Our Halloween party was held at Alder Hey and just a little earlier than the official date of 31st Oct. We had a good response to the party – not too busy but busy enough – and again we had an entertainer. The Children and some adults got dressed up in their best outfits and people really did make a fantastic effort so well done to everyone who joined in the fun. Michele Casey and her family not only looked great but also brought along some fantastic decorations for us to use, so thank you. My skull necklace and bracelet (my new best jewellery) were popular with the children who wanted to see them. My mum bought me these in America and i was glad she did.

We even had food at the party which we gave names to. So things such as traditional jam sandwiches were renamed. Can you guess the name of these?! There are some photographs from the party online on Flickr.

Yellow Duck, Liverpool. We plan months in advance for our days out and when it is a summer trip we assume (wrongly) it will be a beautiful summers day. Well in advance I had arranged this day, booked 2 ducks, arranged a swap in my work and booked a private room for our picnic lunches afterwards. What I forgot to book (well I wish I could) was the weather – it was rain rain rain.

We had departure times of 11.45am and noon so we all met at 11.30am at the stop at the Albert Dock ready for our departures. We had our photo’s taken then started to board. The 1st duck left and then the second one which I was on.

We had a commentator who was telling us about buildings of interest. When we hit the city centre as Liverpool is Capital of Culture for 2008, we have over 100 Superlamb Bananas which are very colourful. The children on my side would shout “Superlamb Banana” and then all children would dash to that side, then someone else would shout here is one on this side and the children dashed from one side to the other.

It was pouring with rain so we had to have the plastic side on so although the view wasn’t too bad it wasn’t marvelous. The children had a fabulous time and the tour lasted about 50 minutes. When we went into the dock we all had to scream as loud as we could for splash down and I am reliably informed by 2 children there are sharks in the dock water (what lovely imaginations they have). On the way out of the water we had to sing “We all live in a yellow submarine” and even without music we did pretty well – watch out as who knows, we might even get picked for Liverpool’s got talent.

We then headed for our picnic lunch and that was enjoyable, then on to see museums, etc. I believe a good day was had by all despite the bad weather and it was a good turnout.

Val