Central America January 2010
We have just returned from a great trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.
Click here to see what we did.
February 6th, 2010
28 Nov 09 - Fairford
We had a visits from Martin and Louise as well as Jen, Mark, Bethany and Callum. The weather was not brilliant but Family Davidson managed a walk to search for puddles 
that Bethany and Callum enjoyed jumping in. Martin and Louise also managed a walk but they did not get splashedThe children have grown so much and Callum has developed the independence that walking gives and loves exploring! Bethany is very much a little girl but still likes playing with toy cars that shoot across the floor. Nevertheless she normally has a doll in her hand!
We were so pleased Martin and Louise were able to join us as Martin had got back from Russia the day before and was off to the USA the next day. Poor Louise for being on her own for so much of this year and poor Martin for spending so much time on airplanes (over 100 Flights this year). Annie and I are so grateful that our travelling is together and when we want to go!!!
It was lovely day.
November 29th, 2009
Sep - Oct 2009 Palm Springs
We have just returned from 7 wonderful weeks in Palm Springs. That said, we visited Jo, Todd and the children on 4 weekends and family Papaioannou spent 2 weekends with us and we also had Alexander, Oliver and Sienna to stay with us for another. It was the first time we had had all 3 children to stay without their parents and although the boys have
stayed several times before and knew the ropes and routine, Sienna seemed to settle in without any problem - in fact we all had a fantastic time! Each day started with the children coming in to our bedroom. Alexander used to lift Sienna out of her cot and Oliver would poke his head around the door to see if we were awake! Once he sussed out that we were, the door would open fully and the 3 smiling faces would emerge and climb on to the bed to watch some TV (sorry Jo and Todd) with us. Annie and Gerry got to quite like Spongebob.
The children all love the water and Alexander and Oliver continue to amaze us and our friends at Ocotillo Lodge with their prowess on and under the water!!!! In fact the first thing our friends say to us when we arrive (after hello that is) is when are the children coming?
Sienna seemed had grown up so much in the few months since we last visited. She certainly showed no fear of the water as you can see here where she and Jo are having a woman to woman conversation in the pool.
On one of our weekend visits to San Diego, Jo and Todd had arranged a lovely birthday weekend for Gerry. We arrived on Saturday for a BBQ lunch and then a trip on a power boat. Gerry enjoyed driving but sometimes needed a little help from Oliver with the steering. In the evening Gerry was treated to dinner at a very nice restaurant. As if that wasn’t enough, on the Sunday Todd, Alexander and Oliver took Gerry to the Miramar Air show - What a weekend!!
Our final weekend in America was Halloween and Jo invited us to their Halloween party. In Bird Rock, Halloween is quite an event with many from outside the community turning up to trick or treat. Everyone was dressed up and we had a wonderful time helping give out hundreds of pieces of candy as a never ending succession of children came to the door. The party was a great success and Jo and Todd were also able to go out later with some friends leaving us to baby sit but more importantly recover from the hectic evening. The next day despite the clocks going back an hour the children were up and about at their normal body clock 
time – now 6 am!! A picnic lunch and a visit to the Model Train museum rounded off a fantastic 7 weeks for us. I don’t seem to have said much about our actual time in Palm Springs but as usual we enjoyed many hours by the pool (in temperatures between 80 and 100F) and chatting and seeing the many friends we have made at Ocotillo Lodge. We really feel it is our second home!
November 12th, 2009
6 September -Fairford
On Saturday 6 September Gerry thought he was going to our local restaurant Allium for lunch with Annie and some friends. However, as he sat down to in the bar area to wait for Freda and John, so Bethany appeared followed by Jenny, Mark, Callum, Martin, Louise, Lucy, James (Lucy’s), Jess and Jon.
It was a surprise birthday party to celebrate Gerry’s 60th birthday. Although his birthday is not for some time Annie and he will be in Palm Springs on the day. It was a brilliant and total surprise. A long and pleasant lunch was followed by an afternoon of games, rest and relaxation at The Nook.
September 7th, 2009
August - Yorkshire
Annie and I decided to head to the Yorkshire Moors for a few days camping and walking. It started to rain as we were pitching our tent just outside the village of Osmotherley and rained very hard every evening so much so that the ground was really very wet and muddy when we came to pack up. Nevertheless, we had a great time walking across the moors marveling at the heather and also visiting Mount Grace Priory and Rievaulx (shown here)and Fountains Abbeys. 
We then spent a night with Bridget and David in Thorner and achieved a long standing ambition for Gerry to eat in Rajas Indian restaurant. We had a great meal and the place certainly lived up to its reputation!.
September 7th, 2009
12 July - Devon
We decided at about 11 am on Friday to go to Devon/ Cornwall border for the weekend. Before 12 we were loaded and on our way to one of our favourite camp site at Harford Bridge near Tavistock.
We enjoyed a pleasant afternoon and evening although it started to rain after supper. On Saturday the weather was dreary and showery so we set off to visit Annie’s sister. We had a pleasant time with Pam and Neil and the weather did not seem to matter! There were still very heavy showers when we arrived back at the camp site but nevertheless we enjoyed an evening of wine and rummikub (a great game with a lot of luck and some skill needed and similar to the card game rummy.
Sunday was a different matter weather wise and we had a super day visiting Cotehele, a National Trust house not far from Tavistock. We had visited previously and 
so decided not to tour the house but explore the estate. We bought a (very old) pamphlet detailing various walks which was fun as it was a bit out in some places (10 ft of brambles in front of mine opening for example) and quite vague on distances and directions in others. Nevertheless, once we got away from the house there were very few other people and we enjoyed the quietness and scenery for a few hours.
We returned to the campsite just before it started to rain again!
The weather still didn’t seem to know what it wanted to do on Monday morning so we decided to head back to Fairford!
July 13th, 2009
3 July - Bethany Visits
We invited Bethany to spend a couple of days with us. Happily she (and her parents) agreed. 
We started with a visit to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway (Bethany is mad about trains). We had a great trip although Bethany was quite frightened by the sudden loud noises and whistles from the engine. However, it didn’t spoil the day and the children’s playground was a hit too.
Bethany seemed to have a brilliant time and certainly enjoyed doing her jobs. Filling the bird bath and watering some flowers using water she got from the water feature! She also made some cakes and enjoyed playing with some of Grandpa’s trains. Bethany had a firm grasp of how to stop and start the train and control the speed. The only problem was that she wanted more and more coaches, trucks and engines to make as long a train as possible! 
We also had great fun with our tame female blackbird that appears as soon as one of us goes outside the backdoor. She will then wait sitting on the back of one of the garden benches until some bread appears. The bird will then take it from the table as we sit there watching. Bethany was enthralled by this and sat quietly watching this happen many times. We also fed the ducks and saw 7 cygnets at the Mill pond.
All in all we had a great two days and hope that Bethany will come and stay again.
July 13th, 2009
1 July - Fairford
We have just returned 
from three weeks in Ireland. We were invited to Cathy and Mark Bottomley’s wedding at Glendalough and decided that we would use the opportunity to travel around Eire and Northern Ireland. Three weeks under canvas did not put us off the idea of camping despite having weather ranging from storms where we could not see to drive, hailstones and glorious sunshine. The amazing thing was that the weather never stopped us doing anything and was always good when it really mattered!
We spent the first few days at 
The Hidden Valley Campsite in a small town called Rathdrum. This was only a 15 minute drive from Glendalough and gave us the opportunity to explore the Wicklow Mountains. 
At the end of the week we attended Cathy and Mark’s wedding - what a joyful day. Happiness, enjoyment and sense of fun pervaded the whole day.
From Wicklow we headed north to Antrim managing visits to Argory House and Ardress House both of which were National Trust properties. The next day we travelled up the coast visiting the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant’s Causeway which were quite incredible.
Then followed a rather disappointing trip around Strangford Lough possibly because of the sea fret and fog! However, we did manage a visit to Mountstuart House a beautiful National Trust property.
From Antrim we moved to the banks of Lough Erne and visits to 2 more National Trust Properties, Florence Court and Castle Coole and some very beautiful scenery.
-
From there we headed to Galway and trips to Connemara,
The Burren and the Aran Island of Inishmore. Annie and I throughly enjoyed the contrasts between the beautiful coastline and mountains of Connemara and the ruggedness of The Burren and Inishmore. 
Our 40 minute ferry trip back from Inishmore was made quite exciting when an Irish Coastguard Helicopter decided to do a winching exercise onto our ferry.
We reluctantly headed south to Killarney and were then amazed to find even more really beautiful scenery. Trips around the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry provided many opportunities to ’stand and stare’. We were blessed with fantastic weather which made the colours of sea and mountain jump out at us!
By now we had driven nearly 1800 miles and Gerry decided that he needed a break from driving. So, we headed back to Hidden Valley and the final couple of days doing some short walks.
All in all we had a really good time in Ireland. The people in the South were friendly and gave a real sense of welcome - A great holiday!
July 10th, 2009
24 May - Martin and Louise’s Home
Martin and Louise kindly invited Jenny and family and Annie and I to spend the day with them. The weather was brilliant and we were able to spend the whole time in the garden. We enjoyed a BBQ lunch cooked by Martin, 
before playing in the garden sprinklers (well some of us did).
It was good to catch up with the children and enjoy the grandchildren in such lovely surroundings. We all seemed to expend quite a lot of energy and, despite the large lunch, were able to tuck into a glorious spread at tea time. Unfortunately, the time passed all too quickly and it was soon time to leave. We had had a great time!
May 25th, 2009
22 May - Visit to Palm Springs
We have just returned from another fantastic visit to Palm Springs. As usual we had a great time catching up with friends and of course wasted no time before we visited Jo, Todd and the children in San Diego.
The children had certainly grown in the four and a half months since we had seen them. The Boys had both learned to cycle without stabilizers although scooting remained the transport of choice. Sienna had not started to crawl properly but managed to propel herself around the floor by pulling herself along on her tummy - but that soon changed.
On Good Friday, we spent the night with Jo and Todd and after enjoying an Easter Egg Hunt with the Boys on Saturday morning brought them back to Palm Springs for a few days at Ocotillo. The four of us had a great time especially in the pool. Alexander and Oliver’s swimming has improved so much with both doing 20 metre swims. Their confidence above and below the water was amazing but more of that later.
Having returned the boys to San Diego on Wednesday we were back in San Diego for the weekend to take part in Sharon’s Walk in aid of Epilepsy Research. 
We were part of Alexander’s A team and whilst Todd ran, the rest of us walked the 5KM in glorious sunshine and then enjoyed BBQ food before returning home. The Photo shows Alexander, Jo and Annie crossing the finishing line.
We also visited San Diego to spend a day at Sea World with Jo and the Children. We had a lovely if not exhausting day enjoying the exhibits, and a couple of the shows but the most memorable part was the fact that Alexander
was now tall enough to ride on the rollercoaster-water splash. His first trip with Jo and Grandpa saw us sitting in the second and third rows of the boat so we did not get too wet. He enjoyed it so much that Grandpa and Alexander went on again. This time we sat in the front row and got thoroughly wet. Alexander thought it was a hoot but Grandpa was not so sure!!!!
Family P also managed to spend a week with us in Palm Springs. The boys slept in our unit and Jo, Todd and Sienna had another unit. We had a wonderful time in the swimming pool with the boys showing their prowess as underwater salvage experts.
During the week, Sienna took her first steps and then there was no stopping her she also loved the water as much as her brothers but has some way to go before she starts swimming on her own!!!! Despite spending most of the time in the pool at Ocotillo. Jo and Todd took the boys for a day at a local water park and Grandpa, Alexander and Oliver also went off on an expedition up Bug Mountain (not as many bugs as in previous visits but they enjoyed exploring and finding some different sorts of beetle). The week passed by very quickly and we certainly missed their company when they returned to San Diego.
Our 7 weeks passed all too quickly and although sad to leave, we have some great memories especially of how quickly children develop and grow. Click here for more photos.
May 24th, 2009