Fun in the sun

It's been a gorgeous weekend, so we've made the most of it.

Saturday we went to our local park.  They've built a new play area, including one of those Splash Zone type efforts, all rubber bouncy floor & water sprays everywhere.  We hadn't got Squeaky's swimming costume with us (my fault, it was a spur of the moment effort and I don't tend to carry bathing suits in the back of the car on the off-chance), but considering she wasn't at all keen on sprays and shower type things when we were on holiday, I don't think she'd've been all that bothered there either.  There were enough swings & slides to keep her amused, but she was more interested in climbing up, and being helped down, a big set of concrete steps that lead up to the big kids' climbing web.  Typical.  All those things designed for her to play on safely and she wants to climb concrete stairs.  No photos, because like most public play facilities now, they're so PRECIOUS about photography that you can't take a picture of your own child.

Sunday seemed to be one of those days where every possible location had some sort of event on.  It gets a bit much after a while, and there's only so many people to go around.  Anyway. First of all we went to the carnival in Aberdare, mostly to see Squeaky's auntie & cousin (actually Daddy's cousin & her grown up daughter), our closest relatives for a good 60-odd miles.  Squeaky, as usual, charmed everyone, though she had to hide behind my legs to stop a corgi stealing her fruit bar.  There were nearly tears.  We had a look at some owls & falcons, and met the biggest dog ever, a huge harlequin Great Dane, who was finding it all a bit much and laying in the shade in one of the tents.  Don't blame him.  We were roasting, and made good use of the Ultrasun sun cream we were lucky enough to win a couple of weeks ago.  We tried to win something exciting on the tombola, but I managed to pick out 5 losing tickets.  The nice lady took pity on us though, and Squeaky was given some foam shapes as a consolation prize, so sticking & glueing will be happening soon.

Then we got back in the car & went to the "Global Family Fun Day" at the nearby country park.  It was a bit of a let-down to tell the truth.  Not very global, family or fun.  There was a stall selling Jamaican food (I had a gorgeous savoury pattie and some coconut ice), a stall selling curry, and a stall where Japanese ladies would write your name in Japanese on a bookmark.  Squeaky had fallen asleep in the 5 minute drive between the two parks, and so I managed to pour her into the Symbio still asleep, and somehow rig up a parasol over it.  This is the first real issue I've had with the Symbio - universal parasols just don't open wide enough.  Nothing specific to the Symbio though, the number of people I've seen struggling with parasols with other buggies says it's more to do with the parasols and less the pushchairs.

And to prove we really went out, have a picture.  If anyone reading this can read Japanese, and if the lady wrote it correctly (I always think of those people who get tattoos in foreign languages & end up with something other than what they asked for), then you may discover Squeaky's real name... (ps, strange light marks on her face & arms are just spots of light coming through a broderie anglaise parasol.)