Something pour le weekend??

This weekend Steve and I did something unheard of. We travelled to Paris without seeing Mickey Mouse!

The kids went to stay with Nanna, Grandad & Ally and Steve and I set off on the Eurostar. We had a lovely trip on the train for the first time in recent memory we didn't have anyone other than ourselves to entertain.

We were staying near to the Eiffel Tower in the Hilton - it was a nice hotel although the selection in the mini bar was a little, well, French! - See if you can make out the condoms in the bottom left-hand corner. Only in France!!

On Saturday we visited the Notre-Dame cathedral and then took a stroll along the banks of the River. In the evening we had a dinner cruise which was very nice - lovely food & fine wine.

On Sunday we went up the Eiffel Tower and Steve took some lovely photos whilst I hung about trying not to look down!









Then we went to Le Louvre. It is just such an immense building we never got close to seeing even a third of it but we saw the pieces we wanted to. Like old Mona - although we failed to find any Monet.












Then it was a nice French lunch before our return journey home. The kids were very pleased to see us and I think the adults were glad to have us home too.

Didn't we have a lovely time....

... the day we went to Blackpool!!

This weekend was a major event on the sporting calendar. Ipswich Town FC versus Blackpool FC at Blackpool's new state of the art stadium.

So the family pilgrimage began. Now if you'd have asked me before we went whether I was looking forward to it I would have selected some fragrant and colourful words in reply. However, I am happy to admit that I would have been wrong!

The journey both there and back was everything you could have hoped for - good weather, good traffic, good children and the game was a 1-1 draw thus preserving family harmony.

We did get some funny looks & comments when my Mum & I took the kids to the amusements whilst the others went to watch the game though - people seemed quite taken with the fact that one was supporting Ipswich whilst the other one Blackpool.

After spending a small fortune to allow the kids to pop 2ps into a slot machine Mum & I headed back to meet the others.

Dad had sat in the lovely new home supporters section of the stadium. Whilst, Steve, Alison, Brenda & John had err not!

That night we had a lovely dinner in the pub attached to the Premier Inn we were staying in and the next day Ben did a good job of waking the whole hotel up so they didn't miss breakfast!

Everyone is already planning the return leg at Portman Road - but this time the kids want to stay to watch the match!

Introducing.....

... Billy Bunny!

We have a new addition to our family. His name is Billy and he is our lovely new pet rabbit.

We got him from a friend of Ally who could no longer care for him (bit of a tug of love bunny I think) and the kids love him.

Ben especially seems to be quite overwhelmed by the thought that Billy has his own house and just repeats the words "Birry - House" over and over and over!

Here's hoping he lasts longer than the fish!

Country Dancing

Last weekend was Granny's traditional new years quiz & fancy dress party. The theme for this year was Country & Western.

As always everyone made a fine effort with the fancy dress & the food was particularly yummy this year - I found out I love Cowboy Stew!!

I was in charge of doing the quiz again and as I know praticially nothing about Country music it was quite hard but Wikipedia came in very handy!!

Kirstie & Brenda did a wonderful job of decorating the house - it looked brilliant once they'd finished.

For more photos from the evening just click here: More Photos

Happy New Year 2008

Happy New Year to you all.

We are returned from our New Year's break at Butlins in Bognor Regis and we enjoyed it so much we booked whilst we were there for new year!!!

So I am now part of the Butlins Family apparently. I never expected to like it so much but it is perfect for the age our kids currently are and it was definitely the most enjoyable New Year's Eve I've had in a long time.

So what happened....

Well we arrived midday on the 30th December and met up with Paula, Gav, Evie & Morgan. We then set about exploring the place.

It was heaven for Ben with a life size Bobsville (this is where Bob the Builder lives for those not in the know) and there were live Bob stage shows about 3 times a day.





There was also a funfair outside & smaller kids rides inside - all completely free which was a welcome change.










On New Year's Eve we managed to find a table in the Skyline (the main arena) and the night's activities started at 6.30pm with all the kiddie-themed events - kids disco & some crowd called the Skyline gang who kept them all amused.

This seamlessly merged into more adult events from around 10pm when the tribute acts started.

Ben crashed out first and Morgan put up a brave fight but he finally flaked out in the buggy with Ben.

The girls did really well with Amy seeing her first ever New Year's Eve countdown. She paid for it the next couple of day though and has tonight gone to bed at 6.15pm - she is shattered.

All in all it was a very good new year. I wonder what 2008 has in store for us eh!