Letter from Knighton Park

Dear Tana and Leria,

Do you remember when I asked you about the places where I should take Pico and Rinda on their holiday in England? You both chorused in unison  TO  KNIGHTON PARK. Knighton Park is the park you have visited many times with YaYo and Nana when you have been on your holidays.

It is a lovely park. You can hear children giggling and laughing when they are climbing  on the equipment. You can hear mums  calling loudly to their children to remember to be careful, to hold on tight and not to fall down. You can hear dogs barking whilst their owners are whistling and  shouting their names. It's always busy at Knighton Park and everybody is having a good time.

I took Pico and Rinda to Knighton Park yesterday. Little Bear wanted to come as well.

Pico, Rinda and Little Bear played hide and seek on the climbing frame for a long time.

They slid down hundreds of times landing on top of each other and having great fun.

In a blink of a eye Pico scaled the rope and was waving to  us from up above.

They needed a little help to get the seesaw to rock up and down.
Can you guess why?

 Pico and Rinda were like spinning spiders on the climbing net and showed Little Bear how to hang upside down.  Little Bear didn't want to try that but he was very happy to sit at the top of the net with his friends.

 Pico, Rinda and Little Bear wanted to swing on all different kinds of swings in the park.

They went round and around on a roundabout for so long that afterwards they felt dizzy and for a while couldn't walk straight! I was a bit worried because they had such wobbly legs. Luckily they didn't feel sick.

 The little train in the park reminded Pico and Rinda of their journey to Madrid airport.  They told Little Bear that the pendolino shot through the tunnels faster than any car could travel on the road. 

Pico, Rinda and Little Bear sat on the engine and imagined that they were on the roof of a pendolino that was speeding through the countryside. Hold on tight they cried.

 Little Bear's favourite equipment was a crane.   He loved to ride up and down in the bucket. Little Bear is just the right size for crane rides. Pico and Rinda sat in the sand and looked on rather sadly. They would have liked to have a ride in the bucket as well!

Can you find Pico, Rinda and Little Bear?

 Pico, Rinda and Little Bear really really enjoyed their visit to Knighton Park. But they were SO tired. All the rides and slides and climbing  up and down wore them out.  They had no energy left to play at the adventure park on the other side of the path.

Therefore I promised to take them there  another day.

 On our way back to the car we stopped to watch people using the Outdoor Gym. Pico and Rinda told Little Bear that there is an Outdoor Gym in their village as well. 

Girls, I'm sure that next time you come to visit YaYo and Nana you will come to play in Knighton Park. I wonder if you have been playing outside today?

Next weekend Pico and Rinda are going on a trip to London. They are already excited because they will meet Patti The Blog Dog. I hope they will became good friends.

With love,

Auntie Merja, Pico, Rinda and Little Bear

New Friends

Pico and Rinda have got  three new friends who live temporarily in Aunty Merja's car. They are Little Bear, Middle Bear and Big Bear.

Once upon a time (that is a long time a go) the bears used to live in the middle of Misty Forest in their little wooden house. Oh dear, all those adventures in the Misty Forest House!  

When Aunty Merja is driving her little red car Little Bear, Middle Bear and Big Bear like to tell Pico and Rinda all about Misty Forest:

Little Bear began, - "One day when we came home I found a small girl sleeping in my bed. She had broken my chair and eaten all my porridge. The girl was called Goldilocks and she did naughty things.  When Goldilocks woke up and  saw me she became scared and ran away, - just like that. "

Little Bear tells Pico and Rinda that he would have liked to play with her.  Middle Bear says sadly,  that she would have liked to cook special honey porridge for her. And Big Bears says, that  he would have been happy to make a little princess' chair for her. Sadly Goldilocks never knew any of this, because she fled.

Big Bear wants to tell an other story, -" One day in Misty Forest we had  terrible trouble with an Ogre who was hiding under the bridge. The horrible Ogre wanted to eat a bear for his lunch. But luckily I was wiser than him and frightened him away.  "

Middle Bear goes on,- "In the middle of last winter we had  a very scary and  sad day. That was when the Big Bad Wolf blew our Misty Forest House down. OOPS! He had made a terrible mistake. He didn't know that the house belonged to us A BEAR FAMILY and not the house of the Three Little Pigs." 

It takes a long time for builders to build a new house. This is why the bears are driving around England and living in Aunty Merja's red car. 

"Misty Forest seems to be a very dangerous place to live",  - say Pico and Rinda.  "Oh No!" - shouts Little Bear - "It's the most beautiful place in the world. We love to live there and can't wait to get back to live in our new house and have more adventure." 

At YaYo's and Nana's House

  Pico and Rinda are very excited. They are going to visit a very special house and meet very special people. The house is number 129 and it's YaYo's and Nana's house.  The number plate is hidden behind a passion flower that is full of flowers and buds. 

 "They are like tiny fairy houses or cup cakes or stars or fireworks!" - said Pico.

  "Pico look! There's an empty bottle left beside the front door. Why is that?" - asked Rinda. 

"I don't know. I think it is something to do with milk. Tana told me but I can't remember." - answered Pico.

  Pico and Rinda knock on the door, but nobody comes to open it. They press the door bell, but nobody comes.   

Suddenly Pico and Rinda notice that the front door is a tiny bit open and give it a biiiig push. Now the door is wide open. The house looks very big and it's very quiet.

"They knew we were coming. NANAAA!  YaYoOOO!" - shout Pico and Rinda - but nobody comes to the door.  "Where are they?" - Pico and Rinda wonder.  "We need to find them!"

 "Lets see if YaYo and Nana are upstairs. Come on Rinda." - says Pico.  

"I'm not sure. Should we wait here?" - Rinda hesitates. "What about if this is not the right house?" - she continues a tiny bit scared.

"Don't be silly. Come on now!" - shouts Pico who is already almost at the top of the staircase.

Pico and Rinda don't find YaYo and Nana in the bathroom. 

But they find lots of  toys.

Pico and Rinda don't find YaYo and Nana in the children's bedroom. 

But they find lots of toys.

Can you find Pico and Rinda?

  
YaYo and Nana are not in the jug.

YaYo and Nana are not behind the curtain.

 At the top of the stairs lives  a wise old Bear who knows everything about everything.  Pico sits on her lap and says - "We can't find Nana and YaYo. We have been seeking them everywhere."

The wise old Bear smiles gently and says, -"Hmm. Do you really think you have been everywhere? I'll give you a little riddle to solve. Listen to it carefully and you will find YaYo and Nana. Forks and pots for flowers, flour for pots and forks. " 

Pico and Rinda  look at each other and repeat  slowly -"Forks and pots for flowers, flour for pots and forks." They say it a bit quicker starting to smile and jump in the air - "Forks and pots for flowers, flour for pots and forks."  Of course! Flowers in the garden and flour in the kitchen. Both YaYo and Nana are using pots and forks but one is in the kitchen and the other in the garden.

Pico and Rinda run downstairs and now it doesn't take long for them to find Nana in the kitchen.  She has been so busy in her kitchen that she hasn't heard them at the door.

Nana gives Pico and Rinda a kiss  saying - "You must be Pico and Rinda.  Tana and Leria have told me that you would be coming to see us. It's fantastic to see you!" 

She continues -"Look. I've made an apple cake for us. Go and tell YaYo that it is time for a cup of tea and a piece of cake. He is in ..." . "THE GARDEN!" - shout Rico and Rinda happily. "How did you know?" - asks Nana. But Pico and Rinda don't hear as they are already on their way. 

They find YaYo under a big lilac tree weeding and planting hyacinths. "Hola. Buenos Tardes. You must be Pico and Rinda." - says YaYo who can speak  a little Spanish. 

"Would you like to help me with these pots and forks?" - he asks.  It doesn't take long before all the hyacinth bulbs have found a new home in the ground under the lilac tree.

And it doesn't take long before there are only crumbs left on the  cake plate. It was the most delicious apple cake Pico and Rinda had ever tasted.  "Would you like to see all Tana's and Leria's toys?" - asks Nana.  Pico and Rinda look at each others and answer " Yes please!"

Song for September: Hakuna Mata

Pico and Rinda go on Holiday

Pico  and Rinda are asleep. They are very tired, very VERY tired indeed. They are so tired that they fell asleep before  their heads hit the pillow.

That has never happened before. Usually they want to listen to a story before they go to sleep - or  two stories or as many stories as an adult will read to them.  They are like Tana and Leria; all of them love to listen to a bedtime story or two.

Tonight Pico and Rinda are, in the land-of-nod, dreaming about the day that is just turning to night:

It was early morning in a small village in Spain. The  walls of the houses were radiating a special light but the air wasn't burning hot yet. The  light that comes from the rising sun  makes all colours in the village a bit deeper and  vibrant for a short moment before full day light comes.

Tana and Leria are still asleep but Pico and Rinda are fully awake. Aunty Merja invited them to come to England with her and both baby dolls are soooooooo excited.

Pico and Rinda have quietly popped in to Tana's and Leria's rooms and given them a kiss. "Thank you for letting us to have our very first holiday abroad. We will  miss you.  Be good for  Mummy and Daddy.  See you soon."

There are no aeroplanes to England from the village where Tana, Leria, Pico and Rinda live. There are no aeroplanes  to England even from the nearest town. The closest place where Aunty Merja, Pico and Rinda  can  find an aeroplane is at an airport in Madrid city.

Aunty Merja, Pico and Rinda needed to catch a train to Madrid. Luckily there is a brand new train station in the nearest town.The train that leaves from the station to Madrid is a special one; it is called pendolino.  

When they were looking through the windows, Pico and Rinda saw how trees, fields and  houses were wildly wheezing  past . They had butterflies in their tummies when the pendolino rocketed into the tunnels through the mountains on its way  to Madrid.

 " Oh. Look Rinda! Look! Can you see? We are traveling  at 250 km  an hour. That is fast. Isn't it?" - asked Pico.

" It is very fast. This train is moving forward faster than a car!" - answered Rinda.

Because pendolinos are such  super fast vehicles  it didn't take long before Aunty Merja, Pico and Rinda arrived to Barajas airport in Madrid.

   Pico and Rinda couldn't wait to see the plane that would carry them in the air to England. They waived to their luggage that smoothly disappeared behind the screen.  Aunty Merja lifted luggage  onto the conveyor belt beside the check-in desk. 

"We need to take a different route to get on the plane." - she explained. "That was the door for our luggage to be put on board. We need to find a door that is called a gate. Our gate is H4.  We are traveling to London Heathrow. That is Londres-HR in Spanish. Can you help me please?" 

"Of course we will!"

 Pico and Rinda turned restlessly under their soft duvet whilst they were asleep in Aunty Merja's guest bed. They  were both having a bad dream about the moment when Pico got lost at the airport.

There were many long corridors, lifts, escalators all packed with people at Bajaras airport.  Pico and Rinda had been a long time in Aunty Merja's hand bag looking impatiently around trying to see the plane that would take them to England. 

"Aunty Merja doesn't seem to know where our plane is. I want to help her.  I will be back shortly." - whispered Pico and jumped out of Aunty Merja's bag. 

"PICA! Come back at once!" - shouted Rinda but it was too late. Pica had already disappeared in the crowd.

 It took a long time for Aunty Merja and Rinda to find Pico. She was crying on the floor in a massive corridor. Rinda was happy and cross with her at the same time -"You silly na-na. What in earth you were doing?"

"Shhh. I know she just wanted to help. Pico dear - you need to remember that you must always be able to see us and we must always be able to see you. Particularly at the airport. " - said Aunty Merja.

"Have we missed the plane because of me?" - asked Pico.

"No we haven't. I think we have just about enough time to have a little snack before getting on board. What would you like?"- said Aunty Merja.

   

 

Rinda loved the taste of the salty bread sticks that she dipped in vinegar and oil.  Pico's favorite was a Spanish ham roll. Aunty Merja had some olives and  a piece of tortilla.

Rinda and Pico are again sleeping peacefully, a little smile on their faces dreaming about the rest of their journey to England.

 "Aunty Merja look. Look. There it says H4 and Londres-HR. This is our plane! We have found the gate door to the plane. " - Rinda and Pico shouted joyously. "And look. We can see our plane through the window. Look there. THERE!!"

 Rinda and Pico admired the colours of the plane. They were exactly same as in the flag of Spain: red and yellow.

 On the plane Pico and Rinda fastened their safety belts. When the plane took off they felt exactly the same feeling  in their tummy as when  the pendolino dashed through the tunnels.

Now they were on the plane that was sailing like the wind, even faster than pendolino. Pico and Rinda had lots of butterflies happily tickling inside their tummies.

It was a long journey but Pica and Rinda couldn't sleep. They were far too excited. During the flight they read a book with Aunty Merja, listened to  music and did some colouring. 

More than anything they liked  to peek through the plane window and see the mustard colored landscape of Spain, the blue sea of the Bay of Biscay and .......

 .... eventually a mat of green patchy fields of England!

 "Look at those planes Aunty Merja." - said Pica and Rinda at Heathrow airport in the city of London.  "We know; we know what those colours mean; Tana and Leria have told us. Red, blue and white are the colours in the flag of the United Kingdom."

Pica and Rinda had had a long day and they were feeling a bit tired now. They felt even more tired after a long drive in the car to  Auty Merja's home.

There they are, Pico and Rinda, in  bed sleeping and dreaming about the morning sun at home in Spain, their pendolino journey to Madrid, Pico's disappearance at the airport, delicious bread sticks and ham sandwiches, the plane journey high above the clouds and a long car drive to Aunty Merja's home.

"It was a real adventure. We have so much to tell Tana and Leria."  - they thought just before they fell asleep.

"Auntie Merja. Tana and Leria asked us to visit Ya-yo's house and Knighton Park and they said that ASDA is a really biiiig shop, and they talked about Patti the Dog and visiting the school and could we ...."

Pico  and Rinda are asleep. They are very tired, very VERY tired indeed. They are so tired that they fell asleep before  their heads hit the pillow.

-----
Tana and Leria, here is THE LINK to look at Pico's and Rinda's journey.