Happiness is

A small girl, seeing her Grandad for the first time after he has had a week away. I realise we are spoilt having my parents so close by (5 minute walk away), but oh my, Little Fish loves her Grandad (who she calls Daddeeeeeee, always entertaining when we are at the supermarket together).

We go to the first service at church, which finishes at around a quarter to eleven. Mum and Dad go to the second service, starting at quarter past eleven. So we usually meet in the middle with church coffee (same as ordinary coffee, except that it is served in rather nasty green china cups with saucers just too small to hold a biscuit. Oh, and it's FairTrade.) and church biscuits (same as ordinary biscuits (unless GodZone have been busy), just slightly mauled by the hordes of small children hunting for the perfect, unblemished, chocolate digestive).

We have two services at church because the church itself is too small to hold the full congregation all at once. The church hall (where we have coffee) is smaller than the church itself. This makes for an interesting mix - two congregations, hordes of small children all newly released from Sunday School and needing to zoom, elderly ladies arriving for the second service needing space for zimmer frames and sticks, crowds of people, each of whom need to grab someone else to sort out something small but essential for housegroup, Brownies, midweek toddler group, whatever it happens to be. And large quantities of hot drinks. We have so far had no fatalities. At least not at coffee time.

So, it is in the middle of an extremely crowded room that Grannie and Grandad manage to sneak up on us. In an instant, Little Fish is transformed from small thing in a chair clutching me around the knees to whizzing, wheelying, squeaking Tigger of a child, throwing herself from side to side in her chair, unable to believe her eyes that DADDEEEEEEEEEEE is back. He's only been gone 9 days; I wonder how she'll cope next time they have a proper holiday? A problem for the future; for now DADDDEEEE is here and all is well with the world.

Oh and for utter ecstacy, have Grannie and Grandad call in unexpectedly in the afternoon and play games with the big red toy bus. "Daddeeeeee's cool" say Little Fish. Flip-top-head Mog agrees.

Tia