Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...

It's just about as far away as you can get from the daily commute. Yesterday morning, all four Martini children, accompanied by our ever diligent nanny and my good self, piled into the car to head to Garsons Farm in Esher for some summer activities. Waiting on a train platform for a South West Trains train to arrive this is not.

We were met in the car park by several other members of Mum's Army, all parking up their impossibly large vehicles and wrestling with state of the art buggies that are as difficult to get upright as trying to figure out how you lift the bonnet of the car - although why you'd ever attempt that is beyond me. 

Multiple calls of 'Henrietta, not that way' and 'Sebastian, stay close to mummy' ring out, accompanied mainly by the sound of children demanding to get to the play area/cafe - delete as appropriate. I'm not quite sure what new world I've entered into, but I definitely don't feel at home. 

However, despite my initial hesitation, I have to admit this was great fun. Cake decorating resulted in significant mess - but ultimately some beautiful cakes (okay, I'm biased - see the one on the left - Middle Martini set herself the challenge of decorating the cake so much it wasn't actually visible any more...) and the enjoyment the kids got from it almost brought tears to my eyes. Don't worry, I haven't gone soft - I said 'almost'.

And the fruit picking - or more accurately, sweetcorn picking - was very enjoyable. The kids had almost free reign to run around the crops attempting to find the ones with 'brown beards' (Garson's description on what to look for, not mine) and they loved it. And, I'll admit it, I had good fun too. Making sweetcorn chutney, amongst other delights, is on the cards later this week. It'll have to be - we have enough sweetcorn to sink a ship. 

I may only be doing this for six months, but maternity leave is looking like it might just suit me - for a while at least.