Hatty is eight. I've never seen so much cake, nor imagined it could bring such joy. The rest of the food - including a wonderful leg of spiced lamb - was scavenged by hordes of adults and hulking teenagers. I couldn't get a lens in edgeways.
Sutton School of Gymnastics held it's 1st birthday gala yesterday - birthday on account of it being one year since it moved into dedicated four-storey premises in a vacant industrial unit in Willow Lane Business Park, in Mitcham. Quite remarkable what the club has achieved since that long-awaited move, fitting out two gyms, with a third on the way. Proper facilities, no longer sharing cramped space in a school hall as it has done for years. It's a different world now, gymnastics - children engaged at many different levels to suit their ability, competing regularly against appropriately skilled opposition and branching out into freestyle, display teams etc. What I really like is the emphasis that Sutton puts on performance and the high expectations of the club, regardless of age or ability. The girls were both shredded with nerves over their performances yesterday - because they had a part in the gala, as did just about every club member.
Still early days for Hatty - but she will have got oodles from the experience. Abby is beginning to show a temperament and sense of performance, a desire to execute perfectly and with grace that I haven't seen in her before. No longer just a 'child that does gym club'. Seems only last week I was tickling her whilst changing her nappy. Ho hum. Abby cooked a rather nice dinner. And - Surprise! - Hatty made... a chocolate cake. With chocolate icing! Cream! And more cream!
I blame Mary Berry and those twonks from Masterchef, soliciting the worship of a nation of obese children... I'm not sure why I set out on a path of 6-monthly tranches of photos of the girls. Because I only ever seem to manage to actually do an update once a year, which means the extra effort of a twofer every time. Ho hum.
Still... that's it done for 2013 - Abby's two tranches of updates are linked from here, Hatty's updates likewise. And here, just to add a bit of colour, is a picture of the two of them, entitled 'Why Tim can never get into the bathroom...'. |
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March 2020
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