FYI, the largest hat is mine…

Over the weekend, we had the pleasure of getting the second stretch of clear blue skies this year, and yesterday we all went out to Hatfield House for a picnic to celebrate.

My family in the sun is very odd. As children, my overprotective mother used to wrap us up in long sleeves, lather sun cream (the stuff you got in the ’90s which didn’t blend in) on us, and stick white hats on us. The photos are fairly amusing, I must say. Thankfully our tastes and styles for dressing up in the sun have evolved in different directions. Perhaps not so thankfully, we’ve all gone to different extremes, meaning that when we go out together… well, I wonder what people think sometimes.

Dad and I love the sun and the heat. For me, any amount of warmth is sufficient and I’m quite happy in extreme heat, but he has to have it just right. Over here we don’t usually have to worry about really high temperatures, but at this time of year, the sun just isn’t quite hot enough to parallel his childhood New Zealand temperatures, so he gets decked out in full summer clothing, panama hat and a jumper. Not quite in the true summer spirit.

I however, at the risk of getting burnt, wear as little as possible . Yesterday I was out wearing a vest top, shorts and flip-flops. Oh, and since Mum insisted, this hat.

My sister and mother, on the other hand, are both terrified of getting burnt and dislike extreme heat, and so dress up in long, flowing clothes. Mum is slightly less extreme, usually just with a long sleeved top, floaty skirt and sandals, but Lizzy insisted on the second largest hat in the house, long, flowing trousers, a short sleeved top and her sarong folded in half and tied around her neck like a cape “to protect her arms”. She also brought a million and one different types of sun cream and vaseline, and tied a bottle of water around her waist. I wish I’d taken photos.

Nobody else out yesterday looked quite like any of us…

Tags: clothes, dad, mother, sister, summer