The day after we got back from Ireland, we had a day out in the south of the Island. We had lunch at the Sound and then Erik, Daniel and I climbed on the rocks and looked at the seals. The we headed to Port Erin. The children played on the playground and had an ice cream and then we took the steam train to Castletown. 
The next day, we went to the Gaiety theatre to see "Danny Champion of the World". We went to an Italian restaurant first, called Paparazzi. The play was a bit like a pantomime, with lots of audience participation and Erik and Daniel loved it. We bumped into Simon Cain taking his kids, which was nice.
On 27th, we went to Peel Beach with Rachael and Sarah. The kids had a great time running on the beach and building sand castles. We also bumped into the cast of "Danny Champion of the World", which was amusing; they had cycled to Peel from Douglas. We wrapped up the day with ice creams at Davidsons.
The next day, my mum was showing her trap at the Southern Agricultural Show. She and Caroline looked fantastic in their suits. That evening, I celebrated my 40th birthday at La Piazza with Inger-Lise, Caroline, Tim and Martha, Jay and Rachael, Simon and Edith, John and Sarah. We had a great evening talking about old and new times!
On 31st July, We went to Port Erin for a walk up Bradda Head and to pop in to see Margaret and John. It was a lovely day and nice to walk and talk. Unfortunately Margaret was out, but Hannah was in and I had a nice cup of tea with her. 
Caroline took the rest of the week off work and on the 1st August we went to her house for lunch. The weather was not as nice as it had been the day before, but we got very cosy in Caroline's cottage, drank tea and ate tortillas and sandwiches. Afterwards we took an electric tram from Laxey to Groudle. Erik and Caroline braved the elements and sat on the open carriage.
On Friday evening, we had a family party. Margaret came with Hannah, Aline and David. John and John Jr. came. James and Sarah came with Aunt Evelyn, Deidre and their children Georgie, Thomas and Charlie. Occasions like this make you realise how quickly time is slipping by. It was hard to believe that Charlie was taking his driving test the next day.
On Saturday 4th August, Erik's big day finally arrived - he turned 9 years old. He came into the flat and we brought up a tray with his favourite food for breakfast. Of all the sweets, etc. that were on the tray, the thing that Mathilde and Daniel wanted to get their hands on was the olives! He opened his presents afterwards - he got a mobile phone from us (with a Star Wars Clone trooper hanging from it!) and Lego from Daniel and Mathilde.
Around noon, the bouncy castle arrived and later that afternoon people started arriving for his birthday party with Emily and Charles, Phoebe and Rory, Simon's boys, Patrick Cullen's four and the girls from next door. We missed Edward and Mathew who couldn't come before the next day. The weather held off for us and we managed to have the party outside. 
Caroline had organised a fantastic treasure hunt, in which one clue led to the next until they ended up in a shed in the woods where the party bags full of sweets were guarded by a skeleton. It worked really well and the clues took the older ones just long enough for the younger ones to have caught up before going on to the next clue! My mum did a lucky dip up in the stables before they all went home.
On our last full day on the Island, Helen and Donal arrived with Edward and Mathew. It was nice to see them all playing together. In the afternoon, we went to the Spittal's for a family party. Peter Spittal was there with his children and we saw Patrick Cullen again with his four. After lunch, I went down to the river with Helen, Donal and all the boys. We had a great time throwing stones and diverting streams. In the evening, we had a little birthday/ farewell party for Erik together with his Irish cousins. Hopefully next time we'll be able to spend longer together.
Jeremy
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