Where Saturday went

Saturday was my turn to get up and J's turn for a much-needed lie-in as he had to work last weekend.
I was hoping for a bit of social laptop time as it had been work work work and then birthday stuff, but then F was interested in looking up Planet Protectors on the internet so I did that instead and showed her the site, which had short movies on, so she had a go on that - then mum rang to say she was on her way, so when she came, we went out with the mission of finding some breakfast at a cafe, while J continued his lie-in.

As we reached the high street, we saw a small pony and a donkey there from the local horse rescue place, so we put a bit of money in their boxes and F got to stroke them, which she was thrilled about and seemed almost like a bit of a birthday bonus specially for her - it's the things you don't arrange that turn out to be the best sometimes.
We found somewhere to eat a croissant/flapjack and have a cuppa, then made our way home via shop and park, in time to be there when J's mum arrived. After a bit of button-provoked hoo-ha, F opened her present from Grandma Ju, which was Barbie's horse Tawny ('walks and neighs') and her last present from J, which was a Barbie in riding clothes.

J's mum then took me and my mum up to SB farm park and we met Nic and family up there and then we all waited for ages for the others to come up, suggesting possible 'G' names and mooching around.
When our entire small party was assembled, in we went and I think everyone had a lovely time. My favourite bit was doing the Maize Maze with J and F, although we completely forgot about our question sheet, but we might well go back and do it again. I also love the huge pigs there, they are absolutely massive and lovely. F was fairly unbothered about the animals (think she prefers fictional ones that speak, maybe!) but she loves the playground stuff there, including the hay bales, so she had a good time. They do good food there too - we had various houmousy items and F had a cheese sandwich. J's mum gave my mum a lift to the station to go home and then came back for the last hour or so.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot, breezy but sunny, with fluffy white clouds heading across the rolling Downs - lovely setting there. The countryside on our doorstep is one of the reasons we want to stay in Lewes, and more specifically in the street we are in now. After a lot of play on the slides and hay and other outdoor stuff, the children finished their visit in the little water-play area with funnels and pipes that lead to different outlets, pouring water in and generally enjoying a bit of mud. I tried to persuade Nic to buy a piglet for £50 but she's not quite ready to expand her livestock that dramatically. J's hat was enjoyed immensely, complementing Nic's hoe-down outfit nicely, and we all had ice-creams (sorbets for me and J) sitting at a picnic table, along with some surreal and idle chatter of the most relaxed kind.

Then we all came back to ours for coffee/wine and the children played for a while. We looked at photos and talked about Kessingland, played a bit of BopIt, considering what BopIt X (adult version) would have to include, and had more chat until the MonsterTeenies left at 7ish I think. J's mum went soon after, dropping J off at a friend's house for the evening, so F and I had the evening to ourselves, but were both so tired we ended up having a big row at some point (my fault not understanding what she really wanted) before making up and snuggling on the sofa.