Busy again..

Second day at OUP today doing the installations and seeing people. Has gone okay and thankfully the two temps working with me are on the ball and could deal with lots of the queries once shown. Typically, nearing the end of the pile we said how well it was going and then hit a purple patch of failures…nightmare! Mostly sorted and should be possible for John to finish them tomorrow. Just as well as I am out with another client training Communigator and Data Mining, thankfully only up the road in Deddington.

Came home and collapsed, it’s been hard work and as expected I then received an email from someone who’s testing the install and everything was wrong! That was hard to take, and very frustrating, it can be reversed but when you’ve been working your nuts off and it appears for no good reason then it’s a little disappointing to put it mildly. Something to sort out tomorrow then!

Everyone was in a good mood at home, Jack had William round and they were on the PC all night, they’re asleep on the sofa now as William is staying over the night. Jack made me laugh as he warned William that he (Jack) needs to get up at 7.00am to do his paper-round so is he(William) sure that he wants to stay the night?

Charlotte and Jack are delivering the Oxford Mail every day for this week only as they’re covering the usual lad’s Summer Holiday – it’s not good money but they do have anything else coming in so need anything that can come their way. Especially with St Giles Fair coming to town next week.

Lewis is off to a party tomorrow night with his girlfriend, Georgia, hopefully. She’s let him down a few times recently so it’s not definite that he’ll go I suspect. It does mean that there is a ticket free for me to go with the family to Stratford tomorrow to watch Macbeth. Haven’t seen that since I was at school, and even then that was at the Young Vic and was a modern adaptation of the play. Looking forward to it as it’s one of his better ones I reckon.

Finally, today is Transfer Deadline Day – it’s the day in the year when gossips and rumour-mongers have a field day texting into the BBC website all sorts of crap. It’s a bi-yearly event that grips everyone, but I must admit I forgot about it until getting home and then decided that the best thing to do is simply wait until the morning so that the actual transfers that took place can be reported – saves a lot of wasted time.

Anyway, another busy day tomorrow so best get to bed…

Lewis Exam Results, Bank Holiday & Work

Have been flat out with work at the minute so still haven’t got round to updating this blog with my holiday diary, it’s going to go all over the place when I do upload it. Ah well.

Have been installing databases all day today at OUP, went okay and got about 40 completed but it’s tough work when there is so many variables…admin privileges, passwords not provided, syncing not working, etc. It did mean that all the work I did yesterday, which was a Bank Holiday by the way, was worth it otherwise this really would have been a calamity. It was disappointing that I did have to work and I won’t say that I did. In the back of my mind though is the thought that it would have all been pointless as there is something that’s not going to be right and complained about next week when it’s released.

Aside from that weekend was nice. We treated Lewis to a night out for doing well in his exams, 4 A’s and the rest B’s so that was pleasing and they were all in his subjects that he wants to do for A-Levels so great result. We went to The Trout as the kids have been complaining we’ve lived in Wolvercote for 12 years and they’ve never been there. Lovely meal and a really nice evening with them all – they’re good fun.

We also went down to Canford Cliffs on Sunday for the day, took Brendan and again had a good time. Rained after a couple of hours of getting there which meant we gave up on the beach idea and wandered over to Bournemouth, got some chips and went back again and home.

Managed to squeeze Brendan into a wetsuit and he had a go and body-boarding – he did well.

Something odd happened when we parked, Charlotte opened the door and the window simply shattered, no hard pressure, or extremes of temperature. So that was hassle that we could have done without and it was just after we’d been saying that money-wise we were almost up straight and Florida hadn’t wiped us out…not good timing!

So, back to OUP tomorrow to complete the rest of the installations and deal with the problems that the changes Guy and I made have caused…

Florida Holiday – Day 17 - Friday 19th August 2011

Last Day..

We had the re-scheduled snorkelling to go to in the morning so we packed up the last of our things in the morning, checked out from the hotel and made our way over to the harbour.

The weather looked pretty good and there were a few people waiting, bang on time the captain came out and gave us the chat that we didn’t want to hear…we’d heard earlier in the week about jelly fish causing problems with previous excursions and sure enough, the captain told us they were out in force and we could cancel if we wanted to. He couldn’t confirm if there’d be loads or none and it was our choice. Out of 21 people waiting everyone agreed to go for it and see what happened

So we got our snorkelling gear…goggles, breathing tube and flippers and clambered aboard the catamaran that was going to take us out to the reef. Got there in about 45 minutes, other boats were there, just in the middle of nowhere at ‘Coffins Reef’ – sure enough, Purple Jellies were everywhere and floating past the boat. Everyone was wary of getting off and eventually a young German lad went for it and most other people soon followed suit.

I was about 5th into the water and once away from the jellies near us it was clear and no problem at all and Jack followed me and swam round me and then Lewis, Mum and Charlotte came in. Charlotte wasn’t keen, not surprised as it was rough out there and the constant worry of the jellies wasn’t too far away.

It was all worth it though, soon there were yellow fish everywhere and the views were brilliant, managed to get some photos which hopefully will come out okay. Slowly the see started getting rougher and it wasn’t long before we realised a squall was coming in. I was getting used to the breathing gear (it’s not easy) and accepting the odd mouthful (or lungful) of salt water but soon the jellies were closing in again and it was time to get out.

I’d got stung a couple of times but admittedly it wasn’t too bad and with vinegar sprayed on me it was okay. The captains (Freddie & Jason) turned the boat around and got us on the move just as the squall started to catch us up, we outrun it but the view from the back of the boat was impressive as you could see the line of the rain, quite scary but exhilarating all the same

I must admit the diving was brilliant and Jack and I loved it, I’d certainly have liked to have stayed longer and explored further but there wasn’t the time and it was right that we’d cut it short, but I will look to do that again and perhaps still look to do the scuba diving as well. We’ll see.

Anyway, got showered off back at the harbour and then jumped in the car and headed home to Miami, stopping at Florida City for the shopping outlet and got some more clothes. The rain all the way for 90 minutes of driving was like nothing we’ve experienced all holiday, really hard to drive in but we made it to Miami in the end and had the best burger I’ve ever had at an Italian restaurant and then onwards to Miami airport. Managed to run the petrol down to 14 miles in the tank…not bad?

Nothing to report from the airport, pretty boring and then on our flight at 9.00pm – watched two films, Paul and Battle: Los Angeles (Paul was funny, the other was crap really!)

So, arrived in Heathrow at 10.00am (BST) and I only had about 2 hours sleep but met up with Sue and then I drove us home.

No need to go on about settling back into things here in Oxford, just to reiterate again what a brilliant time we had, it really has been a holiday to remember, we’d loved all of it. Quite a bonus in fact this evening as Tash went through the Credit Card statement to find that the exchange rate has been quite favourable to us, so our calculations in restaurants and shops has worked our better that expected. Not by much but enough to be pleasantly surprised.

Florida Holiday – Day 16 - Thursday 18th August 2011

Quietest day of the holiday.

After breakfast we spent the time swimming and then wandered across to the harbour for our snorkelling trip but when we got there the guys said that a storm was coming in and they’d have to cancel the trip. Really disappointing, but they said we could go tomorrow morning instead. Not ideal because of it being our last day and leaving but I agreed…wasn’t too sure how Tash would take that!

Anyway, we decided to take it easier and stayed by the pool

More swimming, drink, food, dark swimming, thunder storm, packing

Florida Holiday - Day 15 – Wednesday 17th August 2011

Dolphin Research Centre

So this is what the kids were waiting for…swimming with dolphins in the morning.

We were given an intro and talk and then split into groups – we were all together with a trainer and the dolphin called Tina (no idea what the trainer’s name was!!!)

The area we were doing all this looked out across the bay so it felt quite open and in the wild compared to many others that are set up and very restrictive. Again this was Tasha’s idea so that it felt more natural and less staged.

We were then in the front lagoon and the dolphin was told what to do and we’d then be able to stroke its back, have a kiss, shake hands, imitate with it (splashing, blowing raspberry, dancing, laughing) and then the dorsal pull which you swam out and it would then come alongside and pull you along, finishing on instructions such as telling it to swim on its head, whistle, do a somersault, pretend to be a shark and even an alligator.

Everyone loved it, and it was very, very good – a very memorable experience indeed. Didn’t feel rushed and had plenty of time doing it all.

We were then able to walk around the centre, it was pretty big, and see other demonstrations or trainers at work, it was very interesting and informative and 3 hours passed by really quickly.

Back to the house for some lunch and then to the pool for a couple of hours – I slept!

Back to the house again to get ready and we then drove 90 minutes to Key West – the furthest West point of the Keys and Southernmost point of the States (I think). It meant driving over the iconic 7 mile bridge which I had been looking forward to and lots of other bridges along the way, it made me feel like I was in a film. I was James Bond and had a beautiful Bond Girl by my side, that’s when Tash would nudge me to open my eyes and concentrate on the road!

We parked up in Key West and walked around, and it most definitely wasn’t what I was expecting at all.

I thought it would be a quiet backward place but it was a hustling, bustling seaside town, loads of bars and nightlife – would be a great party place. I suppose it was the Key’s equivalent of Blackpool – slightly classier I suspect but it just looked a fantastic party place.

We had a nice meal in a hidden away restaurant and then had a quick look around the harbour and then back in the car to come home in the pitch darkness.

I’ve said it lots of times before in this diary during this holiday but another fantastic day.

Florida Holiday - Day 14 – Tuesday 16th August 2011

Drove from Florida City through the Keys down to Marathon – fantastic views on a single highway. Took a long time but worth it. We got a little anxious as we drove along because it wasn’t the nicest areas we drove through in that it seemed to be a bit old-fashioned and not up to date so we were wondering what the hotel would be like when we got to it. Blimey, we didn’t need to worry about that at all…

The Hotel was spectacular, 5*, Charlotte did extremely well to book this one back in Oxford!! We lounged around and played by the pool and wandered round the complex to get a feel for things, it was really, really nice after having seen some of the Keys and thinking how rough most of it looked. Big relief!

We booked a snorkelling session for a couple of days time and left the pool around 5.30pm to get ready to go out. We were not within the hotel itself hiring our own house within the grounds which was really special as well

We went out and had a simple meal in the harbour area and went back to the hotel and they were still swimming there which surprised us – we were slightly under the impression that would be frowned upon. Not at all. We didn’t go in and had an early night instead.

In saying that, before going to bed I got a crap email from Tucks saying that his planned wedding had been called off – I later found out after speaking to him that it’s more her than him that called it off. Such a shame, he’s really pissed off.

Florida Holiday - Day 13 - Monday 15th August 2011

Leaving Fort Myers Beach today to go off and explore the Everglades, decided on the ‘fast route’ but took ages because of trying to find somewhere to get pancake breakfast. Somehow, here in the middle of America we couldn’t find a pancake house…not impressive!

Anyway, eventually we got past Naples and into Cypress National Park and then on to Everglades City, we decided not to go into the City and after consulting Customer Information worked out the best options for the rest of the day.

First off was to go on an Air Boat ride and we went with Jungle Erv’s and were escorted by Captain Dan! We saw a baby alligator immediately and then he took us deep into the Everglade Mangrove swamps zooming around, carrying out sharp turns and looking out for more alligators and wild-life. Luckily we had headphone protectors which were imperative as the noise was simply deafening. We stopped at one point where there was a large Alligator and we all got off the boat to take some photos and then Captain Dan cast a net and caught 8 fish just like that – fed them to the alligator which was impressive.

We then travelled round further and saw more ‘gators and vultures, the hour passed by really quickly but again it was another great experience.

We then got some dinner at Subway, a first for Tash and the family…I had to lead the way and got some funny looks from them for knowing the process ‘like a pro’!

7 miles down the road we took a turning and travelled along a dirt track – every couple of hundred yards there were alligators just lying in the water by the side of the road, stopped and took some photos of course, but couldn’t believe how close we were getting to them – didn’t actually get out of the car though…we’re not that brave!

Travelled further on and stopped a couple more times at Information Centres and saw more before deciding we’d seen enough and time to get going and find our hotel in Florida City. One thing about the road we were on, Highway 41, was just how straight it was, one of the stretches must have been about 20 miles straight – incredible. Also had a bit of a panic as there was simply nothing on the road and my petrol was low, luckily got $20 in the tank at an Indian Reservation…phew!

Anyway we got to Homestead in good time, only problem was that our hotel was in Florida City and not Homestead! Fortunately the two towns are almost joined so it wasn’t so much of a problem really.

There was an almighty thunder storm as we unloaded the car, it chucked it down and the thunder & lightening above us was incredible – quite scary in fact.

Once unpacked, we decided on cheap and cheerful and went to Denny’s for dinner, which we all like anyway.

Another great day, can’t believe it’s almost over, but we have 3 days relaxing by the beach ahead of us along with snorkelling and swimming with dolphins and whatever else we can think of doing by the beach! Should be fun!!!

Florida Holiday

Having the best time ever here in Florida - have manage to write a diary that I will upload with photos once completed...so watch this space!

Florida Holiday - Day 12 – Sunday 14th August 2011

Got up a little later than we have before, and decided early on to not go on a cruise but to have a relaxing day by the beach. First stop, MacDonald's, for a healthy breakfast!

Across the road we went to the beach and it was fantastic, the sand was just like powder, very white and the sea was really warm. We set up on some beds and under an umbrella and then relaxed…

We were on a private beach that was linked to a hotel so we were very guarded when drinking or eating but we eventually got caught out and were told we had to ‘lose the cool bag’, so back to the hotel to have lunch and then we went to the beach again and hired a jet ski for an hour. I took Lewis and Jack out and it was brilliant, we went so fast. It seemed fast anyway but the fastest we managed was only about 30mph, but it was still exhilarating.

After 15mins we swapped over so that Lewis could have a go at driving, slow to begin with and then he started getting more confident and opened the throttle…not the best idea as he lost a bit of control and we were all thrown head-first into the water at 30mph. Lewis hurt himself on his leg (and has struggled to walk all night since!), Jack and I tumbled over each other and swallowed loads of water and were shocked by the impact of hitting the water so hard. Jack is watching me type this up tonight and is telling me to type that I punched him in the head as I flew past him in the ‘crash’!

I took over driving thereafter and we continued to zoom up and down the beach along with quite a few other jet skis all thrill-seeking as well.

After 30mins we came ashore to swap over so that Tash and Charlotte could have a go – Tash didn’t want to drive so I stayed on, I was really surprised (and pleased) when they wanted to go at the same speeds that us boys had been travelling at. Tash wasn’t so sure, but Charlotte was loving it – we didn’t crash!

We swapped drivers after a while so Tash could have a go but it wasn’t a success really as she was very nervous with the power at her hands and we hardly moved an inch, so it wasn’t long before we swapped back over and I took control again to see out the rest of the hour’s hire.

Everyone really enjoyed it, so fast and so much adrenaline pumping as a result.

We then relaxed more for the next couple of hours before coming back to the hotel to shower and change and then go back over to Sanibel Island to catch the sunset. We parked up the car by the beach and then walked along it to get a good angle to see the sunset but to also pick up shells. The place is famous for shelling and no surprise, they were everywhere! Everyone got some really nice ones so there are a few souvenirs to take home in the suitcases.

It was all very idyllic with the low setting sun, white sands and clear Mexico Gulf sea.

Walking back to the car along the beach we noticed what looked like buoy in the water which on closer inspection with the binoculars (as it was dusk) we could see that it was actually the head of a sea lion, and it was so close to the shore, literally only about 20m away. It just sat there bobbing in the water watching us.

We decided to have dinner close to our hotel so that we could get some more insect spray as we’d all got bitten in the short walk from the beach to the car-park which wasn’t much fun which also implies that it’s going to be very painful for us tomorrow in the Everglades…not looking forward to that too much if I am honest now!

We were tempted by the same place we went to yesterday but decided to go a bit further on to a grill and pizza place and we ordered an 18inch pizza – when it came it was bloody huge…but between us we were all hungry and it was all gone, including the additional salad and garlic bread that Tash ordered!

Once that was paid for we then went next door for ice cream, I am sure we didn’t need it but all the same I have a small Rainbow Sherbert ice cream, Jack had mint choc chip and Charlotte went for an original Moose Trax – all of them were lovely. Although walking back I was able to eat half of Jack’s as he had to run on ahead to the hotel as he was bursting for a wee…once done he announced that it “was the best wee he’s had!”.

That was our night over, full up and feeling quite sick!

Poor Lewis is not in a good state, his leg is causing him a lot of pain, hopefully it will be better in the morning.

Florida Holiday Day 11 – Saturday 13th Aug 2012

Leaving Orlando today, packed up fairly quickly in the morning and were out of the house by 9.45am – stopped by one of the ticket selling places and sold our tickets for $5 each, probably ripped off something chronic but it’s not something we expected so that was acceptable.

Drove down the highway (not the Interstate) towards Fort Myers for the next two nights of our holiday. It was a long drive as it wasn’t the motorway and it took us through loads of towns along the way. The sights were really interesting so I was pleased we’d done that as there would have been loads we’d have missed. It was very much old, run down trailer parks all the way. Very different to what we’d been used to but also very much the ‘typical’ portrayal of Southern America.

There is so much land as well – huge.

Finally made it down to Fort Myers, didn’t stop and went straight over the Causeway and some cool bridges onto Sanibel Island, we continued through Sanibel up to Captiva – all very exclusive and rich buildings along the road. Fantasy Island, I later looked on the internet and some of the houses being sold were upwards of £5.9 million – hardly a surprise when you look at them!

Tash had read about guided kayak tours so this is what we were looking for and found the first one and stopped – we initially enquired about hiring the kayaks ourselves and then decided on paying extra and getting a tour. There wasn’t one available for 2 hours so we sat in the hotel pool area and had a swim and a snooze and then at 3.45pm met up with a couple and went out into the channel kayaking. The couple we were with weren’t much fun and we didn’t see much of them, the woman was scared silly – but they were just left to their own devices really and it didn’t affect us at all.

As soon as we were out we saw Manatees in the water, so close, bit scary to think of these things that close but we were save and then we moved across to a small island that was Mangrove tree (and swamp) and skirted round it before finding a channel to go through the middle of it. First of all it was Hurricane Bowl and then a small channel in single file, twisting and turning very slowly and stopping to pick up water snakes and see the crabs and shellfish – quite amazing really.

Outside of that we were back in the open water, miles from where we’d started and we went out further to try and find more manatees and even a dolphin. All around us fish were jumping out of the water, couldn’t get used to that sight at all, they were cleaning their gills from feeding along the bottom of the river bed. We started on our way back and then saw 3 manatees close by which we followed for a bit before leaving them alone – sadly no dolphins spotted.

We then went back to the Mangrove Island and picked out living shells and even star-fish which Jack was good at finding, really interesting, all the kids were loving it. That was that and we made our way back after about 2.15hrs – time and money REALLY well spent.

We had a quick drive around the rest of Captiva and then back through Sanibel, across the Causeway to Fort Myers beach where we found our hotel. Not sure if it could be called a hotel but it was very bright, lit up and good fun. Dumped our stuff, showered and then walked to the town as we’re really close – found a great bar immediately so decided to stop there for dinner. It was very popular and it was easy to see why, the food was fantastic. We all had fish and chips – loads of it and really tasty. Couple of beers but I could easily have had a few more…

Everyone tired through, so walked across the pier and then back to hotel and bed.

A really fantastic day, the drive was longer than I wanted because I didn’t go along the motorway but the kayaking was just out of this world and will be a fantastic memory for the kids, really pleased we did it.

Florida Holiday-Day 10 – Friday 12th August 2011

Lazy morning today, didn’t get up until 9.30am. We decided to spend our last day going through Universal once more, there was still loads there we’d not really explored following the aborted attempt on our first day with Jack being sick!

The first part of the day we spent going through all the rides we’d not managed yet which was Mummy, Disaster (that’s when Jack was sick on the woman!) and the 3rd time of trying to get in there and then Terminator 3D – how good was that? Incredible! It was nice to be able to wander around and take our time without any rush or hassle to try and fit everything in as we only needed to see half of it all.

So we got to lunchtime and where better to have that than in the car-park where it’s air-conditioned in our car…are we sensible or just careful with our money?!?! It makes the kids laugh anyway…

Back over to Islands of Adventure as Tash wanted to go through Jurassic Park and we were pleased that she insisted on doing so as it was really good fun, the water flume in here was brilliant, and didn’t get too wet this time! We did a few other things in this area and then made our way to the Harry Potter area again and treated ourselves to a Butter Beer which didn’t last long so we got another! Very, very nice!

After all that we made our way home and got a pre-cooked chicken from Wal-Mart which meant chicken sarnies all round, very nice and filling, a quite shower down and then back out on the road.

We didn’t get back to Universal until about 8.00pm, there was quite a queue for the Rock It Roller coaster but that was fantastic. Huge great ride and Jack was allowed on it. So this was his biggest ride he’d ever been on and he was at the front…he was in his element so it was pleasing that he’d finally got to experience a Big One!

We managed to catch the end of the Park Show and Firework display and then the Park shut but there was still 30 mins in Islands of Adventure so we managed another go on the Hulk ride – that is a bit tasty as well.

We had a few more fizzy drinks and then wandered along the City Walk which is a really lively part of the area and is outside of the main parks that people can go to bars and clubs and such like. Jack got himself a ‘Thing One’ fleecy top so he was pleased with that and we then started walking home. Along the conveyor belt Tash mentioned something about ‘Sea World’ and then a man said something like ‘What did you say about Sea World?’ as if starting an argument…me and the kids walked on laughing our heads off and left Tash to it…they had a good ole chat I am sure.

We then took a detour in the car and drove along International Drive and saw some of the sights of the place – incredible hotels and buildings. There were the Upside Down House and the Wonky House – both really impressive. Saw them briefly and then carried on driving, not before stopping at the huge McDonalds there, the building was literally a box of fries and we treated ourselves to some huge (and very thick) shakes, very nice indeed.

We finally got home just after midnight. What a great day and what a really enjoyable week. We pushed ourselves quite hard and made the most of it and we’ve had a great time experiencing all the rides and experiences but I think we’re all ready to move on now. A week was enough, I don’t think I, or any of the family, would want to do a whole fortnight of that as a main holiday, not when there is so much more to see. And we’re going to see it…

Florida Holiday - Day 9 – Thursday 11th August 2011

Aquatica…

Earlier in the week we swapped our days around so we could visit Aquatica on a sunny day, and boy was today sunny? In the shade for most of the day it was touching 95 degrees…and not a drop of rain at all!

This is a newer water theme park than the original Wet ‘n’ Wild one and it really was pretty impressive, very family friendly and fantastic set up. We made our way to the ‘beach’ and stayed there as our base for the day and took it in turns to rest, look after the cameras or whatever. Well, Tash spent most of the time there, I was out and about with the kids most of the time.

As you’d expect there were loads of flumes, and chutes and rapids and all sorts to keep you busy. The favourite was probably the rapids to be honest, you simply strapped on a life-jacket and let the currents take you round. It seemed a strange thing that the life jackets were there for that exact purpose and not what you’d normally use them for!

Another good part of the park was the way they had an aquarium with dolphins in it and one of the flume pipes would run straight through the middle of it. You were lucky if you went through the flume at the same time as a dolphin nearby but as another set up rapids went by the side of it with a huge side glass wall.

We stayed there the whole day, unsurprisingly got burnt, and then made our way home for a clean up and pizza.

At 6.30pm we then set out for Sea World to see the evening shows that they perform, unfortunately the sea lions one was packed out so we were turned away, but stopped off at the ‘Pets Ahoy’ one which normally we would have given a wide berth but we were glad we went, the cats, dogs, birds (all strays) were so well trained and what they were doing was brilliant.

The big selling point at Sea World is the Killer Whale called Shamu, everything is driven by this whale and the main evening show was Shamu Rocks. We made our way to the stadium and it was good, but…it was a good show but it was pretty much the same as the day-time show, just more glitzy because of the effect of the lighting show. Still, as expected, it was impressive.

After the show there was still time to look through the shark tunnel, then Tash and Jack went off to get him a couple of souvenirs with his money whilst Lewis, Charlotte and I had time to get a go on the Manta ride (Jack was too small for it) and got two goes on it in the dark – that was brilliant.

We had time to view the firework display across the water and that was fantastic, really special and no holds barred. We hadn’t found Tash & Jack to view the show with them but we caught up with them as the park closed and we made our way home.

The end of another long, tiring, but thrilling day.

Florida Holiday - Day 8 – Wednesday 10th August 2011

Universal Studios & Disney today

Up late today, everyone was really tired out from the night before, didn’t get up and about until 8.30am. It was raining in the morning so we didn’t rush and decide to to change our plans. Originally we were going to go Aquatica but decided to go where we could stay inside so first thing in the morning we made our way to the Shopping Mall on Millennium Drive and straight to Bloomingdales.

Tash being her organised self had looked up that this store was here before even leaving England with the intention of getting Tucks his wedding present from this shop…so straight upstairs to the Wedding planning office and get hold of the wedding list. Managed to find something, got it ordered and then because it was still raining had more of a walk around and Charlotte was pleased to find a Hollister!

At last the rain seemed to ease up, so we decided to make our way to Universal to make up for the time that we lost when Jack was sick. I was keen to go on the Jaws ride, it’s been one of those rides that were first set up and I’ve heard the stories of what it would be like and it was one of the few rides I was really looking forward to. Even the build up to the ride was good fun and it didn’t disappoint, I had a feeling I knew which side the shark would appear on and I made sure that Jack was sat on that side of the boat…I was right and he jumped a mile when it appeared!

After that we went through the other rides such as MiB, Twister, the Fear Factor show, the Simpsons ride and then just by chance to a Horror make-up show which was really interesting and good fun. There was still more to do, but we decided to make a move and make our way home for a rest. Stopped at the supermarket, washed, showered and then out quickly to Downtown Disney – not to go to the park as we didn’t have tickets for it but for the nightlife on the outside of it.

Quite an atmosphere, loads going on as you’d expect and good fun. So, what for dinner? Cheap and cheerful not for us tonight…decided to treat ourselves and the kids to Planet Hollywood…what a place that was!

Wandered around all the memorabilia across three different floors, so much to see, so much authentic material, really interesting. Did that for about half and hour whilst we waited and the kids took loads of photos and we were then called to our table and within 3 minutes of sitting down we then had the panic of Jack’s camera missing. We all went rushing round the place and very fortunately someone had handed it in – Jack changed from being very upset to very relieved in the space of 10 seconds! It wouldn’t have been the end of the world but it would have put a dampener on the evening so it was pleasing that was avoided..

So we treated ourselves to whatever we wanted on the menu and it was great food. There was a DJ who was accepting requests and Jack was up and down the whole time, even making a request for Brendan’s birthday! All a good laugh and a great experience.

Afterwards we had another longer walk through Disney Downtown, so much to take in (liked the dinosaur themed restaurant) and then got home at midnight.

Another very long day, not so sure how we’re keeping going at this pace…!

Florida Holiday - Day 7 – Tuesday 9th August 2011

Busch Gardens today, a little bit wet, but not from waterparks!

Up nice and early and went to this huge Mall in Orlando so that we could go to the Abercrombie shop for Charlotte, she was desperate to get some clothes from there and was successful, but then so was Jack and Lewis! In saying that we got there too early so had to wait around for a while in the knowledge that we had a good 90 minute drive ahead of us. We then got distracted by the Jack Wills shop and more importantly (!) the Aeropostale shop – we love this one as the clothes are the type we like but very, very cheap. It was no surprise that we ended up leaving for Busch Gardens a lot later than planned!

I mentioned getting wet, today the rain descended on Orlando, and it simply did not stop. From the first thing in the morning and all the way through the day it was just drizzling it was absolutely chucking it down, not pleasant! The drive to Busch went without incident and the park was open but none of the rides were running, it was too dangerous with the lightening etc. even after the mini-train trip from the car park to the main entrance we then waited as it was torrential. The kids loved it though!

So we were there, what could we do??? First plan, run to the safari train ride, that was due at one of the stations in 10 mins, got there, wet, and waited…waited some more….waited even more….watching the lightning and flooding to then be told even the safari train was cancelled. This was getting a little desperate.

Nearby there were various enclosures under shelter so we darted in and out of those, leaping over puddles and being quite unsuccessful in trying to keep dry to look at the various caged animals or bats and the animal hospital which was really interesting…visiting the Gorilla enclosure was hilarious, one mischievous minor was teasing, and very much annoying, the adult male and the fights and clouts going on was really quite a show. But the little one kept returning, simply throwing more straw and dust at the adult to wind him up. Very entertaining!

Managed to go to a couple of the shows that were on, one of which being a Cirque show, not quite Cirque du Soleil but along that theme and that was brilliant, not so brilliant was a pirate 4D one which was just simply desperate. That was more or less the last straw by then, we were wet, cold and thoroughly depressed by that last show and it being about 5.00pm decided enough was enough…so we walked out of that theatre with every intention of going home…only to be greeted by no rain and the clackety clack of roller-coaster tracks…the rides were ON!!!

Other people had clearly had the same demoralised attitude as us and had gone home, meaning the park was near enough empty, which meant for us ‘die-hards’ there were fantastic looking roller-coasters and no queues…theme park heaven! We rushed round as many as we could as the park announced they were going to close earlier than usual, we still managed all of them and most times we didn’t even have to get off to have another go… Because of the time constraint we were quite literally running from one ride to the next – these were some of the best out of all the ones we’d visited so far this break.

The best was saved until last, it was a ‘Cheetah’ ride and was brilliant and we were the last ride of the day on it – and Jack was allowed too so that was doubly-pleasing. It was a shame that the park did close that bit earlier but we were so glad we stuck it out and got the rides in the end.

On the way home we found a lovely Italian restaurant to stop into and once seated soon realised that we’d not picked the cheapest one in town…both Tash and I backed off from going the full hog and let the kids have what they wanted. Jack making us smile each time checking that the cokes were definitely ‘free refills’ – we still can’t quite get used to that concept!

Long drive home, but uneventful. An interesting day, not ruined by the weather, and in view of the great weather and lack of rain so far on this holiday it wasn’t something to really complain about. Hopefully not too many more days like it though!

Florida Holiday - Day 6 – Monday 8th August 2011

Universal Studios – All Day

Up early and out the house by 8.30am this morning, determined to make the most of the day and get to the Theme Park before the queues all start…fat chance! Today was the turn of the Universal Studios (Islands of Adventures) – very popular at the minute because of the new addition of the Harry Potter World, so we made our way straight there…oh dear…very busy already at 8.45am – in fact it was packed out!

We joined up the queue for the main ride, the one that Lewis, Charlotte and I went on the night before and went straight in, however, this time it was slightly longer that we needed to wait. It probably didn’t help that every ten minutes we were saying how much quicker it was the night before! Anyway, it meant that we had plenty of time to take in all the setting and the scenery – very, very impressive. It was like actually being at Hogwarts, they really had the place down perfectly. We were there waiting for an hour and it was damned hot, but worth the wait and the ride itself was quality.

We went on a couple of more rides after that then wandered round the ‘village’ that was resplendent with snow covered houses, all the shops and everything that is in the Harry Potter world. Unbelievably expensive! Well, probably not so unbelievable…$10.00 for a chocolate frog, I think that tells you all you need to know!

What else? Watched the SinBAD show – bloody awful…Poseidon’s Fury – bloody brilliant. The special effects on that one were amazing and then wandered round Dr Seuss World. For us that isn’t so engrained in our childhoods as it would be for American’s but it was recognisable as Cat in the Hat and all that. Good fun there.

So, lunchtime, what to do? Spoilt for choice with all the options, but we’d made our own sandwiches and walked back to the car-park, turned on the air-conditioning and had our lunch in the multi-story…not quite sure how many other people would do that!

Back to the park after that refresh and cool down for the Spiderman and Dr Doom rides and then onto watch the Tony Hawks skateboard show which was brilliant. Loads of fantastic stunts, very impressive.

So, God knows how hot it was, but the chance to go on a water ride was too good to miss, however, we went on the Popeye/Bluto ride which wasn’t a case of getting damp, or splashed, but literally drenched. I have never been on a water ride where I have got so wet. Every part of my clothes, possessions, even underwear completed soaked! As were all of us, very funny. So, next to this was the log flume and it made perfect sense to go over to that and complete the ride whilst still soaked…

We were about to leave at 6.00pm and were walking past the huge great Hulk ride and the sign said it was only a 5 minute wait so straight onto that! Absolutely fantastic!

So on the way home we decided to stop off at the Designer Village and without any shred of pride were walking round all the shops in our damp, wet clothes. It was actually freezing because of the air-conditioning! Anyway, managed to find some stuff for the boys, and Lewis was very pleased as he found the boots he had his mind on before we even set out for the States.

Started making our way home at 10.15pm and realised we’d not eaten since lunch in the afternoon so on Highway 192 we pulled over in a Denys Restaurant and it was such a clichéd/authentic US restaurant – exactly what you imagine them to be. So we had burgers and unlimited refills of course!

All in all, a fantastic day, very full on…same again tomorrow!

Florida Holiday - Day 5 – Sunday 7th August 2011

Up nice and early today as we were heading for Sea World and wanted to get on the main ride before all the queues started. The big question was “Is Jack okay?” – he appeared to be back to some normality and wanted to eat and drink so that was a bug relief all round

So out of the house by 8.20am, it didn’t help that I took the wrong turning and we put an extra 20 minutes on the trip driving into Epcot!

Worthwhile doing though as we got to the start of the queue for Manta – Jack was too small so had to sit out and understandably so, it was brilliant and a bit too hard for him. Tash and I did the parent exchange so Lewis and Charlotte did well out of that as they got on twice in quick succession.

We then wandered round the park, stopping for the Dolphin show at the Blue Horizon – that really was pretty special, everyone loved it. Sea World was very impressive and without going into too much detail we saw Manatees, Alligators, Polar Bears, Walruses, Whales, Dolphins (and baby dolphins) and loads of other water-based animals that I can’t remember.

Went on the log flume – didn’t get wet, got completely and utterly soaked, it was like someone had tipped a bucket of water over us – lucky the weather was 43 degrees!

The main attraction at the place is a huge killer whale called ‘Shamu’ and we made it with seconds to spare to watch the show with him as the star attraction. There are rows of seats along the front of the aquarium that are designated as Soaking seats and that’s exactly what they were, the whales were simply encouraged to splash and soak anyone and everyone. All good fun.

We decided to move on around 2.30pm and as planned went to Wet ‘n’ Wild which is a water park with tubes and flumes that we were able to go on. Tash stayed to look after the bags and then the 4 of us went on all sorts for the next two hours. Nothing too scary but all great fun to sit of 4 people rides and go down the rapids and that. All around the park you could see the other flumes to go on, along with large queues – but that wasn’t to put us off.

I swapped over with Tash and had a snooze for an hour whilst they went on loads of other things, finally they woke me and dared me to go on the one seriously scary flume – the Bomb Drop – in which you go in a tube and the floor gives way and you slide down a 70ft drop – I didn’t see any of it as my eyes were tightly shut!

Just as we were about to leave an almightly storm came in and it bucketed it down with rain, the kids loved that and went into the pool in the rain.

Came home for showers and were in and out within 30mins to go to all you can eat Pizza at CiCi’s – great value and lovely pizza. Seeing what some people there were eating was quite incredible, we were full on all the stuff we ate but for them that would have been a starter.

We were rushing as we wanted to get to the shops but that was a bad plan, it’s Sunday today and as we drove to the Outlet Centre (which we lost anyway) Tash said “Oh, it shuts at 9.00pm” having just read her brochure, the time was 9.05pm – so u-turn and to bed!

Florida Holiday - Day 4 – Saturday 6th August 2011

Leaving Cocoa Beach today, only one problem - Jack was really, really ill. A definite case of mild food poisoning. He had different food to us last night so that can be the only explanation we think. Poor thing, he was being sick all the time. Really out of it. He had a drive for about 2 hours to Orlando and he really struggled.

We weren’t sure what to do, but by the time we got to Universal Studios he was recovering a little bit, not perfect but a little bit more chirpy…how wrong we were! Anyway, we knew the timetable for what we wanted to do as we only had a number of days to work with and wanted to persevere.

As expected, we couldn’t really believer we were finally there at Orlando! All the famous signs/landmarks that we’re seen in magazines and on the TV were there within touching distance for us all. Very, very exciting. We decided on Universal Studios first and made our way through to Shrek 4d and the Beetlejuice show. Both good fun but again it was really hot and Jack was struggling in a big way. It was stop, start, Jack ill everywhere (making it to the toilets), stop start again and then sitting in the First Aid offices that were air-conditioned and then finally when we were queuing for the Disaster Show he was sick over woman in front of us in the queue – that was the final straw and we left that queue in seconds. Well, Charlotte and Lewis stayed as they’d queued!

We decided to call it a day and leave – Charlotte and Lewis were very understanding and Jack was really apologetic but everyone understood – it was a good attitude all round by everyone which was pleasing.

So we drove out of Orlando and found the house that were were to stay at the for week, it was really nice and would suit us fine. Tash, me and Charlotte went swimming in the shared pool leaving Lewis on the PC looking after Jack who just slept flat out on the sofa.

We had our evening meal, there was a Walmart nearby, but even after that Jack was still no good and couldn’t go out as we’d originally planned. We chatted about the options and then Lewis, Charlotte and I went to Universal Islands of Adventure (Tash stayed and read her book and looked after Jack).

Soon after setting out, it began pouring with rain during car journey and it dropped bucket of the stuff, it was torrential, it meant that we missed turns, got lost, and were about to go give up and go home but we decided to stick it out – so pleased that we did!

We managed to go onto Spiderman, Harry Potter, Dragon rides

Brilliant!

The Harry Potter ride we felt really guilty about because Tash had said that we weren’t to go on it without her and Jack and we’d do it all together as the whole Harry Potter thing is brand new and so popular at the minute. The problem was, there was no queue! So we had a dilemma…we decided to do it and didn’t have a queue at all and it was very, very good. Made our way home buzzing from all the adrenaline and excitement of the evening.

Managed to find our way home and came clean to Tash who didn’t mind and said we’d made the right decision. Hopefully go back there tomorrow if Jack is feeling better…nervous that he’ll still be unwell.

Florida Holiday – Day 3 – Friday 5th Aug 2011

Juno Rocket Launch

Up early at 6.30am to start packing, got some breakfast and on the road at 7.15am. Expecting a 4 hour drive up to Cocoa Beach, Cape Canaveral – made fantastic time on a very straight road up North.

Stopped at McDonalds to get McFlurry and Shakes and the bloody machine wasn’t working…typical! When will we be able to get a proper US McDonald’s?!?!

Got to hotel, chucked bags out and made our way to Kennedy Space Centre to visit but also because of timing there was a rocket launch due. All along the road were people sat out watching across the bay to where it would take place, having picnics and that.

Driving up from the hotel we also saw a 5 police cars outside a motel with guns trained on it, coming back at 6.00pm the road was still blocked off with yellow tape and checking on the local news the next morning on the internet was confirmation that a 71 year old was brandishing a gun and had been shot dead – all 400 yards from where we were staying…er..little bit nervous…

Got to the Space Centre and it was packed solid, time to launch was 10 minutes and we found somewhere to stand, it was delayed by about 45 minutes so we didn’t need to stay in the car-park and got inside where the atmosphere was very exciting. There was a tannoy system as you’d expect which kept relaying conversations in the Control Centre and video screen, but we didn’t need the screen. Finally you heard the chap say launch in T minus 2 minutes and expectation started around the crowd.

10, 9, 8..countdown started, video on and then across the way the rocket started up into the sky, it looked incredible and was all over quite quickly but the fact we were there to see it was really pleasing. The rocket was unmanned and was called Juno and it on a 5 year mission to Jupiter – so we need to keep an eye on that.

We then toured round the centre, viewing the history, went on a rocket launch simulation (or ‘stimulation’ as Charlotte kept referring to it), went across to the launch place that the Space Shuttle would use – all really interesting. But incredibly hot, just sweating buckets!

Got back to Cocoa Beach Pier where we were staying, and went to the beach for an hour, Lewis and I went in and did some body surfing as the waves were good and then I had a couple of beers at the bar before we showered and went back to the same place for dinner. Huge burgers each – nice!

We also visited Ron Jon’s surf shop – huge great place that was excellent, whatever you needed for surfing/beach wear was there – a bit like our Fat Willy’s Surf Shack but as you’d expect, a much, much bigger level! Got to see lots more of these shops throughout the time of the holiday, but this was the biggest and best.

Went for a walk on the wooden pier, Charlotte scared silly by the rickety nature of it so we didn’t stay on there for long but we still got to see some fireworks on the beach and a thunderstorm taking place in the direction of Orlando that was lighting up the sky.

I quite liked Cocoa Beach, it didn’t feel quite as commercial as the other places along the coast and was relaxed and ‘surfy’ – definitely a chill-out type of town.

It feels like we’ve been here for ages already, not a bad thing that’s for certain. Tomorrow we hit Orlando and the theme parks…

Florida Holiday – Day 2 – Thursday 4th August 2011

Calendar notification at 5.00am, everyone waking up, lovely morning. lovely day – no rain at all

Breakfast, waffles, nicked food for lunch.

Drive into Downtown, then Little Havana – bit under whelming, got my bearings and confident driving round now

Back to Bay Side and shopping and a wander round, fixed watch battery. Jack’s hat fell into the bay so we spent ages getting that out, but determination prevailed!

South Beach from midday for 4 hours – very hot indeed! Water hot, everyone burned – temp really must have been in 90s. Couple of jelly fish. Burning sand. Looked round and Charlotte and Jack found some shelter and were hidden away for much of the day. Can’t blame them…

Drove up passed Holocaust memorial, impressive. Took another detour as well to view some of the area

Back to hotel for swimming and relaxing – time flew, showers and not out again until 9.00pm to have our packed lunch of sarnies – trying to save a bit of money at the start of the holiday. First stop on 71st street and too scared to leave car. Couldn’t really put my finger on why I was nervous about being where we were,especially as Tash was perfectly happy to do so, but I insisted we go somewhere a bit more busy and lit up, so drove back down to 7th street and sat amongst neon art deco eating.

Quick wander along to sample the atmosphere and then home as the kids were too tired – it was 80 degrees at 10.30pm. Once back at the hotel, checked a few emails, and updated Facebook and that and bed at midnight.

We’re on holiday in Miami!!!

Florida Holiday–Day 1

Sue dropped us off, carluccios, no hassle with customs, bought books, jumbo jet 30 mins late take off, food and free beers on flight. All good so far!!! Hannah on the tv brilliant.

9 hour flight-zooming by

New Order on the iPod. Quality.