Indian Birthday

Florence and I were really excited about Florence's birthday. From what Mum had been telling us we were going to stay in a really nice place called Nature Notes with a kids pool, play area, flying fox etc. It was a long journey to get there so we were really tired. When we arrived, it was no way up to our expectations, the kids 'playground' had a plastic slide and a few hammocks - the flying fox wasn't a proper one. It was a bit dull. The garden outside our tiny cottages was quite big, but there was not much to do. Nature Notes is right next to the Beas river which is freezing like the Ganges , We went rafting in it once, our rafting trip was very short but a lot of fun! I wanted to do it again.
Nature Notes is a 45 minute drive from Manali so one day we ordered a car and drove there. We had lunch at a hotel called Jimmy Johnson's Lodge. It was quite expensive but very very good. While we were there we looked at a room because we were already thinking about leaving Nature Notes. The room was lovely, it had it's own kitchen, dining room, living room and had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms!
On our car ride back to Nature Notes I was talking about Jimmy Johnson's all the way and even thought we should spend Florence's birthday there. But when I consulted Florence, she wasn't sure. After thinking for a while, Florence said that she would actually like to stay there. Mum and Dad agreed because if we stayed at Nature Notes any longer we would get bored. I was so glad when we arrived at Jimmy Johnson's and really happy as I scrambled into our soft comfy beds with the first proper duvet for ages.
Finally, Florence's birthday arrived and I was really impatient. I knew a bit about what was going to happen but Mum and Dad did all the decorating. Mum had bought this ridiculous toy dog that was inside a fluffy cake and if you squeezed his hand he would sing 'happy birthday' over and over again
Mum cooked scrambled eggs and beans on toast, in our kitchen, for birthday breakfast. We opened presents and played games. When lunch time came, Florence and I dressed up in the Indian dresses that Florence had for her birthday and we had a lovely lunch. After lunch we ate a big chocolate cake - I was the best cake I had ever had, and it was covered in chocolate sauce. We shared it with the other people in the cafe because it was so big.
We also went for a wander in Manali. Mum told everyone it was Florence's birthday. After our explore we clambered into a rickshaw and drove to Vashisht, a town just a 10 minute drive from Manali. Mum and Dad had promised Florence and I an ankle bracelet so we stopped in a shop and looked at them. Mum told the man in the shop it was Florence's birthday and he gave Florence an Indian yoga bell as a present!
We had another day in Manali before we had to leave my beloved Jimmy Johnson's Lodge. I'm definitely much happier now!

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