Center Parcs Day 3

Our start today wasn't quite as eary as yesterday but we did still make a point of insisting that everyone was up for breakfast once again. Whilst getting ready to go out I spotted this cute little fella from our bedroom window!

Toni and I then took Gemima to be picked up for her horse riding activity. While she was gone we sat in the sun at Starbucks and had nice chat and some yummy coffee. Next stop was the shop to get some essential provisions and then we picked up Gemima and headed back to the villa. Sam then stoked up the BBQ and made a fantastic lunch for everyone including home made gluten free burgers!

After lunch Aaron took Gemima swimming while Sam and I went for a long bike ride around the grounds. We visited the posh side of town, The Treehouses, which were most impressive constructions.

A stop at Starbucks gave me the chance to grab a few more wood sculpture pics.

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Center Parcs Day 2

Much to the disgust of the boys we got up early today. Nobody was getting a sleep in this week. It's a family holiday so we'll all be acting like one! We had breakfast and then took Gemima to the first of her activities which was quad biking. She was really lucky as she was the only person booked for the session so she got much more time on the bike than she would have in a group.

We then went for a wander after Gemima's activity had finished and spotted a squirrel on a branch stuffing his face.

The forest has lots of hidden carvings scattered around. The first one that we saw was this moon which could be viewed from a very comfortable seat also completely carved from wood.

Our next stop was the Cycle Centre where we hired bikes for all of us, including a trike for mum. We then made our way on bike for Aaron to do his quad biking activity.

Back at the villa we were greeted by a goose who tried to bite his way through the patio window. We think that he was used to being given treats by visitors and so was giving us a less than subtle hint that we should do likewise. We didn't indulge him but did manage to capture him!

Mum was a little bit rude when we opened our ice cream!

Center Parcs Day 1

One hearty breakfast later we loaded up The Beast and headed out to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest. We made good time getting there although did arrive at a busy time so spent ages just driving round the site to our villa. The weather was lovely on our arrival and our villa was wonderful. Water out the back, wild animals all over the shop and trees as far as you can see (who would have expected that in a forest? LOL)

This was on a car just down the road from our villa. We want to get one for Jamie!

As early evening approached we saw a few rabbits scrabbling around outside the front door. So cute!

What with it being our first day we opted out of cooking and made our way to Cafe Rouge for some amazing steak and desserts.

On our stroll back we were greeted by this amazing sunset across the water.

The first evening was finished off with Sam, Aaron and I playing Buccaneer while Toni and mum drank wine and chatted. Toni went and had a bath so I decided to go and have a jog around late at night. Not sure what possessed me to do it but I just felt like it. Managed a combination speed walk/jog of three miles in thirty minutes. That might not seem very spectacular but it was amazing for me LOL

Holiday prep, Coffee Town, long journey to Stratford & Jimmy Spice!

We got up early this morning to finish off any packing and to double check that we had everything. We then loaded up The Beast.

We handed the house over to Bob for safekeeping and then went and picked up Gemima from Nick and then it was off to Coffee Town for brunch. While we were there the weather went from gorgeous sun to a real mad downpour. Suitably fuelled up we then picked up some last minute bits before heading out to Stratford-upon-Avon to stay at mum's ready for us to roll out on holiday tomorrow.

The journey took longer than expected due to some nightmare traffic, weather and a couple of incidents on the M25. Visibility was terrible for some of the way but still some idiots were speeding and had no lights on.

When we got to Stratford we chilled out, drank tea and enjoyed chocolates goodness. We even managed to catch up on a few Olympic gold medals.

The day was rounded off very nicely with a marathon eating session at Jimmy Spice.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Getting ready to head out on holiday

Today was a day spent tidying the house up, washing clothes and packing getting ready for our holiday at Centre Parcs in Sherwood Forest.

One of our major tasks of the day was getting new roof bars and the roof box on The Beast. This was done very quickly between Toni, Sam and I.

Any spare time today was spent catching up on various TV stuff and we finished events off with kebabs and the really rather good In Time, despite it having Justin Timberlake in it!

Roll on tomorrow when we head off to Stratford Upon Avon to stop over at mum's before we head off to Sherwood Forest on Monday.

Last day of work and..... SLEEP!

Today was the last day of work. It was busy with a lot to get through but it was such a great relief when the end came. I turned off work email on all my devices and switched on the Out Of Office notification and headed home.

I think my body must have just thrown a switch that said relax as I fell asleep really early on the sofa while Toni and Sam watched Interview With The Vampire.  I woke up briefly to be treated to a lovely chocolate Gu pudding and then crashed out again.

Holiday mode is well and truly ON!

Zero Boys @ Boston Arms Music Room

Well it only took twenty odd years but Zero Boys finally made over to the UK to play live! This was a gig that I was REALLY looking forward to!

Toni and I headed off to Boston Arms Music Room at Tufnell Park for this little gig.

For once there had been no rush to get there but when we arrived it transpired that the first support band had cancelled anyway so we arrived just in time for the remaining three bands.

NOISE COMPLAINT
I quite enjoyed these guys. It was no nonsense short sharp hardcore. The sound wasn't overly great for them although they did sound kind of samey after a while. There was a small crowd that watched who were appreciative. New song "Don't Push Me" sounded pretty good and was their best song of the night. I'll definitely be interested in hearing how these guys sound in the studio rather than live.

See all the NOISE COMPLAINT pics here: 120802NoiseComplaintBostonMusicRoom

A spot of Constipation for you



THE ARTERIES
Now this was more like it!Sum 41 meets Blink 182 while channelling the Muppets. A US college punk mashover! It's a shame these guys are based over here as they would go down a storm on the US college circuit. Great fun to watch, great songs and a great warm up!

See all THE ARTERIES pics here: 120802TheArteriesBostonMusicRoom

Here's a couple of songs, titles unkown:



ZERO BOYS
Wow, just wow! Zero Boys lived up to my expectation and then some! They played so many great songs and despite the fact that we are all getting on a bit it might as well have been the 80s! They sounded so good, just like they did on the records. I was astounded at their fantastic cover version of Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith. That made my night!

See all the ZERO BOYS pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/104946465990175774467/120802ZeroBoysBostonMusicRoom

Here's s couple of vids to be getting on with. The rest are on my YouTube Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUC4H_s9x8HxHXZsPXGxUERA&feature=plcp







It was a fantastic night out and was also great to meet up with Robin and Ellie again. Big thumbs up to Robin for giving us a lift home afterwards too!

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists: