Monday, March 28, 2005

Easter and Hayley's Party Trick

Hayley on route to the Pike

Over Easter we walked up Rivington Pike on Good Friday and went to my Mum’s annual Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday. The walk up Rivington on Good Friday is a Lancashire tradition. It is also said to bring good luck if you touch all 4 sides of the pike when you reach the top. (So we did. Well it couldn’t do any harm could it.) Hayley walked up from the highest car park while I rode up the hill from further down, catching up to her near the top.

Hayley reaches the summit

Behind the hill there was an assortment of stalls, mostly selling food and some with coconut shys and other games offering the chance to win cuddly toys. We had several attempt to win a giant Tigger but without success. We then enjoyed a plate of noodles with vegetables before strolling back down in the sunshine.

Hayley enjoying her noodles

There are more pictures from our Good Friday walk here.

The Easter Egg hunt was good fun too. Hayley spent a large part of the afternoon entertaining the 6 - 10 year olds who were in danger doing damage through their keenness to play hide and seek in my Mum’s house. So Hayley pulled off one of her best tricks. She told them she had a game that she thought would be MUCH too hard for them. She then pointed out that two of the kids - the noisiest two – would almost certainly not be able to play it. By this point all the kids were desperate to know what this game was!

“Well”, she said. “When I say ‘Go’, you all have to be completely silent!” At this point I always expect them to suss her out, but they never do. They are allowed to make each other laugh but not to touch each other in the process. They then proceed to silently pull faces at each other. This game can go on for some time and I have to say that in a room full of very rowdy kids Hayley seems like a miracle worker when she gets them to play it for half an hour or so.