Swimming in the sandpit.

Today at PlayCentre the kids built a castle in the sandpit, complete with a moat - which was dyed pink, because (although not all the boys agreed) it was a Princesses castle and so the water had to be pink - this was all very cute but of no real interest to Molly, she's more intent on demolition then building at the moment.

That is until the big kids got bored... then she found the moat. She was content for a while to splash her hands and feet in the pretty water, but I know you've all guessed already, the temptation to swim in the moat was just too much. Within minutes she was face down and coated in pink water and a thick layer of sludgey sand, and loving it!

The worse bit (apart from the obvious) is it's totally my fault. After a couple of minutes of wriggling and twisting to make sure she was completely soaked she looked up at me with a huge grin on her face and said HIPPO! Yesterday we were reading her animals book and for a giggle I started to sing her the 'Mud, mud, glorious mud' song and explain to her about the wallowing hippo in her book, we even rolled around on the carpet, 'being' hippos... so, I'll be thinking a wee bit harder before we learn about anymore really mucky animals and as far as I'm concerned pigs are extinct!!

I'll post a picture as soon as I get one from PlayCentre, one of the other Mums literally sprinted inside to get the camera, oh it's all very funny when it's not your child right?! ha ha! She did look hilarious though.

I'm sure this won't be anywhere near the last time we have to strip her and hose her down before bringing her home (although it was the first time her nappy has been wetter on the outside then the inside), and at least the sun was shining, she was dry in seconds.

This one's for you MAK!

Aren't these the cutest little summer shoes you've ever seen, OK maybe not as great as those new plastic monsters (Crocs... oh desert flower, we all thought it would be me, I'm amazed it's you, and yes they're comfy but... ha ha!).

Long story short, I had a day off on Friday. It was Show Day, hubby was off work and I was close to a meltdown. So for the first time in almost 18 months I went shopping, alone, no Molly, just me (waaah!) and I think the sun went to my head a little bit. A new pair of jeans, bra and some frivolous shoes and I feel much better, thanks.

The only problem is that I don't think I can wear them while Molly is awake, she's gone loony tunes for them - and yes, you know who you are, and yes, I do hold you fully responsible. If we ever needed proof that addictions are genetically inherited we have it. Molly is a total shoeaholic, (and I know she doesn't get it from me, I would quite happily still be wearing my Ugs if they weren't threatening to walk off on their own soon) and these are just too much for her to bear. They are pink, they are encrusted with cheap plastic jewels - one of her other passions - and therefore they are HERS, not Mummys, Mollys. Oh well, maybe she'll get bored of them... I probably will...

Before I sign off, I just want to let all you other Mums know that although this 'day out' was a real trial for me, (ridicously I know, but after this long, I really felt like I'd left a limb at home, I kept looking behind me in the car to check she was OK in her carseat and then having split second, momentary panics because she wasn't there! How stupid is that!) I absolutely will be doing this more often. Molly had a wonderful day with her Dad - he did too, with a new found appreciation for exactly how little you can get done with a toddler in the house, phew! - and with practise I'm sure I will too. The guilty pleasure of sitting in a cafe with a huge coffee, cake and magazine for half an hour was not wasted on me for one moment, little things... but how lovely.

Lucy the Lamb

I just love this photo. I had to be very quick with the camera, once she realised I was watching her it was all over, but she sat and read to herself, out load for a good five minutes. It was really very cute.

I personally don't like this book at all, no real plot, no character development, and overly chirpy talking animals... but Molly really likes it, 7 or 8 times a day... what can you do?! Bless her.

Waaaaaaaah Cicada!

I finally got round to looking at the laundry basket overflowing with ironing today (well, it has been about a week since I dared too). I took a deep breath and dove (dived?) in, the first item to come out, duly shaken and pulled onto the board contained a HUGE cicada! I mean almost 3 inches long! still alive and very, very cross with me! It buzzed as it sat on the leg of my sweatpants and shook - me that is, not the bloody insect! Oh My God! FREAK OUT! I calmly grabbed one of Molly's bibs and encased the cicada inside, dropping it quickly out the backdoor, all the time smiling at Moo - don't want to indoctrinate her with my insect fear and loathing at such a young age - then using rubber gloves and not looking too hard I tipped the rest of the laundry back into the machine, hit go and walked away. Hubby will remove it for me this evening and ensure there are no more interlopers... and the lesson I learned is, shake well when removing from the washing line, check basket for buzzy things as soon as you get it inside and do as little ironing as possible!

It's sad to admit that this was not in fact the most exciting (read terrifying) thing that happened to me today. The most terrifying was being in sole charge of three tots this afternoon, luckily only for a few hours, but still. A 2 and a half year old, Molly (almost 17 months) and a 7 month old. What was I thinking?!? Well, clearly I wasn't. But you know it wasn't actually as bad as I anticipated as their Mum walked away (grinning I might add). No severe injuries were inflicted, unless you count a good wallop on the nose with the phone - my nose, Molly's mistake, maybe?! -that made me stop for a moment or two. It's all good though, swelling is going down and I'll know to duck next time eh.

Anyway, we survived and it was good fun, in retrospect... now I have my feet up and a cup of tea and Molly is in bed that is.

While I'm here better tell you about Molly's first kayaking adventure this weekend. No, don't panic, we didn't set her up with oars and let her go, but we did get her sat in the thing with Daddy. She loved it, so much so in fact that as he paddled away she decide to give chase and before I could stop her she was chest high in the water (very cold water I might add!) and trying to keep going! I eventually coaxed her out of the water, which was really not easy. Her swimming lessons have taken away any fear of the water which is good, but also terrifying for us. But she was content to run along the shore occassionally shouting Dada! and waving manically. Funny little thing.