A party in the deep, dark wood...

And so it began, that a little mouse

accompanied by the birthday boy, took a stroll through a deep dark wood....

If you are familiar with the story, you'll know that, watched over by a friendly squirrel, the little mouse attempts to outwit a fox, an owl and a snake...

The owl 

 If you are unfamiliar with the story, let Lydia and David tell you it (and definitely make them do the voices)

Just like the little mouse, you will start in the deep, dark wood.  On your stroll you will encounter the fox in his underground house...

and perhaps even the owl in his tree top house...

The story continues...

Phoebe is worried that the owl may eat the poor little mouse.
(Matthew is also somewhat concerned)

...and leads you to snake's log pile house...

Although Emily was brave enough to wrestle the snake...

...in the story, the cunning little mouse outwits her predators by telling them of a terrifying creature who wants to eat them.  

Then by a strange twist of fate, she actually meets the Gruffalo and outwits him too (seriously, it's a great story....you can buy the book here)

The kids LOVE it!

SPOILER ALERT

The little mouse tells the Gruffalo that his favourite food is "gruffalo crumble"...and the Gruffalo runs away terrified, leaving the little mouse to enjoy his favourite food...

We all cheered

But if nuts AREN'T your favourite food, we had some other suggestions....

But I have to say...

...was the Gruffalo crumble...

and then, of course, there was the birthday cake...

In Bea's words...it is AWESOME

There were also many crafts to do...

You could make your own owl...

Phoebe was very proud of her owl...

You could create a family tree...

You could make a little paper mouse, a foxy gift bag and even create your own Gruffalo bun...

Lucy was a particular fan of the Gruffalo buns...

 Auntie Pam was on hand to create Gruffalo polaroids for all of the guests...

 But you had to be very careful, as there was a little Gruffalo prowling about who was very hungry...

In conclusion...

Joshua's parents are nuts,

but those nuts are good....

You can see more here.