The Rooke Family Blog: Bringing light to the dark...

And as the dark evenings begin it's always great to find ways of bringing light into the dark. First up was Halloween and apparently I excelled in being properly scary this year. Personally I thought that was the point, although possibly small children didn't agree? What can a scary monster do... Thanks to Andrew and Sandra for hosting a great Halloween party.

But then with make up washed away it was rapidly on to Emily's birthday and something equally scary - the making of a Teen. Since starting secondary school she's definitely changed significantly - she's discovered make up, fashion, social media big style (mainly Tiktok and Snapchat) and an increasing ability to leave things lying around for her parents to tidy up. Not sure that much has changed since I was a teen although I probably had other things that replaced social media back in the day. All that said she's still the wonderful girl that I've always known and loved - acing school, being lots of fun and increasingly developing a dry sense of humour, and being just an all round amazing human being. She can throw herself into life's river and swim in it's current. It's tremendous watching her grow into a strong young woman.

So to celebrate a few things happened. First her presents pretty much consisted of books (and more books - 12 in fact), experiences (can't wait to be part of some of those) and money for clothes. All the important things for a developing young lady. Then Ly appeared back at the house and we all scooted up to Pitlochry for The Enchanted Forest experience. I was worried that it wouldn't be worth the long drive in the dark but actually it surpassed my expectations and I think we all had a fabulous time. When I escaped the crowds it was even quite contemplative at times which was really nice.

And then finally came the epic Rookenbury party of parties. Thirteen girls for an overnight in a mini festival in the garden in the middle of November - what could possibly go wrong? 6 hours of putting up tents, lights, decorations and ensuring there was a plentiful supply of carbs and sugar available. We got everything looking just so - complete with high quality sound and viewing experience. Note to self though, old LED TV's don't like damp, humid conditions. The weather held up for the night - the girls screamed, giggled, bounced and swung till the early hours and eventually fell to some sort of sleep. Another note to self, even when reminded to make sure the tent is zipped shut they might not remember. So I think it was a roaring success apart from the bucketing rain the next morning, slight puddles from door left open and many forgotten items left behind. Just like the real Glasto actually. Oh yeah.... And the 5 hours of taking tents down and days of trying to dry wet tents in the house. Phew - the things you do.

Happy birthday Emzo - welcome to the teens. Am proud of you every single day.