It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day in Sylvania . Some of the mammies decided to take the babies and younger children to Primrose Park while the older children were at school. They decided to take the bus. They waited patiently for the bus to come. The wee ones got really excited as the bus stopped and let them on. Emma, Alice and Teddy sang the ‘wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round’ at the top of their little voices. Monty waved furiously at everyone passing by. Hetty didn’t like the bus. She kept crying and saying that she was going to get sick. As usual, Sean slept through the noise. At last they arrived! Hetty felt a lot better once the bus stopped and they got off. They were all very happy and full of energy (except Sean who was still asleep).

Barbara Dale decided to bring Emma, Shona and Sean to the play hill first. The hill was Emma’s very favorite place. She really loved the train, specially, if she got to be the driver. Barbara had to carry Sean because he was still asleep. When they got to the hill Sean was put in the rocking basket and covered with a blanket.

Emma ran to the train. She was upset when she found Alice and Mo already there about to get on the train. Mo got on first, she was going to be the driver. She was soon followed by Alice . Chugga, chugga, choo choo they shouted as they rode along.

Emma was grumpy because she had to get in the back. ‘It is too small for me’ she moaned ‘I won’t fit in and I am not fat in case you think I am – it’s just very small’. Emma had to stand. Barbara saw Lou standing in the back of the train. ‘Lou, what are you doing? That is not for children! It is for carrying their toys’. Emma went red in the face. Oh dear it wasn’t a great start to her play time. ‘I think I will go pick some apples’ she said sheepishly.

Meanwhile Lettuce Snow-Warren brought Connor and Kerri over to the big hot air balloon. ‘Let’s go for a ride’ Kerri pleaded. Lettuce lifted her up. She was delighted. ‘I am up high in the sky, going round and round... I am floating up high in the sky’ sang Kerri as the balloon gently moved. ‘I wanna go clouds’ whispered Connor. Just then a big gust of wind blew Kerri around and around. ‘ Ahhhhhhhhhh ’ she screamed ‘help! me frightened’. She was terrified ‘Mama help’ she kept calling. Lettuce jumped and jumped but she could not reach Kerri so she called Mo and Monty’s Mum Heidi and asked her to help. She told her to lie down so she could climb on top of her so she could reach Kerri. But Heidi said she would climb on Lettuce’s shoulders and lift Kerry out. Together they rescued her. Lettuce saw a sweet stall near by and decided she would cheer Kerri up by getting her a treat. She brought Kerri and Connor to the sweet stall. They picked a teddy lollipop each.

Barbara was next in the queue. Emma picked Candy Eruption powder. She emptied a whole packet into her mouth. Fizz, pop, gurgle, bang went Emma as she flew up into the sky. ‘ Weeeeeee ’ she screamed. Barbara looked shocked. ‘My daughter is flying’ shrieked Barbara. Just then there was an almighty thump as Emma fell back to earth. ‘Mammy, I didn’t think this stuff made you explode up to the sky’. ‘Emma, you are not supposed to put the whole packet in your mouth’ replied Barbara ‘next time, take a little bit at a time’. ‘No, I’ll never pick that stuff again’ cried Emma.

Back at the windmill, teddy was playing alone in the kitchen. Teddy loved the kitchen and pretended to make himself breakfast. He took his lunch from his backpack and put it on the plate. ‘Ah’ he signed ‘breakfast at last’ and he sat down. But just as he was about to tuck into a big chunk of corn he heard his mum call ‘Teddy, come here a minute’. Teddy left the windmill and went to his mum. ‘What do you want’ he asked. ‘You will have no food left for our party picnic’ said Lauren. ‘But its my breakfast and it is all set on the table’ moaned Teddy. ‘Teddy, don’t you dare take a bite out of that lunch, Hetty go with him’ instructed Lauren. Teddy returned to the windmill with his sister Hetty and Alice Snow-Warren. They went inside. He scratched his head ‘somebody has been sitting in my chair!’. He ran to the table and cried ‘and that somebody has taken a big bite out of my corn’. ‘Oh, I am going to be in big trouble’ cried Teddy with big tears in his eyes. ‘We have to find out who was here’ said Alice . Then they thought they heard a noise upstairs. They went upstairs in the hot air balloon. There, in the bed, was Monty snoring away. They sneaked over to the bed and looked closely at Monty. Yes! There was yellow around his mouth! It must have been Monty who ate the corn. Just then, he woke with a fright, there was two angry bears looking down at him. ‘I am s-s-sorry’ he stuttered ‘I didn’t know it was yours’. ‘It is ok’ said Hetty ‘just tell our mum you ate the corn so Teddy doesn’t get into trouble’. Teddy cheered up but Monty looked worried as he got out of the bed. They all ran to Lauren. Monty told her that he had eaten the corn. Lauren said ‘its ok Monty, you are very good for telling the truth’.

All the friends were happy again. Teddy was especially happy when the mums called all the children together for the picnic party. There was a mad scramble as everyone ran to the table for a seat. Oh dear, there was not enough seats. Poor Emma had to stand again! Emma remembered her mistake, standing in the train when there were no seats left. She wasn’t going to make a mistake this time. ‘Mammy, can I sit on your lap?’ she asked Barbara. ‘Sure, come on over, bring your plate with you’. There \ was lots of food and even fizzy lemonade as a special treat. As Emma took a big sip she heard ‘fizz, pop, gurgle, bang’. Panic broke out on her face! Oh no, not again. But her feet stayed firmly on the ground this time.

The picnic ended and so did the trip to Primrose Park . It was time to return home. The older children would be coming home from school soon. Just then as they were about to go to the bus stop Barbara remembered Sean. He was still asleep in the rocking basket! She dashed back and got him just as the bus arrived. They all got on quickly. Alice managed to bounce all the way up to the top of the bus and got the front seat ‘HURRAY’ she screamed. It was a quite journey home. The children were too tired to sing. Emma put her head on Barbara’s lap and Teddy and Hetty both fell asleep in their mammy’s arms. They arrived back in the village as the older children were leaving St. John’s school. THE-END.