We made it here ~ eventually!!!!

We are here ~ at last!!!
It has been the trip from hell!!
We spent about 2 hours ~ sitting still or shuffeling along the M6 ~ or should that be the carpark that was pretending to be the M6 Motorway today!!!

It was hot ~ the kids were fed up ~ I was fed up and then Lauren decided that she needed the toilet!! That would not usually be a problem ~ as there are plenty of service areas on the M6 ~ apart from today ~ when we just sat still and did not move VERY far each time!!
By the time we reached the petrol station ~ which was only 8 miles away ~ it had taken us nearly an hour and Lauren was very close to bursting. I had to screetch to a halt in the car park grab my bag and Lauren and Daniel and race to the toilets!! Lauren made it just in time ~ bless her!! That will teach her for drinking a whole sports bottle of juice ~ while stuck in a jam on the M6 tee hee!!!!

To while away the time as we snailed our way along the motorway at no miles an hour ~ I decided that it was very interesting looking at what was lying on the hard shoulder!! (YES ~ I know that is a very sad thing to do BUT ~ I was bored......very bored!!!). There was the usual cans, bottles, plastic bags and other assorted rubbish that the good people of England obviously find too hard to put in a bin!! But there were lots of very exciting other things ~ like shoes (lots and lots of shoes!!!) ~ not pairs of shoes~ just one odd lonely shoe ~ just lying there every now and again.....how on earth do you lose a shoe on the side of a motor way??? I haven't quite worked it out yet!! There also seemed to be alot of gloves ~ not wooly gloves ~ but sort of gardening gloves just lying about AND the item that topped it all was a pair of pants (knickers ~undies ~underwear.....under garments ~ depending on where you are from ha ha !!!).......just sort of sitting there on the hard shoulder ~ for everyone passing by to see (I don't even want to contemplate how they got there ha ha!!!)...........

I think that you have worked out now that the trip was BORING!!! The highlight of the whole day was when some stupid person hadn't closed their roof box properly ~ so it shot open as they were speeding down the fast lane and the contents all flew out over the motorway (not the M6 this time but the M56 ~ which was much more like a motorway and not a carpark!!!)........There was nearly an accident as everyone tried to swerve and avoid all the things that flew out ~ we managed to avoid a vanity case that shot out, hit the road and threw make up everywhere!!!
I was glad to get to my Mums and relax after that trip ~ believe me!!!

My Mum was totally amazed when she saw me!! I got out of the car and she just said "WOW ~ look at you!!" ~ it was a great moment ~ she keeps telling me how good I look and she said that she thinks I look more like "the old Tab!!" that I used to be (which was exactly what I wanted ha ha !!!).

I have had to steal my Mums laptop ~ as I cannot get a connection with mine yet ~ I am going to try and get a network connection later ~ but for now I am using Mums laptop!! I will try and post again tomorrow ~ hopefully from my laptop ~ but if not ~ I will have to keep borrowing this one ~ so hang on in there ~ I will be back (with something more interesting than the side of a motorway ha ha !!!) Take care XXXXX

All Packed and ready to go!

We have all had a really nice day today ~ very busy ~ but really nice!!

Lauren spent the day at summer school ~ her last dance lessons until she starts back in September ~ although I am sure that she will do alot of practising before then!!

Dan and I went into town this morning and had lunch together and wandered around. We were unable to see the Batman film that we had planned to see ~ purely because the times just did not fit ~ we dropped Lauren off at 11am and had to be back for 3.30pm to watch the little show that she was doing and collect her!! But we had a nice time anyway ~ the weather was really warm and sunny today (yes ~ shock horror ~ we have sunshine!!!). We wandered to the park and then sat on the grass together ~ then Dan asked to go to the beach ~ so we went there too and had a walk there too (and Dan had a HUGE ice cream!!!). Before we knew it, we had to head back to collect Lauren.

Laurens little end of summer school show was really sweet ~ they did a rock and roll dance and sang songs from Annie and Oliver and then did a dance to FAME ~ which was really great ~ she really is a little star!!

After we got home the serious job of packing started!! I hate packing ~ it always annoys me ~ having to sort it all out and decide what to take ~ I can never decide what we will need, how much of everything to take and you can guarantee that no matter what I pack ~ we will forget something tee hee!! Usually it is the tooth brushes!!! Anyway ~ all the bags are now packed and there are a few bits that I need to sort in the morning ~ before we head off. I haven't decided what time we will leave ~ my Mum is at work tomorrow ~ so there is no point in rushing ~ as there will be no one there ~ if we get there too early (although I do have a key!!).

I am taking my laptop with me ~ so that I can update you every now and then and check in with you all!!

Take care ~ see you all very soon!! I will be sending out postcards ~ so all you snail mail friends ~ watch those mail boxes!!! XXXXXXXX

Snowy Day

These pictures are of what we woke up to this morning - Snow - quite alot of it aswell. It came as a bit of a shock, I can't ever remember it snowing that heavily here, in the 10 years that we have lived here.

The kids thought that it was great, so we were out quite early messing about in it and throwing snowballs (most of which were aimed at me - ha ha!!). We met up with my friend Jane and her kids and made a snowman in the garden.....unfortunately by about 1pm it had all started to thaw and it has all but gone now.

We are still off on the holiday tomorrow, although we have had to have a bit of a re think about what we will do, and have scoured the internet for some fun things to do if the weather is a bit colder than anticipated.

Hope you all have a nice week, we will be back late Friday, so no doubt I will update the blog on Saturday with all our boring - oops I meant very exciting holiday photos.

Suitcases and Sunglasses

The suitcase is packed - done, zipped up and ready to go!!!
I am definitly not going to unpack it again....whatever isn't in there - tough!! (ha ha).

We have had a pretty quiet day - for a Saturday - Ballet and Tap for lauren this morning and then a bit of last minute shopping for the week away next week. Lauren found some High School Musical pink sunglasses that she just had to have (even though the weather for next week looks like rain, rain and more rain!!). She has had them on constantly since we bought them, and when I went in to kiss her goodnight - she had them on in bed......I convinced her that she really didn't need them on at night, so they are safely stashed under her pillow (which is where all her treasures live - I have no idea how she sleeps on it!).

All that we need to do now is pick the hire car up on Monday morning and then we are off, Devon here we come....