The Biddle Blog: Our UK Holiday

Hi All

While I get a chance, before I get involved with work that must be done, I just thought I'd update you all on our news....

As most of you know, we spent time with family, which Jordy really enjoyed especially since he met his cousins who he really enjoyed spending time with.... so much so that when we left on monday to come home, Jordy cried crocodile tears, though his aunty Cathy and cousin Clare didn't have a dry eye either.... and before too long I shed a tear or two.

We were based in pinner, in london for most of our stay, aside from when we were away, and stayed with Mark's mom, Denise, so were glad to be able to have a comfortable base and somewhere to leave our suitcase without lagging it everywhere, which was good for Jordy especially as at least he had a place to play as such. Denise took us around to the various shopping centres, because while we hired a car, it was only for the week we did most of our travelling, but since she had a car, it made sense for us to share Denise's car while travelling around london etc, so it all worked out well. I managed to sneak a day to go into london on my own which was good, but I think I've fulfilled my need to visit london for at least the next 5 years or so - I guess the novelty has worn off now and other than the volumes of people ever increasing, not much changes in london. Still, it was nice to look into some of the stores etc, albeit that i didn't do too much shopping.

We managed to pick a good day weather-wise to visit Legoland.... just the 3 of us, and we really enjoyed our visit. We took loads of pics as you can imagine... there is a lot to take in and I have to say, it's been assembled incredibly well - very captivating. I actually grew up enjoying lego more than playing with my dolls, so for me it was like revisiting my childhood. I think it would be safe to say I probably enjoyed the park more than my boys!? Unfortunately though, Jordy was too small to go on some of the rides and of course, there were rides that had such long queues, it just wasn't worth waiting and thereby possibly missing out on other things. Our 'window of opportunity' to visit legoland, to fit around Jordy's sleeping pattern during the day, left us with just 5 hours to do the whole park, but we managed and had a lovely time.

We were delighted to be able to see friends of ours who live in the UK, while we were there, some of whom met us at hyde park, in london, for a cup of coffee on a saturday afternoon - albeit in the restaurant since the rain was pelting down, so any hopes of sitting out on the grass and letting Jordy run around were soon squashed. It was still great to catch up. We visited family friends, the Harradines, in Brackley and had a lovely lunch with them, which we did before joining the family in Shrewsbury since our nephew Thomas was on a cricket tour there, where his family also joined him to support him. Unfortunately it was only after we arrived in Shrewsbury, that his cricket tour was cancelled because of the rain and soaked pitches, so we only spent 2 nights there, most of our time with the other Biddles, exploring Shrewsbury town and looking around the shops since the weather was so grim. We had fun though and it was great to be together and we were glad to have had the last weekend of our stay with the Biddles at their home in Needingworth, in Cambridgeshire.

Of course, one of the main reasons for going over was for a family wedding (Mark's cousin Scott), in Lyndhurst near Southampton. It was a nice wedding, albeit a civil ceremony since Scott & Emma (his wife) already have a 3 year old son. Needless to say it was a low-key wedding, but none-the-less pleasant. Because of circumstances, there was obviously not much in the way of decor etc at the venue so it was a bit bland in that respect, but each to their own.

So, in all in all we had a good time, but we are also glad to be back, as we did quite a lot of travelling so felt really tired these last 2 days especially, but now it's back to normality and lots of work. Without further ado, I must dash as I have an appointment with a sports therapist at 10, to sort my back out. It's been really sore, as has my neck, but am sure it will all be sorted. Poor Jason has been battling with a sore back, the diagnosis of which should hopefully be confirmed today as to the cause of the pain, when he goes for an MRI, as requested by the specialist. It seems he has popped a disc but hopefully it's not too serious?! I don't know how he managed being overseas when it was so bad. Coincidentally Jason was away the same time as us as he had to go for training at a flight simulater in France for a week, and then took a week's leave to spend time wih his brothers who live in london, since Jason had not been overseas before. He seems to have had a good time, but is glad to be home. I don't think he enjoyed the UK too much, not forgetting the weather.

Anyway, I must dash but will blog again soon!

I'll leave you with some pics to look at....

Have a great day!

x Robs and da boys