Eeeek! Sorry!

Ok, so it has been well over a year since we last posted. We are very sorry and will catch up with the first trip report from Cornwall in 2011 which will be followed by a trip around North Wales from 2012.
The reason we have been absent is that we were blessed with a new arrival. We had a baby boy on 3rd April 2012, we called him Jake. As new parents we have been learning to juggle and can now catch up on things! We love our new little family and Spike and Chewy have adapted to Jake very well. There should be a few laughs as we attempt our first trip abroad with Jake in May to Turkey and there will of course be Spike and Chewy's holiday as well this year, destination undecided at the moment.

Jake, born on 3rd April 2012 at 6.35am

and our gorgeous Jake today

Plans for 2011

We are off to Cornwall very soon for a trip with Spike and Chewy and a couple of friends of ours and their dog. We haven't been to Cornwall for a very long time, so we are looking forward to going back. We will hopefully fit in a trip down to Lands End while we are there.

We still have plans for an overseas trip as well this year, most likely in October. Still no concrete plans on the destination, we're going to leave it fairly last minute and see if we get a good deal.

We will be going to two Christenings this year and there will be visits to both our families.

Steph has nearly got round to transferring her APS films of Malaysia and Thailand onto disc, so those trips and photos will hopefully be appearing on the blog soon.

We'll be back soon with our trip report on Cornwall.

Andy's 30th

Andy turned 30 on 3rd November. Being a Wednesday, we had a family meal. We cooked Andy's favourite, Steak, Chips, Onion rings, fried eggs and pepper sauce. Then for afters we had Smarties chocolate birthday cake. It took a while to get it all cooked because we were cooking for 9 people, but it all turned out well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Andy finished off the evening by giving a speech under the influence of helium, which was hilarious!

On the Saturday we held a cocktail party at home for Andy's birthday. We had a buffet, chocolate fountain, vodka jellies and of course lots of alcohol and mixtures to make the cocktails. The favourite cocktails on the night seemed to be Blue Lagoons and Seabreezes. Although Steph made her favourite cocktail, a Singapore Sling. The Tequila Sunrises didn't go down very well as no one could hack the Tequila! maybe the glass was too small making them too strong.

Chewy stayed by the buffet table all night cleaning up anything that was dropped, needless to say that he is now on a diet! Spike was very over excited due to the amount of people throwing his ball for him!

The party went down really well, lots drank and lots eaten! A couple of people had a few too many of the Baileys and Amaretto shots and were suffering the next day with a hangover!

At about midnight everyone departed into town to carry on the party.

Andy's main present from Steph was a Song Gigajuke Hi-Fi system.

Update

It's been a while since we last posted. We've been to Uganda and had the best time, such an amazing place. We have also celebrated Andy's 30th birthday. We will post about Andy's birthday first and then about our trip to Uganda. Here is a photo of one of the amazing Mountain Gorillas of Uganda we visited.

Tomorrow: Andy's Birthday.

Happy Anniversary!

A selection of photos from our wonderful day.

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary and it has been a really good two years! We got married at All Saints Church and had our reception at the Albrighton Hall hotel. The wedding was quite a large one, but we both have fairly large families. The day before our wedding we had torrential rain and Shrewsbury flooded. It usually takes Steph 10-15 minutes to get to her dads house from ours in the car, but the night before took her about an hour as all the roads in were flooded. She had to risk it and ended up driving through a severely flooded road, but she made it.

The next day though, the rain had gone, luckily! But the roads were still flooded and made Steph and her dad 30 minutes late for the church, which made Andy a little nervous! They got a message through and Andy was able to relax a little.

The church service was wonderful, filled with our family and friends. During the signing of the register, the choir sang Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, which was fantastic.

We were a little rushed when we arrived for the reception because we were behind with the timing a little, so were uber organised getting the photos done. The photographer asked Steph to climb on a tree trunk, she was up there like a shot, we didn't want to keep our guests waiting and wanted to get on with the party!

There were no real hitches except that the cake collapsed! The cake maker had iced the cake warm, and therefore it sunk. We weren't that bothered because if that's the only thing to go wrong, then we felt very lucky.

We had a fantastic DJ who got the party really going. Spike and Chewy were present at the reception, which the kids absolutely loved.

If we could do the day again, we wouldn't change a thing, it was a brilliant day made special by the people there.

Update

Thought we'd give a little update seen as though there isn't any planned trips between now and Uganda in October.

Steph has unfortunately been made redundant. The charity she works for has had it's funding withdrawn by the UK government. The withdrawal was originally going to take place over 10 months but that has been reduced to 4 months leaving the charity with too little time to find alternative funding. It's a great shame as it was a good project helping a lot of people. Steph can find a new job, but the people that were benefiting from the project won't have the help they were getting, again.

Andy is managing another football team for the new season as manager and coach, they are called Oswestry Boys FC, so we'll be keeping an eye on their progress. Managing this team will also give Andy the opportunity to do the FA level 2 coaching badge.

Spike has just had his birthday, he is 7 now. Chewy is well and still doesn't seem to be too affected by the arthritis in his front leg joints. They had great fun at the weekend as a couple of our friends came to stay and they have a young daughter who had great fun playing with Spike and Chewy.
These friends of ours are off to paradise because they are moving to Bermuda! Lucky things!

Steph is back to netball and the knee seems to be holding up well. Two more essays to go and that's another year finished at University for Steph. 2011 will be her final year.

We have had holiday invites for next year, so a bit spoiled for choice, but no plans as yet. We've been invited to Bermuda to stay with our friends and another friend has just moved back to Thailand and has invited us over as well. We'll have to see what 2011 brings!

We're looking forward to Uganda in October and Andy's birthday in November.
Speak soon!

Steph's 30th

Steph had a brilliant birthday, big thank you to all our family and friends. Andy arranged a birthday meal with family and friends for Steph on the day before. It was really good having everyone together. On the actual day we went to Alton Towers and had an ace time. Steph went on all the big rides except for the Oblivion, Steph really didn't fancy that one! The new ride 'Thirteen' was pretty good, we thought it would be scarier and longer. Thirteen is basically a roller coaster with a few drops so you lose your stomach and then it goes into a tunnel where the track drops twice and then you go backwards. We had to queue a long time for it.

We all got a soaking on the log flume and went home wet and tired after an excellent day out.

We will do a separate report for the trip to Wales.

2010 So Far...

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. We've made a few decisions for 2010 so we're pretty excited and have lots of things to look forward to.

We've nearly finished decorating the lounge, just the stairs and banister to paint. We've got our new suite which is so comfy!

Travel wise, our main holiday this year is Uganda, we are very excited. This is a trip Steph has wanted to do for a few years now so we are finally off to Africa in October. Before Uganda, we are off to Pendine in Carmarthenshire, Wales for Steph's birthday. This will be a good dogs holiday as well. There won't be much walking on this trip though as Steph had to have surgery on her foot and it won't be fully recovered by the time we go at the end of April. We will be going away again for a second dogs holiday when the foot is better. In addition to Steph's birthday trip, we're going to Alton Towers to satisfy our child/fun side as Steph is turning 30.

Andy's team Technical Services FC are doing well in their Sunday league, they hope to get second in the league. Andy's professional team, Newcastle United are already promoted to the premiership, so as you can imagine, Andy is ecstatic. Fingers crossed for Nottingham Forest FC to get automatic promotion as well.

Steph is busy with Uni and everything seems to be going well so far.

Our next report will be Steph's birthday and our trip to Pendine.

Almost forgot to acknowledge it! You'll notice the new look to the blog, hope you like it.

eBay Success

We are now proud owners of a Berghaus Freeflow IV 30 backpack. We say proud because we won a brand new one on eBay for £28.80. These bags retail at £60.00 and after searching the Internet we only found them for £45 brand new, therefore we feel we got a bargain.

The Berghaus Freeflow IV 30 has some very good features which is why we sought one out:

• Capacity of 30 litres - a decent size for a day pack
• Freeflow back system - which helps against you feeling sweaty when carrying the bag
• Breathable shoulder straps
• Compression straps
• Additional compartment in the base
• Holders for walking poles
• Pocket for a hydration pack
• Raincover
• Adjustable chest harness
• Made from 600 denier polyester which is good for strength and low weight

Will serve us well.

Destinations Show 2010

We went to the Destinations show at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday 6th March. We had excellent luck when we arrived as just as we were approaching the ticket counter, a lady came up to us and handed us a leaflet and said there was a free entry ticket in it for two. Sure enough there was and we got in free! Very nice person!

We've never been to this event before and our expectations were probably a lot higher. There seemed to be plenty of exhibitors, but the room still seemed like it had loads more space for loads more exhibitors. There were a few companies there which confused us to why as their product didn't seem to be travel related. There were a couple of clothing stands where we were able to pick up some discounted gear, a fleece each and a waterproof jacket each.

The show helps you choose and book a holiday with more 'off the beaten track' destinations. As we've already chosen our destination for this year we just gathered information for future destinations. We were entertained by some traditional Bhangra dancers, they were very good. Wanderlust magazine had their photo competition on display and some of the pictures were just simply brilliant.

There was a 'meet the experts theatre' and we were interested in hearing Simon Reeve speak. It was still 20 minutes to go so we went to the bar for a drink. After our drink we realised we should have started queueing a lot earlier! There were loads of people and we thought that we may not get in. Luckily we did but had to stand, but it was only for 30 minutes.

Simon Reeve works for the BBC and has made several travel programmes for them. Before the BBC Simon Reeve worked for a newspaper investigating terrorism, smuggling, arms-dealing etc... For the BBC, Simon travels more 'unknown' destinations.

In the theatre, Simon was interviewed by David Linstead from Wanderlust magazine. Simon talked about his current travel series travelling around the Tropic of Cancer. We saw clips of the series and Simon told us some of the difficulties him and his team experienced. They couldn't get into China at all, so had to take another route. They had to sneak into Burma because the Indian secret police were against them entering with Simon's wife leading the secret police off in a distraction tactic to allow Simon to get to the Burmese border.

Simon discussed the controversy surrounding Burma of should people still travel to the country because you could be supporting the dictatorship etc...

Simon discussed the one country he deemed as the most dangerous for him which he said was Somalia. He chose Somalia because he was protected by a gang on his travels through the country and while on the road they came under fire from a rival gang passing them on the road. He knew that there was nothing he could do himself to get out of that situation.

Simon chose Oman and Bangladesh as 'must see' countries to visit, maybe they will be on our own travels one day.

We'll be watching Simon's series on the Tropic of Cancer on BBC2 starting on Sunday 14th March at 8pm.

We left the show after the Simon Reeve interview.

Our verdict is that the show was good, but I can imagine that the Earls Court version in London was probably much better. More stalls needed at the NEC and maybe a bigger theatre for the experts as it would be a shame if you couldn't get to hear them. Interesting though and plenty of travel information available, Simon Reeve was the highlight.

Blast Shakes Town!

Shrewsbury is normally a quiet town, so when an explosion happened yesterday morning, it was big news. It is believed that the explosion happened as a result of a gas leak in a flat. The flat was above an empty shop. The blast destroyed the building and caused damage to surrounding buildings. Fortunately there were not many people around, but unfortunately the explosion still injured 12 people, seriously injuring 2 of those. Emergency services were quick on the scene. Many roads in and out of the town have been closed. Shrewsbury residents are used to road closures though as the town has suffered from bad floods in the past. No photos as basically there isn't much to see and you can't really get that close due to the area being closed off. Best wishes for a full recovery to those injured.

Our next trip report will be about London, we visited in September 2009.

Good Bye 2009

Great Christmas, one day of snow and Steph suffering from the flu on New Years Eve again! (two years in a row now!). Christmas day was spent at Steph's dad's house as it is also his birthday. Also present on Christmas Day was Steph's sister Leanne and her partner Rich, Steph's brother Dave and all the pets, Spike Chewy, Holly and Ozzy (all dogs), Molly and Noddy (two cats). New Years Eve was spent at our friend's house, Steph just about lasted until midnight!

Hope you all had a good 2009!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all. Have a good one and keep safe.

Frankfurt Christmas Market

On the 4th December Steph, her dad and brother went to the Frankfurt Christmas Market in Birmingham. The market has become an annual event and has been in Birmingham every December for quite some time now. Steph wanted to go because she wanted some German wooden decorations. Steph and her family used to live in Germany when she was a child and she remembers the German wooden decorations on the tree and we thought we should get some for our tree.

Steph bought a wooden table top tree complete with its own tiny little wooden decorations for £12, a wooden Father Christmas figurine for £8 and 6 wooden hanging tree ornaments varying from £1 to £1.50 each. Lunch at the market was a Bratwurst sausage in a fresh French stick for £3.

They got to the market at opening time which was 10am and a good job because by 11.30am the place was packed out! They took a break from the market and the cold to do some Christmas shopping in the Bullring Shopping centre.

Update

We are back from our trip to Wales. It was a brilliant trip and we managed to get the best of the weather which was a bonus. The dogs seemed to have the time of their lives!
We stayed in Tal-y-Bont and visited Barmouth, Tywyn, Harlech, Porthmadog/ Black Rock Sands and Shell Island. Trip report to come soon after Crete.

For our first anniversary we are off to London for a weekend. We have booked tickets to see Thriller Live in the West End and will be visiting as many attractions as we can fit in!
Can't believe it's been nearly a year already since we got married!

Time flies when you're having fun!

Crete report on it's way.

This Is It

Steph has been asked by a few what she is going to do with her 'This Is It' Michael Jackson tickets.
She has two concert tickets and two after show tickets. She has decided to keep one concert ticket and refund the rest. Steph also has a tour t-shirt, so all this will make a nice souvenir of the Michael Jackson concert that never was.

Michael Jackson

Just interrupting the Milan report to give a special mention to one of the world's greatest entertainers. For Steph's birthday back in April, Andy and the family bought Steph tickets to watch Michael Jackson in concert at the O2 arena in London. So, as you can probably guess we are very sad that Michael Jackson has died and that we won't get to see this great performer. Its a very sad loss. Andy is very fortunate that when he was younger he saw Michael Jackson in concert in 1989 on his Bad tour.

Here are some pictures from April, Andy threw Steph a Michael Jackson themed birthday party and everyone dressed up as Michael Jackson.

We are huge fans. RIP MJ.

We're Back!

Just a quick note to say that we are back from our honeymoon in Crete. We had a fab time, visited some beautiful places and met some new friends. We will do a write up very soon.

While we were away, we had some good news, TSFC won the League Challenge Cup! A great achievement.

Just getting back to normal now and challenging the pile of holiday clothes washing!

We're off to Wembley again as Shrewsbury Town FC have made it to the play-offs again for league one! Fingers crossed for a win.

Our first trip report, as promised, will be Milan.

Where did 2008 go?

Well, apologies are in order. We've been away from the blog for quite a while, but intend to get back to it after a busy 2008 for us. Towards the end of 2007 we took a trip to Milan for Andy's birthday, in 2008 Andy was very busy with TSFC as success came easy to them, but unfortunately they narrowly missed out on promotion, I had essays and exams galore, joined a netball team and we attended 5 weddings with one being our own! Our trip to Malta turned out to be our engagement!
I will finish the report on Malta first, then have trips on Milan, Malaysia and Thailand to post. In May we are off to Crete for our honeymoon, we plan on taking the dogs somewhere again and TSFC have lots of important matches to look forward to, the rest of 2009 is yet to be decided!
Good Times!

What's Next?

The next trip that will feature is Australia. I spent 2 months there, landing in Sydney and working my way up to Cairns.

Two months is not nearly long enough for such a huge country, but I did my best in the time I had there and enjoyed every second of it. Maybe I'll go back one day with Andy!