bye bye flutterbye

This morning we had our Messy Church - a "messy picnic". It was loads of fun and surprisingly busy. We had around 50 children plus their parents turn up, which we were surprised about as it's the summer holidays and boiling hot too. It went well I think, and the mini pinks were ace, letting me get on with "doing" while they "did" their bits. I managed to catch up with them a couple of times when my table was quiet and Miss Pink and I made a pasta necklace together. I do always feel quite torn at these things, but I think it's more "mummy" guilt than anything as the mini pinks generally just get on with it now.
We came home and went straight in the garden to release our butterfly babies. It was rather sad to say goodbye to them, but at the same time beautiful to watch them fly away into the blue sky and sunshine. The first five came out of the butterfly pavilion quite quickly, but the others took a while, especially the one pictured. He/she seemed very happy to sit with us for a while and pose for photos. Eventually he flew away but not before everyone had had a chance to let him creep on to their little fingers. I would highly recommend doing this experiment with your own children, my two have loved every bit of it and so have I.
When the butterflies had fluttered away the mini pinks and my Godsons had some splash time in the paddling pools. Godson 1 stayed for a bit so that Godson 2 and 3 could go to Gymnastics. Cue lots of water play, and splashing and a wet me! Miss Pink and I made a rainbow fish left over from messy church this morning and then we settled down for the evening.... and I started sewing!