American Adventure

In a couple of days we will be setting off on our American Adventure to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and we are all starting to get really excited about it now. The kids are practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation!

This will be our first ever visit to the USA and we are going as a pre BIG birthday treat with my Dad and his wife who have been many times before ~ this will be their twelfth time in Las Vegas! My Dad has very kindly taken some time to plan out our days to make sure that we get as much from the experience as we possibly can. It is definitely not going to be an holiday for relaxing! But there will hopefully be lots of fun to be had by all!

Our Itinerary for the days ahead looks like this ~

Day 1 ~ Travel to Manchester by train ~ staying overnight in order to catch our flights the next day.
Day 2 ~ Flights from Manchester to Philadelphia, then Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

Now, I have to be honest here and say that I am not particularly looking forward to the long flights which are 16 hours in total each way. We have only ever previously done short trips over to Europe, but everyone reassures me that the flights will seem to go by fairly quickly as there is so much going on to keep you occupied. I really do hope so!

Day 3 ~ Los Angeles ~ Heading off to Malibu Beach, Santa Monica and then onto downtown Los Angeles to see the Walk of the Stars in Hollywood Boulevard and other Hollywood sights.
Day 4 ~ Los Angeles ~ Universal Studios ~ this is the day that the kids are looking forward to the most!
Day 5 ~ Driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas ~ stopping halfway at the old Wild West town of Calico.
Day 6 ~ Las Vegas ~ Visit to the Hoover Dam.
Day 7 ~ Las Vegas ~ Visit to Red Rock Canyon.
Day 8 ~ Las Vegas ~ Spending the day sightseeing around Las Vegas.
Day 9 ~ Flights from Las Vegas to New York (JFK), then New York to Manchester.
Day 10 ~ Train from Manchester to Edinburgh, then another train home, then I imagine it will be straight to BED to sleep off the jet lag!

Over the last couple of days I have been working like an absolute mad woman washing clothes, sorting clothes and stacking clothes in readiness for packing the all the suitcases tonight and I've also managed to find the time to make myself a Stars and Stripes Bag Tag so I can hopefully recognise the aforementioned suitcase at the airport!

See you all when we get back in a couple of weeks :O)xx

Ten

My beautiful baby boy is TEN today! Into double figures already!  I'm not quite sure how that happened as quickly ~ it really doesn't seem like ten years since he was born. Is it just me or does time really seem to speed up once you have children?

I can remember that moment when the midwife handed my newborn baby to me and said "it's a boy"! I wasn't really ready for that ~ I was expecting to have another girl. A BOY!! What on earth do I do with one of those! The answer is that I love him with all my heart and soul and I really wouldn't have it any other way ~ it is such a joy to have a boy.

He is a very typical boy! An absolute whirlwind of boy energy ~ is never still and never quiet, he literally talks from the minute he opens his eyes in the morning until he goes to sleep at night and sometimes even talks when he is asleep! He likes nothing better than running about outdoors up to his eyes in mud and all things mucky! He loves his guitar and can't wait for the day when we say YES you can get an electric one!

He really is a lovely boy and has a very compassionate nature and is very kind and loving too. He loves snuggling up with his mum for kisses and cuddles at home. And I LoVe that too!

Happy 10th Birthday to my gorgeous boy ~ I hope that you have a wonderful day :O)xxxxxxxxxx

Happy Birthday to me!

Goodness me!

Is it really that time already?

The last year seems to have zoomed by again at a most alarming rate and here I am another year older and celebrating yet another birthday.

Is it just me or do the years actually start to go much faster when you reach a certain age of maturity? When I was a child it seemed like I had to wait an absolute eternity for each birthday to come around. But now they come around far too quickly for my liking ~ not that there's much that I can do about it, except make the very most of the occasion!

I got lots of lovely presents ~ including some beautifully scented lotions and potions for pampering myself, two gorgeous bouquets of deep pink roses and pale pink carnations and one of my favourite kinds of chocolate ~ a Terry's chocolate orange ~ YUM!

I really do feel well and truly spoilt!


The celebrations will continue this evening when I go out with my little family for a birthday meal at Pizza Express in Edinburgh courtesy of Tesco. I have exchanged £15 of my Tesco Clubcard vouchers into £60 worth of Pizza Express vouchers ~ an absolute bargain!! And I do love a bargain ~ especially on my birthday :O)xx

Birthday Boy

My little boy celebrated his ninth birthday a few days ago. I can't quite believe where those nine years have actually gone as they have whizzed by so quickly. I'm one of those mother's who loves all the cute little baby stages and I have to admit that I do sometimes struggle with the fact my babies are growing up so fast! But grow up they must do! Although, on the other hand, it is equally as exciting watching them take the next step in their little lives and develop into such lovely children.

He had a lovely day ~ there was a small pile of presents waiting for him at the end of his bed when he woke up ~ all guarded by his faithful little dog Winston ~ who is his most treasured soft toy.

Fortunately, he loved all his presents.

We spent the day down in North Berwick and had a leisurely stroll along the seafront ~ and my goodness, there was quite a sea breeze ~ I almost need my hat, scarf and gloves! The cold breeze did not put anyone of their ice creams though and we all enjoyed a delicious strawberry cone, complete with a chocolate flake.

One of the presents in his birthday pile were a couple of golf clubs so we headed off for a little practise and had a game of putting which was a lot of fun. There was also a fair amount of cheating going on too. In the end we all decided that the fairest score was a draw.


And, of course at the end of the day there was plenty of yummy chocolate cake and the obligatory blowing out of the birthday candles :O)x

A Birthday Hello

A great big HELLO to you all this snowy morning. I'm back! Not that I have been anywhere or indeed done anything exciting that has been keeping me away from blogland for so long! Although, I have just noticed that it must have been about 3 weeks since I last posted something ~ there are no excuses either ~ but anyway......here I am again!


It was my birthday yesterday ~ I won't go into all the numerical details but let's just say that I am very definitely at the stage where I have started counting backwards now! I had a very nice day ~ my lovely husband took the day off work and waited on me hand and foot and kept me supplied with vast quantities of tea and cake when I felt it was necessary...... which on your birthday is very necessary indeed!


I got some lovely presents too ~ my most favourite being these very cosy, very purple and very woolly boots which I absolutely adore. I keep opening the box to take a peek at them and am waiting for all this snow to disappear again so I can venture outside with them on my feet without them being totally ruined on their very first outing!



I have not been totally idle on the crafting front either ~ I have been busy crocheting lots of tiny little rainbow coloured flowers and I have also been trying to finish the Raspberry Ripple Scarf ~ there are lots and lots and lots of horrid little ends to sew in ~ but I am slowly getting into the swing of things again.


I'm off now to put the kettle on again for yet another cup of tea and maybe just a small slice of cake ..... because it would be a real shame for such a yummy chocolatey birthday cake to go to waste now wouldn't it? :O) x

Birthday gifts

It was my birthday yesterday - I won't bore you with the numerical details, but let's just say that I have reached the point when I am starting to count backwards now!

I had a lovely day, my husband took the day off work and cooked me all my meals and brought me lots of cups of tea, which was very thoughtful of him.

I got some lovely presents - some new glasses, vouchers for John Lewis (which will probably be spent in the Haberdashery dept), a scented candle, some Lush shampoo and conditioner and a nice bottle of pink Champagne (which we drank with dinner last night).

My favourite presents were these beautiful Willow Tree figures that my children gave to me, one little girl and one little boy, both giving me their hearts - they both got my heart the minute they were born - aren't they just gorgeous!! :O)