With Christmas fast approaching, I’ve been frantically trying to sort out all my 2016 photographs so I can make my annual photobook.  It’s been a hard slog as instead of creating it gradually during the year, I’ve blitzed it over just a couple of weeks – and so I’ve not had a second to update my blog!

So here’s a very belated and quick picture post about Sophie’s 4th birthday party back at the end of October (whoops!).  She had so much fun at her Southwark Gymnastics party last year that she asked to do it again this year – and she loved it just as much!  The children were delighted to see the long inflatable (that I guess gymnasts use to practice their tumbling) up and spent most of the duration of the part running up and down!  Here are my super happy siblings racing each other:

And loads of photos of our party guests running and jumping together:

After a good hour of this, the were getting pretty hot!  Check out the flushed and sweaty birthday girl, who insisted on putting on the tutu one of her friends bought her as a present!

We did persuade the children to abandon the running occasionally to have a go on the other gymnastics kit – they particular liked the rings:

Here’s Alex giving it a good go!

After about 90 minutes of this, we decamped next door to cool off and enjoy a birthday tea – Sophie was in her element surrounded by friends and vast quantities of food!

She loved her butterfly birthday cake (thank you M&S!):

But found all the singing and attention a bit overwhelming, so I got the best cuddle after she’d blown out her candles.

Even though it’s a couple of months later, I still can’t quite believe my littlest one is four years old!  Here she is on all her birthdays so far.  She’s such a funny thing – so feisty, stubborn and chatty, and yet a bit shy, affectionate and increasingly girly.  Can’t wait to see her personality keep coming out over the coming year as she prepares to start school.  Happy birthday Sophie xx