Surprise, surprise

The weekend went just as well as I'd hoped. Surprise 1: a guest from Amsterdam in the form of Ben. We didn't get quite the squealing reaction I'd hoped for, but that's partly because Oran's not really the squealing type and partly because he waited outside in the car so we had to knock on the window instead of bursting into the arrivals hall all jazz hands like. Anyway, good surprise, I had nothing to worry about, hurrah hurrah.

Surprise 2 turned out to be fun for all involved - we got in the car on Saturday morning and I told Oran to drive to Malahide marina. A bunch of his family and two of my sisters met us there for a Sea Safari around Dublin Bay. It was rip roaring fun - we were thrown around the waves in a giant rubber dinghy for an hour, taking in Ireland's Eye and Howth harbour along the way. We rounded off the day with a huge Thai meal in Malahide, and a beer tasting/beer drinking fest in Porterhouse North, where the two sets of parents met for the first time (oo-er) and much delicious fruity beer was consumed. Not too shabby.

It was weird having my own birthday bash this year - ours are so close we've had a joint night out for the past five years. This year, though, Julia booked a table for 10 at a really pretty restaurant, and we proceeded to eat rings round some delicious steak and frites and white chocolate mousse, among other things. Lots of lovely presents, too, including Yahtzee (yay!) and a very pretty summer dress (woo!) I completely forgot how wrecked I was from the red eye flight I took back here on Monday morning.

And now, I'm 26, and the week goes on. Lots of exciting things happening round these parts. All (well, some) will be revealed soon...