I woke about 7:00 AM on Saturday morning. I was to go with Kellie to some Events her company had organised and then to Kirkby to meet some more of my family. We left at about 10:30 AM. The first event was a 13th birthday party at Aintree Racecourse.
Aintree Racecourse is where they hold the Grand National each year. The Grand National is th biggest horse race in the UK. It is a steeplechase. Horses run around the track like a normal race, however there are hedges that the horses must also jump. The event attracts many celebrities and even the Queen attends. It was 2 weeks before the Grand National but Aintree Racecourse was already in lockdown with strict security measures.
Kellie had to provide the security staff with a list of who would be coming to the racecourse on the day otherwise they would not be allowed to enter the grounds. The main entry was closed and we had to enter the track using the back entrance.
We parked at the main grandstand and I had a cigarette outside while Kellie went up to the function room. It was freezing cold. The temperature would have been int low single digits but it was windy and that made it feel very cold. I finished the cigarette and went upstairs. The function room was on the fourth floor and I got in the lift. I walked out and into the function room. It was an amazing big room.
The birthday party had a circus theme and there were some animal statues around the room with some circus banners. There was some red and white material hanging from the ceiling to resemble a bigtop with figurines of trapeze artists. The bigtop was hung at one end but was actually meant to be in the middle of the room. Kellie arranged for the guy to come back and take it down to move it where it should be.
When we arrived there were some other people setting up a DJ rig. Kellie explained how the room would look when it was finished and we moved some tables around while we waited for a woman named Claire to come and bring some balloons. The people who set up the DJ rig also had a candy stand and me and Kellie raided the candy after they left, filling up a bag each.
I went down for a cigarette and Claire arrived and started unloading about 15 big bags of inflated balloons. She just left them in the reception area of the grandstand. I went back upstairs and offered to bring the remaining bags up and she accepted. I grabbed about 5 or 6 bags at a time and while they were light, they were very awkward to carry. I had to make 2 trips in order to bring them all up.
The balloons were on stands and resembled a jesters hat of sorts. They looked really good when they were placed on the tables. There were going to be some sideshow stands set up along the wall where the big top initially was set up. Once the balloons were arranged, we left and as we got downstairs, the people with the sideshow stands arrived. We left to meet Marcus at the other event. It was a Beatles themed event in the Hilton Hotel function room in Liverpool.
We arrived and waited for the valet to find out where we could park. After a few minutes we parked and went inside. We entered the room and I was amazed how awesome the room looked. The tables were nicely decorated and there was a stage for the Beatles cover band, The Mersey Beatles to play. There were different coloured lights around the room.
Apparently the guy that set up the lights didn't set up enough and Marcus and I had to look through some rigging cases hidden behind the stage in order to find some more lights. Marcus and I set up the lights where Kellie wanted them, then I went down for a cigarette. It had started to snow. My uncle Robert was supposed to come and meet me here in order to take me to Kirkby at some point.
I went back up to the function room and Kellie suggested I go down to the cafe at the Hilton and relax a bit. I went down and ordered a Guiness and a hamburger with fries. The food was fairly cheap considering it was the Hilton and I sat and ate that. I ordered another Guiness and after about 30 minutes, I turned around to see Kellie walking towards me. She introduced me to Robert and his daughter and they sat down at the table. Kellie went back to work. Robert tried to get a drink from the bar but the staff were too busy for him to be able to order them.
In the end, he gave up and I finished my Guiness and we left. Robert and his daughter caught the train into the city and we walked back to the train station. Normally the trains run every 15 minutes but because it was snowing, they were now running every 30 minutes. We just talked while we waited and when the train came it was quite empty. We took a seat and were on our way to Kirkby. The train trip is about 20 minutes. A few stations from Kirkby the train stopped and the power went out. An announcement came over the speaker that we were delayed because of a power surge. We were a little worried it could be a lengthy delay but about 10 minutes later we were on our way.
Robert had left his car at Kirkby station and we got in. It was a small carpark and there were a lot of people all trying to leave at once. It took us about 10 minutes to finally get out of the carpark. We arrived at Roberts house a few minutes later as it wasn't far from the station. When we arrived I met his wife, Sue. She was a lovely lady, just like everybody else in the family. We watched some news about the bad weather that had struck the UK in the last couple of days and then we left for my Aunt Doreen's house.
It was not far from Robert's house to Doreen's house and we were there in less than 5 minutes. We went in and Doreen, her daughter Donna and my Grandad were there. I walked in and was welcomed by everyone. I'll be honest, it all felt a little strange. Not the house or the people, but just that there were all these people I had never met who were so welcoming and excited to see me. I greeted everybody and sat down. Doreen was a lovely lady but very intense. I think she may have been drunk but I am not certain. She made me some ham and pickle rolls and we all talked.
It was slightly daunting with everybody asking me a lot of things, but I understand that we were just meeting for the first time and they wanted to know a lot. After about half an hour, Donald and his wife arrived, and then Aunt Valerie and her husband/partner and then my other Uncle Raymond came for awhile. At some point, Donna's fiance came. There was a room full of people all here to see me. It was slightly overwhelming and I felt a little bit like a circus attraction, but we had many laughs and told lots of stories. Grandad eventually got drunk and stopped being understandable. Kellie came after a few hours and stayed for maybe an hour before we left. Everybody wanted to know about Australia. Everybody was very nice and made me feel at home.
It was around about 10:30 PM. We had to stop at Marcus' mum's house to pick up Ella. Kellie brought her out to the car and she was asleep. We drove home and I talked to Kellie for awhile before I went to bed.
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