Universal Studios

When we got to Universal studios we were disappointed to find that the new rolercoaster (the ROckit) due to open summer 2009 was not yet open. However, on heading out of Shrek 4D a park worker announced the Rockit was open for technical testing, the interested parties dashed off like a rocket (pun intended).

The intrepid few - Matthew, Sam, Peter,Andrew and Stuart decided to particpate in the "technical" testing. Now to my mind testing means it is not yet working properly but were they bothered? Nah not a bit. I felt physically sick at seeing the rollercoaster which actually takes you up at a 90 degree angle!


After getting off (they waited over an hour and a half in the queue) Stuart said it was the best roller coaster he had ever been on, one of the things that made it so good was that you had your own personal music track playing while you went round. So they can proudly say they were one of the first people in the entire world to go on that rollercoaster.
Being universal there are always the characters to see, and the boys just had to get a picture with bart!

Universal was an awesome day and the Simpsons ride was one of the best simulators ever!

Magic Kingdom

Well Magic Kingdom is my most favourite Park ever. I absolutely love it, and seeing that magic castle for the first time is amazing. When we arrived at magic kingdom in bright sunshine we thought great, 10 minutes later the heavens opened for about 5 mins. and we were all absolutely drenched, 30 mins later the sun was blazing again and we were dry!

The Villa

The villa we had in Florida was absolutely fantastic, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a swimming pool. Car wise we had a 12 seater van and a cheap and nasty 4 seater. Don't ask me what make they were one was white and one was black, what more do you need to know!

Florida

Well, it has been a busy summer, in August we packed our bags and headed off to the sunny climes of Orlando Florida with some friends. There were 10 of us in total. The drama for us however started at the airport parking!
We were asked to leave the car parked outside reception and the key on the front seat, which we duly did. About 5 mins later one of the drivers came onto the coach asking who owned the quasquai! Apparantly it had locked itself - well we thought this was ridiculous, the key was in the car it cannot have locked itself! Sure enough we tried the door and it was locked!!! Panic ensueed as I had not bought my keys (or so I thought!) I intended to leave mine behind so as to not risk losing them in America.
The driver suggested getting a neighbour to get the spare key from home and press the remote down the phone (apparantly that works!). As I was rummaging about in my handbag for my phone lo and behold i found my keys! Considering it was 730 am on a saturday morning I am glad i did not have to ring my neighbour.

Leaving primary school

Today was Alex's leaving assembly before she moves up to High School in September. I have to confess to shedding a little tear as it is the end of an era, no more trekking up to the primary school for me ever again! - well until grandchildren I guess :P

This evening Alex has gone to her leavers barbeque and disco as the picture below shows she really is growing up, my baby is growing too quick!

40!

On Friday July 10th Stuart was 40 years old, as a "treat" for the old codger I booked him a tandem skydive. He absolutely loved it as you can probably tell from the photos below where he does not stop grinning.


Getting togged up

In the plane

Sitting on the edge of the plane 2 miles up waiting to jump!!

Freefalling above the clouds at 130mph!

Freefalling through the clouds

freefalling with the ground getting closer and closer

Parachute opens!

After the skydive we headed up to the green farm Hotel in Thorpe Market Norfolk. I would definately recommend it for a weekend away. We stayed in the paston room.

http://www.greenfarmhotel.co.uk/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

Despite the fact I had a chest infection and spent most of the weekend coughing and spluttering I think he had a good birthday :D

Teenager in the house!

So today we officially have a teenager in the house, Sam is now 13 years old. Trying to get her to have a photo she actually likes is impossible these days so no photo yet!
Mark my words I will get one.

Saturday we are going shopping so she can spend some of the ridiculously large amount of money she got for her birthday - better make the most of it I guess cannot see her letting me come along for much longer. Unless she wants me to pay of course!

microchip - OUCH

poor poor Mazey, she had to go the vets todayu to have her second injections and they microchipped her too. Having had previous cats microchipped when they were being neutered I had never seen this before. OMG what a needle, it was huge and the poor thing was clearly in pain while it was being done.

I now feel like the evilest person in the world for putting her through that, she went quite happily into the carrier at home this time, I guess next time will be a different story!

Still hopefully next vet trip will not be for another 6 weeks when it is spaying time, maybe she will have forgotten by then!

All is well!

Well I think we can say integration has been a success, this morning we woke up to find Tommy asleep in one computer chair and Mazey asleep in the one next to him.


Mazey seems to have settled in really well, Alex is absolutely thrilled with her as she is a very cuddly kitten :).

More Mazey Pics

well, so far so good, her and Tommy have been in the same room together without hissing, they have touched noses and they have been eating in the same room at the same time, fingers crossed! Here are some more pics of her.

Tommy

Last night I caught Tommy totally chilled lying on the sofa, he is one big cat!

Mazey

So, despite the fact Paws only passed on Friday the house did not seem right with just one cat and Alex was really upset so we decided another cat was in order. we did not want to get an adult cat as we felt Tommy may adapt better to a ball of fluff!


Mazey is 15 weeks old and completely mental, I did manage to take a couple of pictures, the hardest part is getting her to stay still long enough!

RIP Paws

Today our beloved cat Paws passed away aged 5 years old. We believe she was hit by a car as she was found at the side of the road. Alex in particular is devastated as Paws was her cat and she slept on her bed every night.

We collected her along with her brother from the cats protection league in December 2004.
Alex and Stuart are burying her in Alexs duvet cover as she spent so much time on it.

Paws September 2004 - June 6th 2009.

R.I.P.

Hair

So Sam has the most gorgeous hair colour, hair colour I would kill to have and today she dyed it! I have to admit though the dye has bought out some lovely dark red highlights so it does look very nice.

Suffolk Show

On Thursday the 4 of us went to the Suffolk Show for the first time in about 9 years, the kids quickly became bored hanging around wth the "oldies" so we sent them off with some money in their pockets and their mobile phones. They came back covered in sticlers and wearing silly hats so they must have had fun!



Stuart and I had fun too, we discovered a dalek and a tardis!

We were also transfixed by one of the acts in the main ring, Jive pony they were called, I was transfixed by the skill they were showing on the horses, Stuart was transfixed by smething else!

All in all a great day out.

Midnight Walk

So Last Saturday myself and about 2000 other women decided to walk 8 miles around Ipswich at midnight! All for charity of course. It was a lovely evening just right for walking, there were a few perks around the course, particulary these at one of the refreshment stops!

It took us just under 3 hours and i finally staggered into bed about 330 am, my legs were really painful for a good 3 days afterwards!

Cars!

So now Stuart has finished his garage he needs a car to put in it. He is still undecided what to go for but is thinking about a Bristol. So off we went to our local classic car event the annual Ipswich to felixstowe run. They all gather in Christchurch Park before setting off.
Alex and Stuart were looking at all the cars with me trailing behind. I decided I liked the Triumph vitesse but Stuart is still keener on a Bristol. To his delight he found 3 Bristols and was able to have a good old natter to the owners about restoration etc. Alex was the official photographer for the day and managed to take photos of the bristols from every angle much to Stuarts delight!


The red one!

The front!

the engine!



the dashboard!

Below are just some random photos from the 150 other ones Alex took!