Sunday 14 October 2012

Summer Holiday Time!

I know that most people are turning their thoughts to Christmas, in blogland there seems to be lots of posts about crafty Christmas decorations. I know we have Hallowe'en and Bonfire night before Christmas but everywhere I look there are signs of Christmas festiveness!

I refuse to even think about anything Christmassy; I haven't had my summer holiday yet!

Due to the cricket overload from Easter to September when no one in this house (apart from me) will consider going more than 10 metres away from the nearest pitch we only manage holidays during the cooler months - despite the abundance of indoor net cricket, indoor tournaments, practice sessions and of course the County trials (a little more about that later). And holiday time for us starts on Friday, hooray!

We are driving up to Manchester after school on Friday and fly to Cuba on Saturday morning, to the sunshine - and I can't wait!  Number 2 son has a 2 week half term but the other 2 children are taking a week off school and college - yes we are in trouble with the college about time off at the start of his A level course. It's very difficult to explain to the school that we're unable to go away in the summer school break due to our cricket commitments. They don't seem to understand that in this families list of priorities cricket is much higher up than school and therefore it's more acceptable to miss some school than miss some cricket! It's probably the last time we'll all go away together anyway so a bit of family time lounging on a beach (playing beach cricket no doubt!) is called for.

I can't wait to be on that beach with a cocktail in hand, I love the heat and hate cold weather. One day I will spend all of the UK winter somewhere hot, not everyone's cup of tea I know.



However until they take our bags at the airport and we are sitting in the departure lounge I will be a nervous wreck! We have travelling history you see......

We're lucky enough to have been abroad quite a few times but it is rarely without some sort of catastrophe!

I've been stuck in flash floods and missed the plane

We almost missed our honeymoon flight due to M25 traffic, had security been as it is now we wouldn't have made it - the staff allowed us to bypass all security checks and board the plane minutes before it took off!

On our 3 city honeymoon (flights between each city) - our luggage was lost, there was no reservation for one of the connecting flights and there was no record of the booking at the final hotel.

On the return flight from our honemoon someone had a cardiac arrest and we touched down in Moscow (not allowed off the plane) and the journey became a 36 hour flight!

We booked an ocean front hotel in Florida which turned out to be several miles from the ocean when we arrived. We quickly moved out of the hotel, the toenails on the bedspread being the final straw!

We arrived at Gatwick to find number 2 son's passport had expired and he was not allowed to fly - that is a whole story of it's own as I had a fear of driving but had to bring him home with no map or SatNav and then organise a new passport and fly out to Turkey a few days after the rest of the family! I drove home and cried all the way, it was a great diet though as I lost 6lb's in 3 days!

We had a weekend in Dublin, flying from Norwich - they cancelled the flight so we stayed in a hotel 8 miles from home for 2 nights as we had a babysitter in place.

We attempted a second trip to Dublin and got there, but they cancelled the flight home! We flew into Birmingham and were bussed back to Norwich, not great for me as I developped 'flu and a sickness bug at the start of the journey!

We have had numerous delays on flights but once we actually arrive we have the BEST holidays - well apart from the fly drive in Florida where we squeezed 3 arguing kids into the back of a tiny car and attempted to drive to the Keys - I will never repat that trip, we very nearly dumped all 3 of them at the side of the highway and drove off!

So wish me luck for Friday, if it's an uneventful trip it'll be unusual. I'll look forward to catching up with everyone when we're home, and then we can think about Christmas - not before then!

Ps - just an update about the County Trials for both boys which I mentioned here - it's all going very well & I want to thank everyone for their good luck messages. Both boys are through to the second round of trials which is usual for number 2 son but not for number 1 son who apparently played amazingly well in the net session. So keep everything crossed for them both, I don't expect this year to have a different outcome than previous ones but you never know....

24 comments:

  1. Love this Post Jay, the mishaps make holidays memorable :-)

    And Cuba - wow!!!! What a fabulous destination. Wishing you a wonderful, well-deserved break and looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back sans any major mishaps :-)

    Good luck to the boys - when will you find out?

    Mel x

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    1. Hi Mel, we probably won't know if the boys are "in" until after Christmas. Number 2 is almost certainly in, number 1 less likely.But you never know , he's got good luck messages from all around the world this time (not that he knows that, this being a very secret blog) x

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  2. Fingers crossed for the cricket trials and also that the trip goes to plan and no mishaps delay you on your way and the way back and that you all arrive together with your luggage!
    Have lots of fun, and cocktails!
    Lisa x

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    1. Thanks Lisa, there are so many things which could go wrong.....!

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  3. Have fun if all else fails you can always spend the night at ours lol. x

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    1. He He! Thank you for the offer, if you see us out and about in Manchester next week you'll know something went wrong!

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  4. You are very brave going away at all!! May this be the trip that goes perfectly (I do envy you the sunshine - I've not had enough this year...)

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    1. Hi Freda - I'm always optimistic, once I'm in the departure lounge I'll relax a bit.

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  5. Enjoy. Looking forward to seeing pictures. It is one of my top three places I want to visit.

    Liz

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  6. Have a wonderful time, fingers crossed for no toenails...... :)

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  7. I shall keep my fingers crossed for the cricket trials and that you have a wonderful holiday without any mishaps!
    Sarah x

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    1. Thank you Sarah - number 1 son probably won't get into the County team, but keep everything crossed just in case!

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  8. Enjoy your holiday and hope it's relaxing and hassle free! I think you deserve it from the above anecdotes!
    June

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  9. Looking forward to hearing all about Cuba and your, ahem, adventures (hope they're not too gruesome!)

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  10. wow!! Hope you have a fabulous time and that everything goes off without a glitch this time!!

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  11. Hi Jay, I'm surprised you keep travelling with all of those disasters! I hope your trip to Cuba will be smooth sailing all the way. What an exotic location for a holiday (especially to someone who lives in Australia) You hate the cold, I detest the heat, maybe we should swap countries...Thanks for visiting my blog Jay, take care, and enjoy those cocktails.

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  12. Me again, I wasn't sure how else to contact you...
    Lucy Violet is my husband's Grandmother. Longevity must run in the name. She died a few weeks short of her 99th birthday! She was an amazing woman. Brutally honest sometimes, but fair.

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  13. Oh Cuba is on my list of places I'd like to visit!

    Have a fabulous time and fingers crossed for no dramas.

    Victoria xxx

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  14. laughed at your holiday in the Keys, that's exactly how we feel about our kids MOST holidays I'm afraid. Unless they have other kids around and loads of activity, they all turn on each other. Like Florence we are trying to get to Cuba too, before it changes too much.

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  15. Have a fantastic time - sounds like you are due an uneventful journey!

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  16. Wow, you certainly have had your share of travelling catastrophes, that was a long list! I hope this vacation was all relaxing and bliss and that you were free of problems.

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  17. I heard about the hurricane in Cuba hope you were a long way from it.
    Sarah x

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  18. Crikey lover, I feel stressed just reading about this!!!!
    Why do you have a fear of driving? I do too, I mean, I can drive, but I won't go places unfamiliar in case I get lost. SO silly. Don't know why I just don't get a Satnav......hmmm!
    I hope you are having a lush time in Cuba, that photo you used looks gorge and I HATE cold weather too. I mean I love Christmas so maybe some snow and frost for Christmas week but other than that I want the hot sun EVERY day!!!
    Big love
    Gem xx

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