Happy Eighth Birthday, Jacob!

It was my older son's birthday on Saturday. Jacob turned eight.

We had a party on Saturday for him and four of his school friends and his two Melbourne cousins (and other relatives) involving a round of mini-golf and then a birthday picnic at the park. We then had a late BBQ lunch for the family after. It was a pretty busy day, as you can imagine. And exhausting.

Mini golf is a strange game. It's stranger to watch five eight-year-olds (we'd split the party into manageable groups for the golf) struggling to hit little white balls into not much larger holes with unwieldy clubs over deviously frustrating tracts of poorly maintained artificial grass. I think the kids had fun.

The cake and treats certainly made up for any frustration though.

In all, I believe Jacob enjoyed himself. He even said so.

Jacob's been really enjoying his birthday presents, in particular the electric train set we gave him (in conjunction with his Nana). He's been a train buff for a long time, but this is his first electric model train set, and he was really excited about it. But it turned out to be larger that we expected, so it took nearly all of Sunday for his mum and I to build a special platform train set so that it could be kept safely out of reach of feet, accidents or his little brother's hands.

With sheets of plywood and lengths of timber, glue, screws, sandpaper, a borrowed electric drill and a great deal of elbow grease, sweat, occasional swearing and good planning, we managed to get it finished last night just after dinner. It still needs quite a few finishing touches, including a paint job, but it gives Jacob the chance to set up the tracks and run his train, which he's enjoying a lot.

Happy birthday, son! It is amazing to think that it has been eight years since I witnessed your birth and you came into our lives. Smitten as only new father can be, I marvelled at how amazing you were. And you continue to amaze me. Your mother and I really didn't have much of a real idea what we were in for when you were born, but it has sure been an amazing adventure.

I love you, and I hope your life continues to be an amazing adventure!