Harlaxton kids

We were so lucky to find some other kiddos here at Harlaxton when we arrived.

This is Cooper's friend Jack, who's 2.5.

And these girls became fast friends.  Tilda and Abby (Jack's sister) are both 6 and go to school in Harlaxton Village together:

Tilda, Abby, and Jack are seasoned Harlaxton kids -- Tilda and her parents were here over the summer, and Abby, Jack, and their family were here last fall.  So the girls have fun showing Cooper all the secret passageways and telling him all about the castle ghost Mischief.  And Jack knows all about cool British cartoons including Fireman Sam and his firetruck Jupiter, and Postman Pat and his cat Jess.  And Jack has been so kind to share his train set with Cooper since we didn't bring ours from Kansas.

Cooper and Jack again:

And walking to school together:

The four.  Jack, Cooper (with a feather and a rock), Abby, and Tilda.

The kids are all so good-natured, and have done a great job so far enjoying the adventure!

And we've had some fun family nights together.  We hired a college kid to babysit these four in Tilda's family's apartment, and the six parents went to Jack and Abby's apartment for dinner and grown-up conversation.

Most fun of all, though -- we took the four to a local play place to celebrate Cooper's birthday.  Fun Farm is an indoor play area with slides and a ball pit and soft things to jump on and mechanical things to ride on.

And slushies!

Then we came back to our place for a pirate themed party, complete with pirate ship cake:

And pirate napkins and pirate plates and pirate blowers and pirate cupcakes.  (Because I so rarely do anything in moderation.)

And thus endeth Cooper's 4th birthday celebrations.