Eliza’s 10th Birthday

Eliza was the only one that got a birthday party last year, as the rest of us all had lockdown birthday’s of some description.

We were hopeful that everything would get back to normal this year, but Eliza became the final member of the household to have a lockdown birthday, turning 10 on Sunday.

If you are regular readers of my blog, you will know that Eliza has a bit of an obsession with the Harry Potter series of books, so we ordered her a Harry Potter Balloon to decorate the lounge.

Present wise, she has been asking for a laptop for a couple of years, but we were waiting until she started secondary school, but with lockdown and home learning likely to be going on until Easter, we decided it was a sensible option.

She also got lots of Harry Potter themed clothes, some V-Bucks and a bright purple JD Bug Scooter.

We had also been hopeful that we would wake up to some snow, but living near the coast in Poole, it is a very rare sighting and never really materialised. Thankfully, I had to pick up her cake from Wimborne, which is a bit further inland, so having checked to see if they had snow, I bundled the kids in the car and headed out to look for some of the white stuff.

It was a slightly nervy drive, as there was quite a lot of slush on the road, but the kids were over the moon to find some snow.

There wasn’t a huge amount, but there was enough to build a snowman, throw some snowballs, create some snow angels and pose for a photo with someone else’s snow creation.

By the time we left, the snow was disappearing fast, so it was a much better drive home, albeit still careful as this time we had a cake to transport.

This year Eliza’s had a salted caramel flavour Harry Potter birthday cake, complete with a plasticine Dobby on top that she can keep. Inside, the Gryffindor colours continue through the vanilla sponge.

Favourite activities from previous lockdown birthday’s have included silly string fights and a piñata, which was slightly more challenging in the winter, but we managed to find a break in then rain.

Eliza also enjoyed doorstep visits from some of her friends, which helped to break up the day, her choice of a roast for dinner and a zoom call with family and friends, where she blew out her candles.

It was definitely the most low key birthday Eliza has had, but she enjoyed herself nonetheless – the snow certainly helped make it more special.

Happy Birthday Boo – we cannot believe you have reached double figures already!!

Have you found a special way of celebrating a lockdown birthday?