Henley

Today was the day of our annual Henley picnic. Last year - for the first time in twenty two years - we postponed due to bad weather so it was so good to get back today. Back to our routine!!!
Along with Mrs S and Mr C (Auntie S and Uncle C to the Little Misses), Mr M (Uncle M!) Nana and Papa.
And the Elvises (Elvi?!!) who have crooned their way up and down the river for as long as I can remember!
Not much has changed since we last time we went in 2013 (Or the year before that!!) Nana, Papa and Uncle C have lost a lot of weight and the Little Misses have grown a bit taller.
The gazebo is still standing and the flag still flutters over the excessively huge picnic!!
Miss L had a party at the Splashzone at Gullivers first thing this morning. Mr K was on party duty while I took Miss E to her swimming lesson.
Miss L had a fabulous time by the sounds of it. Miss E whinged and cried about having to go swimming but cheered up when we went for tea and croissants afterwards!
At home I boiled eggs, cooked sausages, couscous and lamb koftas. It was all packed along with beer, squash, tortillas, dips, strawberries, coleslaw and pork pies and we headed to Henley for an afternoon of sitting in the sun gluttony!
The Little Misses made a few friends immediately and spent hours playing tag and rugby and hide and seek. It was lovely to see the next generation of Henley goers! 
Later in the evening we had a hideous five minutes searching for a disappeared Miss L. She and Miss E were playing hide and seek and we hadn't noticed that she'd gone to the far end of the field - 300 yards away - and hidden behind the merry-go-round. We looked nearby, went back to the cars, headed to the river....... 
I was just starting to hyperventilate and scream her name when I saw her. I probably aged about ten years! The thoughts you have - I'm never going to see her again, how could we be so stupid and neglectful to let her out of our sight, how am I going to tell people she's disappeared, we'll be like the McCanns; April Jones' family....... Horrific.
But she was fine. Miffed that her hiding place had been given away to Miss E. I tried to explain why we'd been so worried but what do you say to a five year old?
Another beer and some of Mr M's fabulous Badger cake and all was well.
Although we kept a beady eye on the Little Misses!!
By the time we left we were all very full and very tired. 
Some of us were filthy and covered in suncream, mud, grass and chocolate!!
Despite their protestations that they weren't tired the Little Misses were asleep by Oxford!
I was asleep ten minutes after we got home!
A fabulous day.