by | Mar 14, 2017 | Kent Apr 08
Kent, UK – April 2008 Day 2 – Camber Sands Monday 28th April Despite the kids settling in well last night, Sandy’s sleep was cut short this morning when at around five in the morning Jennifer started a fit of coughing and Calvin fell out of his bed and...
by | Mar 14, 2017 | Europe Jul 17
Europe – July 2017 T-124 – pre-departure Sunday 26th March And so it begins. Since we arrived here in Melbourne, Australia some seven years ago, we’ve not yet – as a family – been back to Europe to visit friends and family. It has been far too long. Having...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 31 – Jax to London – last day Wednesday 22nd October Well, it’s all over now and we’re finally safely back in the UK in the comfort of our own home. We both have very mixed feelings about being back home. In truth, we...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 30 – Palm Coast – Marineland Tuesday 21st October With Patti and most of the rest of the household up and out already, I was afforded a blissful but all too brief lay in this morning. Today is the last full day here...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 29 – Palm Coast – Alligator Farm Monday 20th October Another nudge in the ribs this morning was once again my signal to get up and take care of the kids whilst Sandy rested some more. Not being a morning person, this is...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 28 – Palm Coast – last round-up of visits Sunday 19th October Although not the last day of the holiday, today was the last day in the condo at the beach and we were both up relatively early this morning so that we could...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 27 – Jax – Clark’s Fish Camp Saturday 18th October Jennifer tagged along with us for breakfast this morning. Sandi would have done so too had she been up and ready in time. Since I had a lunch appointment with some...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 26 – Jax – shark’s teeth at Mickler’s Landing beach Friday 17th October We had our usual breakfast at the conveniently nearby Waffle House again this morning. The curious thing is that although we always order...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 25 – Jax – more old friends visiting Thursday 16th October We never did have that breakfast as planned for this morning. Dave’s brothers and sisters were travelling in from all different directions and it was...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 24 – Jax – visiting more old friends Wednesday 15th October Judging by the nudge in the ribs this morning, Sandy evidently wanted me to get up with the kids so I rose to the challenge, went to get Jennifer and duly slept...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 23 – Jax – I look after the kids…Sandy the credit card Tuesday 14th October Sandy ‘allowed’ me to sleep in until just about five minutes before she left the house this morning – how thoughtful of her! I was to...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 22 – Jax – old friends visiting Monday 13th October We all joined Jennifer, Kristen & Dillon for a late breakfast this morning. We thought we’d enjoy Mimi’s Cafe again but when we got there, it was a forty-five minute...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 21 – Jax – visiting old friends Sunday 12th October The only things we had planned for today involved meeting people. Sandy had arranged that we’d hook up with AnnMarie this morning, Patti was to swing by this afternoon...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 20 – Jax – poker night with the guys Saturday 11th October Amazingly, we actually took no photos today. I guess the array of parallax lines and other camera viewfinder information that I still see in my field of view must...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 19 – Jax – back to the First Coast Friday 10th October We were the first to stir in Patti’s house this morning. Well, actually, the kids were the first to stir, followed by Sandy, followed by me – after having been...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 18 – Palm Coast – Wonder Works & visiting Patti Thursday 9th October We had to vacate the property this morning by ten so we made fast work of packing the car and tidying up the place. Those crane-like birds were out...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 17 – Orlando – Universal Islands of Adventure (again) Wednesday 8th October Perhaps our theme-park-free day yesterday recharged our batteries a bit but we were all up and about surprisingly early this morning. We left the...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 16 – Orlando – Seaworld Tuesday 7th October We left the house early enough to get to the Golden Coral in time this morning to enjoy a hearty breakfast. Our theme park of choice for today was to be Sea World – the...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 15 – Orlando – visiting Marc & Anna Monday 6th October Today was our first opportunity to spare our aching feet with a them-park-free day. Instead, we travelled over to Tampa to visit our very good friends Marc &...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 14 – Orlando – EPCOT (again) Sunday 5th October We got off to a late and rather rocky start this morning. The truth is that for the first time since arriving in Orlando, we had no clear idea of which theme park we were...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 13 – Orlando – Animal Kingdom Saturday 4th October Perhaps the full-on onslaught of theme park after theme park is slowly getting to us finally but everyone was a big irritable this morning. It may also have been the fact...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 12 – Orlando – Aquatica Friday 3rd October On the heels of five major theme parks in as many days, today was billed as a rest day at one of the areas newest water theme parks – Aquatica from Sea World. It only...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 11 – Orlando – Magic Kingdom Thursday 2nd October I think our feet are slowly starting to feel the effects of having just done four major theme parks in as many days. The fun will continue today as we make it...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 10 – Orlando – EPCOT Wednesday 1st October The weather forecast for today was for thirty to seventy percent chance of showers and thunderstorms so we were in two minds as to what we should do for the day. It would have to...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 9 – Orlando – Universal Studios Tuesday 30th September We broke with tradition slightly this morning in that we didn’t go out to the Waffle House for breakfast. We wanted to get a slightly earlier start to our theme park...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 8 – Orlando – Islands of Adventure Monday 29th September The morning routine is becoming familiar and entrenched and we’re becoming quite efficient at getting ready for the day on the theme park trail. Surprisingly, I’m...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 7 – Orlando – Disney Hollywood Studios Monday 28th September The first thing I did this morning when I got up was to check the USPS tracking web-site to see if the letter we’d been sent with the theme park tickets had...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 6 – Orlando – arrival Saturday 27th September Sandy had arranged for us to visit Reyna this morning with the kids. Neither she nor Gerald has changed a bit – except for the cast on her leg from tripping out of her...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 5 – Jax – taking care of the kids on my own Friday 26th September Floridians might call the weather we’ve had since we arrived ‘bad’. By this I suppose they would be referring to the absence of the penetrating sunshine...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 4 – Jax – a day at the zoo Thursday 25th September The kids were up at a more reasonable six a.m. this morning. Sandy was up with them, as usual, but I followed shortly thereafter. Our bed has to be the most comfortable...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 3 – Jax – a day at the park Wednesday 24th September Once again, the kids were up very early this morning. Sandy was up with them before six but I was able to relieve her for at least a little bit since I was up not long...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 1 – Jax – shopping at Walmart Tuesday 23rd September Joey was awake very early this morning – 03:00! Fortunately, Sandy was able to get him off to sleep again so we managed to catch a bit more sleep. All things...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 08
Florida – September 2008 Day 1 – London to Jax – getting there (part 2) Monday 22nd September Well, the first flight turned out to be quite a bit easier than expected overall. The second, however, was a completely different story altogether. Although...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 7 – last day – reflecting on the holiday Monday 3rd January OK, so we arrived home a few short hours ago and we’ve been unpacking, cleaning, washing and generally unwinding from the trip ever since. Between us, we’ve...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 6 – Great Ocean Road Sunday 2nd January This morning’s method of awakening was via a near world-war-three breakout that erupted between Joey & Jennifer – and far too early at that. From start to ‘everyone within a...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 5 – horse riding Saturday 1st January (New Year’s Day) As last night was the last of 2010, there were New Year’s Eve celebrations going on over at the cinema, which is really little more than a make-shift screen in...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 4 – a hot day at the beach Friday 31st December Just exactly why I was surprised that Jennifer was the first person on the entire camp-site to wake up this morning remains a mystery to me. As it was only six-thirty this time,...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 3 – walking through the treetops Thursday 30th December We had another lovely breakfast at the kitchen area this morning. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t sit down together as a family for breakfast so it’s been nice to do so here on...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 2 – time to do nothing Wednesday 29th December As is often the case when we’re on holiday or travelling around, we lose track of time. As such it was a surprisingly late finish to the day yesterday and so this morning should...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Cape Otway Dec 10
Cape Otway – December 2010 Day 1 – the journey Tuesday 28th December The car strained under the weight of all the ‘stuff’ we loaded upon it this morning and we made it all of five minutes down the road before having to turn around to retrieve the...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 19 – departure Friday 7th October Ok, it’s finally here – our day of departure. Well, what a whirlwind holiday this has been. We’ve had so many experiences here that it’s hard to take it all in or even know where to begin...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 18 – EPCOT (again) Thursday 6th October Our morning routine was somewhat adjusted this morning to accommodate for the fact that we would be meeting up with Louise & Chris for breakfast. Our usual Waffle House is a very...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 17 – Blizzard Beach Wednesday 5th October Ok, so for the second time on this holiday, I sit at the laptop on the day after to write up the events of the day. I think the problem yesterday was that the park was open a couple of...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 16 – Islands of Adventure Tuesday 4th October Ok, so for the second time on this holiday, I sit at the laptop on the day after to write up the events of the day. I think the problem yesterday was that the park was open a couple...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 15 – rest day Monday 3rd October Today was all about catching up with friends and family. With no theme parks scheduled for today, we anticipated a slow start to the day but for whatever reason, my body clock roused me into...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 14 – Downtown Disney Sunday 2nd October Today was always going to be a rest day with no plans on the schedule to visit a theme park. As such, I never bothered to try to wake up or get up and about very early (not that I do...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 13 – Seaworld Saturday 1st October Yesterday evening, just before we went to bed, finished with a bit of ambiguity as to what we were going to do today. I was all prepared for a nice, relaxing, rest day but Sandy was keen to...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 12 – Universal Studios Friday 30th September Patti had already left for home by late yesterday evening and so the house was back to its normal routine this morning. To all intents and purposes, we were on full auto-pilot as we...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 11 – Animal Kingdom Thursday 29th September By 8:30 this morning, pretty much everyone had stirred and we were all busy getting organised for the day. The last remaining major Disney theme park that we would knock off today...
by | Mar 13, 2017 | Florida Sep 11
Florida – September 2011 Day 10 – Typhoon Lagoon Wednesday 28th September Today is one of our rest days and we’re taking advantage of the good weather by visiting one of Disney’s main water theme parks. Typhoon Lagoon, we think, will be a big thrill for...
