Summer Holiday 2008

At the beginning of August we took Daniel to London for 3 days. We caught a train in the morning arriving just before lunch. After booking into the Youth Hostel we headed for London Zoo, stopping over in Hyde Park for a picnic lunch.

London Zoo was great, even though a lot of people criticise it. I think they do there best. Let’s face it, it’s definitely not a game park. Daniel enjoyed seeing his favourite animal, the Meerkat, and trying to fly like a bird, as well as seeing more of God’s new and interesting creatures. It was a huge place and Edwin and Daniel were getting tired of walking. With me being in my mobility scooter it did not bother me in the slightest, until we started our walk back to the Youth Hostel, my battery started to run out but Edwin and Daniel were close at hand to give me a push.

The next morning we joined the Original Bus Tour, hopping off at the London Eye. Even though the weather had turned a bit miserable, it was still a great experience – not at all scary! The view was amazing. Daniel took a really great photo of Edwin and me.

We re-joined the bus tour getting off again to go and visit the Golden Hinde. The Golden Hinde is a full-size replica of Sir Francis Drake’s 16th century galleon. The replica itself has travelled the world, having covered over 140,000 miles under sail. We all enjoyed exploring it, inside and out.

From there we went over the bridge to catch a Thames cruise boat. With the water around us and the light rain falling, we ate our packed lunch – provided for us by the Youth Hostel. Once docked, we joined the Original bus tour for our homeward bound journey. The bus tour was really great, especially for kids as they have there own electronic tour guide and book, just like us. The bus also provided us with rain ponchos to keep dry when out and about.

Our last day was spent at the Science museum. We should have put aside a whole day for it as it is very big and we, unfortunately, had to leave soon after eating our packed lunch to catch our train back home. Using the bus service had it’s ups and downs, especially as each driver seemed to have his or her own set of rules. One said that my mobility scooter was a motorised vehicle and could therefore not be brought onto the bus, whereas others were very obliging and helpful – I will be following this up with London transport. All in all, we had a great time and look forward to doing it again some time.

After recouping for a day and catching up with washing, we packed up and headed for Leeds to stay in Edwin’s sister’s home. It was great seeing his brother and catching up with the family. We spent some time together at Lotherton Hall where they have a lovely Bird Garden and children’s play area and garden. Unfortunately our time was cut short by a huge downpour. Edwin ran to get his car while we tried to shelter under some big trees. We all had a good laugh and were glad to get home to a warm drink.

We spent just under two weeks there. Daniel enjoyed swimming and playing with his ‘cousins’ while we enjoyed chatting and catching up. It was really great when we met up with a lost cousin – Joyce and her husband, and took some time to visit Edwin’s eldest brother - Barry. All to soon it was time to head for home.

(These last 2 photos were taken by Daniel)

Once home it was harvest time and we managed to catch a farmer at work and see a visiting steam train at Ely station before preparing for the start of a new school year.

We are always busy over the Summer, and always end up going up country to Leeds. This year was no exception. However, before the holidays started we did get up to quite a few exciting things.

In July the Boys Brigade went to the Mepal Outdoor Centre where the boys had a great time in the boats. Daniel had been the youngest in BB but one of his class-mates, Jack, joined this year which has made it a lot more fun.

Then at school they had a medieval day and Daniel decided at the last minute that he would like to dress up, so it was a mad dash around to try and put something together.

No lack of excitement in our home, as a couple of days later some silly person decided, at 2am on a Sunday morning, that we needed some fresh air. So he/she threw a concrete rock through our kitchen window.

Anyway, we didn't let that deter us and continued with enjoying life. Daniel and I decided that we would make a scarecrow head for Terry's head-less scarecrow next door on the land. We were pleased with the results.