I like to think that between us me and Beccy can offer a fantastic pseudo Aunt and Uncle, rent-a-fun™ setup. By this I mean that there is some real truth in the whole “Children are fantastic, especially when you can give them back” idea.

We only offer our rent-a-funâ„¢ service to our very good friends, their little boy is a real treasure, no bother at all. So occasionally we take him on all kinds of adventures (usually a zoo, theme park or local attraction).

Today we had organised to go on a Picnic to the local park followed by a look around the infamous Butterfly House. Sam had brought his A game interpreting the picnic to involve teddy bears and had packed enough friends for any eventuality.

Beccy was also taking the whole event rather seriously sporting what can only be described as a pro picnic rucksack. I searched for sometime looking for where the USB 2.0 was to no avail; it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a feature! Fair play though, this was no different to me taking my ipod, Ixus and Nokia everywhere with me, a simply different kind of resource.

The park was packed full of people who had decided it was actually hotter than it was and people who thought it was civilised to drink larger from the can in a public place. Two weddings in the memorial meant that the place was full of well dressed guests and Bride / Groom pairings. We had to chuckle at getting in a few shots.

Once inside the Butterfly house there was all kinds of little things to make your skin crawl. Sam immediately pointed out these two Stick Insects “having a piggy back”, I’m not entirely convinced that was the case, but you know, how do you explain stick love to a four year old? “Maybe she’s tired” I said.

Now, I don’t really rate myself as a photographer but I did particularly like this shot, even though the damn thing had made a b line to sit inside my mouth, not good. £8 for 15 minutes of fun, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

One of the main things me and Sam have in common is our love for animated films. Over the past couple of weeks I think we have watched Toy story around half a dozen times. Unbelievable to think when the original film was released he was not even born. His mum recently bought him a pull string Woody, they are inseparable, his dad has even carved his name into Woody’s boot like the film. This love of Pixar has led Sam to dig out his Disney soundtrack which we then listen to on every journey. In particular we sing the Toy Story theme tune “you’ve got a friend” . I just have to share it with you, its 100% feel good. Enjoy.