Florida

We got back yesterday morning from two weeks in Orlando - we left behind temperatures of 34⁰C and arrived to rain and cold! As you can see from the photos we packed in most of the parks. Our favourite was Discovery Cove, where we got in the water to play with dolphins and where we snorkelled over a manmade coral reef, complete with mantas, barracuda and sharks (OK, the last two were partioned off, but we didn't realise that until we got really close!)

While we were there Matt, Cleo and George came to stay for a couple of days (down from North Carolina). It was George's first birthday a few days before they came, so we enjoyed watching him opening our presents. He was definitely a big hit!

Judo Champs

Luke, Joe and I spent the day at a Judo club in Kettering yesterday while Elaine was learning how to cope with administering first aid to violent people! It was a huge judo competition with at least three clubs there. Both boys did very well, coming away with bronze medals having won one out of three fights.

Joe won his on points. Here is a clip showing how he nearly came a cropper when his opponent tried to do what Mike and I would call "mosquitos" but then came back to win a "Yoko":


Luke had a tough time in his last bout (the one he won). After the two minutes allotted there was no score so they had to go straight into a second bout where the first one to score a point wins. After a lot more stuggling Luke finally managed to throw the other guy to win! I then had to administer first aid as he had over-stretched a bit - feet in the air, lots of water, that sort of thing! Nice to see him trying hard! Unfortunately I had to switch to my mobile phone as my camera ran out of memory (he took so long) and I am having probs getting the video off my phone. To follow, I hope.

Wicksteed Park

Today, we took probably our last ever trip to Wicksteed Park near Kettering. Probably the last because the boys are getting a bit old for it now. Still we had a good day - managed a picnic, even though the weather was a bit grey (no rain today though). Our friend Patsy joined us at lunchtime with Joe's pal, Alex and we all ended up thoroughly exhausted!

Geocaching in the rain!

The forecast was cloudy but dry this afternoon. Yeah, right! Fortunately we had the presence of mind to take unbrellas with us when we set out from the car park at Bradgate Park this afternoon on the trail of 3 geocaches. It was a bit drizzly all the way round, then it suddenly got pretty heavy after we found the last one - soggy jeans until we got home!

Pair of Schoolboys

All set for the new term, with Joe now joining Luke at "big school" (not allowed to call it that anymore though - it is just "school" now!)

Joe starts next Thursday but Luke gets one extra day's holiday. It's such a big school that they have staggered starts!

17 Miles by Bike!

We headed off to Rutland Water mid morning to tackle the circuit of the lake. It was lovely and sunny and not too warm - perfect conditions really. We decided against doing the peninsula as well (which would have added 6 miles to the total) so just settled for the 17 mile route!

We had a few breaks on the way round - first at the Horse and Jockey at Manton, where we had a bit of refreshment. The only problem with stopping there when taking an anticlockwise route is that you leave the pub going uphill and I suffered from beer legs (I only had a pint!)

We stopped a bit later on at a lovely spot overlooking the lake for a picnic.

Here is one of the last stretches, across the dam:

Bristol Balloon Festival

We Spent the weekend in Bristol with Mum and Dad and came home without Luke and Joe. That was deliberate - they are spending the week there along with Freddie and Katie.

On Saturday we had a treasure hunt, courtesy of Grannykim, with fab prizes along the way, including Luke's birthday present of a wonderful guitar. Later on we went to Ashton Court for the balloon festival and arrived just as the Red Arrows started their display. It was a bit noisy and busy but we found a nice quite spot (the car park) for our picnic, where we could watch the balloons as they came over our heads.

Here are a few more pics.