Little soldiers

 Here's Thomas, in the lead. He then agreed to take up the rear position after I explained that often the commander is behind the troops, watching the battle as it unfolds. (I admit that I have no evidence for this, but it worked.) Besides, I said, it's important to make certain that none of the troops are left behind. Thomas took this responsibility seriously, mostly. 

 

 

 Then we stopped--they wanted to sit on the bench. I agreed, with the proviso that they let me take photos of them all together. Iain usually resists having his picture taken, so this was significant. They were keen to have Lucy join them, too: I took her out of the baby Bjorn and let Thomas hold her. They are not ideal subjects, and I am not a great photographer, but we managed to get a couple of shots of everyone...though not all facing the camera!

 

Our shining moment as a corps was an incident of real teamwork. I couldn't take a photo, as we were all involved: Anna tripped and ended up with a Wellington boot full of water. The ground was saturated, so she couldn't sit down to take the boot off. Iain and I helped her to stand on one foot (which she can do, but not certainly enough or for long enough to get a boot off) while Thomas removed the boot, emptied the water, and replaced the boot.

If you can't understand why this is remarkable, you should spend a day with these children sometime. They're lovely, but working together in an organised fashion is not their strong suit. I was amazed, and so proud of them. We walked and played together; I had to be 'private mummy' for the afternoon. Well, a private whose job was keeping the officers in line. But the officers were good, and the rest of the troops (that's Anna, Lucy, and me) obeyed orders. So I think we won, if that was the goal. Win or lose, we had fun, and gave daddy a quiet living room in which to nap. 

I'm glad the kids had fun. At one point along the way, I thought to myself, 'they might actually remember this when they're grown.'

I rather hope they do.