Elfin Safety

Brilliant day with the Bandits, although it started far too early, when Arlo got up to go to the toilet at 6am.  He hopped in beside me, but instead of going back to sleep as he usually would, he was wide awake and wanted to get up.  His sister, thankfully, slept on until 7am. 

We play a lot of 'make-believe' games together, so to get them out for a walk with the dog I gave both of them one of the sticks I have collected on my own walks, and told them they were 'magic staffs'.  Immediately, Arlo assumed the role of 'King Julian', an Elf-King, and I was designated a Wizard, and Ida elected to be 'Princess Daisy Belle Cinderella Sleeping Beauty'! 

The story, which they devised between themselves, was that the Princess' beloved handsome Prince Derek (I have no idea where that came from!) had been kidnapped by an evil warlock called Ellagon, and we were off to find and rescue him.  On the way (to the local shop actually) Ida suddenly declaimed, "Oh no!  I have broken my leg!" . I pointed out that this would make our journey quite tricky, but she managed to maintain a wee limp from time to time when she remembered. 

The two of them ducked and dived, avoiding fire-breathing dragons and wicked Trolls, until eventually we arrived safely at the shop, and tied Rocky up outside while we went in.  The shop became Ellagon's castle, and luckily we were able to find out that Prince Derek had escaped, and returned home to our castle, where we would find him on our return. 

Back at the castle there was a great feast, of Ham and Pineapple pizza and chips, followed by hot chocolate, to celebrate our safe return and the marriage of Daisy Belle Cinderella Sleeping Beauty and Derek.  Magnanimously, King Julian allowed there to be an episode of Peppa Pig watched by the assembled multitude, although as soon as it was finished we had to move swiftly to find a Ninja Turtles to meet with Royal Approval!

God, they make me laugh!  Sometimes I literally have to walk out of rooms, sniggering under my breath, so they don't realise how funny they are. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon making Valentine Cards out of our Crafty Box of bits and pieces.  This masterpiece was a joint effort, with equal amounts of cutting and sticking done by each.  It's for Mummy and Daddy, but Arlo pointed out that they couldn't sign it, as it's supposed to be a secret who it comes from. 

His worried expression is because Ida (quite deliberately, to wind him up) was cutting a piece of paper ever smaller, getting closer and closer to her fingers with the scissors.  He was really concerned ("But Ida, I just don't want you to DIE!" , but she continued with an air of total disregard for health or safety, or in the case of an Elvish princess, Elfin safety.