Saturday round-'em-up

Mabel missed her nap today, for no obvious reason except that she woke up ten minutes after she went to sleep, and that was that. As a result she was increasingly volatile as the afternoon wore on, and finally caved at 6.25 and is asleep. So I can actually enjoy my dinner and a glass of wine without rushing, except that I'm so used to rushing that I'm not sure I can do it any other way.

Mabel also had her first pony ride this morning, so I suppose we can only blame ourselves when she starts demanding a pony. It was impromptu: we happened to be at a local farm-in-a-park when there were rides going on, so we nabbed one each for the kids. Mabel didn't even want to be held on her shaggy Shetland - she grabbed the - what's it called? - the thing on the saddle to hold, not a possum, not a podium... - the thingy like a pro and nonchalantly rocked around the ring. Pommel, that's it. Here she is, quite unperturbed.


Monkey leaned over to me as I accompanied him with the camera and whispered, "When is the real ride going to be?" He's a pro: this was maybe his fourth ever pony ride, and he wanted to be let loose to gallop free across the hills, or something. I explained to him later that riding a horse isn't as easy as it looks, once you progress from being led on the most docile nags in the county.


But it's fun to think that some day, on some vacation, we'll all go on a pony trek and I can show off my amazing trotting skills. They're about on a par with my amazing cartwheeling skills, which I like to bring out on beaches and in secluded parklands, to delight the children and entertain the adults.


Ha. You thought I was joking, didn't you?