Indoor Picnic

2 Saturdays ago, my cousins Fio, Irene and I planned for an afternoon delight comprising a picnic nestled in the grounds of Botanic Gardens. Unfortunately, the torrential rains and dense moody cumulo nimbus of the gloomy monsoon season obliterated the merry sun rapidly by early afternoon, which led to all of us congregating at my home for an afternoon of indoor picnic instead! 

That might be a blessing in disguise because the grannies could chit chat and catch up with each other in airconditioned comfort, and the kids could have free access to all the Bees' toys. Of course, I miss playing in the verdant greenery of the lush Gardens, but let's leave that to the end of the monsoon, which is nigh!

Some highlights of that fun afternoon:

1) Gastronomical delights worth many high tea buffets, prepared lovingly by the 2 grannies and comprising of yummy takeaways by Irene! My mum created succulent "kong ba pao" which is a recipe that I am determined to master. Fio's mum cooked up a storm with fragrant yam rice and the most scrumptious stir-fried Chinese long beans. Irene brought along a myriad of mouthwatering nonya kuehs with juicy fruits from Fio. All of us were in seventh heaven just by stuffing our stomachs full of these goodies! Who needs hotel high tea buffets when we can have such homecooked delights? 

2) The 4 little cousins comprising the Bees, Chloe and Val whipping up imaginary culinary delicacies with the Bees' oft-neglected cooking toys. I guess company certainly makes the toys a lot more appealing, so all the little girls busied themselves with preparing a whole assortment of imaginary dishes! Big Bee is gradually losing interest in toys, plus she is straddling that delicate threshold between little childhood and tweenhood, so she hopped between chattering with the adults and patronising the little ones! She is a role model for the little ones though, especially Val, who will follow her every action! 

3) An early evening of intensive and messy bubble play - an abundance of iridescent soap bubbles shimmering in the heavy, post-rain shower atmosphere. The 4 little girls were drenched in soapy chaos but it was so evident that they revelled in this fun disorder! Running around chasing bubbles, scuttling around to burst these bubbles, laughters of pure delight and squeals of mirthful amazement. Wonder to the adults' hearts indeed. 

4) The finale definitely has to be 4 little girls - stark naked - with 3 of their flustered mummies all squashed in the confines of my bathroom's shower cubicle, showering after the messy bubble play - altogether!! The Bees were tickled beyond words and I wish I could take a picture of this delightful scene! 

5) A quiet evening of co-operative and peaceful playdoh between Little Bee, Chloe and Val at Little Bee's desk. It was so cute seeing them chatting in their little kid language to each other about the idiosynscracies of mushy playdoh! Big Bee, in the meantime, was well ensconced in her room, after a nice shower, re-reading her favourite Enchanted Wood series again :)

With the weather that seems to be embracing blue skies and the golden sun once more, I think our next outing should be amongst verdant giants. That is, after Big Bee's mid-year school assessments! Meanwhile, coaching and tutoring in the household continues...