Home comforts....

I received these photos of our little Harley who is being looked after at home while we are away. My gorgeous boy does not like the colder, wet weather and is taking to the sofa for 20+ hours a day!!

I have taken a look and it is around 14c (57f) at the moment and set to drop to 8c (46f) on Friday when we land in the UK. I am going to freeze after enjoying temperatures in the late 80/early 90s!

I have to say though I am very much missing my cat. He knew we were going away and the morning we left he hid under Megan's bed and pushed my hand away with his paw when I crawled under to fuss him and say goodbye. I can't wait to see him and our rabbit Lola, when we return on Friday. I do hope that he doesn't ignore me as punishment though and stays curled up on the sofa to keep me warm!

Sunday reflections in the sun....

I can't believe that it's five days until we fly home already! We have been so busy in Florida that it has gone so quickly. I'm sat by the pool soaking up the sun as I write this and I really don't want to leave this beautiful weather and head home to a gloomy, wet and cold British autumn. On the other hand though I think I am all theme parked out and I know for sure that Megan is too.

Although we are having a lovely time here, this holiday hasn't been as straightforward as I'd hoped it would and it has made me realise a few things that are quite difficult to come to terms with. Although I'm here with family, it's tough being away from home as a single mum with a child with some additional needs and this holiday has brought this home.

This being said though I'm loving having time with my princess and watching her cope extremely well considering the theme parks are so busy and sensory challenging for her. I'm watching her in the pool playing with some children and her confidence in the water has come on leaps and bounds, which makes me so happy and proud. I am also enjoying some quality time with my niece and nephews, which at home doesn't happen often. I will really miss that time when we get home as even though we live a couple of streets away normal everyday life often get in the way.

I'll blog more about our time here in Florida once I'm home, but for now I'm learning so much more about our strengths and weaknesses and recognising the simple things and time with children aren't given as much priority as they should and I really don't want that time to end.

Pre-holiday musings

I am lying in bed at a hotel close to Gatwick airport ready for a 5.30 wake up call to get to our flight to Florida tomorrow morning.
The last few weeks, maybe even months have been extremely tiring and stressful and I am looking forward to some family time with my closest family, friends and hopefully some sun!
This morning I had an appointment regarding my daughter that I had been worried about for some time, the previous people we had seen were ignorant and pretty much a waste of time and I had been worried that today would be the same. Thankfully, the doctor we saw today was not the same and gave me some hope that although it will be a long road, finally the future may be looking a bit brighter. I can now go on holiday with that weight off my mind.
After a quick lunch we then packed our bags and drove up to Gatwick (around 3hrs). I was in agony most of the day as over the weekend I started getting the familiar pain in my back signifying another kidney infection. Typical just before we go away. So another trip to the doctor who immediately gave me an extra strong 14 day course of antibiotics (4 a day), painkillers and anti-sickness tablets. It will either kill the infection or make my immune system so weak I'll have a cold the whole time!!
I am now dosed up on pain killers after having a bath trying to sleep but my not so little one is wriggling about so much it is pretty impossible! 5.30am is going to be fun!! She is in fact so excited that she is driving me crazy but but at least she is safe, happy and next to me.
Last Monday, a little five year old girl was kidnapped close to her home in
To make matters worse poor little April suffers with cerebral palsy and needs daily medication to stop her being in pain. A day after her disappearance a local man and former friend of her family was arrested for her abduction and by Friday she still had not been found and he was charged with her murder. The search is now in its ninth day for poor little April and she still has not been found.
I have spent nights awake thinking about her and what her family must be going through, I can't imagine and it makes me sick to my stomach that somebody could want to hurt such a small and innocent child. I have woken up in the middle of the night just to check that Megan is still there and to hug and kiss her.
I found myself even more this weekend wanting to spend time doing our favourite things, so even though I was busy preparing for our holiday, we visited my Grandfather and then went to our favourite bistro/coffee shop/wine bar, Fino Lounge, in Whitchurch where we used to live until recently. I love the ambiance of this place, old sofas, games, music and black and white photographs. Megan also loves it here, she really relaxes which is unusual as she struggles out and about a lot of the time. They also do the best hot chocolate which I think helps! We spent a lovely couple of hours here, eating, drinking and playing scrabble before heading home to finish packing.

It has been a very mixed week and I am lying here grateful for my beautiful girl who is safe and cuddled up next to me, excited to see her, my niece and nephews so happy tomorrow morning at the airport and praying for the now unlikely safe return of little April Jones to her family and the strength for them to get through whatever is coming to them at the awful time.

Summer Stories

So summer has officially come and gone! It went from what was supposed to be a quiet one to completely hectic but also lots of fun.  I have been super slack in blogging what we  have been up to (intentions were there but I just don't seem to have had the time!), so here is a brief overview in pictures!

Our summer started with the arrival of the Olympic rings in Cardiff.  As host city to the Olympic football we  were to enjoy a summer of events and mayhem - Megan loved it!

The Olympic Torch relay reached Cardiff at the end of May, this was taken on the Hayes before we went to Coopers Field for the arrival of the flame at a big concert.

 

Next on the list of summer events was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June.  Megan decided we were going to do some baking and have some friends around for a Jubilee party!

Our Patriotic cupcakes were delicious!

July saw my beautiful girl turn 10!! I still cannot believe that I am a mother of a ten year old.  The time really has gone so quickly and to start off her first year in double figures the day began with her favourite pain au chocolat and tea in bed!

Followed by family and friends over after school for cake made by my fantastic sister (I unfortunately am completely useless with cakes!).

With our summer being the wettest on record we were wondering if the Olympics were going to be a washout!  Thankfully, the sun remembered it was summer after all and we had some beautiful weather!

The games started two days earlier than the Opening ceremony in Cardiff and the atmosphere was amazing.  August 4th was my turn to head to the Olympic Park in London and it was the most amazing experience.  I can honestly say that it was a privilege to have been there amongst the crowds and aswell as watching some men's hockey we saw some amazing British performances :) It was Jess Ennis' first day of the heptathlon, Gold medal success at the velodrome and Becky Adlington took bronze at the pool, to name a few!

My friend has recently moved to London and is the manager of Kurt Geiger at Westfield Shopping Centre next to the Olympic Park.  It was lovely being able to pop in and see her and I couldn't resist taking a photo of her shoe display - so pretty!!

The sight entering the Olympic Park

Dave & I at the Olympic Park

The next big event would take us back home to Cardiff.  The British round of the World Championship Speedway GP series is always a huge event in my family! (I will write a blog about this later in the month). My family has been involved since the 1950s and my cousin Sophie's husband is the current British Champion.  The British round for the last 10 years has benn held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, home of Welsh rugby and for one day 500,000 tons of shale and the World's top speedway riders and fans.

On August 24th I took Dave and Megan to the Press and Practise session at the stadium along with Sophie, their daughter and friends followed by some Italian food in the evening.  The girls loved the attention they received from the fans as they shouted to Scott on the track!

Sophie, Maya, me and Megan

Although Maya is used to the sound of the bikes and betweek 40,000 - 50,000 fans shouting and blowing air horns, Megan is hyper sensitive therefore we didn't take her on the Saturday for the actual event.  Again the atmosphere was electric and we had an amazing night although the evening proved disappointing to us as Scott didn't make the semi-final due to a race that was re-run. Congratulations to Chris Holder who won in Cardiff though and there were some amazing fireworks at the end though and we already can't wait for next year!

Sky Sports filming area

Track side before the meeting

Indoor fireworks at the end of the night

So that was our summer!! There were lots of other things in between that we got up to this summer, it really has been chaotic, tiring but a lot of fun! What a summer of sport!  Here's to the next one!