Day trip to the Farm

Daisy-May had her friend visiting for the day today, and whilst she was a little upset about her friend not staying over last night, she was excited about today. Her friend arrived as planned and her Mum warned me of her daughter feeling a little poorly. 10 minutes after being left with us, DM's friend was
upset and felt even more poorly and wanted to go home. I was heartbroken for DM, she's been very excited about these two events and both have been postponed.
I had arranged to take the girls out for the day today with a friend and her daughters. Daisy-May was invited by today's friend to go back with her but DM still wanted to come to the farm park with us.
We packed a picnic and set off to Oak Farm Park near Barlestone. It's a lovely small farm park, with animals to feed and pet and a fantastic play area. DM, R&P were very excited to be going to see the animals. Penny felt it necessary to constantly remind me that "I like donkeys" whilst shaking her head, therefore meaning that she doesn't like donkey's.
We arrived at the farm and all seemed very keen and excited. The first stop was the Macau Parrot, apparently his name is Max and he loves attention and will say Hello to you..... Clearly not our attention!! The girls were all keen to see the parrot, they were warned not to put their fingers in the cage but we didn't know about the squawk. As I was reading the information sheet to everyone, my friend was trying to get the parrot to say Hello and all of a sudden he did an almighty squawk! All the girls panicked, R&P screamed and burst into tears. And that was the start of Penny's "likes".....
I like parrot
I like goat
I like sheep
I like donkey
I like chicken
I like horsey
I like rabbit
I like pig
All of these were said in repetition whilst shaking her head in a no gesture and as you can see by the picture, Penny made sure she kept very clear of all of the animals! At one point she tried to hide herself in overgrown grass and weeds because a small horse made a slight noise.
All in all, we had a lovely time at the farm park and it was made even more of a pleasure when at the end of the day the two older girls said that they'd had a really lovely day (at seperate times and out of ear shot of each other).
As expected, within 10 minutes of being in the car on the journey home, all four girlies were fast asleep. I parked up, turned the engine off and DM woke up. Ashleigh a few minutes later but R&P were well away. I gave them 15 minutes more but then had to wake them otherwise I would pay later at bedtime.
Seriously, sometimes I think the only way I could give you an insight to my day would be through a sound diary; the screams and tears because of the interrupted sleep were ridiculous! I had Penny screaming and crying in the lounge, whilst Ruby was crying in the hallway. I had already sat with them both and attempted to calm them down but they just got louder. In the end I went outside and hung the washing out. After about 7 minutes, Ruby calmed down and came to join me outside, Penny was a little longer. But we all got there eventually :o)
I'm conscious that R&P start Playschool in 3 weeks, and I'd like Penny out of nappies before she goes. We tried to get Penny to use the potty this evening and she wasn't having any of it. She needed to go to the toilet, but she just wouldn't do it. I even tried to bribe her by giving her my iPhone. We managed to convince her to sit on the potty before her bath, so that's a definite step forward!
In the end, we actually managed to get her to go to the toilet on her potty seconds before she got into bed. Yay! Well done Penny!! It did create a whole new thing of her not wanting her nappy on for bedtime now, but we'll find a way through that one ;o)
All on all a happy day and an eventful day :oD (having said that, when are my days not eventful?) ;o)