Been a bit under the weather lately. In fact I got sent home from school last Wednesday. I felt okay though but they thought I was poorly because I was being quiet. I suppose it is rather out of character. I don't mind the chance for a bit of extra sleep in the afternoon anyway.
Until Dad made me go to my last week of swimming lessons. I wasn't really into it, so didn't last the full half an hour. We did get my test score sheet though and I passed with flying colours even though I missed 4 lessons. Mum and Dad were really pleased with me, i'm pleased as well as I don't have to go again for a while now.
We had an exciting evening planned as well, it was circus time at school and I was well up for it. There was a great big tent on the school field, bouncy castles, a barbecue, everything!
I couldn't decide whether I felt up to it or not and changed my mind a few times before we finally agreed to go. I'm glad we did go though, I loved it:

There was a pretty lady doing tricks up in the roof, clowns, balancing acts, BMX tricks, singing and dancing, pretty much everything you could wish for at such an event.
I sat next to Alastair which was obviously great but the girls did seem to do rather a lot of screaming. A little too much if you ask me. During the interval my teacher miss Stephenson twisted Dad's arm into enjoying a cold beer from her stall, it was one of the most pathetic atttempts to resist I think i've ever seen.
Mum finally cracked and made me a doctors appointment. Of course by the time we went I was feeling much better and bounded in to see him. He gave me the once over and declared me fit.
Quick bit of nursery news then. I got caught eating sand and chalk the other day. When they told Dad what i'd been up to he expressed concern about what may come out of the other end...
Even bigger nursery news is that i'm going up to the next room next week. So that will be that, i'll be in with the big kids and it'll be my last room before school.
Onto the weekend then, and seeing as i'd been poorly for a bit it was my choice of activities. How does the nature discovery centre and Pizza Hut sound?

We waited for mum to come down the slide:

She came out at quite a rate:

We didn't stay at the park long as the Hut was calling. Especially the ice cream factory.
It was a brilliant idea Ned, but throw a bit of shopping in for us ladies eh? I spent some of birthday money on a totally brilliant pink Hello Kitty micro scooter. A two wheeler no less. I'm fast on it of course.
Sunday was Joshua's naming day. We hadn't seen him for ages. He's a really smiley chap, we liked him a lot.
We liked the food he'd put on for us too. I think 'Cake heavy' would cover the spread.
Here we are, all dressed up right smart and that:

Still, it didn't stop us having a spin:

We went back to Yanna and Fen's afterwards. They've got a table football game now, brilliant. Being a school night and all that we couldn't stay long though...boo!

Last Thursday, one of the most exciting events in the school calendar...school trip day! This year we were going to Mudeford to study features of the beach. We all went on the big coach, it was ever so exciting. Of course i've been to Mudeford loads of times so I knew all about it but I still loved it. After all the boring stuff was finished we had a picnic on the beach and built sandcastles before having an ice-cream, all in the glorious sunshine. To top things off I even got to sit on the back seat of the coach on the way home.
While Ned was on his trip I finally got to go back to my trampolining club after my holiday break. I attacked it with a renewed vigour and went higher than ever before.
Auntie Christine came round with my birthday presents which was of course brilliant. We all went to pick Ned up from school together after his trip.
The Halford boys came round after school on Thursday. The weather was lovely so instead of playing in the garden or something we played on the Wii, indoors!
Leo and I had a bounce on the trampoline though.
Andy came round to look after us as it was parents evening.....nothing to worry about on my part of course. My teacher had some lovely things to say about me it turns out. She says my handwriting is beautiful (but maybe a bit too slow) and my numeracy is also well up to scratch. She also said I was very enthusiastic about everything and like to be helpful, setting things up for the class in the mornings. She also said I was a genuine pleasure to have in class!
We made Andy play Super Mario all the while they were gone, he's a good sport.
We also had a flying visit from Den and Gail, again bearing late birthday gifts. I like the idea of having a birthday on holiday and then one or two further birthdays every week afterwards.
Things went badly wrong at bedtime though, we both decided we didn't want to go to bed and screamed and wailed and hollered and ended up not getting a story...oops.
Friday baking club returned last week with a batch of chocolate chip cookies for our weekend trip (details to follow).
Then it was a trip to Chris and Kates for another England football barbecue and another disappointment (not the barbecue or the hosting of course).
I started to feel a bit iffy to say the least, not the best preparation for a drive to Cornwall with Andy once the game had finished.
We hit the road and it was soon dark and we were asleep.
So asleep that I even missed the sat nav lady get confused.
We were soon at athe caravan, we hadn't been for ages so it was really good to be back.
Unless you'd developed a temperature, and were suffering from delusions, oh dear. Mum was quite worried about me but I soon nodded of with Dad, leaving Mum to go and room with Ellis on my bed.
Next morning and the sun was out, so it was breakfast, Gary's shop and the beach.
Gary is my hero, even if he does tell me football jokes that I don't get (neither does Dad).
I was a lot better than the previous night but still spent most of the day tucked up in my beach tent asleep:

It wasn't all plain sailing though. A particularly strong gust of wind almost blew me and tent away!

I decided that seeing as Ned was laying low I needed to take centre stage for the day:

I took my baby Faye for her first trip to the beach:

I had a lovley time, not quite as chilled out as Ned mind you.

We headed back up to the caravan and broke out the comfy chairs for some more relaxation:

Before having chip shop for tea. Yum.

Next day it was fathers day of course, we quickly gave dad his presents while he was cooking sausages for breakfast. He loved his cards though, we really are quite the artists.

Seeing as the weather was still glorious we hit the beach again.

I was a bit more active this time, A game of bat and ball with Mum:

And then some digging with Dad:

Under Ned's guidance we dug a cool trench, it was pretty deep:

And as the tide came in it filled with water:

After all that effort, I decided to retire to my quarters:

And refused to get out, even when it was time to pack up and go:

We headed back to the van and helped Andy with his chores, well, watering the plants anyway:

We made sure we hgave them plenty to drink:

And then it was sadly time to come home.

Never mind, we'll be back in 8 weeks!

Surprise update! How about that then? Twice in a week? Yeah why not....
We've managed to round up a few stray photo's (thanks Andy).
In case there was any doubt out there at all, we were very pleased to be in America:

Now then, waterparks, not the easiest place to take any photo's but thanks to Andy's waterproof camera we have a few to show you.
Here we are in the lazy river at Aquatica. These bouyancy jackets were brilliant, I could lay back and go with the flow:

I seriously loved the lazy rivers, I usually ended up giggling and babbling on talking utter rubbish as we bobbed along.
I loved them too, but for racing of course:

Although on rare occasions you may have caught me taking it easy, just recharging for the next race of course:

It was a decent oppurtnity for cuddles that I wasn't going to pass up on thats for sure:

The water jets were great fun too. We worked out that if you stood on one of the other ones, the jet went even higher:

Of course the waterproof camera also proved usefull during one of the short downpours, this one was on my birthday at the Magic Kingdom:

We were running laps of the flower bed, to the great amusement of the gang of dull old grown ups hanging about under a shelter until the rain had stopped:

Whats the matter with them all? It was only water!

It was also still really hot so we soon dried off.
Certainly in time for tea, here we are outside the restaurant, watching Winne the Pooh and his gang before our table was ready:

Another watery themed day was of course Discovery Cove. Me and Mum modelled their vests and bouyancy jackets:

Here's how I eased myself in with the fish and the rays, sat on Dad's back, high up out of the water:

I didn't need much encouragement to get in with the dolphin though:

Even though it looks like Dad is close at hand, he was only helping me because the water was a bit deep:

And here I am, swimming with my new best friend CJ the dolphin:

And off into open water:

Hope you enjoyed our brief burst of photo's and it's filled a few holes in our previous report.

Be back on Tuesday for more......

First off, the Florida video that didn't make it onto here last week:


Right then, this weeks round up. It was all back to school and nursery on Tuesday.

Except I decided that I hadn't had quite enough time off so threw up at school, big time (I filled the tub they gave me anyway). Oh dear, a quick phone call and I was soon being picked up and taken home to feel sorry for myself.

Yeah, so that was no school for Ned for two days which meant I was off nursery too. The usual arrangement kicked in with Mum looking after us in the morning and Dad taking over in the afternoons. I was pretty keen to get back to nursery to see my griends truth be told.

I wasn't even that ill really. I had however decided that I was now in fact an American and was only sick because I was having to go bed too early and not at 'American time' which I was now well and truly used to. It didn't wash unfortunatley and I was back to school on Friday.

Thursday night though saw me fill out my World Cup predictions sheet for Owen's competition. Exciting stuff, i've been hyped about the World Cup for ages!

I'm not sure how usefull my standard suggestion of three for every score was?

Dad got off to a flying start, getting the first two spot on, this upset me greatly, until he pointed out there was pretty much a months worth of football to come, and he started getting them wrong!

We had Emma and Leo round to play on Friday night while Max was working the door at his school disco, they have a strict admissions policy by the sounds of it.

Yeah, we had a little bounce on the trampoline but couldn't get any adults to join us, booo!!

Mum had to work on Saturday morning so we dropped her off and Dad made us go to the skatepark in Marlborough.

We didn't mind (well, once we'd woken up anyway). It was great fun, there'll be a video to follow at some point i'm sure.

There was a pretty smart park next to it too, with aerial runways, big swings and climbing stuff to explore:

We picked Mum up at lunch time and she taunted us with her pasty shop sausage roll before having a quiet afternoon. We had a barbecue to go to in the evening!

The first England game no less, we were well dressed for the occasion thanks to the Halfords:

Here I am doing a few laps of the decking in my best England regalia, this was before my awesome stunt show kicked off (i've decided I want to be a stuntman when I grow up):

We even sat and watched the game, well some of it. About half an hours worth anyway:

I don't think the result was to everyones liking, it didn't really affect me and Leo too much though:

I asked Mum why everyone was shouting at the telly as the players couldn't hear them....she thought that was really funny.

Big old lay in Sunday morning after our late night of course. Then it was a whirlwind visit to Grandma.

Yeah, i'm not sure I like going in there too much to be honest. There's loads of old people and they really love it when we go in there, but they're a bit, well, you know, full on?

It's nice that we can go out in the garden with her, we had running races around the lake this time. Ned gave me a bigger and bigger head start until it worled out with us having an epic last straight battle. My poor little legs were seriously tired.

Mine weren't! I even challenged Mum and saw her off with no trouble too!

So then it was back home for an express lunch before Ned went off to Josh's party and I stayed home to entertain Slim and Tracey for a bit. We also went down the shop for an ice cream, but don't tell Ned.

I had a great time at Josh's pirate party, and in addition to my rather novel eye patch (under the eye strap anyone?) I also had the facial tattoo's applied:

Got a few laughs with that one I can tell you. Excpept from Mum, who had to scrub them off my face before school on Monday.

Late again, got jet lag as an excuse this time round though.
So with all the worry of volcanic ash clouds, the British Airways strike and even oil pumping out into the gulf of Mexico I reckon we were lucky to even make it on holiday and return in one piece really.
So after an early start we were at the airport and once we'd looked in some shops, had all our drinks confiscated and had some breakfast there was nothing left to do bar waiting, we didn't mind too much though as we were really rather excited to be going to Florida, which is in America. We watched the planes through the window for a bit:

I asked endless questions about what the time was in America so I could try and understand just what on earth was going on.
When we passed through security, the computer decided that I should be searched a bit more thoroughly than everyone else. I had to be frisked with a pat down and empty all my toys from my hand luggage to be checked out. Everyone else seemd to find this all quite entertaining, even though I wasn't so keen on it all.
We boarded the plane, how exciting, even if it was for 9 hours. I'd been well briefed so knew we were in for a long one. Inbetween playing DS, talking to Hayley, Alan and Andy and watching my very own telly on the back of the seat in front of me the time soon passed with little trauma (even if the in flight meal didn't meet my liking, good job we had a packed lunch with us).
I also rather enjoyed the flight, every seat is first class when your legs are as short as mine after all. I also got to visit the toilet several hundred times so was more than happy.
We made it to America, when we got off the plane we had to be let in the country by men with guns! When we got asked if we had any food with us, Mum let on we were carrying a jar of marmite. The man told her to shut up and move on....ahem. We didn't even need marmite in the land of hot dogs!
Next task was to pick up our car for the week, well, minivan as they are called in America.
The lady said we could go into the parking lot and pick whichever one we wanted, so we made our way to the minivan section and deliberated for a little while. I initially wanted the black one, but Alan said it would get too hot, the maroon one was just too old man for us lot and we eventually settled on bright white!
The van was cool, literally, it had so many air conditioning buttons to play with. The doors also opened and shut themselves when you pressed their buttons, I loved that.
We got the car seats installed in the best seats in the van and then hit the road, the wrong side of the road at that!
Dad was driving so Alan and I made sure he was reminded plenty of times that he should drive on the left.
I was more interested in getting him to do a u-turn whenever possible by shouting 'do a u-ey' at any oppurtunity.
Despite all this we arrived at the villa, did we mention it was hot at all? My goodness we were melting:

So it was pretty lucky that we had our own pool to cool down in:

Andy won the race to be first one in. We followed close behind though.
But I was last one to get out, when the sun started to go down, which in UK time was something like 3 in the morning. We did well I reckon?

So a few things about the villa then, it was BIG.

There were loads of little frogs hopping about at night time outside.

There was an air hockey table in the garage:

There was a great big fridge that we filled with soda (Mountain Dew, my new favourite drink)

There was a waste disposal chute in the sink that seemed to keep Dad and Alan entertained for hours while they fed it various leftover foodstuffs. The cucumber and weiners seemed to be the best judging by their reactions. The whole lime seemed to be something of a mistake by all accounts.

Ned and I's bedroom had mickey mouse pictures on the walls, Mickey mouse bedclothes and even our own telly, it was rather comfy too:

But it was all about the pool for me:

I learned to dive properly as well, even though the sign said no diving.

Our first day out then, the waterpark Aquatica:

I've never seen so many slides, tubes, lazy rivers and what have you.

There was even a massive playground for us smaller ones to explore.

The only thing we didn't like was how hot the concrete got on our bare feet.
I was completely brave and went on everything I could. There was a pool of dolphins that a tube slide went through, sadly I wasn't tall enough to go on it, but everyone else said it was rubbish anyway:

We certainly enjoyed watching the dolphins go about their business though.

Being a waterpark we didn't get too many pictures though so sorry about that.
Next day was Disneys Animal Kingdom. We went on Safari on one of these buses:

Obviously we weren't going to sit with Mum and Dad, so her I am with Alan:

While I sat with Hayley, We soon headed off for Africa and to see the animals.

And there were plenty of animals to see, Lions, Elephants, Rhino's, Hippos and Giraffes were all present and correct.

The truck were really cool and drove along the rivers and everything, where we saw some Gators of course! As well as seeing a Proper American Eagle in the bird show. I loved that!
It wasn't all animals though, there were of course rides too, here we are on the Triceratop Spin:

There was also the Expedition Everest ride, where you chase a big scary Yeti. I enjoyed it, but didn't want another go.....

We also rode the Kali River Rapids, now I really liked this to start with, but once we made a steep drop and got soaking wet I wasn't so sure after all. I did like my wristband I got to wear though as it showed I was a big girl (well big enough to go on the ride anyway)
We also went on the Dinosaur ride, which to put it mildly was terrifying, but also a lot of fun.

After all that excitment it was certainly time for an ice cream, trouble is in that heat they do tend to melt rather quickly:

We met Jimminy Crickett, I have no idea at all who he is but he seemed a jolly sort of fellow:

We ducked our heads in a rather brilliant fountain and ended up getting soaked:

I showed Ellis how you get to the front in time to get a good view of the parade:

We saw Mickey Mouse in his safari gear and gave him a wave:

The tree of life was pretty cool too:

Even if the Bugs Life 3D cinema was underneath it. We hated that didn't we Ellis?

Yes, it was very scary indeed, well, we thought so anyway.

The festival of the Lion King show on the other hand was utterly brilliant, trampoling, singing, dancing, the works!

We weren't quite ready for the late afternoon downpour we encountered when we left the theatre though! Quite a shock that was, not that we cared, I was soaked from the fountain...

...and I was fast asleep in Mums arms anyway.

Next day was a trip to the West coast and Clearwater beach:

It was hot hot hot:

We set up camp:

We dug in the lovely fine sand:

We cuddled up to stay out of the sun:

And we splashed in the sea that was as warm as our bath water usually is!

My highlight was probably the 'Superman' ice cream though:

We ended up watching a bit of football on the way back during one of Ellis frequent toilet (sorry, restroom) breaks:

It was way too hot for all this running around, they must have been mad!

Next day and Alan, Hayley and Andy went to Universal studios to go on some of the scary rides (with scary ticket prices by the sounds of it too). We had a quiet day in, bit of a lay in, bit of a swim in the pool and a bit of a kip for Dad and I in the afternoon.

While Mum and I went for a walk around the lake out the back of the villa. There was a rather tame crane type of bird and a lot of ants. Didn't like the ants much, so we headed back. We spoke to the pool attendant who was very excited about the world cup and had drawn England in his sweepstake.

In the evening we went to the Magic Kingdom to see the Electric Parade and the fireworks, Andy tagged along too, he has mega them park endurance!

We got there just as the parade started and got good views, once were sat on some shoulders:

We absoloutley loved every second of it, the music, the characters, the sparkling lights.

Not quite so sure about the fireworks afterwards if truth be told, though I did venture out from behind Dad a few times.
Next on the agenda, another water park, this time Blizzard Beach, where everything looked snowy:

But once again the concrete was red hot!

I really found my feet here, there were some great slides for little ones and indeed not so little ones that I really loved. I was also happy to fly solo in a rubbber ring on the lazy river, in fact I loved it, especially under the waterfalls.

Yeah, I rather enjoyed it too, especially the aerial runway that went across a pool before coming to a sudden stop, sending you flying into the water below. Once again I went on all the slides my height would allow and only really missed out on the one with the really big drop. Technically I outdid Dad anyway as he didn't even go on the chairlift to the top the big scaredy cat.

The only small downer was my little fall down a couple of steps. Fortunatley though we were in full view of the ice cream lady and just next to the first aid station. A quick squirt of some magic spray and a funky plaster later I was all fixed up, the complimentary ice creams from the lady on the stall who saw the whole debacle went some way to speed up my recovery.

When we got back, it was Rat-a-tat-cat time, i'd been having a few sly practice games with Mum so I was well up for it. I had my strategy down and plenty of luck on my side. I recorded an historic win. To say I was pleased was rather an understatement:

Day seven, Kennedy Space Centre.

The place is so big you have to go round on a bus, brilliant, we love buses!

It's also a nature reserve, so we got to see plenty of wildlife, particularly the vultures circling. I kept moving at all times in case they thought I was dead and tried to eat me. Best of all though we got to see a real life Gator, just hanging out in his river.

I contemplated rocket engines:

We looked out over the launch pads:

After another bus ride we saw the most powerful and complicated machine ever built, the Saturn 5 rocket that took the astronauts to the moon:

It was gigantic and took us ages to walk all the way along it. And the really mad bit is that the astronauts only used the very end bit!
We had a poke around in the space shuttle:

We tried out some of the rocket capsules:

But even we decided they were far too small to be comfortable:

We wandered around the rocket garden:

And got to meet a real life astronaut, not sure he was expecting my enthusiastic cuddle I usually use on the Disney characters though:

Once were done at the space centre poor old Hayley finally gave in and made a visit to the doctor after struggling bravely on for a good few days while we took Andy to Cocoa Beach on the East coast. He was soon in the sea of course. We stayed on the sands though:

We then made a visit to Ron Jon's surf shop for some new t-shirts, I wasn't allowed these rather fabulous Doggie shoes though:

After a minor nightmare with the Sat Nav we managed to pick up Alan and Hayley again and drive back to the villa through an amazing thunderstorm.

So then, day 7, the 3rd of June, MY BIRTHDAY! I even had presents this far away from home, cool or what?

I had some lovely things but we were soon heading out to the Magic Kingdom for the day:

And here we are on Main Street USA:

As it was my birthday we pushed the boat out and had a double stroller for the day (and some rather fetching hats of course):

We went on mums favourite ride, and this time I was old enough:

We met Stitch, thought i'd give him a kiss:

We went into Minnie's house for a mooch about:

We even got to meet Mickey and Minnie themselves:

I also managed to tick off Space Mountain (after a lot of deliberation, turns out I loved it) and big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice it was so good).

I loved the Many adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella's carousel.

But then of course it was the main event, my birthday meal with Winnie and the gang.

I wasn't too sure of Eeyore to be honest, Ned seemed okay with him though:

He also seemed to like the main man himself, Winnie:

And with Mum in tow, Tigger seemed kind of okay:

But it was Piglet I really warmed to:

So much so that I gave him a little kiss:

And was very pleased with myself:

I got a mickey Mouse cake with my name on it and three candles:

And I even got a Birthday Card from Winnie, Tigger, Eeyore and of course the lovely Piglet.

After a while I was quite happy with all of them and gave Winnie a good old tickling with Ned:

We hung around to watch the night time parade again, we loved it so much last time:

Mickey was on form, having made a costume change since we saw him earlier in the day:

As had Minnie:

I gave her a wave, as did Alan:

We didn't stay for the fireworks this time though, it had been a long, long day. What a great birthday I had, hope this happens every year?

So there was a bit of a lay in the next day, when we finally got out we headed for Disney Hollywood Studios. We watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show which went down well (well it wasn't a 3D cinema was it).

Then it was time for the Tower Of Terror ride, i'd been fretting on this one for a while but I decided I was up for it, so on it we went. I loved it, not enough for two goes, but I was certainly very pleased with myself for going on:

The taller members of the party then got to go on the Rock and Rollercoaster that I had to sit out. Still, we had a nice dance in the gift shop (video to follow later).

So then it was our last proper day, and out trip to Discovery Cove, to see the fishes.

And to swim with the Dolphins, I was so up for this. We arrived and got stuck into breakfast before getting issued with our masks, snorkels and thick, stodgy dolphin friendly sun cream.

There was a really big lagoon filled with sting rays and all sorts of brightly coloured fish, we weren't too sure of them to be honest but we enjoyed watching them go by.

We headed off for our dolphin swim soon afterwards. We watched a really cool video and then our guide took us out to the dolphin pool. Our dolphin was called CJ, and he was half bottlenose, half atlantic dolphin. He was really playfull, let us stroke his skin and waved at us with his flippers, I loved him. After we learned a bit about him and I asked the keeper plenty of questions (not as many as Mum did mind you) it was swim time. We held him by the fin and the flipper and he took us for a zoom accross the pool, it was fantastic. Some pictures may surface at a later date.....

I didn't get to go in but sat in the rocks with Andy, Alan and Hayley. I loved watching them in the water though.

After that we went for a float through the lazy river and I got the hang of my snorkel and mask in no time at all. I loved it, there was even an aviary on one section and there were loads of brightly coloured birds you could feed. I preferred it in the water though, exploring the depths.

I loved the lazy river, good excuse for a cuddle when you're litte isn't it?

We watched the others have their dolphin swim and then it was onto the Ray Lagoon, I got all brave and stroked one, it was really slimey actually. Once i'd touched on there was no stopping me.

I tried, but kept missing as they kept swimming too deep and i've only got short arms.

I gave Mum a quick snorkel lesson and she was soon off accross the lagoon looking at the fish, I think she was pretty pleased with her progress.

As it was an early finish, we headed for the Mall, we hadn't really done any shopping all week so I suppose it wasn't the end of the world. There were a good selection of ride-ons anyway, they helped hoover up all the spare quarters we had amassed anyway.

As usual, Dad had a hidden agenda, the Vans Skatepark just so happened to be in the mall. It looked great and I really wanted a go, next time.......

I slept through the whole shopping experience, can't believe I missed out on some potential new stuff!

So that was the end of the holiday, all we had to do was pack, kill some time, eat some lunch, take the car back and board the plane for a long flight home.

I'd like to thank everyone who gave me dollars to take, you can rest assure I put them to good use (except for the sweets I bought with my change in the airport, truly yucky).

And of course a big thanks to Uncle Alan for sorting it all out and Hayley and Andy for putting up with us!

So here's our last picture, here I am living the dream, a hot dog in my Mickey Mouse bed!