Today was Andy’s 55th birthday and for the second year running he has got to enjoy it in the sunshine of Manly.

We celebrated the morning with a traditional breakfast of bacon sandwiches and opened his cards and presents sitting out on the deck.

The present gifting included a new baseball cap, a T-shirt and some running shoes.

After that it was time for some birthday cake, courtesy of Coles and their finest range.

The morning was then spent down at Shelly beach and in the Boathouse cafe where we alternated between sunbathing and some healthy smoothies.

Late afternoon we changed for dinner and out all white theme before heading to Hugos restaurant on Manly Wharf.

After fabulous meal at Hugo’s, we had precisely 30mins before our second party started and Andy got the chance to celebrate with our extended Manly family of friends.

This was never going to be a quiet affair with party games galore. It was a match of the sexes, boys against girls and very soon the rivalry kicked in.

The competition started with the reindeer game and throwing rings on to the horns. Very quickly the noise levels increased as battle commenced!

The boys were victorious re reindeer, and we had a short break as the photo season kicked in with Andy the star of the show.

After further games of acting and humming, both of which Andy proved to be particularly poor at, whilst Michelle and her team of ladies ran a close race, only to be pipped at the post by the boys and victory in a final head to head between Jamie and Grace, that Jamie won in seconds.

We headed home with Amelia and Meg for a good nights sleep, in readiness to celebrate another birthday tomorrow, this one for 18yr old Ethan, the eldest son of Jamie & Tracy.

It’s been another great day with friends who are helping to make our second stay in Manly such a memorable one.