Excited

18months 22 days (I'll admit it - they're nearly 19months)

A lovely time at softplay this morning, Katie was delighted to wake up just before and find Ava arriving too. They had a mammoth snack time, along with half of the soft play group, before charging back off to hurl themselves down the slide, pinch bangles, roll blocks. And push shoes around the room.

It was time then for big girl gymnastics class! I was surprised to walk to it realising i had butterflies for the girlies. They did so so well, especially as its at a nearly naptime time, and is longer than the baby class. But they got totally stuck in. Katie loved a raised balance bench that led to a platform for jumping off and repeatedly went round that bit, insisting on doing it on her own and skipping the rest of that circuit of apparatus to keep coming back to it. They do some lovely dance bits, lots more structure, I think its going to be good for Katie. She did tell me off several times though - I'd not put her gymnastics tshirt on and she kept running up to children with theirs on, pointing at them, then tugging at her pink one, in disgust! Both girls ate their dinner after and were looking very floppy!

After gymnastics we headed to Scarborough, it was Aunty Sheila's funeral. My parents went to the commital at the crematorium, whilst Katie and I went for a walk round the cemetary. I went to say hello to my grandparents, and Katie looked at lots of pretties - although she was unimpressed to not be with her grandparents and was delighted to rejoin them. We then all went to the service of celebration of her life, at her church. It was a wonderful service. A perfect tribute and goodbye to her. It was also great to have done the "sad" goodbye, to not have a casket there, it meant people could focus more on the celebration of what an incredible woman she was. Katie was really good, I took her out during the prayers and tribute, but I could hear them still without eorrying about her chattering. The bit that I found most moving was talking to Aunty Sheila's daughter (Aunty Sheila is actually a cousin, but I was raised to call her Aunty,due to age difference). Dawn was saying she'd had a call from her dad asking which he should cook first, the potatoes or the brocolli and for how long. These two people had been together since 1959. Its hard to imagine.

After a spot of afternoon tea, we left the church and went back to Grandad and Granny's. Katie was extremely pleased and rather animated. She was chattering like crazy - Grandad said she was making up for the being quiet, and it really seemed to be so!