Wet wet wet wet wet!

We would be outdoors for most of the day right now, except that the terrible storms haven't passed yet and the garden is soaking. It isn't that we are staying in, after all as I have had said to me as long as I can remember - "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." Jenna has her rain coat on and wellies and non-demin trousers and her brolly and off we go! Just not to play in the garden so much!

The problem is the toys are wet, the swing is wet, the grass is slippery, and all of the lovely nature we would like to be looking at is so drenched it is either hiding out or too damp to play in (the long grass and wild flowers at the back of the garden are a case in point - even top to toe waterproofs would get water inside them from that lot). Wellingtons, as I'm sure many parents have thought often, are less helpful for jumping in puddles than, say, waders. Jenna could certainly do with a pair.

I'm looking forward to some sunshine, as although my plants are enjoying the drinks I would like to get to do some den building and the like. We also have a new swing coming to replace the one with the broken seat, and it's a double frame too so that both girls can swing at the same time. I?m buying some lovely wooden seats from www.spiritofnature.co.uk and www.thebabycatalogue.co.uk too, a nice wide perch for Jenna and a fabric baby seat with wooden bars for Morgan, respectively.

We have a small trampoline, a gift from grandparents, and some of the usual things like footballs and hula hoops ("I need my hoopa-hoop mummy!") and of course Jenna's trusty wooden trike. The best garden toy though, is a large pink double bed sheet that I split down the seams. This gets pegged with the middle seam over the washing line and weighted at both ends to make a huge play tent. Eventually I hope to make the truly best den of all, a living willow structure at the end of the garden behind all the plants, a truly perfect natural play space.