Low-key birthday

I had a fairly low-key 43rd birthday on Friday. With Sharon's SPD taking hold and the baby's night-time manoeuvring, she is best left to sleep on in the morning where possible. So I got all three lads up and dressed and fed and ended up doing the reverse at the end of the day as Sharon had a show. At least I got to sit down and watch some cricket in the evening.

On the Saturday I did manage to escape the children for an afternoon round of golf with John Hamilton at Mortonhall. Despite adverse weather at the start and a stiff breeze throughout, I was striking the ball well for my first outing of the season and overcame John 3&2 on his home course. A birdie and a few pars set up my victory.

Sunday was a day for exploring. This year's objective is to find some new places to get out and about to so we headed into deepest darkest Fife after lunch, to Lochore Meadows Country Park near Lochgelly. It was pleasantly situated on the shores of a small loch and had an old steam train parked at one end that the boys enjoyed clambering all over. We were kicking a ball about too, which is a novelty, then the boys had a run around the busy playpark. The clientele were indicative of the locale, shall we say: it wasn't exactly Morningside Park.

From there we drove over to Loch Leven and along to Kinross, parking by the jetty. There is a short decking walk through tall grass to an excellent play area where the boys had further opportunities to expend energy on slides and flying foxes and climbing frames. Rowan is especially fearless at the moment, taking on climbs that Finn would baulk at. All of them have bruised and grazed legs and the outdoor season has barely begun. It was a good day out, although Sharon was struggling to cover any distance and was continually perturbed at not being able to rein in Finn and Rowan as they dashed off into the distance.