The London Eye

On Thursday this week Amy got a treat when Daddy took her on the London Eye with Terri. Steve took her into his work beforehand and she had a lovely time meeting all the people he works with.

She enjoyed seeing Big Ben - although her ultimate thrill came from riding home with me on the top deck of a London Bus!


On Saturday we went to Joshie's 4th birthday party. It was a fancy dress theme and Amy went as a cat and Ben as a bug - both of them stayed in their fancy dress for most of the afternoon.

It's been a little bit hectic here getting everything ready for our big holiday but we're about there now. We're all packed and the kids have their little trunki's to take onto the plane with them - (what you've never heard of a Trunki - try www.trunki.co.uk!)

So it's all systems go for tomorrow afternoon. Don't miss us too much and I'm sure it will be the mother of all posts when we return!

Aussie Rules

Well Terri (our Australian friend) has arrived back into the UK. It's been over four years since she was last here and her whirlwind Tour sees her visiting, England, Ireland, Paris, Italy & Hong Kong.

She stayed with us last night and we had a lovely Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning playing together with her. Ben even managed to figure out how to drive Lightening - although this method does impede his vision somewhat!

Amy was away this weekend - she spent the weekend with Granny, Grandad and Ollie in their caravan in Thorpe-le-Soken and from what she tells me they had a marvellous time. Complete with games of cricket and crabbing on the beach.

Amy didn't get to see Terri this weekend but she will on Thursday when the two of them and Steve will be taking a trip on the London Eye.

It was lovely to see Terri again after all these years and I even promised that I would fly out to see her......... when I'm about 55 (hopefully they will both have forgotten that promise by then!)

Caravans & Calais

We're back from our holidays and this post could be quite a long one...

We went to our usual destination which is La Bien Assise campsite in Frethun a charming little village about 10 minutes drive from Calais port.

We took some glorious weather with us and everyone had a really lovely time.

In the main our days where spent as follows:

• Lazy breakfast of croissants & hedgehogs (choc au pain to you and I)
• Nip out to local retail establishment and do a spot of sale shopping
• Back for a long lunch (more bread with fine cheese or pate)
• Dip in the campsite pool
• Lazy afternoon spent in our little bordered off garden area (Granny's windbreakers keeping Ben penned in safely!)
• Kids to bed
• Nice relaxing bar-be-que for the adults
• Lots of booze, together with more bread and cheese

I doubt anyone will have lost any weight this week - apart perhaps from the kids who didn't sit still for most of it.

There were a couple of days when we broke the mould though. On the Sunday we visited Nausicca (a SeaWorld) in Boulogne as this was the only day when the weather was a bit hit and miss and the kids loved this.

Then on Tuesday we went to Plopsaland in Belgium which is a really nice little theme park. Everyone was very tired by the time we got home after that day out but it was really good fun.

Then on Wednesday night the kids had a sleepover in Granny & Grandad's caravan whilst Steve and I went out to dinner at the local restaurant.

We all had a really great time and Steve and I are already planning when we can go back.

We returned home at midday on Saturday and ran around like lunatics unpacking and getting ready for a bar-be-que for our friends who were arriving at 3pm.

Now normally I wouldn't even contemplate doing something so crazy but Kev & Nat were visiting with their little boy James and it had been planned for months with Jane and Simon hosting the event. Unfortunately, Jane's mum is poorly so we stepped in at the last minute. It was a brilliant day and went on quite late into the evening.

The highlight of the night, for me, was Gavin drunkenly telephoning the customer service number on the bottle of cider that Kevin had brought to congratulate them on their fine beverage!

The next day Steve and my Dad set about destroying the decking to make room for our hot-tub which should be coming early September (didn't we mention we're getting a hot-tub? apparently it's the next stage towards swinging according to Kirstie!!)

So you can see why it's taken me a few days to post about this little lot. It's been a hectic but really enjoyable week.