Scarlett has been badgering me to go to the local fete ever since I foolishly mentioned seeing the words 'jumping castle' and 'face painting' on one of the flyers stuck on lamp posts in our street. I may also have blurted out that the flyer mentioned that Tim from children's supergroup Hi-5 would be making a personal appearance. Well, Saturday was the big day and with Rob tucked up in bed sleeping off his night shift, I set off with Florence in the pram and Scarlett running eagerly alongside. We got about 4cm into the fete before Scarlett spotted the face painting stall. A full face butterfly design later, she then saw the jumping castle and ferris wheel AT THE SAME TIME. Fever pitch excitement ensued, much jumping, yelping etc. She seemed genuinely oblivious to the fact that the whole point of going to a fete is to buy a big iced cake baked by a local jolly fat lady and possibly some jam and chutney. At 11am, I persuaded her to come off the ferris wheel with the promise of a hot dog, so I could shovel a mixture of pumpkin, sweet potato and broccoli into Florence. Then - quelle horreur!! - we discovered Tim from Hi-5 was arriving at midday, right at the time we would be taking Florence home for her lunchtime kip. Using my supermum powers I was able to rush us all home, throw Florence into her cot, ditch the pram and leg it back to the fete with Scarlett. When you are 3 or 4 or even 5, meeting Tim from Hi-5 is the pre-school equivilant to, say, George Michael turning up at your house as the partner of one of your dinner party guests (assuming that is he was able to make the journey without falling asleep at any traffic lights on the way). The crowd went wild when Tim appeared announcing he would be judging a dancing competition and that prizes would be awarded to the best dancers. As I shoved Scarlett to the front in the manner of a pushy stage mother (think Terri Shields or Jodie Foster's mum), she turned to me and said "I'm not dancing. I don't like Tim'. And that was that.
It only took us about a week to get over Florence's christening - the emotion, the mess, the hangovers. I am very much looking forward to my 2-hour renewal spa session tomorrow, comprising a facial and massage. Rob's Mum Barb stayed on for a second week and she has been absolutely loving the time she has been spending with Flo and Scarlett, including plenty of cuddles and toenail painting. On Saturday I took Scarlett to the fairy-themed birthday party of her friend Genevieve who was turning 4. They are all at such a funny age at 3 and 4 as everyone is quite surly and aloof with each other, something I didn't think happened until your 30s. Even though all the kids were dressed up in their favourite outfits as fairies, superheroes etc they all looked quite cross until the marshmallows and face painting appeared, and Scarlett was reborn as a beautiful butterfly. The weather has changed, pretty much overnight, from chilly but sunny winter to stunningly clear warm days with a distinct smell of Summer about them, despite Spring not officially starting until September 1. Yesterday it was so gorgeous, we packed everyone off to Balmoral beach for the afternoon. A stiff breeze allowed for some top kite flying action by Miss S. 
This morning we hit a local park complete with swings, slide etc for the kids, barbecues on which to cook children who misbehave and a figure of 8 bike riding track which was a hoot for Scarlett. 
Florence had her first go, at 20 weeks, on a swing and a slide. Her face was a picture as it changed from shock to bemusement to amusement to panic and right back again. Scarlett swung right next to her whilst indulging her new habit of wearing two different shoes. 
