Birthday

After he'd been sent back to bed a couple of times and told to come back when it was light, Ewan finally got to open his birthday presents. Most of it was the usual plastic crap of the sort that young boys get very obsessed about - Bakugan, Beyblades (some of you may need to look these up) and the like. Some crackers though that I wrapped specially for him - a potato, a tin of Spongebob spaghetti shapes, two 10p coins, a calculator and other assorted junk that happened to be sitting around the kitchen. As I said to him: by next year you'll have forgotten the Bakugan but you'll never forget the potato.

After much phaffing and sitting, eating and showering we headed off to Callander to hire some bikes and cycle around from Callander to Strathyre along the West shore of Loch Lubnaig. I got Ellen in a trailer but that was OK - I've been practicing. The other two lasted about 6 miles before sore bums made them turn back.

Dinner at the Lade Inn and a trip to their great beer shoppe. I'll try a few later while watching Masterchef, which had to be downloaded once it was established that the DVD player doesn't work and that we're both so knackered from walking around that we can only read for about an hour before the eyelids are too droopy for anything but mindless entertainment.

Home tomorrow and Ewan's proper party with other kids at the cinema and then a questionable tea at Chiquito's.