Katy's first picnic

On Thursday 30 April, Katy took Mama to her first picnic - the annual DMK picnic. This year it was at Inspiration Lake and it was the most perfect day ever. Sunny, not hot, dry. How lucky we were! The first picnic in March was cancelled because of a typhoon!

Everyone was very excited. We were determined not to be late and worried about missing the bus, so Tia and Naan started preparing the picnic feast the night before and everything was packed and ready very early! So much so that we had a very excited toddler on our hands an hour early! Lucky Naan took her out for a walk to burn off the energy...
It was funny, on the bus over there, many of the other toddlers were also weary and cranky and many fell asleep - they too had been up early and excited and waiting anxiously for the picnic!

By the time we got to the park, everyone perked up though - Jo Jo and Issy particularly liked the ride in the rickshaw thing. Katy gave Mama the fright of her life by running onto the road with a taxi approaching (slowly) in the distance. Katy got a fright too as there were a lot of parents and kids there and everyone went "ooh" very loudly. She was more embarrassed than anything though. And we spent a good few more minutes revising our crossing the road rules. She's normally so good at road safety but was so excited to meet up with Jo Jo that she forgot her road safety.
The first activity after we actually got to our picnic site was snacktime. Katy started off well, with a pack of cranberries...[but stay tuned...]
And she enjoyed very much playing with Jo Jo. They are quite a twosome.

Next was a ride in the paddleboats. Pa Pa would have been so proud. Katy and Jo Jo rushed in straight away to put on the life jackets and were rearing to go.
Once in, Katy was very sedate and sensible. She sat still and held on with her hands very calmly. She really enjoyed the ride. She almost fell asleep she was so relaxed. And she happily helped Auntie Adeline to scold Jo Jo for getting up and moving around too much!


Mama really enjoyed holding Katy's hand throughout the trip.
It was a lovely lake. Small and manmade with a huge fountain in the middle. Surprisingly, Katy refused when I offered to paddle over to the fountain to get her wet. She was definitely being very cautious with this new experience.
The kids were adorable in their life jackets.
There were huge koi in the lake, which followed the boats around in formation.
After the boat ride, we stopped for lunch. Tia had packed a smorgasboard feast of aloha chicken sticks, homemade tzatziki, tuna and corn sandwiches...but Katy refused to eat anything. She wanted to eat the very fast foody dim sum sold by the 7-11! Finally, Mama resorted to bribing Katy to eat one chicken stick in return for ice cream. We enjoyed sharing a Haagen Dazs caramel ice cream sandwich!

Then we went over to do some real picnic activities. We watched the clown with the bubbles for a bit. Then Katy found some bars to swing on (she loves to swing because she is a cheeky monkey).
And Jo Jo and Katy loved running up the hills and running back down. I tried to show her how to roll but no success yet. She enjoyed trying though! It was just so nice in Hong Kong to have lovely soft green clean grass to play on.





Jo Jo nd Katy did some train and plane spotting. The park is part of Disneyland and the Disney train runs past.


Then Katy decided she wanted to show off her belly button.

And Jo Jo decided he wanted to inspect.

Then hugs all round.
These two kids really share an affinity.
Finally we headed over to the playground. Well the best part of the day was there - a fountain for the kids to play in. Katy very quickly jumped in and Mama even more quickly rushed in to remove clothes. Next time we will bring a change of clothes and towel.









As the wind picked up, it got a bit colder and Katy was beautifully co-operative when Mama suggested that the best way to guarantee a return trip would be to help Mama get out of the fountain and get dressed.

She then decided she wanted to play on the playground.

And it took a little chasing to convince her to leave so we could get the bus. She really didn't want to go home! But again, she co-operated beautifully when Mama explained the score. I was so proud of Katy for her beautiful behaviour at the park. No whining, tantrums or fighting.

Of course, Katy and all the other kids fell asleep on the bus back home. Here are Adeline and Jo Jo at the bus stop. I took the photo from across the street on the way back to our home with a sleeping Katy slung over my shoulder!
We had such a wonderful time. Unfortunately, I was so worried about Katy being put down asleep that I woke her up too much getting her dressed for her nap. I think I was overconfident about her sleeping well after her big day! Well of course then she wouldn't go back down again, so she only got 30 minutes sleep and then screamed furiously for 20 minutes. Finally, Tia went in to sit with her for quiet time.

But the day wasn't over - in the afternoon, we went to Katy's classmate Qi Qi's place for our weekly putonghua playdate. Katy had a lot of fun - especially bouncing on the mattress and playing manicure and pedicure. She was great with sharing and helping, especially considering her lack of sleep!

Wow what an action packed day! A total blast!