year will all three of them. The next day we went over the see my Nana and then went onto Chester to watch my brother take part in a historic re-enactment. This meant we had to get out he house handy which isn’t an easy task when Lucas is opening presents. We had got him a Playmobil rescue helicopter as his main present which was a hit but we didn’t get much further once he had opened that. We finally got out and took a little picnic, more birthday cake and the Playmobil helicopter! We couldn’t make out my brother in the battle (there were a lot of people there) but as we got back to the car they were all marching past back to camp, suddenly a civil war soldier broke ranks and started heading towards us. We had a hard time convincing the boys that it was in fact Uncle Anton and none of them would go near him for a photo.

That night I put my very tired, four year old to bed. We read some of his new books, one about bird songs which is his new favourite from Nanny. He chose some of his new presents to squirrel away in his bed, a minion torch and Captain Barnacles, and as usual he asked me to stay five minutes once I turned off the light. Sometimes it feels like those four years have gone by in the blink of an eye and yet I can still remember so much, so many little moments, his last three birthdays, the tears, the giggles, disastrous days out and new adventures. Still, I think of the nights I’ve gone to bed smiling because of all three of them; I walk past their bedroom doors and remember the funny things they’ve done that day. We’ve made a lot of special memories in four years.