What are the Cattells up to?

@GrahamMuz it tasted better than it looked (which wouldn't be hard to be honest!!)

2009-08-17T22:17:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Who says men can't cook? Another culinary masterpiece for BudgieUK while he is home alone

2009-07-31T20:03:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

For those that wanted to see the Take That merchandise .... I was actually quite under-impressed with it

2009-06-10T17:40:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Another Take That photo from tonights show at the Ricoh

2009-06-09T23:26:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Take that

2009-06-09T22:52:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Some of the #takethat trucks at the Ricoh today

2009-06-07T14:38:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

All ready for the journey home, and this flew overhead... Is it a red kite?

2009-05-31T15:52:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Really lovely day here in Wales today

2009-05-29T11:43:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Busy day in Betws-y-coed

2009-05-26T11:07:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

So what exciting place have I come to on the first day of my holiday?

2009-05-23T15:04:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Do I look like a drug dealer I'm this ?

2009-05-16T15:51:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

I have to put up with this Range Rover V8 Vogue while my Discovery is being fixed

2009-05-16T12:59:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

A beautiful morning, and I'm off to get emergency bacon & egg mcmuffins for the car boot team

2009-05-10T09:00:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Early morning brisk business at the #carboot

2009-05-10T07:46:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

The slightly broken Disco - esure the insurance company have been very good so far :)

2009-05-09T10:12:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

@andyy did you know that fb status updates via your app do not display correctly on the iPhone any more?

2009-05-09T08:24:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

@JasonBradbury have you noticed the trends ok Tweetie?

2009-05-04T20:50:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

@dedders This is what I see.. The pic should be in top left corner of the screen

2009-05-04T09:45:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

The sun IS shining in Porthmadoc

2009-05-02T12:12:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

@I_Am_A_Geek I'm on our exhibition stand at the NEC

2009-04-22T08:28:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Another lovely day in Wales... 3 nice days in a run at Easter.. must be global warming ;-p

2009-04-13T08:56:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

The view over the fields towards the sand-dunes

2009-04-12T08:47:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

It's alovely day for a walk to the village :)

2009-04-11T15:27:00.001+01:00

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-05T19:28:00.001+01:00

@sarahlou22 it went really well thnx. High light was a young girl with a phenominal voice... Big audience too.

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-05T16:27:00.001+01:00

I wonder why Twitter trends are so church centric at the moment #twurch - must be something 2 do with Easter :)

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-04T19:44:00.001+01:00

Big audience for the show.... All going OK so far

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-04T18:30:00.001+01:00

Getting set up for tonights concert

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-04T16:35:00.001+01:00

@TechNewsAm it must be something to do with the pic.... One more try..

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-04T16:19:00.001+01:00

Let's try that pic of the Land Rover again

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-04-04T15:25:00.001+01:00

U cn just imagine the meeting at Land Rover. I know, let's design sum alloy wheels that are almost imp'ble 2 clean

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-23T18:31:00.001Z

The "Disco" has landed

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-22T15:54:00.001Z

There we go, all nice and sparkly clean :)

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-22T14:43:00.001Z

Washing the Disco for the last time

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-22T13:01:00.001Z

Jamie Oliver never seems to make this much mess making cookies!

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-17T19:48:00.001Z

Slight change there then on the iPhone trends

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-17T15:56:00.001Z

Let's see what this looks like in an hour or so (once the iphone V3 event has started)

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-13T07:50:00.001Z

Let's see if we can get #rednoseday to trend today :)

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

2009-03-12T09:31:00.001Z

My dentist .... actually he is very good

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

All good things must come to an end .......

2009-01-02T01:49:00.001Z

Well, after nearly 3 weeks it's almost time to return home. Tonight we decided to eat out, and Emma suggested we should go to Pizza Hut and the good news is we all really enjoyed our pizzas.

All the packing is pretty much done, and in the morning we will head off to the airport for the flight back to New York, and then we will transfer onto the flight back to the UK. If I can, I will post any interesting photos or bits of information either on here or on Facebook, otherwise I will post a summary post in a few days..... Thanks for following our adventures and its great to notice that at the time of writing, this blog has been viewed over 500 times.. so it has generated some interest ;)

Off to the Beach

2008-12-31T02:50:00.003Z

Its been a while since we last went to Clearwater, so we decided to drive over there today to spend an hour or two on the beach.

On the way, we stopped off at a freeway Rest Area, and thought that the signs were interesting!!

Once we arrived at the beach, its nice to find changing rooms adjacent to the car park ...

and the beach was just how we remembered it ...clean, white and warm :)

On the way out of Clearwater, we spotted a pirate ship...but we dont think it was anything to do with the recent incidents abroad ;-)

Tomorrow, we are off to Blizzard Beach again for our last visit to a Disney park for this trip... feel free to comment...not many more chances ;-)

ICE, ICE Baby

2008-12-30T13:57:00.005Z

On Sunday we had some unusual visitors to the villa... a small group of Cranes (I think)....

they seemed intent on trying to get inside, but Norman managed to keep 'em out :)

On Monday, we went to a place called Gaylord Palms...its a HUGE hotel and convetion centre and for the past few years, they have staged an event called ICE.
They descride it as:

Nearly 2,000,000 pounds of ice will be used to create ICE!

Nearly 5,000 blocks of ice will be hand carved and transformed into a winter wonderland.

9 degrees Fahrenheit is the average temperature inside "The Florida Fridge," the home of the ICE! attraction.

1500+ fluorescent and fiber optic lights will be frozen within the ice, creating a magical holiday experience.

More than 18,000 total square feet of space is covered by the ICE! attraction. Kept at a brisk 9 degrees, the unique structure housing ICE! is also known as the "Florida Fridge." It is believed to be the first of its kind in North America.

They build a winterwonderland, all made from carved ice..... and its cold in there (9deg F)...so they supply a coat when you enter....

There were some really nice areas in there, including a Gingerbread house

Some lovely carved animals,

A meeting with a chilly Santa, and some of his helpers

and a Nativity scene

The fun bit is an ice slide, that Emma and I had to make use of (of course)...

The only problem we had was as you leave...everything steams up!

Actually... quite an interesting thing to have a look at .... and the hotel itself is huge... this is ONE of the Atriums

Post Christmas ....

2008-12-28T23:59:00.001Z

I guess we are settling into the slower post Christmas pace now.... with a bit of shopping, and some floating about in the pool.

The weather today has been lovely (25 deg C) with gorgeous warm sunshine all day.

First thing this morning, we went to a large shopping area called "The Loop West" and discovered a shop called Paneta... its a kind of breadshop come cafe, and they do a lovely range of cakes, sandwiches and hot rolls etc. They do a lovely cup of Latte too.

Once we finished there, we came back to the villa, and headed for the pool... Emma had a slight problem with the airbed as you will see in the following video ....

In order to simulate the wave pool at Blizzard Beach, Norman and Denise created a bobbing wave and Emma .... well she just floated around.

After a roast dinner, Emma and I cooked some cookies.... they turned out really well, and were consumed with gusto by the rest of the gang...

Christmas in Florida

2008-12-27T02:50:00.003Z

Again its been a few days since I did an update, so just to get us all up to date ......

Wednesday
We spent most of the day at the Prime Outlet Mall (it used to be called Belz)...it was a lovely day with temperatures well into the 80's F ....

It got really busy later in the day with lots of people doing their last minute Christmas shopping... its quite nice not to be involved in all that while we are on holiday. There were even TV crews there filming the size of the crowds...

One strange thing to notice is the dress code adopted by the team...you will see Denise in a T-shirt, Emma in a T-shirt, Maureen..... well judge for yourself, but she did remove the scarf and hat about half way through the day!

Great news on the ongoing trials with the Nag-Nav system... we have now improved the system with a full duplex, resilient, and scalable solution..... it now means that if the first system fails (Code named - Maureen), the secondary system (code name - Denise) takes over...... we think this will be a big seller... all you need to do is to keep taking the two Nag-Nav units to the shops, and letting them buy lots of reduced Christmas cards!

Thursday (Christmas Day)
We decided to be a little unusual on Christmas day, and headed off to Blizzard Beach Water Theme Park for the day.

It was really quiet there, which meant it was really great for getting on all the various rides and attractions... we must have gone on the Team Boat Springs (Family Raft Ride) about 5 or 6 times!

As usual we spent quite some time floating round the "Cross Country Creek" and spent a whole day in the park.

I know what you are all thinking...what did you have for Christmas Lunch? We had Philly Cheese Steak Rolls with Chips and Emma had Pizza :)

Friday
We spent most of the day at "Florida Mall" wandering round the shops, and looking for the odd bargain :)
Maureen managed to find someone to chat too (strangely called Maureen!!), and between them, the girls managed to buy 12 boxes of Christmas cards each!!

Emma got a hug from a giant M&M

Well, that's got us up to date, more to follow soon, so keep coming back, and dont forget to leave a comment :)

Disney Hollywood studios

2008-12-25T00:06:00.009Z

We had a great day at the "Hollywood Studios" (they used to be called MGM Studios??).

There was a brand new ride opened that is called "Toy Story Mania", and it seemed like the whole world had turned out to ride it.... we had to queue for about 20 minutes to get a fast pass, and the fast passes ran out at about lunch time... so its a popular ride :)

Fortunately, we managed to see or do almost everything we wanted to... there were a few shows that we enjoyed, particularly the High School Musical show, and definitely the "Fantasmic" show... if you have never seen it, and you are going to Hollywood Studios, make sure you see it...its really special and is staged in a stadium that holds about 7000 people.
I videoed a few minutes of the finale and I hope you get a feel for how cool it is....

After watching Fantasmic, we also wandered across the theme park to take a look at the Osborne Family Christmas Lights.... they have decorated the American Street with thousands (laterally) of tiny lights, and they "dance" to a selection of seasonal songs... this is a video Emma took...it gives you a flavour of what its like, but it had a really great family atmosphere, with some of the Disney staff dancing with the crowds etc.

A new Disney Experience

2008-12-23T12:16:00.004Z

Sorry this post has been a little bit late coming, but as Sunday was a quiet day and we had just been lazing around and not therefore not taking too many photo's there wasn't a lot to bring you up to date on, but this is the highlights for Sunday and Monday in one bumper post :)

On Sunday we decided to visit the Premiere Outlet Mall (it used to be called Belz for those of you that have been here before) but had a slight problem getting there...firstly the NagNav system failed miserably, and we took the wrong turning off the I4 and hence had a slight detour round the back of Universal Studios, but when we got closer the traffic was chaos ... this was partly due to roadworks, but was also a side effect of the Christmas shopping crowds.

...so we decided that this could wait, and instead headed off back to the Premium Outlet Mall, and had a good afternoon there.

It has been clear for a few days that Monday was going to be cold (for here anyway - approx 16 deg C) so Emma and I took the opportunity to have a new Disney Experience at the Disney Quest complex....

an Interactive playground for families.
When we arrived we were close to the front of the queue, so got in quickly...

and had a really enjoyable day trying out all the attractions...clear winner of the day for us both was Buzz Lightyear... which is a combination of Bumper Cars and a "shoot em up" computer game ..

Emma and I were in "Quest" from when it opened until about 4:30...so a good day :)

While waiting for Norman to come and pick us up, Emma got her camera out again, and took a picture of us both.... I think it came out pretty well too :)

Today (Tuesday) we are off to Disney's Hollywood Studios (used to be called MGM Studios)...so should have more photo's later today (depending on what time we get back, and how tired I am...see you soon)

Just chillin'

2008-12-21T16:09:00.005Z

On Friday evening we went out to eat, and had a really nice meal (following a recommendation from Heather) at the Longhorn Steakhouse restaurant.

On Saturday we decided we deserved a day off, so had a lazy day doing almost nothing (other than sitting in the sun, floating in the pool, drinking ice cold drinks... you get the picture I'm sure).
After a late lunch, we headed off up to the "Mall at Millenia" - a very high class shopping mall with all the usual shops that we use on a daily basis.... Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Dior, Tiffany's etc.... We found Bloomingdale's and Macy's, but for some reason could not find Primark!

There are a few really good gadget shops there including a Sony shop that was displaying the latest OLED TV... A really stunning picture, and only $2,500 for a 12" model... I think I will wait awhile before I order my 40" OLED set then!

Oh yes... there is also an Apple store there, so Emma and I had a good browse round

After looking round the mall, we headed off to another major retailer that you may never of heard of.... and they do great hot dogs for 50 cents :)

I don't think I have posted any photo's of the villa or the car yet...so to address that shortcoming......

2008-12-19T17:19:00.005Z

Have a look at this...the quality isnt great as it was done with a camera, but its the finale of the Special Christmas version of the Wishes Firework show... it was awsome being there, but you can get an idea from this video. They managed to get stars, smiley faces, square boxes and planets...all done with fireworks... amazing!

Do leave comments...we like reading them :)

Mickeys Christmas Party

2008-12-19T15:07:00.005Z

Thursday morning was spent lazing about, and generally recharging the batteries, as we have had a few long days this week. On Thursday afternoon, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party

After going through the frankly ridiculous "security checks" on the way in (they insist on looking in all bags, but the bags can be stuffed full of packages, boxes, things wrapped in tin foil..... and non are investigated any further.... they are likely to contain sandwiches, but could equally be stuffed with other items not so benign in nature...OK..rant over)
When you enter, you are given a wrist band (to show that you are entitled to be there) and then you have access to all the attractions in the park.

We arrived about 5pm (the party starts at 7) and started wandering round... at 7pm there was an announcement that if you didn't have a wrist band it was time to leave...I didn't think they would be able to empty all the other people out, but was amazed at how well they cleared out the stragglers... even clearing out the toilets to make sure no one was hiding in there!

Once the park had been cleared of those not invited to the party, it gave us a great opportunity to go on the rides that are normally very busy (they run the rides at full capacity, so there are almost no queues)... we went on Emma's favourite ride "Big Thunder Mountain" 3 times in quick succession

There was a whole raft of extra attractions going on mainly focusing on special parades, shows outside the castle, and a wonderful firework display.

And we even saw Santa

There was also an "all you can eat and drink" supply of cookies and hot chocolate...so we thought it rude not to partake!

Emma got a hug off Stitch

All in all, a very pleasant evening with Mickey and his friends, and on the ferry back to the car park at about 12:30 in the morning, Emma managed to imitate Kate Winslet ;-)

All the photos I took while were there can be seen here

Our day at EPCOT

2008-12-18T14:28:00.005Z

We arrived early, and were amongst the first 100 people into the park yesterday when they opened the barriers at about 8:50. This only lets you someway into the park, and then you are met by a load of Disney staff standing by a rope cordon.

During the 10 minutes, some of the characters come out and entertain everyone waiting in line.

Once the rope drops, you are escorted to the main areas of the park by Disney staff from the key attractions.... we followed the guys from Soarin' as this was likely to be the busiest ride in the park...this is a good system as it prevents people being trampled in the rush when the rope is dropped

Once we had ridden Soarin' we were off exploring the rest of the park.... it was a lovely day so we decided to take our time and "make a day of it"

Emma got to meet some of the characters up close:

I cant resist taking photos of Space Ship Earth (its a very impressive structure) even though I have got about 50 pictures already!

The ride inside has some very innovative face recognition stuff going on, and you end up taking part in a virtual online world .....

Emma, Norman and I convinced Denise and Maureen to come on the "Test Track" ride with us... that may have been a mistake, as Maureen said that she could hardly walk after the shock of the experience, and Denise said she will NEVER, EVER, EVER EVER go on that ride again.... oh well... us 3 enjoyed it!

As night time fell, the place takes on a lovely feel, with very clever lighting effects (this is Germany in the World Showcase)

There are a lot of special decorations here specifically for Christmas, including a lovely tree and a tunnel of lights that interact with the music that is being played

As always there is plenty of shopping opportunities to be enjoyed

but there are still things that we decide maybe should stay on the shelf

At the end of the day is a very impressive firework display that has an extra "Happy Holidays" section at the end

Thursday is likely to be a quiet day, but we are going to a special event called "Mickeys Christmas Party" at the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon... so there should be lots of photo's from that!

If you want to see all the photos from EPCOT, have a look here

EPCOT

2008-12-18T03:46:00.001Z

We have had another long day today as we have been in EPCOT all day,
and have only just got back to the villa. As it's late and we are all
a bit tired, I'll post a better update in the morning

Woo Hoo..... A Croc shop at our favourite mall

2008-12-17T00:07:00.000Z

After a nice day in the sun, we discovered a brand new Croc shop at
the newly expanded Premium Outlet Mall.. so a great end to a nice day.

Sun + pool = bliss

2008-12-16T18:11:00.001Z

New technology arrives...

2008-12-16T16:53:00.004Z

Whilst the rest of the world is seeking technological solutions using complex satellite based technology to answer all the navigation challenges facing people, we have been quietly developing our own solution, and I can now reveal to the world, the first ever photograph of the latest (and unique) navigation system that we are using here in Florida ......

Its called the NagNav system and only requires a "Mark 1 Maureen" system to be installed in the passenger seat, and the driver basically dare not take the wrong route for fear of a constant stream of nagging and criticism. I'm sure during the next few weeks we will continue to test the system, but so far it seems to work flawlessly.

Night time in the Magic Kingdom

2008-12-16T15:20:00.006Z

Its really nice to be in the Magic Kingdom as night falls, as it starts to take on a whole new look .... Last night there were a number of evening events in the park including the SpectroMagic parade, and the "Wishes" firworks show... both really spectacular events that you really would not want to miss
For more photos of the fireworks, click here and for a load of pictures of SpectroMagic click here

Magic Kingdom continued

2008-12-16T13:07:00.004Z

As I mentioned in the last blog post, we had a good day in the Magic Kingdom...from 9am 'til 8pm with the "Wishes" fireworks closing the day.

The park wasn't as crowded as we have seen it, but there was still a lot of people about, but we managed to get on all the rides we wanted to, and still had plenty of time to just chill out and enjoy the atmosphere.

Emma managed to give herself a sore throat from screaming so much on Big Thunder Mountain, and I think Maureen may have just one or two extra grey hairs from being driven round the "Tommorowland Speedway" by Emma!

By the way, if you are reading this blog, please feel free to leave us some comments.... we enjoy reading them while we are chilaxing in the villa :)

Magic Kingdom

2008-12-16T02:51:00.002Z

We have had a really nice day today. We were planning to spend a few hours in MK (not Milton Keynes) but we arrived there at about 9am and we have just got back to the villa and it's now about 10pm... So a long day too. I'll give you a proper update tomorrow after a nights sleep, so check back later to see more photos and a bit more detail on what we got up to.

Hairdo

2008-12-15T00:14:00.005Z

After a very lazy morning, we all eventually managed to drag ourselves out of the villa, and decided to go and see Mary so Emma could have her hair braided.

We were surprised to find Mary with her leg in plaster, but still as happy and lively as ever. Its always a highlight of the holiday to renew our acquaintance with Mary, and Emma enjoys having her hair done for the holiday.... once again Mary has made a good job of this.

We're hoping to meet up with Mary's daughters sometime during the holiday to say hi, and see how they have grown :)

Tomorrow we are planning to head off to the "Magic Kingdom" as its all pretty quiet here at the moment, but its likely to get much busier after the 20th.

I forgot to mention...

2008-12-14T13:15:00.001Z

In the car park last night at the "Downtown Disney" area, we noticed something slightly unusual.... we think the driver of this car may have been trying to tell his parents something... not sure what though!

I have added a couple of extra photos from last night, as I thought they looked nice .... everyone say arhhhh!

First full day

2008-12-14T02:28:00.008Z

Well, we are here at the end of the first day, and its all gone pretty well, but due to the effects of jetlag etc, we are all pretty tired and will be retiring to bed pretty soon.
We spent most of the day just aclimatising as well as doing the shopping to make sure we have all the stuff we need for the first few days at least.

This evening we have been over to Disneys "Downtown" area, and just had a wander round. Its nice to see the way that its different at this time of year with the Christmas decorations etc.

Christmas has arrived in Florida

2008-12-13T19:46:00.003Z

We have been out and done the main food shopping trip to Walmart so the cupboards and fridge are full of stuff now.

The owner of the house trusted us with the key to his private closet, so we could use his Christmas tree. We have spent an hour putting up the tree and generally making the villa look "Christmasy"...... I think it looks nice :)

Arrived safe and well

2008-12-13T12:12:00.002Z

You will be pleased to know that we all arrived safe and well, but a little late. By the time we arrived at Newark airport, we had approx 30 minutes to get our connecting flight... We had a go, but were never really going to make it. Continental moved our booking onto their next flight down to Orlando and we got on that with no problems ( it was half empty as a lot of other European inbound passengers were as delayed as we were).
The picture is the plane that took us to Orlando as it arrived on the stand in NY.... If you look closely, you can see the Manhatten skyline in the background.
Right... Time for breakfast... More later

Off to a good start

2008-12-12T12:03:00.000Z

Well, I'm writing this while sitting on the plane about 2 hours into
an 8 hour Continental flight to New York, then we are planning to
catch the 2nd flight down to Orlando.. There are very strong headwinds
slowing is down, so we are likely to be late getting into NY so it's
going to be a little tight getting through all the formalities before
we can get the next flight.... But i'll let you know how we get
on..... But as I say... We are off to a good start :)

All systems go?

2008-12-09T17:30:00.003Z

So, as we fast approach the time to head off to Florida, everything must be going to plan, most of the packing done, tickets all together with the passports and car hire documents, etc etc.....

Unfortunately, that's not the situation.... illness has struck the Cattell house and there is a combination of coughs, colds and bronchitis lurking here at the moment. I'm sure it will all come good in the end, but for now, most packing activities are on hold :(

More updates to follow in due course, but we are all looking forward to going to Florida, but first Emma and I are off to the Nexus Christmas Concert on Thursday night...promises to be a great night.

Getting ready for this years holiday

2008-12-05T10:28:00.002Z

Well, we are all off on our annual trip to Florida next week, and we are all getting things sorted. I have been to the dentist to get rid of a slight tooth ache before we go, but I ended up getting rid of a wisdom tooth. I am re-wiring the freezer onto the non RCD protected part of the mains as that bit keeps tripping out occasionally (which isn't good if the freezer is full of food)!

Denise is sorting the packing, and we have all registered on the new online visa waver system (and that said we were all OK to travel.... so that's a bit of good news).

I will try to keep the updates comming, and I'm hoping to do some updates via my iPhone, but that will rely on the availability of WiFi....

Do keep coming back to have a look, and see what we are up to, and do leave us comments.

Ta

The setting for the gala dinner last night

2008-06-06T08:23:00.001+01:00

Although the weather wasn't great, it was still a good evening.

The view from my seat on the plane

2008-06-03T17:01:00.001+01:00

Waiting for my flight to Geneva

2008-06-03T13:09:00.000+01:00

It looks like we will be bording soon and I will once again sample the
delights of eastJet!

The end of the holiday

2008-06-01T20:03:00.000+01:00

We all got home safely, and it feels so much colder in Coventry.
Thanks to Julie, Brian and Lucy for spending time with us.... Have to
do it again sometime ;)

Relaxing just before the trip home

2008-06-01T14:13:00.000+01:00

We were just chatting before setting off home. Its been a good break
and I think everyone enjoyed it.

A strange mist has decended over the dunes

2008-05-31T12:48:00.000+01:00

Not sure if its visible in the photo, but an strange must has swept
over the area.... Maureen thinks its a nuclear cloud!
I'm guesing its a strange natural occurence

The team enjoying the sun

2008-05-31T12:01:00.000+01:00

Its a really lovely day today and everyone is very chilled. We will
probably wander over the beach later, and may take a stroll along the
shoreline.

Me being all arty again

2008-05-31T11:00:00.000+01:00

Don't know why but this caught my eye on the beach

The Victoria

2008-05-30T20:19:00.000+01:00

We had a really enjoyable meal at the Victoria Arms in Llanbedr and
finished off with a Magnum from the site shop :)

Eating ice cream in Dyffryn Village

2008-05-30T12:13:00.000+01:00

Heading off to the village for supplies

2008-05-30T12:06:00.000+01:00

As its such a nice day, we decided to have a stroll up to the village
to get some essentials......

On the Beach

2008-05-29T14:53:00.000+01:00

It turned out to be a lovely day today, and we even went down do the
beach

Woo Hoo. The sun is shunning :)

2008-05-29T10:47:00.000+01:00

What a difference a day makes!

Its raining

2008-05-28T16:09:00.000+01:00

Its a very wet day today and I think we will just have to get the
board games out until "Britains Got Talent" is on the TV later! I'm
glad my iPhone works here. At least I can keep up with Twitter etc.

It looked like it was going to be a nice day....

2008-05-28T12:09:00.000+01:00

Then the rain came down! At least it gives me the chance to Catch up
on Reading my "What Car" magazines!

View from the train, going over the "Cobb"

2008-05-27T16:15:00.000+01:00

On the Ffestiniog Railway

2008-05-27T16:08:00.000+01:00

The sun has come out and we decided to take Julie and Brian on the
Ffestiniog railway.

Oh what a Night

2008-05-27T11:05:00.000+01:00

Last night was pretty eventful with what felt like gale force winds
battering the caravan. I suspect the winds actually wernt that fierce,
but they certainly felt strong!
The plan is to head off to the Ffestiniog Railway today as the weather
fircast isn't great! We are still enjoying ourselves .... And do feel
free to leave us a message off you are reading this :)

Bangor

2008-05-26T12:51:00.000+01:00

The gang were a little dissapointed that the Crocs shop was shut

Nice display I thought ......

2008-05-26T12:12:00.000+01:00

Bangor

2008-05-26T11:51:00.000+01:00

At last the new Debenhams shopping centre has opened .... So the girls
are happy :)

Mmmm that's cute

2008-05-25T14:40:00.000+01:00

Just saw this sign on the way to Dolly's

The weather isn't so good today, but it doesnt stop the girls going
shopping

An unexpected nice day

2008-05-24T11:27:00.000+01:00

It looks like the nice weather is going to last for the day anyway :)

A lovely day so far :)

2008-05-24T09:59:00.000+01:00

Well, its 10:00 and its looking like a nice day today. Off to
Porthmadoc for supplies this morning, and we will see what happens
later.

Driving down to Wales

2008-05-23T18:46:00.000+01:00

The traffic is a bit heavy but we are making good progress and should
get there in about 2 hours

Start as you mean to go on :)

2008-05-23T18:10:00.000+01:00

A gourmet meal on the way to the carvan

Birthdays

2008-05-20T13:08:00.000+01:00

Julie, Brian and Lucy came round on Denise's birthday, and helped us
finish off the birthday cake :)

Just testing really

2008-05-07T20:20:00.001+01:00

I decided it would be a good idea to see how easy it is to make blog
posts without using the PC. Im using my iPhone and it all looks like
its working ok so I think this will be a really interesting thing to
do when I'm working away from home or on holiday. I'll let you know
how it goes :)

A weekend away in Wales

2008-05-07T12:20:00.000+01:00

I took this out of the car window as it looked so stunning

We made it home ...

2007-10-27T18:35:00.001+01:00

And the heat and sunshine in Florida already seems a distant memory!

As you might expect, we didn't do much on our last day but enjoyed just lazing around after we had checked all our cases in at Downtown Disney.
We had a little walk around the lake near the villa, and ended up chatting to 2 guys from Manchester who were fishing .... they pointed out that they often have the company of an alligator while they are there..... and right on queue "Ally" turned up (look closely in the water just in front of the fisherman!!

Shortly after taking this pic, the fisherman almost lost his rod as "Ally" decided to grab the float!

Last night we visited "Celebration" (a Disney owned housing estate) and as its close to Halloween, some of the houses have been decorated (although not as many as in previous years)

So.... the end of another Florida holiday, and one that we all enjoyed. The villa is definitely one of the best we have ever rented (and that is really saying something as we have had some very nice villas).... a particular favourite feature for me was the XBox and "Project Gotham Racing 2" ... by the end of the holiday I had almost perfected my power slides!

I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog over the past 2 weeks..... and I guess we may well do it again next time... (next year???)

Magic Kingdom

2007-10-25T13:30:00.001+01:00

We all headed back to our favourite theme park... Magic Kingdom ... and as normal we got there early so we could get around all the best rides before the large crowds arrived.

We were really pleased that we picked the same day to visit the Magic Kingdom as our friends Sharon and Paul with their lovely daughters Faye and Lauren, so we could chat and "do Disney" at the same time ....

Emma was so thrilled to have her two friends with her to share a wonderful day .....

So we spent the day doing Disney..... and enjoying every minute

Emma had her first taste of driving today ......

I think she may need a few more lessons before she is ready for her driving test though!

Emma and I took a few minutes out to watch the "Make Dreams Come True" show in front of the castle as it was getting dark.... it was magical

We "set up camp" on the kerb in Main Street while Sharon and the gang grabbed something to eat... I think Maureen was maybe starting to feel a little tired (yawn).

We were a little suppried when the others rejoined us with 2 Princesses in tow

We sat and watched the Spectromagic Parade with two princesses (Princess Faye and Princess Lauren) with Lady Emma in her wheeled throne of course!

Part of the Spectromagic Parade

To add a fitting climax to the day, we watched the spectacular "Wishes" fireworks display, with Cinderella's Castle as the centre piece.

A Great Day :-)

This is becoming a habit

2007-10-23T20:27:00.000+01:00

We took Emma to the local hospital, and they confirmed that she has broken her toe... somehow last night she managed to bash her foot into the wall.....

This is the same hospital that we visited last year when she injured her toe at the local GAP store.

Its looking like she will have her wish that she can have a wheelchair in the Magic Kingdom tomorrow

You can see the break in her 4th toe on the right foot (the opposite foot from last time)

Off to hospital with Emma!

2007-10-23T17:03:00.000+01:00

Emma stubbed her toe last night, and it is still painful, so we are popping to the hospital to make sure there is nothing broken ..... more later!!!

Launch Successful

2007-10-23T16:52:00.000+01:00

We just watched the Shuttle launch ....
we are about 30 miles from the Kennedy Space station, but the shuttle is still clearly visible from this distance.

It was great to see it heading off to the International Space Centre

We could just about see the solid rocket boosters fall away when the shuttle was 2 minutes into its flight .... I think it was about 60 miles away by that point as it was flying directly away from us

This is a view of the plume about 5 minutes after the launch from the drive of the villa

Shuttle Launch Today

2007-10-23T15:58:00.000+01:00

I am sitting here, watching the pre-flight checks of the shuttle on the PC and on the TV.... we are planning to go to the gates of the estate so we can get a better view of the lanch .... 35 minutes to go

Blizzard Beach - 2nd visit

2007-10-23T01:26:00.000+01:00

We enjoyed our visit to Blizzard Beach so much that we decided that we would have a 2nd visit... and Norman decided that he should apply "sufficient suntan cream" to his head.... we think the instructions omitted to mention that you should rub it in!

Emma loved riding the chair lift up to the top of the hill from where Team Boat Springs (the family raft ride) starts from

Norman and I looked at the slide called "Summit Plummet".... but thought that the 120 foot vertical freefall body slide drop was maybe just a little too high, and we didn't want to stop others from having a go ;-)

A definite favourite of us all is Toboggan Racers. Denise did have a go and said that her heart was in her mouth as she came down, and wouldn't be doing that again!

The weather today has been lovely and we ended the day with one last ride on "Team Boat Springs" that is (according to the leaflet) the worlds longest family raft ride .....

We are hoping to see the Space Shuttle launch at about lunch time tomorrow .... Norman thinks that the car park at Wal-Mart may be a good place to see it from..... if I can get a photo, I'll post it on here.