The one criticism about a much anticipated event, function or do is that it's all over in a blink of an eye. The lead up is often intense and if you happen to be a three year old girl hanging out to be four the intense longing is all the more pronounced. In lieu of the inevitable let down I asked my siblings and cousins to linger-longer on Saturday and stay on for dinner. What transpired was an evening full of utter madness and sheer hilarity.

Photo - Enzo Maisano (2009).

After the initial cupcake sugar high and a couple of games of pin the horn on the unicorn, pass the parcel and a frenetic jump on the trampoline we managed to get all the children seated for dinner. I made them all a simple bowl of tortellini as I thought they would not be too famished as they had been grazing on fairy bread, cake and pastizzi all afternoon.

Photo - Enzo Maisano (2009).
A couple of the children got whiff of the timpana that I had made for the adults and decided that they wanted some of that too. Then to make things all the more chaotic some of the adults (who shall remain nameless) made a bee line for the mushroom, thyme and sheep fetta savoury tart that I had set aside for the token vegetarians in the family.  As per usual there was noise, mayhem and way too much food - just another typical Maltese family get together at our house.

Photo - Enzo Maisano (2009).
No one wanted the fun to end so I suggested that if it was easier to bath kids and pyjama them at our house then 'please feel free to do so'. What ensued was ninety minutes of absolute bath bedlam. We only have the one bathroom and there were nine kids ranging from 6 months -8 years that needed to be scrubbed clean.

Ever the gracious host Mr Man ensured that the wine kept flowing and that my glass was always full. Children finally found their way into their flannelette pyjamas and onto the couch to watch Tinkerbell - an apt ending to a fairy party I think, whilst the adults dug into the lemon tart and left over cupcakes. Needless to say Hoover had a fabulous time. She loved being the centre of attention and fully enjoyed being surrounded by her nearest and dearest albeit for such a short moment in time.