Here we are Again - 2013 Is leaving the building

It's December 31st 2013. This has to be one of the shortest years ever. I have no idea how it got from January to December so quickly. As a child a whole year was like... forever!
I'm not going to announce any new year resolutions as they never happen - too many distractions for an easily distracted person. However, I really would like to focus on something. The last couple of years I have wandered aimlessly through my spare time, itching to do something creative but not sure what. I have to admit to being attached to a laptop/ipad/tablet/smartphone a lot of the time, and to be honest I enjoy it. So perhaps thats where I should look for something new or inspiring.  I feel another post coming on...which reminds me that I ought to make a note on Google Keep whenever I have an idea for a new blog post. That way I might actually write it!
So...2013.  What did you have to offer?

Much of the year was spent on doing things to the new house.  After finally moving all our stuff from the old house to this one, we left it empty to be sold by the estate agents. We completed the sale early February and became lodgers in the new house, awaiting the authorisation of the Board of Trustees to buy the house from hubby's parents.  That eventually happened in June!

The house now looks and feels like home, with it's new windows, doors, gutters etc and 'things' are in 'places' rather than piled up in the garage. There will always be things to do, but 'touch wood' all the expensive constructional work has been done. Spring will see a major garden renovation, involving removal of a wonky greenhouse housing a wayward fig tree and a million hydrangeas. (adds another post idea to Google Keep).

Alexander started drumming, passing grade 2 and getting a lot of credit for his natural talent from a local tutor.  However, by October he had decided he didn't want to have any more lessons...his drum kit was packed away in the garage. I hope at some point he decides to take it up again. He did start playing for a local football team and has been improving rapidly. To think just two years ago he wasn't all all interested in the game.

My eldest son Jordan (now 20) finally got a decent job with the company who he had been with as an apprentice for a year. So now we can rob him of rent and have no need to sub him for nights out and trendy gear. More treats for me...

In March I was sent on a road trip to the south coast to do some work for a new training contract with Yodel. In 5 days I drove from Newcastle to Bristol, Poole, Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton. It was a long drive but the schedule meant I had quite a bit of spare time, especially in the Portsmouth area - where I had spent most of my time in the Navy 20 odd years ago.  I met up with my back then best mate, who I hadn't seen since 1989. We had a great afternoon wandering around the old haunts...that had changed considerably, catching up and recalling memories. I also met some Twitter pals who coincidentally happen to live in Lee on the Solent, practically next door to my old naval base. Surprisingly they were normal people too! (Hello N,S,P and E)

The whole drive took me along routes and through places I remembered well. I wish I had been able to stop en route and take a more leisurely pace, but I had places to get to and snow was forecast. It really was a trip down 'memory lane'.

 The downside to the trip was the accommodation. My 'ex' employer allowed for just £25 a night - meaning pretty grim hotels like Travelodges for the most part. The less said about that the better.

HMS Daedalus - Lee on the Solent. Now a sad, derelict place. Goodness knows how many times I walked through this gate as a trainee and later as Ships Company. It was a very emotional experience coming back here, but so glad I had the chance.

Our 'probably last trip to Florida for a while' took place in August. A fantastic deal had us staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for two weeks on a free dining plan and part of the trial for the new Disney wrist bands. That in itself was a bonus as we got in and onto rides a lot quicker.  We still have a pang to return whenever we see an advert or Florida crops up in the conversation but these days we aren't  accustomed to staying in cheap accommodation and so any trip across the Atlantic will be costly...and we need a new hall/stairs carpet, new doors downstairs and the garden doing.  It was a great holiday, especially the food we ate in top notch restaurants. In particular Jiko in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Superb, African/Indian cuisine.

Animal Kingdom Villas - fire pit

Blyth started to change for the better this summer. For too long the town centre has been run down and soulless. Big stores like the Co-Op and long time family businesses,  known for specialist goods closed down. People on the outskirts had no reason to come to the town to shop, so they went elsewhere.  This year Morrison's built a new store to replace the old concrete block that had been there for decades. Shops were offered a grant to improve the front of their buildings, Wetherspoon started work on restoring the old cinema 'The Wallaw' ready to open early December and Subway opened - practically overnight.  Yes, it's early days and there is a lot more work to be done, but we have hope now. Optimism that 2014 will see more new business to brighten up the place. We have a beautiful beach, quayside and park. We had a great summer fair and firework/halloween night showing that the town centre planners are trying to inject life into the place. Blyth is getting better.

The old Morrison's store being demolished

The huge new windmill

The derelict old Wallaw cinema now Wetherspoons

and we even got a Subway!

In July we celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. No big party, but we did wear a badge for a couple of days when in Disney to get a few extra treats now and again.

In October I also celebrated my half century. Another quiet affair thankfully, but with some fantastic gifts from family and friends. Including  a set of much coveted Mont Blanc pens.
In December my Christmas present from hubby was a gorgeous little whippet puppy, Kizzy.

Which finishes off this years review nicely. 

All that is left to say is..

Happy New Year, All the Best for 2014, 

Health and Happiness to you and yours and see you next year.

Crafty Genes

Isn't it wonderful when your blogging mojo is a little sluggish and you are suddenly given inspiration for a big fat juicy post?

I have just 'found' - or rather she found me...a lovely new blogger blanketsnbabies who has a 15mth daughter and like many of us, has found lots of new crafty things to do, inspired by her family.

So never being one to ignore a gift horse.....Crafty Genes

I would say I was more artistic than crafty. I was good at three subjects at school, Art, English and Geography. The rest I was pretty rubbish at. I was my art teacher's 'pet' and she helped me build up a portfolio of work to allow me to embark on a career in the art world. However, I happened to find myself in the school careers corner with a Royal Navy booklet and that was that. I joined up. (Read my Freedom Years blog if you want to know more)
I still have the portfolio of artwork.

As a young girl I always looked forward to seeing my aunty val when visiting my grandparents, she would have sketchpads, paints, pens and other 'proper' drawing things for me to use. She had been to art college and worked as a graphic designer. She taught me how to do sign writing, use perspective and use different media. I had an artist box, that she filled with goodies whenever I saw her, a set of pastels, new sable brush, watercolour paper etc.

My Mum could knit. That's all, but she was a fantastic knitter. Could rattle off an Arran jumper in a day it seemed. She would see someone wearing a cardigan she liked, would look for a similar pattern and alter it. Of course all knitters needed a lackey to wind up their wool, that was my job. She did try to teach me to knit many times, resulting in lots of small squares or long badly knitted scarves unfinished in the cupboard. I never got past the scarf stage.

My Nana (Mums Mum), was very resourceful, as were most women who lived through the war with a family to feed and care for. She had a sewing machine and made all her own clothes, sheets, curtains etc. She wasn't one for coordination though and I remember Mum despairing over some yellow and black curtains she had made from a large cut off of expensive fabric. She made little rag dolls for the kids, knitted, crocheted, embroidered, the lot. AND she made delicious pies using a coal fire oven.

While in the Navy I did get the opportunity to use my artistic skill when working in a design office, producing training resources, posters and setting up presentations. It was all done by hand then, no computers etc. When I left the Navy and moved to the north east I worked as an Art and Design technician in a high school. I loved that job, I worked closely with the art, textiles and graphics teachers, learning new techniques, how to thread and untangle sewing machines and generally being able to do whatever I liked with all things arty and crafty. I organised a cross stitch club, and even set up a ceramics studio. I regret leaving that job now, but a higher salary and more responsibility was on offer and I left all that loveliness behind.

It wasn't until I became pregnant with my first son that I became 'crafty'. I started to do cross stitch, making a large alphabet picture for Jordan and lots of smaller things I gave away as gifts. I then started to make a few birthday cards, which rapidly became hundreds of cards, as I grew more obsessed with paper-craft and scrapbooking. I set up a Crop Circle and joined Circle Journal groups. It's all I did in my spare time.

Some of my 'scrapping'

Then for some reason, I lost interest. I can't quite put my finger on why. I still have all my supplies, packed away carefully in boxes. I moved house recently and don't have a place I can comfortably use. By that I mean leave a mess lying on a table that wont be interfered with. I often have urges to draw, or make something, but never actually do it.

My twitter followers will also know that I recently bought thisAntique treadle sewing machine.!

It works too. Maybe I need to look at nurturing my mojo a little while I have time on my hands, get those craft and art boxes open, dust off the cobwebs and start making something.

Unemployment Statistic

Two weeks before my long awaited holiday to Florida I asked my boss what his plans were for me now that the previous contract of training I had been working on had ended. He said he didn't know. I used my initiative and found things to keep me occupied until It was time to pack my bags and head off into the sun. It did leave me with a slight feeling of concern regarding my future though.

My role as trainer/assessor/verifier had involved working in Newcastle and the surrounding areas, with an occasional night away for training or enrolment purposes. I had been fortunate as others had contracts in other parts of the country and spent most of the week away from home. I wouldn't have accepted the post had I had to do that initially.

In anticipation of a 'surprise' on my return to work, I asked one of the admin staff to email me when there was something put on my planner. The day I flew home I got the email telling me that I was to have one day in the office and three days in Birmingham the week I came back. The following week I would be in Scotland and wherever I was required after that.

The day I had been anticipating had arrived. After discussion with hubby, we agreed I had to resign with immediate effect.

I live with my two sons, elderly father in law and husband who has to travel away several times a year and is also on call out on a regular basis. Life would be very difficult trying to accommodate me working away and ensuring the family were fed and in the places they needed to be.

So I spent the weekend sorting out my laptop, phone and documentation ready to take into work on Tuesday along with a neatly written letter of resignation. The boss wasn't in, and after a phone call from HR told them he was happy with my reason for resignation and didn't need to speak to me personally. I left my things, said a few goodbyes and walked out the door I walked into 18 months ago.

Looking back, that says a lot about the organisation....

I'm a Boxaholic

I know for a fact that it's not just me. I have met several other people, mainly women, who have been known on more than one occasion to drool longingly over the box that came with some expensive gift or purchase. Take Jo Malone perfume....beautiful bottles, wrapped in black tissue, in a perfect cream and black box, tied with black satin ribbon.

There is nothing nicer than receiving a beautifully wrapped gift.....take note menfolk! A bottle of Charlie in a Boots carrier bag is NOT the way to a woman's heart!

It's not just gift boxes. I like storage boxes too...a good thing when doing crafts because you need to have lots of storage to keep all your lovely craft goodies organised while waiting to be used. Plastic see thru ones are best, or non see thru with neat, straight labels on the front.



My favourite boxes though are old wooden ones, ones that are made by hand, by someone who had a purpose for it. Like this one..

This box was made by my Grandfather-in-Law, who, when serving as a Sergeant in the Police made three identical boxes. One each for his constables in Bellingham and one for himself. This was to keep their paperwork in order and very portable.

...and this pipe stand. Found in a local junk shop, obviously made by someone with a practical nature needing somewhere to keep his pipes and baccy. The fact that they are not highly polished, fine pieces as you would expect in some auctioneers makes them even more interesting to me. I'm going to put pens and brushes in this.

This is my ultimate goal,

An antique writing box.

I have always been a bit obsessed with stationery, pens in particular but pencils,notebooks and other items usually held under lock and key in the workplace are also desirable. A beautiful old wooden box, full of little drawers, sections, and pully-out-bits would be the ideal place to keep my precious collection don't you think?

Clogs, Large Mice and Fred Moore

Every now and again you have a day that's a little more random than usual. I bet the title of this post has your brain smoking from trying to work out what on earth I will be rambling on about today.
Plans changed about three times as we got up and discussed what we could do. We have never been uber organised over these trips, I would hate to have to follow a schedule the way some families do. We are tied a little to our dining reservations but often just go to a park for a couple of hours and then eat and leave. Some of these 'Martha Stewart' organised SuperMoms have itineraries down to a minute. They also have every member of their family dressed in the same brightly coloured T-shirt, often numbered....I suppose if you have half a dozen kids it's easier than remembering names. "Hey, where did kid three go?" ....

Anyway, we changed our dining plans and went back to Downtown Disney for a meal at the Irish themed 'Raglan Road'. Lucky clover, Leprechauns, Guinness all over the place, you know the kind. I noticed that you could get Sunday Roasts Yay! but that you had to pre order them...boo! So amidst the racket of an Irish band banging drums and playing fiddles and clog dancing going on all around we tucked into good old Irish cooking.



To be honest the ham with cabbage and mash was really nice, as was the raspberry pavlova to follow, but it was a tad noisy most of the time - "could barely hear myself think!"
After that it was off to the shops to get the last couple of things for Jordan, but had to bribe Alexander with a stop off enroute. We have made this trip every year....that's about 15 years worth of Chuck E Cheese.
Think of Pizza Hut crammed full of arcade games, bored adults, wild unruly children - hyper from spending tokens and winning tickets that they exchange at the end of their visit for.........a plastic frog........or a set of dracula teeth.





As I said at the beginning, this was a weird day, and wasn't over yet .
The finale was a Comedy Magic Dinner Show at Wonderworks. Now in all the years we have been to Orlando, and International Drive, we have never been in this place despite it being one of the strangest places and almost next door to our hotel on occasions. This time we were forced to make an effort as the dinner show was yet another of the freebies we got with our Disney package.



Inside we were surprised at how much there was to do. Definitely a place to go when it's quieter, and not on a rainy day as suggested in reviews as it will be jam packed then. There were all sorts of things to do. Lie on a bed of nails for example...


Put your head on a platter?

and even climb on ropes or play Laser Tag.
At 6pm we had to line up to go into the Comedy Magic Show. Not really sure what it was like, but being free we went with the flow. Seated very cosily with about 15 strangers on long tables in a fairly small room. It was a bit uncomfortable for us not being overly sociable types that happily chat with any old Tom Dick and Harry and particularly not with the three precocious pre teen girls sitting opposite.
Food and drink came out immediately. Salad, popcorn, pizza and cake plus unlimited drinks.
However the highlight of the show was most definitely Fred Moore (MooreFred.com)



He was actually really funny and very clever with his magic. He used the audience - thankfully not us, and had us all in stitches with his routines.
On the way back to the hotel we were hit by another amazing storm. A huge black cloud crept across the sky moments before the heavens opened again and forced us to spend the rest of the evening in the room as the pool and bar was closed for the rest of the night.

Tallying Up

Five days left. We are entering the 'Tallying Up' stage of the holiday. That includes how many dollars we have left to spend, what we still have to buy and for whom.

This time because we are enjoying the Disney Dining Plan we have to start keeping an eye on our dining credits. We get one snack, one counter service meal and one table service meal each day, but what happens is that you usually use up more snacks on drinks and things like popcorn or cookies as you walk around the parks.

Some table service restaurants use up two credits, like Jiko last night...more on that later, and if we decide to eat out of Disney, as we will when we have a one night stay at a Universal hotel, that means we will have spare meal credits. We found this a problem last time, but not as big a problem as getting rid of the extra pounds put on because of how much we had eaten.

As for shopping. It looks like I will be leaving without buying a handbag for the first time in years. Don't get me wrong, it's not that there aren't any I like, but I do have lots at home and I would just be buying for buying sake. Did I really just type that???

There is one place I would like to visit in Old Kissimmee - a little antiques shop that looked very interesting. It's in the old part, not the touristy bit, and so I thought we could have a look and see if there is anything we could take back home to add to our collection. We are still looking for something silver to buy for our anniversary.

Still harping on about that, we had another surprise after our meal at Jiko in the Animal Kingdom Lodge last night. The two of us had a meal alone, Alexander wouldn't have eaten anything, it was a two credit meal and he just wanted pizza in the room, which we got using a counter service credit. The restaurant is very highly recommended and one of the best in Disney. I would agree. There was nothing I didn't enjoy.

We were given a brief tour of the menu, the african names and what dishes meant etc, and after hesitating over what wine I preferred, ended up sampling three to decide which I wanted. I am not a connoisseur whatsoever, but there was no Pinot Grigio or Blue Nun on the list so I was a bit lost.

We were given a basket of bread with Tandoori Butter. Delicious! I ate far more bread than I should have and if I could have bought a pack of that butter I would to take home.

We were also given a tiny taster dish of some kind of seed risotto, only a few mouthfuls but that too was great, so many tastes and textures.

Entree's were Smoked Yellow Grouper on a bed of some kind of mealie, pulses and seeds. I wish I'd taken a picture of the menu so I could remember!


Mine was Filet Minion with red wine jus, green beans and Spoon Bread, which I can only describe as a kind of mashed cauliflower, with other things and subtle spices.

The flavours were fantastic. It was the kind of menu that you wanted to go back and try something else the next day. These were our puddings


Chocolate and Amarula Creme Brule with doughnuts and a cinnamon cream dip (Mine). Hubby had Roasted Stone fruit (cherries peaches and apricots) on a sponge base with Olive Oil Ice Cream. There was also that small anniversary surprise of a chocolate brownie kind of thing.
We both agreed that this had been the best meal of the trip, and glad that we could savour it without the complaints of a whiny ten year old who just wanted pizza.

Footnote - Sincere apologies to those of you on diets!

Back to 'The Norm'

You will all be pleased to know that the last couple of days has been typical Florida weather and not 'unusual for this time of year' weather. That means, a bit sunny, a bit overcast and a lot humid. Grey clouds and wonderful storms arrive late afternoon or evening as did the one last night.

Americans are pretty fearful of the weather I've come to notice over the years. Nothing like a rumble of thunder or flash of lightening to have them scurrying as far away from the pool as possible. Although the kind of weather they get can be a little more intense that the mediocre stuff we complain about. The Brits however, are more likely to be the ones electrocuted as they scoff with their "only a bit of lightening" attitude.

There is a place for a less hysterical 'we're all gonna die' exit though, more a "Oh bugger, a storm, better go move my England towel and flip flops before they get wet" kind of thing, followed by a slow swim to the nearest steps and amble to the sun lounger.

On a more unpleasant note, we had to take a detour last night on the way to The Magic Kingdom as there had been a nasty accident involving a car and bus it seemed. We heard on the news later that a woman driving the car had for some reason stopped in the lane, and the bus was unable to avoid hitting it. She died later in hospital. Fortunately only two minor injuries to bus passengers. Seeing things like that bring home how precious life is.

But life does go on and we somehow managed yet another fun filled day yesterday.

After a lie in, we set off to Downtown Disney again to have lunch at the TRex Diner. Thankfully Alexander has now grown out of 'Build a Dino' and we left without an orange or purple fluffy thing wearing inappropriate clothing.
We did however eat Doughnut 'holes'...yeah right. dipped in hot chocolate and caramel sauce. Delicious but nauseating after six.





Despite having a box as big as an estate car full of Lego at home, that rarely gets played with, Alexander couldn't resist nipping next door to see the newly refurbished Lego store.
Some of the displays outside..




and this is just part of a wall of plastic bins containing individual bricks in every shape, size and colour.



I did see a frantic father grab a small brick from the hand of a toddler which was about to be eaten...and there were no HSE notices about that either......

From there we headed out into the sticks to find the elusive Boggy Creek airboat rides that we failed to find a few days earlier. The sat nav v post code thing is a bit iffy at times away from the built up parts so I navigated using a combination of a map - on paper kind of map, you know like we had in the olden days? Google Maps and a downloaded 'How to Find Us' map from the website. We found it with only one wrong turn......which was of course my fault.

We checked in, this was another of the 'freebies' we got by staying in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, along with free mini golf and a $500 gift card. Our ride time was 4:10 so we had about 40 mins to wait. Of course there were the obligatory photo opportunities, 'here's your photo that we've taken the trouble to print but of course you don't have to buy it', so we didnt.

The problem with these away from Disney trips is that they don't
'sort out the mozzies' like Disney do. So being a tasty morsel, I have to drench myself in bug spray. One year I was so badly bitten having gone for a meal at a creekside restaurant near St Augustine I could barely walk. Until then I had rarely been bitten. Armed against bites of any kind, we got on our boat with a few others and set off for 30 mins of airboating. We did see a teeny baby gator, a bald eagle - high up in a tree but you could see it's white crest, and some big beaked birds. If you look closely at these photos you can see the gator head and that white dot to the top right of the tree is the eagle.




Arrival back at the base and we got chance to hold a 3 year old gator named Thor. Alexander was desperate to have his photo taken, at more expense. It was a good one though and nice to keep.
Back to Disney for an evening at Magic Kingdom, which was more a stroll round with a trip on the Peter Pan ride - one of hubby's favourites and back to The Lodge for a quick cocktail at the pool bar before the heavens opened.

Day 4 & 5 - Chill Factor

I know I'm harping on a bit, with it being Florida and August and all that, but it's really bloody hot here at the moment. Another of those 'not the norm' weather spells that often seem to occur when we are here. In the past we have had wetter 'than the norm', a tropical storm that hung around this area much longer 'than the norm', cooler 'than the norm' and now hotter and drier 'than the norm'. I'm not even convinced they know what 'the norm' is anymore.



So, according to the Fox News weather man, we are experiencing a particularly dry, warm front. Meaning it's bloody hot (106F/41C) at Epcot parking lot yesterday, bloody dry - not as high humidity as 'the norm' but still enough to have us feeble cold weather folk sweating like a...*insert an appropriately amusing comparison here*. It's supposed to be here for a while. At least we aren't complaining about having wet clothes hanging around the room, and not getting a decent suntan.

What have we done the last two days?

Yesterday we had a lie in, lazed by the pool (I did some washing in the guest laundry), had lunch at Coral Reef in Epcot with the big fishies, lumbered around the lake stopping briefly to laugh at 'England' with it's Fish n Chip shop, and lots of Americans doing that Dick Van Dyke accent thing.
The only other place we stopped at was Norway, going on the Viking ride inside the blissfully cool building.




At some point yesterday I 'might' have been bought a Nexus 2 7.0 Tablet. Yes, I know it doesn't have an apple on it but I was very impressed having played with the one hubby bought for himself the day before. That was the reason I am now writing two days worth of blogs. Well it's not going to set itself up is it? The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent at the hotel, mostly by the pool or cooling off in the room. We are starting to get into relaxing mode now, sleeping later and doing what we feel like doing.

Today we again lazed around the hotel until late morning before heading off out to Boggy Creek Airboat Rides. Well, we tried to get there. For some reason the Sat Nav didn't want us to. They have two locations and we didn't find either of them in the time we had. The plan was then to have an hour at Disney Quest before having dinner at The House of Blues before seeing The Cult play later.

The thing was, not only was the airboat ride a non starter, but when we got to Disney Quest - which is directly opposite The House of Blues, we noticed a sign saying The Cult, Wednesday 14th August. Obviously not today which was Tuesday 13th August. I take no responsibility as I just went along with the response to "what day do we see the Cult?" question asked last week sometime which was..."next Tuesday".

A couple of hours later we had showered and were eating a delicious meal, and drinking exotic cocktails in Sanaa restaurant. Which was exactly where we were supposed to be tonight.








I think the heat is getting to us!

Day 3 - Three Dwarves, Tired, Grumpy and Irritable

Woke early as usual and sat out on the patio behind the hedge with coffee and iPad to wait for the sun to rise. It's still pretty warm even at 6am, so you have to wait a few minutes for all your 'gadgets' to de-mist after the cool air con overnight. After a brief mental calculation and glimpse at my twitter timeline I realised it was Sunday.

After some discussion and debate we came to an agreement that today we would start with a few hours at Blizzard Beach, followed by a drive to Walmart and then an outlet mall. I desperately needed new trainers as I am having problems with tendons in my foot, possibly from wearing flat sandals all the time. We also have a long list of specific items requested by Big Dude Jordan as his holiday present for looking after the dog, Grandad and the house etc.

We had an early dinner booked at The Grand Floridian Hotel which meant dressing up a little more than we would normally in Florida.

It's safe to say everyone was still a bit tired as we got the swimming stuff ready, Alexander not helping by wanting to play football in the room, words were said, ignored and followed by lots of tetchy conversation in the car enroute to Blizzard Beach.



We picked a spot on the 'beach', it had just opened so had lots of loungers to choose from. Within an hour it would be jammed.

Not wanting to put everything in a locker (here comes my cunning plan), I volunteered to stay with the bag on the beach while the other two went off to enjoy the slides and waves. I resigned myself to lying in the sun, with a coffee.......see what I did there? I'm not a big water park fan.

We left after a couple of hours, leaving those without loungers to fight like cat and dog for them. The mood had lifted and everyone was happy again...momentarily. Until I, having taken the bags back to the car, forgot to bring Alexander's Magic Band which meant our free game of Winterland mini golf had to be a twosome rather than threesome. More words between Grumpy and Irritable. I did the scoring! (I'm not a big mini golf fan either, but that wasn't actually another cunning plan, however may use it in the future!)

The heat was getting to us all so half an hour in a wonderfully cool air conditioned car cheered us up no end, as did a walk around Walmart.....Grumpy treated himself to a new toy (Nexus 7 tablet) so he was now Happy, Tired got some new shorts, underwear and drawing things, Irritable got....some Ibruprofen gel for her foot and some aftersun lotion. Had I known I was going to be bitten to death later on I would have also bought some anti itch cream, that wasn't in the first aid kit as I thought it was....most likely still on the top of my dressing table at home.

Onwards to the Premium Outlets. Worst day of the week to go there. Bit like going to The Metro Centre on Boxing Day although the UK has 'no left/right turn' signs to avoid the mayhem we experienced - and the beep from the disgruntled driver hubby cut in front of....well shy bairns get nowt they say....

Finally, we got to the upper part of the indoor car park...the bit where there is no roof, and there were millions of spaces, had everyone just gone there instead of creeping along on the off chance a shopper was leaving, then waiting for them to vacate the space holding everyone else up while they did, then there would be no need for all the grumbling and tooting. This is the temp outside as we left the outlets. 97 Degrees!




The Outlets are mostly out in the open, as they are in the UK now, each shop has a/c but while walking round you are in the heat and sun/shade. I fared better here. I bought two pairs of Sketchers Trainers (Buy 1 get 2nd half price) which are memory foam soles....and like slippers! So light and comfortable. Alexander got two pairs of Converse sneakers, same deal as mine and hubby....well he got nothing!

Those of you who have followed by holiday blogs before will be thinking."She hasn't bought a handbag yet". Yes that's right. I haven't. To be honest I haven't even seen one I want. But there's plenty of time yet.

Getting out of the outlet was a lot easier than getting in, so a quick shower and change in the hotel and back out to the Grand Floridian Hotel and Narcoosee's restaurant. Irritable missed a turning, which forced Grumpy to make a two mile detour and late for our reservation. Tired dropped his new phone on the way into the hotel, shattering his screen, Grumpy and Irritable not happy.

Fortunately the food was delicious, something about getting a $200 bill that you don't have to pay for makes you appreciate what you ate. This was all on the free dining plan...yes I know you do 'pay' for it but you certainly get your money's worth. Hubby had 14oz Rib Eye with a lobster tail, Alexander and I had a 14oz New York Strip, although he left 3/4 of his. He eats very little over here. Tends to pick at food. It's a heat/drinking lots of fluids thing. I don't stress about it, he eats like a horse a home.




Back at the hotel and once again on pool duty. There must have been a 'snake' incident close to where we were sitting as a few people told us to "watch out for snakes" in a 'ha ha ha' kind of way.

Takes more than a snake to scare me away..ha ha ha!

Day Two - Speed of a Sloth.

Hot as hell today. It was a lovely hot sunny day, a bit humid, but ok as long as you didn't have to be anywhere in a rush and ok if you had to be inside shopping malls and electronic shops. Walking around Magic Kingdom was a bit of a struggle.

Luckily for us we have 'Magic Bands' that we are trialling for Disney. They have selected a certain number of guests to try them out around the resorts and parks. So far we have been impressed. Especially as you seem to be able to fast pass fast passers when wearing them. You are also referred to by first name and envied by the 'not so special' folk who weren't selected.

To use them most successfully you need to link to an App called My Disney Experience. All your hotel bookings, meal reservations, fast pass times are stored on there along with a bunch of other helpful stuff to use when going around the parks. Here is my Magic Band with some Disney 'Bling'. Of course Disney don't miss a trick to make money....make them grey but sell lots of accessories!



It's very hot and sunny here at the moment. Yes I know it's Florida and that's what you'd expect but often at this time of year it's overcast and very humid too. Thunderstorms in the afternoons and heavy showers. So far (hope I haven't tempted fate here) It's not been overcast or wet.

The sun, humidity and 90 degree temperatures (I'm still using old money) make for slow ambling and lot's of drink stops. People fight for seats in the shade...today while waiting outside for hubby, Alexander and I almost got first degree burns from sitting on a stone wall. No kidding you could have done a fry up on it!

Magic Kingdom was done at slow speed. we had booked fast passes for some of the rides and just went on them. Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain and Haunted Mansion. Just walking to and from them had us exhausted and soaked with perspiration, (nice look!)

We had a dining reservation booked for 7pm in the hotel so we were happy to get away from the park and back to the room for a shower. Funny thing about Florida heat is that you sweat a lot but you don't smell sweaty. I'm sure there is some biological reason for this but it's a very good thing because waiting in long queues with hundreds of other sweaty, smelly bodies would soon cut the wait times.

Freshened up, we ambled along to Boma restaurant, which is an African themed buffet. When we first ate here a few years ago it was the first time I had tried African food. Some is a little spicy for me but it's very tasty, especially when able to try lots of things in one meal. There are two other restaurants we are trying for the first time, Jiko and Sanaa so will be interesting to try other dishes. This was my pudding!



Having eaten far more than we should we went to the pool bar for a beer (which I didn't really want) so we could keep an eye on Alexander playing in the pool. I wanted to go to my bed but had to force myself to stay awake until they got kicked out at 10pm. My UP band told me the next day that from switching it to sleep mode and falling asleep took 11 minutes.

Knackered!

Day One - The Lodge and Other Stuff

Welcome Home! Thats what they always say when you arrive at a Disney Resort. Yeah cheesy isn't it? But It does feel like a second home to us here at WDW. They do a lot of this 'towel stuff' when you have kids too.



Yesterday when I got up I took a few photos of the hotel (The Animal Kingdom Lodge) while it was quiet and peaceful.
This is the corridor where our room is. You see the fire door at the end? That leads right out to the poolside.



This is the path from that door to the pool. Great room, similar to what we had last time we stayed. Some of the rooms are a good hike to the pool area, especially the ones where they look over the savannah.



Here are a couple of lobby photos. it's huge! As you walk in through the main entrance you can't help but be impressed. The detail, the colours, smell of the wood burning in the fire pit. It's also a fantastic place to people watch.



This is of the bar and Boma restaurant area. They do an african buffet meal here which is amazing. Even Alexander ate heartily last time. There is also another restaurant Jiko, which is said to be one of the finest in Disney. There are some pretty good restaurants too.



Here is one of the features of the lobby. The fire pit. Bet it feels great at Christmas when the big tree is decorated and the weather is colder.



There is also a fire pit outside, surrounded by carved rocking chairs where African cast members sit and tell stories of Africa at dusk. It's little things like this that makes Disney worth the extra money. I just had to do a book review on customer service for work and chose Disney's 'Be Our Guest' to do it on. One of the key themes is to make their guests 'experience' as many aspects as possible using all their senses. They do this very well. Having read that book, I am seeing Disney in a different light, looking at how they do things, what they say to guests, the details.....It's fascinating.



I also saw this bag in the shop....It may be coming home with me.....



So after a stroll around the hotel, we went out to Disney Hollywood Studios. We just drive there because the bus service goes round a few hotels and we often tend to go off to the shops etc afterwards. We did a couple of years early on without a car, couldn't imagine not having one now. Driving is so easy here, the cars are great and you can see so much more.
Hollywood Studio, or MGM as we still call it as always been one of the parks we enjoy. Not too big and has some good rides, like the Rockin' Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. There is also The Indiana Jones show, The Great Movie Ride, Muppets 3D and The Terminator 3D. We may have seen them all a dozen times but they are still part of the trip.




This was a first though. We all went into the Animation Studio and was shown how to draw a Disney character. This was my 'Chip' from 'Chip and Dale'. Could have stayed in there all afternoon drawing things.


This is our lunch. As part of the dining plan you get to put on at least a stone in weight. Each person gets one snack, such as a drink, ice cream, cookie, fruit etc, One counter service meal...this is a picture of what we got in Pizza Planet. Yes, all of that is one counter service! and one table service meal, which is any main course, a dessert and a drink. That includes 16oz steaks and lobster if you want them. You have to time your meals well or you find you just aren't that hungry by the time you arrive for your evening meal. Of course you don't have to eat it all, but it's pretty hard to resist the multitude of dishes on offer. The saving grace of course is that you do an awful lot of walking!




So that's day one done. I am sitting in bed finishing this off before starting going out to collect ammunition for Day two blog. The lengths I have to go to, to keep my audience entertained. It's a hard life......