And we have a 12 year old in the house...

And the birthday celebrations continue!

It was a quiet morning and he asked to open his presents before the family arrived, he got some great goodies, his favourite football player...

And now he has BUSINESS CARDS for Ebi-kun eats, and a biz card holder to keep them in!

And of course the annual T-shirt, this year's theme is for Ebi-Kun eats... Taste Bud Explorer...

And the year on the back. I can see I am going to have to make these until the end of my days :)

After present opening, we had to pop down to the shops to get party food, standard 70's birthday party fayre - party rings, ice-gems, sausage rolls, cheese and pineapple, hot dogs on sticks. Sadly mom didn't have the space to be able to do jelly and ice-cream!

Early afternoon the extended family descended upon us, I can't believe how much they have all grown, 2 of the kids are now taller than me and I know that's not difficult, I'm not very tall but they are still KIDS!

Of course, D had to get out Fluffy The Snake, my mom is snake sitting whilst my brother is away, so this was some party entertainment,,,

Chrissie was ever so brave until Fluffy started moving...

I didn't have time to make a cake and I don't think mom has pans and the such like anymore so Ebi-kun picked what he wanted in the supermarket. He doesn't like the pre-made novelty cakes, too sweet! He chose a lemon tart and a tiramisu, strange combo but there we are. 

I didn't get photos of them doing pass-the-parcel but the did decorate their own gingerbread men. This was a kit from Tesco, 5 men in the box. I grabbed an extra box of sprinkles because it didn't look like much in the pack. All the kids got into it. It is hard to believe that there are just 4 months between A (in pink) and Ebi-kun! 

Even teenage boys will decorate gingerbread men!

M spent ages on her masterpiece, getting just the right colour flowers in just the right place! Hers was apparently a flower fairy-gingerbread man!

That left the kids all hopped up on sugar! Wouldn't be a kids party if they weren't hahaha - I have no guilt about this, we don't really "do" kids birthday parties in Japan so it was a cultural experience!

Everyone had fun, no tears! And Ebi-kun loved hanging out with his cousins, hopefully, we will catch up with some of them again before we leave.

What I haven't mentioned is the Ebi-kun eats video we recorded, we will get them up soon as possible because it's a birthday special and maybe the best one yet...

Last Day Of Being 11...

As Ebi-kun tends to drag his birthday out for as long as possible, today we went for a "fancy lunch". In the previous 3 years we have been to Jamies Italian but this year the weather has been awful and to be honest, I didn7t fancy traipsing around Manchester in the rain.

So we decided on The Botanist in Alderly Edge. We weren't disappointed.

Mocktail: All the greens, very minty and refreshing!

We decided to share a couple of 'nibbles' the pork scratching were amazing, we could have scoffed a few more! I imagine with beer these would be even better!

We also had the onion petals, a twist on onion rings, also delicious.

Then it was time for the main, my step-brother had recommended the hanging kebabs so Ebi-kun had belly pork and I tried the chicken. It comes hanging with a little dish of dressing that is poured into the dish at the top then it dribbles down over the kebab and onto the bowl of chips underneath.

It was really good, the pork was beautifully tender and the chicken was really tasty. Mom ordered a starter as a main, haddock and egg.

Of course, we had to have pudding too, Ebi-kun had cookie dough and caramel ice-cream. The dough was served in a hot skillet, it was a bit weird, definite comfort food. I had a modern version of banana split, which was OK but nothing to shout about.

All in all, it's a was a great meal. The staff were friendly and attentive and we left full and content!

Ebi-kun gives the place his Ebi-kun Eats Thumbs Up! You can check out the website (not recommended if you are hungry!) HERE and see where they have other locations.