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.

Jack entertaining us with acrobatics ‘fail’…

What can you say? He likes to entertain us…

http://youtu.be/9YwLjAwL3tc

 

Annual Family Camping Weekend at…Standlake

We had our annual camping weekend away with Nikki, Gaz, Katie & Emily, and this year we went to Standlake which is only 25 mins drive from our house which is ideal. I haven’t been there for a couple of years as we’ve rotated where we go with them but this is the best place really as the facilities are great and right on the lake makes it perfect all round.

Gaz and Nikki had the day off so had been there since around midday but we didn’t turn up until after work and had set up our tent, got organised, sat down relaxing with a beer within an hour! Not bad… by 6.30pm it felt like we’d been there all day and the working week was forgotten about.

Great dinner, a walk around the lake and then into the club-house to finish the night off being entertained by what can only be described as a Wagner look-a-like on the karaoke. Unique and memorable are about the nicest description I can perhaps use…it was actually a good laugh and he was talented but it was still quite surreal. In fact it did bring back memories of visiting the Labour club with my parents on a Sunday night and hearing Neil Diamond songs and the like. You had to be there!

Saturday morning, huge great fry-up, nothing more to say – perfect start to the day!

What a great feeling to get up at 8.00am and know that there is simply nothing planned at all with no pressure to do anything or ‘use my time wisely’, it doesn’t happen often but that’s exactly how the day panned out. Sue came over around midday and brought Lewis over as well, he’d stayed at home on Friday night having gone off to a party and seen his girlfriend as well before she’s off on holiday. The kids all then went on the Ringos around the lake which they loved.

BBQ in the evening and one or two more beers and then party games…Ootchy Gootchy game which Jack loves and insisted on us playing.

Sad news though was that we heard Amy Winehouse had died, only 27, and most likely an overdose but we couldn’t get details and even at the time of writing no one really has confirmed how it happened. Great shame though.

Was up at 6.00am on Sunday morning – God knows why – so stayed up and we sorted out the tent as were packed up by 10.00am so pottered around the lake once again before leaving, it was boiling hot today and we could have stayed there all day again but we had things to sort for the coming week, it’s only a week before holiday to the States and with my work there is so much I need to get sorted, so we were home by 1.00pm. A fantastic weekend in which we all felt like we’d been away for an age.

Camping is certainly made by the weather, when there’s no rain it really is perfect – although it’s crap if you suffer back-pain! I am stiff as a board!

“Can we play bat and ball?”

I have never heard that phrase uttered by Jack so many times in one weekend than this one. ‘Demanding’ is certainly an apt description for him when it comes to remaining active, he won’t sit still and sees no reason for anyone else to do so either, and now my throwing arm is killing me.

Mind you, his hand-eye coordination is excellent and with the baseball bat he hardly ever missed a strike, really quite impressive, I need to get him into cricket for certain! I think he’d be up for that as he’s been playing with the older lads in the village so perhaps he’ll take it up instead of Lewis who has no interest.

More photos are on this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliandark/sets/72157627185283607/

Cornbury Festival

Two weeks after the event I have finally got round to writing up the blog, sadly it’s not going to have been worth the wait for this posting!
Last year I managed to get a day at the festival to pick Charlotte up but this year we decided to go the whole hog and camp and stay for the weekend, so pleased that we did, but even then we didn’t stay as long as we could have done so next year…who knows.
Lewis, Dan and I met up with John Bampton and his mate Ashley and between us we set up our tents on the Thursday night, we ended up putting 8 tents up, Holdy turned up by the time we’d finished his! Reluctantly I took Lewis and Dan home leaving John & Ash to savour the atmosphere and have a few drinks…
I had Friday off so Lewis and I got there 1.00pm and wandered round with a few beers, and slowly everyone else started turning up, Wayne, Kez, the girls (and their friends), Tash and Jack and Charlotte & Maisie and everyone was excited and enjoying everything that was on offer in the tents and that.
Unfortunately,the beers were flowing a bit too much…drank too much and made a fool of myself so that was a shame! No more to say on that episode…
Serious hangover following morning so everyone just left me in the sweltering tent until midday..up in time for lunch, beers and more importantly…Deacon Blue! They were the band I was looking forward to all weekend and they didn’t disappoint. I got to within 6 rows from the front and it was fantastic, looking round it was just middle-aged men jumping up and down singing along, they played for an hour and all the favourites were run through. I could have gone home after that as I was happy!
We then went over and watched Sophie Ellis-Bexter and she got the crowd going during her stint as well.
On the Sunday we packed up (didn’t have to as we could have stayed the night and come home on Monday) and that took ages to sort out but once done we then wandered round again and watched more music, The Straits (Dire Straits) and then what all the kids really wanted to see – Olly Murs – he went down a storm and was actually pretty good even for the grown ups! That was then 7.30pm so we made our way home – exhausted.
Everyone had a fantastic time, total freedom to come and go as they pleased and just chill, relax, eat and drink. If tickets were available now for next year I’d buy them right now, so hopefully we’ll make it for longer as the Sunday would have been nice to stay the night as well.

Here is a link to some more of the photos from the weekend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliandark/sets/72157627023156369/

Jack’s Sports Day

We’re not allowed to go and see Lewis & Charlotte’s sports days any more as they’re grown up now so it’s still a pleasure to go and watch Jack’s one. Perfect weather today as far as they were concerned with no rain or sun so nothing to worry about.

Jack is so competitive at all he does and you could see his disappointment when not winning races, but he won his skipping race and came second at the sprint, ‘waiter’ race and the long distance race so he was pleased with his performance.

The school is good because it is inclusive and the kids that clearly can’t run or do well are not criticised by the other children for ‘letting the side down’ as would be the case perhaps when older, it nice to see them all cheering on some of the children who are quite clearly not physically able, it’s a great way to introduce humility to a lot of these other kids at a young age.

I was speaking to Jack about it in the car taking him to karate as there is one particular lad who’s clearly disabled but the whole school love him and encourage him which is impressive as we all know how horrible kids can be!

I’m now sat outside Charlotte’s gymnastics class for an hour whilst she, Isabella and Rosie work on the bar, this week I think. Normally it would be mum doing it but she’s not feeling well after her most recent chemotherapy on Friday and has been off work today and yesterday. We’re wondering if it is only sickness and tiredness or whether it’s more of her hair coming our and it’s depressing her and she doesn’t want to be seen.

We’ll get to the bottom of it and will probably just turn up on the doorstep and see her, Tash plans to anyway.

Jack’s skipping race can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qmiVZRf9o0 – he’s quite shy and retiring at the end!

Race for Life & other things – making it hardly a lazy Sunday…

Charlotte & Natasha ran the 2011 Race for Life this weekend, both doing a great job of completing the course in exactly 30 minutes which for them was really good, it was incredibly hot as well so all the more impressive. It was packed there at the University Parks, they had 7,500 participants along with Dads and kids supporting tells you how many were there.

They ran with Kerry, Chloe and Sharon. Katharine Casey was there too and it was her birthday so there was a ‘bring and share’ picnic organised afterwards which was nice, loads of lovely food! Stayed there for an hour or so, whilst all the kids played football or did their acrobatics or competed with each other at something or other like climbing trees and the like.

We then went up to the Rover Cowley Works as there was a Family Open Day there so we met up with Holdy and Millar and pottered round taking the kids to the various stalls, they’re all competitive in their own way on the running machines and rowing machines and anything else – funny to watch them. Stayed there for a couple of hours and then went over to Bicester to see Nikki and Gaz for a barbie.

 

Stayed there for a few hours as well!!!

All day it’s been unbelievably hot, we’ve had crap weather this summer so far and Sunday/Monday were forecast to be hot and we’re all moaning that it’s too hot…can’t win eh?

Had a good day though and it was great to see everyone, managed to get some good photos as well

 

 

 

 

Jack found a unique way to cool down in the heat when he got back to our house!

Visiting Wimbledon with Charlotte

Had a great day yesterday when I took Charlotte to Wimbledon for her first time. Mum got some tickets from a chap at work so we took them on as Mum and Sue are going to the Men’s finals as well…it’s alright for some! Tash couldn’t get the time off so I took Charlotte instead.

Left Oxford around 10.00am and made our way to the Park & Ride in the local College and it was nice and easy and we made perfect timing to get there. Charlotte didn’t stop talking the whole way there, mostly about rubbish but it was nice to listen to!

When we got there she was really impressed, I don’t think she had much idea as to what to expect and couldn’t believe the size of it, the numbers of people (it was packed) and the money evidently on display everywhere! We had a walk around some of the courts and the tennis was under way on some of the outside courts so we watched some of that before making our way to Henman Hill, or is it now Murray’s Mount, and we started on the packed lunch watching the huge screen.

We were on No.1 Court sat right at the very back but it was a good view as you got to see everything and could appreciate the angles and quality of the tennis on show, we were in the shade though so were quite cold but we got to see some good tennis from the following players:

 

- Andy Roddick v Andreas Beck (Roddick won but it was a decent match)
- Wozniacki v Parra Santonja (Women’s game in under an hour – Wozniacki destroyed the other girl!)
- Robin Soderling v Phillip Petzshner (looked to be good but we left after first set – Soderling won 3-1)

After the Roddick match we sneaked out and sat on the Hill, or Mount?, and had our strawberries and cream – they were great and as we’d taken our own we had loads more than the punnet for £2.50!!

We saw Sue & Simon just below us but we didn’t get the chance to have a chat and catch up with them, sent a couple of texts but that was it, we left at 6.30pm and got some chips in Merton and then got home for 9.00(ish). We were very lucky with the weather, it’s been raining today and Day One as well and we got uninterrupted play which you always worry about here in the UK!

It was a lovely day and it was good to spend time with Charlotte as just the two of us, she’s a lovely girl – I am very proud of how she’s growing up. My only regret is that I didn’t leave my phone at home, I couldn’t help answering it and sending work emails and the like and it just made me feel washed out at the end of the day and I didn’t feel I gave Charlotte enough attention – I won’t do that again and will be more protective of my time with her and the family in the future.

That’s my intention anyway!

Weekly round-up…

It’s been a very busy few days, and I am writing this sat in a school reception area watching Lewis do skipping with some of his old friends from the Jump Nation competition here in Kingston-Upon-Thames. They’ve opened a class and there are about 25 kids in there of all ages and Lewis is one of the oldest. The team from Pulse are here so it’s nice to see some old faces although the journey here was a bit of a pain and took 2 hours because of the rain and traffic. Not sure how many times we’ll be coming but I have done the ‘Good Dad’ thing and brought him along and will let him decide what he wants to do, just a 135 mile round trip is a bit of a pain and clashes with Taurus training on a Monday. (Updated comment – he loved his time there tonight and wants to come again)

Talking of long round trips, last week I was in York training 2 Science Learning Centre users on SPIRIT – 7 hours round trip but thankfully stayed overnight on the York University campus on Thursday. That was interesting to see how it’s all set up and it would be fantastic experience for any one of the kids to attend. I was very impressed indeed. Training went well but it meant I didn’t get back home until 9.00pm on Friday night, made the weekend a whole lot shorter!

Sunday was Father’s Day, the kids know me too well and Charlotte got me a bag of toffee and Jack got me a bar of chocolate, Lewis got me the world’s biggest mug – yes it was bloody huge and I filled it up with coffee, drank it out of principle but won’t be doing that again…half measures will be plenty in the future.

Father’s Day was also Summertown Stars 5-a-side tournament, my A team did really well and got to the quarter finals and were all over Cumnor but they equalised with seconds to spare and then beat us on penalties which was frustrating as we’d have had a semi-final with Kidlington had we won as we deserved. Ah well. They had a presentation for me at the end of the tournament (my parents!) and they gave me a card with loads of nice thank you comments but also another Red Letter Day voucher – incredibly generous.Tash and I will probably do something together such as a pamper weekend or something like that, we’ll got through the website and spend it well.

Last Sunday was also busy, Lewis, Nathan, Gaz, Paul, Jason and I went paint balling as part of our Xmas present from Tiffany. Poured with rain the whole time but it didn’t dampen our spirits and we had a great time. Spend too much on the paintballs but it was really good, I was very impressed. Apart from at the end when I got hit too many times and it bloody well hurt! I think I’d do it again, but I must admit I prefer the Laser Gaming, probably because it doesn’t hurt!

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Mum’s hair is coming our gradually, it’s only thinning out at the minute but she’s only halfway through the chemo course, so she and Tash went out to the wig shop this week and had a laugh sorting one out. It’s the one thing that Mum was really worried about but I think she’s just got on with it as something she can’t avoid so is taking it in good spirits.

That’s it, Charlotte and I are off to Wimbledon tomorrow, we have tickets for No.1 court so looking forward to that, it’ll be nice just the two of us. Hopefully the miserable rain that we’re experiencing right now will disappear and we’ll have a long day of it – I’ll take the brolly just in case though!!!

A child’s wisdom…

"Dad, you're hair is going grey"
"Yes I know Jack, I'm getting old"
"You're not going to get another girlfriend looking like that!"

Mum’s Second Chemotherapy Session

Mum had her second session on Friday and once again came out of it saying that it all went fine and she wasn’t suffering any ill-affects which again was really pleasing to hear.

Spoke to her on Saturday and Sunday and the same thing, felt tired but thought that might just be the tablets that she needs to take. She and Derek had been out for the day to Stratford-Upon-Thames and watched some films back at home as well.

Tasha emailed her today though and unfortunately she’s started noticing that some of her hair is coming out, so the cold cap treatment might not be doing its work. I didn’t speak to her but Tash will persevere and if need be then Mum might look at getting a wig or at least some scarves.

This is what she was dreading, but I think her attitude is that “whatever happens, happens!”, but I think she’s not too pissed off because she’s getting through the treatment with such minor affects when expecting to be really sick and everything.

We’ll see.

Paul Scholes retired yesterday

One of my favourite players, Paul Scholes, retired from football yesterday. One of the best players in his generation and hugely admired amongst his peers, International and UK-based. There was loads of stories and accolades that can be found about his but he was looked up to by other players which can be no better compliment.
Some people on Twitter and noticeboards were criticising his tackling ability, or lack of, but that’s not relevant when you run a YouTube search on his goals and contribution if you ask me and shows a complete lack of understanding of the game.
Unless of course they were simply wanting to buck the trend and say something contrary just to be ‘clever’!
Thankfully, he’s not dropping out of football altogether and is going to continue being involved in a coaching capacity, I don’t much care that it’s with Manchester Utd as I don’t support anyone but for him not to pass on his skills and experience to younger players then that would have been a shame.
I wish him all the best good fortune in the rest of his career.

Another Great Weekend…

Bank Holiday weekend, what didn’t we do?!?!

Friday after work we had a BBQ and invited Jason & Sharon Millar and their kids, Wayne & Kerry Holden and their kids and Liam & Zoe Carroll and their kids so a bit of a houseful, or more to the point a garden-full as we stayed out all evening! As usual far too much to drink but all the banter and silly chat and it was a lovely evening. Got a fire up and running which always goes down well with the kids as they can toast marsh-mallows and add wood to the fire. Who doesn’t enjoy playing with the flames once in a while? Late night but well worth the effort, we enjoy having people round for food and drink.

Saturday was the Cholsey 5-a-side tournament for Lewis’s team, they did really well and got through to the quarter-finals but then were cheated out of it by some outrageous decisions but the local referee. I don’t get involved with the silly chatter but I was so close to going mental! I bit my tongue as I didn’t want to get some crap fine, but Sammy got sent off for telling the ref he was shit – he was right but he’ll still get a suspension and £40 fine, not worth it for some uptight bully!

In the evening it was the Champions League final between Man Utd and Barcelona at Wembley. Currently Barcelona are the best team in the world and they proved as much in front of millions of viewers winning 3-1, it was incredible to watch. They can’t be touched at the minute, they have the best players and team ethic where they pass the ball constantly to work the space and beat down their opponents. No one could begrudge them the win and they made it look so easy against a Man Utd team that are hardly lighting up the world but are still one of the top five teams around – but FCB simply looked like they were training! Messi, Iniesta, Xavi – gifted players that we’re very luck to watch at this time in our lives.

Sunday we went out for a cycle ride down by the river, past the Perch and into Oxford, nice to explore a new route. Jack spent some of his HMV voucher on a DVD, popped into the Old Prison complex to treat ourselves to a Krispy Kreme donut and then back home along the river again.

In the evening Tash and I went out to Newbury Racecourse as she was provided with VIP tickets for the Rod Stewart concert which was the first leg of his UK tour. So we were treated to a couple of free drinks in the VIP suite and then right down near the front of the stage to see the concert. At 66 you wouldn’t guess his age, the concert was brilliant and he played for 2 hours. So many songs that are memorable, you forget the ones that he’s sang in the past. Felt a bit guilty as there were at least 20,000 people so we left during the last song, “Do ya think I’m sexy” and then heard the encore “I am sailing” in the car park and left so as to miss the traffic, to make it worse they then released a huge firework display!

I’ve never left a concert early to beat the traffic and I will never do it again either!

So if that wasn’t busy enough on Bank Holiday Monday we took the kids down to Bath for the day, poured down with rain the whole time so that wasn’t much fun but we wandered round the Roman Baths which was really interesting and then had a bit of a walk around a walking tour. I’d downloaded the walking tour on everyone’s mp3 players the night before but for some reason they weren’t impressed that the now have a playlist called “Bath Tour”…no pleasing some people is there? Treated ourselves to Pizza hut at the end of the day to cap off a lovely weekend.

It was good to spend time with the kids today, they’re funny when they’re on form, each has their own personality to bring to the family and as much as it grates sometimes and we bicker we have a good laugh the majority of the time. It’s a shame I didn’t record us singing along to “Your Song” in the car on the way down…a most amusing rendition.

So all in all, quite a busy weekend really, now back to work for a rest…yeah right!

Working from home or in Starbucks…which is best?

Sometimes working from home has its benefits…this morning I dropped the car off at the garage for its service and MOT, then wandered down from Shotover to the Churchill Hospital and had my broken finger prodded and bent. Now that might not hurt the Physiotherapist but it bloody well hurts me! All good and only one more session required apparently. The finger is on the mend.

And then it was a walk up to Headington, sit in Starbucks and get on the wireless internet and work over coffee and cookies…I don’t get this at home!

I took a detour walking to Headington and went through Mattocks Close which is behind where I used to live and was a field, bit of nostalgia for a Friday morning, passed the Youth club and up New High Street where the shark is in the roof of the house and saw all the short-cuts we used to take as kids through people’s gardens when being chased or going to call on mates. I was tempted to knock on the door of one house to ask if the shortcut was still there, but then I thought better of it as they might call the police on me thinking I was ‘casing the joint’!

Just had a call from the garage, car passed MOT but brakes need sorting, so will get a call around lunchtime to go and collect it, so BLT could be in order now.

Now to get on with work, wish they’d turn the music down, it doesn’t sound so good when the phone rings to speak to clients.

What a weekend…

It all started off fine with the Summertown Stars Presentation evening on Friday night. We had a good turn out and it was very pleasing to be able to give Jack the Player’s Player of the Year award, well deserved as he admitted to some of the parents after getting it! “I agree!” he replied to a couple..ah well, he’s only 10. Lewis also picked up Most Improved Player for his team so it was a good night for the Dark family.

Saturday night Charlotte & Tash went to Newbury races for a concert and watched The Wanted, they had a great time.

On Sunday we were going to to canoeing but the weather was crap so pottered around and then went up to Shotover and met Mum. She’s doing okay with her cancer although throughout the week she’d been getting pains in her arm and she finally complained about it and they found that she’d had a blood clot – not good. So they sorted that out but it means she needs to inject herself in the stomach with a blood thinning agent for the next 6 months! It never rains…

Sunday evening wasn’t so good…Sue’s dog Heidi is on her way out and she finally died at 6.00pm, cue tears and sobbing from everyone in the house, Sue, Tash, Charlotte and Jack, all very sad indeed. I then had to bury her immediately, can’t say that was enjoyable. Poor thing, she didn’t suffer and went quietly in her sleep.

I managed to get out for a run in the evening, first one for months and I was useless, 4 miles in 40 minutes so not good at all. But I will try to get it going again over the next few weeks so that I start to get fitter and in more shape, we’ll have to wait and see. So a traumatic weekend all in all, hopefully this week will be better.

More wisdom from Jack

More wisdom from Jack before going to bed...

"God is actually a really good person, he's invented loads of good things but he's made some bad things as well...such as...school...fruit....and girls!"

I love our little chats at bed time!

Olympic Torch Announcement

Lord Coe unvieled the route of the Olympic flame today and announced that it could be viewable by 95% of the population as they are trying to ensure that it's almost in everyon'es back garden

When asked how close that is in reality he replied "About an hour's drive" - how big is his back garden for goodness sake?!?

Mum & Cancer

I have been meaning to write this sooner

Around January this year, Mum was diagnosed with Breast Cancer as part of the 3 year routine checks, they didn't know how bad it was until the results and then said she'd need a mastectomy which she duly had a few weeks later.When getting the results from that and her lymph nodes and the like they were able to confirm that it hadn't spread elsewhere that they could see but it was a particularly aggressive cancer and they couldn't give 100% assurance that it was cleared and out of her body.

So they have decided that she needs chemotherapy and a course of Herceptin so that they can basically try and completely flush it out of the system and it not creep back in 6 months time.

So Friday last week was mum's first Chemo visit and incredibly she suffered no side-effects other than to be tired - incredible. She has 6 chemo sessions in total 3 weeks apart and then 9 months of Herceptin about 2 weeks apart so all very serious and time-consuming.

Her work have been brilliant as has Derek so she has no worries there.

It's obviously been a huge shock but she's borne it well and we (my wife is very pro-active) and the kids have kept her busy taking her out and having meals and all sorts. Louise lives in Kings Lynn which is annoying as she's not down here much but we're doing our best to support her etc.

I hope this diary will be a record of her battle and success to defeating this awful disease...

Love you mum.

Jack's Praise to me!!!

- Dad, did you get a certificate for making me? 
- Your birth certificate I suppose Jack. 
- No that's mine, you should have got a certificate because you did a good job!

Another weekend over

Butlins was fantastic, kids had a great time and loved it, parents as well, some great photos.

Mum had first chemotherapy treatment on Friday and has suffered no affects whatsoever, can't believe it. Amazing woman and very proud of her. Hope that's the way things will continue because you hear all the horror stories of illness and that which we were preparing for...5 more sessions to go, fingers crossed.

Worked hard this weekend, off to British Red Cross tomorrow for training and then to Rochester and two Oxford customers on Thursday - all over the bloody place! 

Butlins

Off to Butlins tomorrow taking Jack's team and doing what I have done twice with Lewis's team. Should be fun and everyone is looking forward to it. Still haven't packed yet so need to get that sorted.


It's been a really bad time of things later, I'll update all the happenings shortly as I don't have time now, but we've had Roy next door die, my Mum has breast cancer and is now going to have chemo, all sorts happening. 


On that note...

It's the weekend

Thought I lost my Facebook account last night - I removed the email addresses linked to the account so that I would stop getting notifications and then logged in use a Hotmail.co.uk address and it started a new account - nightmare! Eventually worked it out after over an hour of emails etc but it's now back to normal. In saying that, I am trying to reduce Facebook use so I shouldn't really care about it. But once in a blue moon won't hurt I guess.

England cricket is in good voice this morning after we thumped the Aussies in their own back yard again to retain the Ashes with a 3-1 series win Down Under. It's been very easy for the team which is a shame but it's good to be able bash the Aussies of course! The Barmy Army have been in good form as well.

Looking forward to the weekend, Jack has his mate Danny over and then there is football at the weekend, should be nice. We play Abingdon on Sunday, hopefully get a decent result after a very indifferent first half of the season. We'll have to wait and see.

Bloody thieves

Not a good day yesterday - Lewis and 4 mates at school had their wallets and phones stolen whilst they were at the Ferry Centre for a school PE lesson. Their bags out of 25 were the only ones affected, really pissed off as it amounts to over £90 worth of things gone. New wallet from Grandma for Xmas, £10 in it, phone and credit and bank cards in the wallet so we were rushing round cancelling everything quickly

Didn't get anywhere with Ferry or the School taking responsibility so we won't be able to get any of this back as it's not worth claiming on the insurance of the house. Nightmare and very frustrating.

Lewis was actually one of the luckier ones, one poor lad had his brand new iPod stolen. Poor lad was in tears

I then made things worse by panicking and registering my credit card with an online mobile tracking company and it looks like it's all a scam so I am trying to get that all cancelled - last thing I need is more money lost! We'll see.
So that was yesterday, today I was in central London with Collins doing training, it was okay but I was shattered on the way there and on the way back - both times I was fast asleep on the train. Nice to catch up on some sleep but not good from a work perspective as getting something done on the train is a bonus. Ah well.

Not sure what to do this evening, have a busy weekend lined up already so need to either get some work done or some of this learning that I am trying to improve on...where to start?!?!?

Time Bandits and Scrabble

Just beat Jack and Charlotte at Scrabble - it was close as well!

Now we're watching Time Bandits, class film, such good fun.

Yesterday it was Out of Africa which was great to see all the scenery that we saw only last year on our safari.

Before that it was Kick-Ass - even Tash loved it, that's saying something.

Back to work today which was okay in the end, not going into the office now so that's a bonus.

I need to work on a resolution to 'better' myself so have been reading before bedtime and now need to focus on training and other things. I want to work on the kids football coaching as well.

2011 - Another New Year

So it's another New Year, where did the last one go to?

Xmas was good, had a really long break and there was the snow that came the week before that was so deep and everyone loved it. Perfect. Lots of great presents and a few resolutions that I will try and stick to, one of them being this blog....we'll see how it goes.

Kids are home today but for Tash and me it's back to work and the usual crap that comes with that.

Ah well, best get on! Have a good one

Xmas on its way

Well, Xmas is getting closer again and at the end of November we were hit with the first of the snow and unbelievably icy temperatures. And as per usual the whole country ground to a halt and everyone panicked or crashed their cars and our office was closed for two days. All a bit sad really.


One nice thing was getting football called off! We've been able to enjoy time as a family and yesterday was lovely, went to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (it was okay, but the kids loved it) and then went to Milletts to see Father Xmas after having been to Appleton this year and their Tree Barn so we have everything ready for setting up the decorations


On Saturday Taurus were performing again with Talent Oxford and it was really pleasing to see Jack in such a starring main role, he's damn good at what he does. He's really able and throws himself into things with a gusto, he was brilliant. Will post a video when we get hold of one!


Had some really sad news yesterday, a chap from the Summertown committee was killed in a car accident yesterday, drove into the back of a lorry and car caught flames. Wife and two young kids left behind, isn't that tragic? Didn't really know him to be honest as I'd not been to many meetings but still such a shame.


Actually, bit sad about that so will sign off as not in the mood to carry on writing at the minute.