EMILY'S tooth came out at the weekend.

After weeks of hanging by a thread, the peggy fell out on Friday night.

There were tears from Emily -- she was going to miss wobbling it, she said. It had become her new toy.

We were spending the weekend with my parents in Kendal in the Lake District.

Joining us was Marvin the monkey. Let me explain. Every Friday, Emily's teacher awards two children either Eddie the elephant or Marvin the monkey to spend the weekend with them.

In return, the children must keep a diary of the exploits of the soft toys.

I picked Emily up from school on Friday afternoon and she ran out clutching a little red and white polka dot cardboard suitcase containing Marvin. A smile radiated from her face. I knew how much it meant to her.

That little suitcase barely left her hand all weekend. She spent the entire journey to Kendal locking and unlocking its clasp and checking Marvin was still inside.

But while Emily was enjoying having her new companion, Louise and I were under pressure to take photographs to paste into the diary.

Fortunately, with Emily's tooth coming out we had the first diary entry.

There was a slight panic from Emily when she realised the Tooth Fairy might not realise we were staying in Kendal -- would she know where to go?

Luckily she did, and coins were deposited under Emily's pillow (the Parents' Tooth Fairy Union finally agreeing to a settlement of £2 per tooth).

On Saturday we went to a farm in Kendal that has a play area and also a lovely cafe that sells the gorgeous ice cream made on the premises.

We traipsed up to the ruins of Kendal castle on Sunday morning. It's one of Emily's favourite places when we're visiting Grandma and Grandpa.

From the summit of Castle Hill you have a 360-degree view of Kendal, so we got some dramatic pictures of Emily and Marvin.

Back in Warrington on Sunday night, the diary had to be pulled together. I wrestled with our new printer to get the photographs printed, while Emily wrote the headers for the diary entries.

Marvin, meanwhile, didn't lift a finger.

An eventful weekend.