Quinn's third birthday.

Got back from the UK yesterday afternoon.We arrived on Sunday 15th. Monday was Quinn’s birthday and we took him to Toys R Us in Peterborough to get him his birthday present: a Scoobie Doo set and a Kung-Fu Panda doll. We then went on to Play Days at Guyhirn, a children’s activity centre. Finally back at Candy’s for the birthday party. Click here to see a film of the party. On Tuesday we went to Lynn to stock up with clothes from Marks & Spencers and for Pat to get a new pair of glasses. On Wednesday I met Matthew and Charlie for lunch at the Lattice House - Greene King IPA only 99p. a pint! - and in the evening I went for a drink with Richard and Jane. On Thursday Candy flew from the East Midlands Airport with a group of girlfriends to see the Kings of Leon in concert in Paris. She had quite a frightening flight: ten minutes from Paris the plane turned round with ‘a system failure’. They landed at Stansted where they were kept on the plane while fire-engines and police cars surrounded the plane. Eventually they took off in the same plane and landed successfully if bumpily in France. Now what was that all about? On Friday we took Quinn to Sandringham to replace his pop gun and managed top lose the hire-car for a time until Pat worked out where we’d parked it. In the evening John and Joy came round for a meal. Saturday afternoon Candy returned much to Quinn’s joy. In the evening Pat and I went for a drink at the Crown Hotel, Outwell. On Sunday Deborah came down and we had lunch at the Crown.

  We left Italy covered in snow, but the weather in Norfolk was mild - 11 degrees - and sunny much of the time. Our time in England has made me an expert on Kung-Fu Panda:  Quinn’s DVD of the film was an almost constant background presence. Very enjoyable the first three viewings, but then it began to pall a little - for me not for Quinn of course!