Our Happy, Happy Halloween Sleepover

After Iris and Bertie's glorious Halloween Sleepover Weekend ...........

I think it is safe to say that Darrell, Nigel and are completely exhausted and in need of quite a long lie down in a suitably darkened room......

....... but hope it made the sort of happy memories with their beloved and doting uncles that they will fondly remember and hold dear to their hearts for many years to come.

The Towers did look lovely for about first five minutes after they both burst through the door, straight from a few days away in, what sounds to have been, a very bracing Salcombe..........

........ but although they had witnessed huge waves crashing over the sea wall, which had obviously made quite an impression .............

......  Bertie left saying that he had had a lovely time, but he needed to get back for Uncle Monkey, Uncle Darrell and Uncle Nigel's Halloween Sleepover, bless his little cotton socks!

Bertie was keen to get stuck into carving one of the pumpkins they had bought with them ....... but no, Darrell wasn't going to make punkin pie from it's contents, not this year anyway.....

....... as he'd spent most of the morning preparing his signature Gok Wan Chow Mein dish, always a  huge favourite .........

...... which looked just like worms,  especially when served in a witch's cauldron, but tasted absolutley wonderful and went down treat, if not pretty disgusting fashion.

The Halloween crackers filled with Ty Mini Boo's (carefully selected presentettes from lovely Uncle Hugh in Notting Hill) also went down very well, as did the Fortune Cookies, but which needed careful listening to when read out by Uncle Darrell, followed by an even more complicated translation, which made Nigel go crossed eyed concentrating a little too hard!

Tea was followed by a spooky "Midnight Walk" ............

....... with everyone well wrapped up and armed with glow sticks and torches to look for moles ....... something we did last year when Iris was well into her creatures of a nocturnal type nature!  

Because of the inclement weather Darrell and Nigel's carefully crafted PVA covered, bottle lanterns were a bit of a damp squib (see above), really needing stronger lights, however, from the lounge window, Iris and Bertie were still suitably spookily impressed.  Next year Darrell, thinking well ahead, says he might just go lumiere in the garden with outdoor fairy lights.

On the other hand our (Christmas) star lights in the windows at the front of The Towers looked most resplendent and, I believe, left our neighbours in no doubt that we will never be found wanting in the window illumination department  ......  but that being said, they will definitely not be making another appearance until 1st December, no matter how much Nigel pleads the case.

Despite the rain, there were still several fairly large firework parties going on, so plenty of fizz, bang and sparkle for us to stop and ooooooo and ahhhhhhh over as we walked towards the meadow. Sadly, there were no said moles to be seen, probably scared off by all the fizz, bang and sparkle, but spirits still high we headed back to The Towers for a magical, dim lighted, bath time featuring more glow sticks, two play foam sprays and a colour changing bath light ..... carefully supervised by Nigel.

Then it was time to snuggle up on the settee, under a huge blanket, with popcorn, crisps, Maltesers and the odd Fruit Shoot or two to watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets ......

....... before, finally bed!!! 

We were woken at 6.37a.m precisely, the time indelibly etched on my brain, as well as Darrell's and Nigel's, so after a much earlier than anticipated breakfast .......

..... Nigel volunteered for another walk to the meadow for a good, long, hopefully energy sapping run ........

....... and climb.......

......... to leave our Halloween pumpkin in among the trees to make sure that the wild animals have something to eat as the river bank is rather boggy at the moment   .......

....... and also to find that the moles had been very busy during the night, despite all the fireworks and extremely loud band and party going on at the Marina on the other side of the river!!!! 

This was all followed by lunch and a quick game of Peppa Pig Bingo before it was time to return Iris and Bertie to mum and dad, leaving The Towers now spookily quiet and eerily empty.

We now need to have a good tidy ..... but where to begin? And, after that, it's down to Darrell to start scheming and planning all over again, this time .... for Christmas, our most favourite time of the year and then our New Years Eve Iris and Bertie sleepover .................. happy happy days!