"The best campfire in the world"

After joyously receiving a huge bundle of gluten-free marshmallows from Grandma Susan when she visited us in June, Eli has been chomping at the bit to toast some on a fire. He also recently saw marshmallow toasting on a Shaun the Sheep episode too, so he's been suggesting this activity for a while now. In fact, Eli has been so keen that he's developed his own ideas on how this should happen. His plan has simply been that we should invite Ethan (his best friend from daycare) and a few other friends around and have a campfire in our backyard to toast some marshmallows. As appealing as that idea sounds, it is not only illegal, but the idea of me trying to prevent third degree burns across a diverse bunch of hyperactive four year old pyromaniacs isn't my idea of a fun afternoon....so, I've been trying to think of alternative approach. After a bit of research I eventually decided that a visit to JC Slaughter Falls - a picnic area near Mt Coot-tha that has wood-fired barbeques - might be just the ticket. When Eli heard this news he thought it was a great idea, so off we went for a bbq lunch with a marshmallow dessert.

The first highlight of the day for Eli was the fire (like a moth to a flame). This is the first time that Eli has been around a fire - let alone helped start and feed one - and he loved it! I'm sure that his enthusiasm rubbed off on me, because it wasn't long before we had a raging fire going and Eli proudly declared "This is the best campfire in the world!". Although comments like this go some way towards supporting my decision of not letting him near any fires until now, I must say that Eli did a really good job around the fire and he was cleverly cautious in that he'd ask me to throw the various bits of plant material that he'd scavenged onto the fire!



After a quick bbq sausage for lunch (Eli didn't eat much because he was much more interested in dessert), we grabbed some sticks, skewered our marshmallows and toasted them over the hot coals...



And here's a series of photos of Eli inspecting and taste-testing the end product...



I think he liked it.