It all started with Cats, and ended in Owls. Here's Non and 'Mr Love', as she's christened this hairy little gourd of fat and indolence. (He was generally referred to previously as something like 'not Mislav' because he looks like a previous cat called... Mislav. To her it sounded like Mr Love. Everyone thinks it's vastly appropriate.)
Eariler on, she was delighted to wake up and find ALL FIVE felines at breakfast outside. This rarely happens, hence the eyebrows.
Later, after our morning work (she's doing marvellously at long multiplication at the moment, and I've been able to download a new Magic Pony Carousel book for her onto my Kindle, which is going down a storm), we went out to Park Maksimir. The destination was the kiddie's playground but here's a 'view' shot. Lots of woods and a couple of ponds. Some grass. Quite a bit of mud, too, actually.
Always hang your children for a sufficient time in the open air to ensure maximum flavour.
This one's just the for Whale.
'Boo.'
Unlike the last one, this was actually quite scary. Besides, who would have thought land snails would get so big.
In the evening we had the 'Owl Party'. Let me explain. Yesterday we had 'Cat Party'. (You'll have to wait to hear about that in another installement. The Owl Party was planned out into activities and games – my Lara. She wrote out a list, thusly:
Party Games for Owl Party
1. Pin the tail on the cat. (Luckily, this was on a drawing, not in real life. Cat had a nice smiley face.)
2. Catch the Mouse. (Lara was the mouse, Deda was the cat/owl. Lara appears, somehow, to have won, though I didn't actually witness this one.)
3. Silent Flying. Flapping wings for about 3 minutes and (in Lara's case) running round and round in small circles. Baka and I participated while reclining on sofas. I was 'out' almost immediately on an inadvertent squawk. Baka held in there for a fair time but finally got desperate when she had to ask whether farting counted as a breach of policy. (Turns out it does.) So Lara won.
4. Long Distance Flying. This involves getting a stuffed owl each (yes, there were enough to go around) and throwing them as far across the room as possible. Mine somehow managed to go round the corner, through the hall and into the kitchen, so I won that one.
5. Eating Insects Competition. We got a 'catapillar' (a.k.a. jelly baby) each and had to eat it as quickly as possible... with the slightly dubious proviso that everyone promises not to choke. Luckily, both Baka and I had huge trouble getting through ours so Lara won by a mile.
6. Hide-And-Seek. Although an Owl party, this was remarkably similar to the human version. I think I scared the begeebies out of Baka when she discovered me hiding behind the hanging clothes in the boiler room. Glad wasn't waiting to be discovered for too long.
7. Teach the Chick to Fly. Involves throwing a stuffed 'angry bird' toy into the air for as many time as one can without dropping it on the catch. Lara managed 41 throws. No-one else came even close, so to her great delight, she won again.
After this, there was a bit of a hiatus before dinner while she did some beading and general cat-stroking, and just before dinner there was a 'presentation' to the Overall Winner of the Owl Party. I printed out a certificate and Baka donated the Prize of a Pooh Bear toy (chosen in accordance of the top Lara happened to be wearing on the day.) Everyone was assembled and we did the announcement and presentation in the style of the Houses of Parliament on a particularly unruly day. My throat was quite hoarse afterwards, and I believe several spoons got bent from being bashed too hard on the table for the 'hear hears'. It all sent her quite wild with excitement.
The final revelation is that apple crumble is now 'in' with Lara. 'In' in every sense, from the portions she had both at lunch and at dinner. No cream of course, but still. Something other than biscuits, chocolate or jelly that she can have for dessert.
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