Leo's birthday party extravaganza has come and gone. From 10 to 12 it was a whirlwind of activity. Well, with 30 children in attendance I think it was closer to a tornado. All of a sudden, there were lots of crazy children running around having a great time. Then just as suddenly, at midday they were all picked up, everything was quiet and we were left to pick up the mess.

The highlight of the party was a visit from Matt, the reptile man from Walkabout Reptiles. He brought along with him a turtle, a few lizards and a couple of snakes which the kids were all able to pat. The biggest snake was a black-headed python which comfortably encircled three five-year olds. Its Wikipedia page says that its diet is mainly reptiles but it will eat mammals if available. Does this include small children?


The last animal, the one which Leo was most looking forward to, was a crocodile. Originally, I thought they would bring along a freshwater crocodile. They grow up to about 3m long. In the Northern Territory you're allowed to swim in waterholes where Freshies live, because generally they aren't big enough to eat people.

But no! Walkabout Reptiles own a saltwater crocodile. One of the ones that that grows up to 6m and eats people. Granted their saltie, Chopper, is less than half a metre long and had an elastic band around his mouth to stop him from chomping on children. I'm glad Leo didn't take it into his head to adopt Chopper. Can you imagine growing up with a pet saltwater crocodile?


After the show it was Happy Birthday and cake time and then the party was over. I think Leo and all of his friends had a really lovely time. The noise levels certainly indicated that they did.

About halfway through the party I realised that this is my future. So far my education degree has mainly been about studying and assignments but very soon it's going to be about groups of screaming children running amok. Is it worrying that I found it exhausting? I can tell you now there won't be any running amok in Ms Wilson's classroom. I'll be ruling with an iron fist (as learnt from the school of Mrs Daley.)

Happy 5th Birthday Leo!

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Party details: Entertainment by Walkabout Reptiles, snake cake by Karen, biscuits by Polka Dot Cookies