ice, ice (baby) lolly

It's been so hot lately!  I'm a big fan of blue skies, but not so much of hot hotness usually.  This year, however, I just can't get enough of it, probably because it is so much easier to entertain a toddler in the park than it is at home.  We've been having many meals in the park, including picnics that last way past Dulcie's bedtime.  It's great - she runs around, chasing squirrels and playing with her toys, while Graham and I lounge around on a blanket eating tasty food and drinking sparkling wine, plus when we get home there are no dishes to do and Dulcie is too tired to put up any fight about going to bed.  It also feels more like we've had some real time together as a family, rather than spending the evenings we do have on baths and settling routines.  Win-win-win and long may it continue!

A few months ago, I whizzed up some fruit with the blender (banana, peach and pineapple maybe?) and poured it into ice lolly moulds for Dulcie.  They hadn't been all that enthusastically received (I was generally recycling the uneaten melted lollies into her breakfast porridge the following morning) but suddenly she seems to have grasped the idea of them.  I don't know if it's because she's a wee bit older and finds it easier to hold onto the handle, lick, bite etc, or if it is just because they come as a welcome relief from the heat, but suddenly my home-made ice lollies are going down a treat.  Hoorah!

In other sunny news... This morning I discovered a very noticable red stain on my nice white blouse (probably a remnant of Dulcie's strawberry eating in the park) which no amount of wiping would remove, but I sat in the sun-soaked car park at work in my lunch break and that stain miraculously came right out, just by the power of the sun!  Wowsers!  Isn't summer great?