Disneyland Paris

Well most of you that know me, know I had the most amazing birthday surprise the week before last.  Dave had booked for us all to go to Disneyland Paris for 3 nights, leaving the day after my birthday.  He had organised it with my work and the boys' school, even got the Euros!  He certainly excelled the usual 'get yourself something and I'll give you the money'!

So here's me on my big day..... really yummy cake from Sainsburys :-)

And here's a few photos from our trip - I could bore you all forever as I took over 500 but I think this is more than enough!  I haven't even thought about editing them yet but I'm hoping having so many new ones will spring my mojo into action...

This is the entrance to the park/train station.  Lights up beautifully at night.

Had to get a photo of the Disney castle of course....

This was our hotel campus, almost a village in itself really.  We were in this block, nice and close to the reception building/restaurant etc.

We queued for ages to meet Mickey Mouse and get his autograph but it was worth it!

Although the boys didn't like any of the more adventurous rides, they had their favourites and we must have gone on this rocket one at least twice a day (it's Joe toy, he insisted he ride with us!).

Dave did manage to get Liam on the RC Racer one in the Toy Story area of Disney Studios.  He got off and told me very seriously that he was not going on it again LOL.  Fair play to him, I wouldn't have gone on it as I don't like ones that make you feel like you are going upside down.

The guy playing Buzz Lightyear was funny.... I didn't notice him lifting them up by their hoods until after I had taken the photo.

We had our meals included in our booking and the all you can eat buffet restaurants were a big hit, especially with Liam!

The night show was absolutely brilliant!  Liam is frightened of fireworks but almost all of them were the silent child friendly ones.  Was so proud of him to watch it even though he was quite anxious until he was confident there would be no bangs.  I took almost 100 photos that night alone as the images on the castle and water fountains were fantastic.

The parade was really good too, although we would have been better being on the other side for photos, never mind!

 
And Joe being the animal lover he is, had to stroke the horse that pulls the little tram you can ride on up to the castle.

 

 And that's it for now, hopefully some of these and the others I took will be appearing on LOs soon!

My month in numbers - May

Seriously slacking on the blogging and photo taking front at the moment, just seem to be on the go all the time.  Anyway, still trying to keep up with this month in numbers project, so here goes for May:

1 = the number of early birthday presents I received, thanks Dad!  He got me a Garmin GPS watch which has been really useful to track my pace in the run up to Race for Life.

1 = the number of time we used our National Trust membership - we went to Stourhead and it was lovely, must go back in autumn when the trees all change colour.

52 = the number of cakes I have made this month for my RFL fundraising (and I only ate 2 I think)

1 = the number of Beaver sleepovers attended, which involved 1 very excited boy...

1 = the number of Cubs orienteering activities at Badbury Clump, which involved the other excited boy...

30:32 = the fastest time I have managed a 5k run in, was very happy that day!!

1 = the number of Year 3 assemblies I have been to - it was brilliant and it was amazing to see how much all the children seemed to have matured this academic year (and a little scary as they are growing up!)

2 = the number of BBQs we have had this month

1 = the number of cinema trips the boys had with my sister and their cousins

1 = number of doggie haircuts.  Clyde was really quite scruffy as the groomer had been off after a knee op so when I said 'short back and sides please', she quite literally did that.  I wasn't even sure he was my dog when I collected him lol.  Been great in this warmer weather though :-)

6 = the number of rooms I have painted this month... seemed a good idea at the time is all I can say!  Still to do the kitchen but I can't face it at the moment.  Really pleased with how nice everything looks (unlike this photo of me which is terrible!!).  I'm using the milk bottle tip that my scrapping buddy Lynne shared a while ago - works brilliantly!

0 = the number of layouts done this month, must try to finish my other half done ones at the all day crop in June.....

And so that's May, hopefully summer has arrived and I will remember to take more photos for June.

If you would like to know more about months in numbers, please visit Julie's blog here.

May already?!

Oh dear, been a bit slack on the old blog posting recently - I just don't know where the time is going!  Been busy with the audit prep at work and then had a few things to do for school as well, so just haven't had time to update here.  Sorry!

I have actually managed to finish some layouts that have been sitting half done in my RUB for ages.  Still a few more to do - hopefully get round to that this month!

This LO is using our crop sketch from December (!) - better late than never....

..... this one is using the left over papers from a Total Papercrafts kit from well over a year ago I think.  Colours have come out a bit weird as the sun had moved round by the time I took the photos, but the blue is a deeper shade and the cream much brighter.  Thanks again to Kathy for the brads, perfect colour matches :-)

.. and this one is using a more recent Total Papercrafts kit. I followed the sample LO instructions for this one too. 

My month in numbers - April

Here we are again, another month gone and time to do my month in numbers summary.  If you would like to know more about the month in numbers idea, please visit Julie's blog here.

So here we go, this is what happened around here in April:

1 = the number of science experiments conducted as homework.  I think he wishes all homework was this much fun.

1 = the number of St Georges Day parades the boys took part in

2 = the number of investitures we watched as the boys joined Beavers and Cubs.  They are both really enjoying it and are working on their first badges!

2 = the number of visits to the office in Kingsclere, got a lot of admin work to do over there at the moment

15 = the number of runs I have done this month, 4 of them the full 5k without any walking - woo hoo!  Fastest time I've managed is 33:06, hoping to speed up a bit before Race for Life.

1 = the number of pairs of trainers I had to get exchanged as the back had worn through one of them (big shout out to Run Swindon who were brilliant at changing them, highly recommended if you want proper running shoes!)

11 = the number of years we have been married this month, doesn't time fly!

Can't remember how many but worth noting = the number of spring/summer like days we had in the second half of the month.  At last it is warm and dry, almost hot some days!

And that's our April, doesn't seem a lot when you type it out but it has felt very busy!

My month in numbers - March

Here we are again, another month been and gone.... so here is my March in numbers:

7 = the age our baby turned this month (doesn't the time fly!!)

3 = the number of nights I had away at our Crumblie retreat with 8 of my lovely scrapping buddies.

1 = the number of Egyptian headdresses made as homework.

2 = the number of parents evenings I took part in as numeracy governor to promote awareness of the maths activities we do in school, plus the resources available to parents.

 

1 = the number of canine chauffeurs we had this month.... he really is a muppet.

0 = probably the highest temperature for most days this month, but with the wind chill factor it has been freezing!  This water wheel at the local pub we walk past with the hound after school has been frozen more than not this month.

20 = the number of minutes I ran without stopping this week, I'm now on the Couch to 5K week 6.  Boy my legs are feeling it!

3.7 = the number of miles we walked this weekend as part of the Wilts & Berks Canal Easter towpath walk to raise awareness of the project and funds to pay for it. 

which leads onto.....

 

3 = the number of loads of washing I had to do to clean this lot off... plus the dog had to have a shower too.  It was very muddy but a lot of fun with some of us falling over and getting stuck almost knee deep in mud!!

 

He seems quite proud of the state he got into doesn't he?!

And so that's our summary of March!  Thanks for stopping by :-)

My month in numbers - February

Well I know February is a short month, but blimey it seemed to fly by!  Didn't keep any notes for my numbers this time, so winging it from memory.... if you would like to know more about the month in numbers idea, please visit Julie's blog here.

So here is my February in numbers:

1 = the number of new front teeth Joe gained this month, giving him the full set again :-)

4 = the number of layouts I have done this month.

3.5 = the number of hours spent making the spaceship as mentioned in the previous post.

10 = the number of Governor meetings I have had this month (didn't realise it was that many, that's much more than normal!).

8 = the number of times I have used the Wii Fit which is better than last month but in my defence I have started running 3 times a week and I have managed to complete week 1 on the Couch to 5K program. 

1 = the number of phone upgrades I got - love my new Nokia :-)

9 = the number of lbs I have lost in the last 5 weeks, woo hoo!

4 = the number of new recipes we have tried this month - the boys love the cod in parma ham and stir fry ones. The salmon one I tried wasn't a hit....

1 = the number of doggie haircuts this month

3 = the number of times I have had washing on the line - surely spring must be here soon?!


And there we have it, another month gone! 

My weekend challenge

Joe came home with a little challenge for me on Friday.... to cut some lettering for a display and to make a 3D spaceship for it.  Well I can assure you that is a challenge when all you have is a selection of backing paper and a piece of black card.  I managed to buy a cloche in Wilkos for the dome, and after what seemed like hours (because it actually was hours!), this....

... became this

 

 

I guess the squeal of delight when I took it into school this morning means they like it ;-)  Hopefully the little black border I have left will be enough to staple it to the black space background on the display board and the whole thing doesn't fall apart - it shouldn't as there is plenty of DST holding that lot together!

I'm also hoping they don't decide to do any more big displays anytime soon!!