I was skeptical when my husband said that Greenbelt with our 9 month old baby would be FUN. Steve is an eternal optimist and I a skeptic. Having been a part of some of Steve’s “fun” activities…I laughed off his latest suggestion with a dismissive wave and thought “camping with a baby?? Ridiculous!”

So what do you think? Friday found us scrambling for a train at Paddington after our direct train to Cheltenham was cancelled at the last minute. We weaved in and out with a heavily laden buggy full of supplies along with a suitcase and two bags all to no avail. The replacement trains were full of redirected people trying to keep to their bank holiday schedules in a rash of last minute cancellations. After some help from twitter and a few hours we finally arrived at our destination.

Some lovely friends who were driving had agreed to bring the heavier of our items to Greenbelt for us so we could manage on the train with the baby. We took Baby Flapjack out of the buggy and used it to transport the heaviest of our gear across the racecourse, while the baby rode in his Bjorn carrier. All thoughts of “why are we doing this” was replaced by joy at watching the baby’s total delight at being here. He was cooing and waving, laughing and squealing at all the delights that lay before him. It was dusk as we arrived and the animated figures moving in and out of lights and shadows was quite a sight to behold. There’s such a feeling of goodwill in the air at Greenbelt; that anything is possible with so many lovely people in one area and Baby Flapjack seemed to be well feeling it.

Yes, the nights have been a bit cold and at times in our excitement we’ve forgotten to give Baby Flapjack his lunch or dinner..but he always lets us know we’re being losers, and we always promise to try to remember for next time. So my advice is bring your babies to Greenbelt, it may be a bit of a faff getting here, but it’s an experience that none of you should miss. Even if you just sit at the tiny tea tent and hold court, you’ll be the better for it!