1. To dress Bettany in a particularly frivolous bubble skirt dress in ice cream pink with a pattern of grey umbellifers. It's a pass-on from my goddaughter who is too auburn to wear pink. Our Betts looks a picture, and the skirt is short enough that it doesn't interfere with her (now very fast) crawling and climbing.
2a. "But why didn't you make me put socks on at home?" Alec wails.
His sandals are rubbing, and I stupidly assumed I had a pair of emergency socks in the changing bag. I lead him into Fat Face and look around -- no boy socks. As we are leaving one of the staff asks if we're OK.
I explain the sorry story and he says "Ohhh, that happened to me on holiday. Wait a moment, I might have something for you."
He comes back with packet of socks. "I've got these. But the only problem is, they've got sharks on and might bite your feet." He lifts Alec, who is much revived, up on to the counter and helps sock up.
It does the trick and we make it home without any more problems.
2b. "They are lovely children," he says as he walks on past us eating our picnic supper on a park bench.
3. Bettany is asleep when we get home so I bath my sticky, tired, scab-kneed, blister-heeled boy and sit on the bed enjoying our Deluxe edition of Where's Wally. Alec looks for Wally; I look for all the extras, like Woof's tail, and the missing hat bobble.
