At Glyn and Linda's, the boogie boarding was a bit of a disaster. Linda had bought two for us, and within 5 minutes we'd pulled the safety strap off it. Later I took E out to do some boarding but we got caught out by a violent surprise wave (apparently every 7th wave we were told) that churned E badly and scared both of us. Her goggles were ripped off and lost. Not good.
On Friday we had another lazy morning. The girls were quite obsessed with Linda's dogs (Tutti and Bella) and spent the entire time tormenting them somewhat. Harriet probably said the word "Toodi" about 200 times an hour (minimum). Wearing for the dogs and the parents, but great for the girls. Much of the delay was due to the arrival of little Carew, Linda's darling little grandson who is rising two. He would not register my presence which was pretty sweet. Eventually we got out of the house at around 10 and went to explore the sea front at SB. I did not have high expectations, and this no doubt was one of the reasons why I enjoyed our low key entertainment so much. We started by renting a silly quadcycle that Tamsin and I could pedal whilst the kids enjoyed the ride. It was stupidly silly and fun. We cycled a mile or so to a restaurant recommended to us by Linda and had a simple meal where the kids ate like horses. More chips. The restaurant food is pretty risible here. Only Linda's plain, simple veggie fare was keeping us sane. After returning the quad we wandered on to the wharf (like a pier) in SB. A wooden structure forming half of the harbour, it is dominated by an aquatic centre which is part of the SB Nat. Hist. museum. A relatively small building, we expected to spend half an hour or so in there, but they had some lovely _scientific_ activities for the children and we ended up spending at least two hours in there testing water, looking for invertebrates, picking up sea slugs and crabs and generally having fun. It was excellent, mostly due to the volunteers and their efforts. We then pottered back to Linda's to meet her daughter Kimi and her husband Eric for an evening meal. It was a nice evening with them, though punctuated with Harriet finally falling in one of her heroic and discouraged climbs, leading to a LOT of blood from a puncture wound on her head, and Abigail burning herself on candle wax whilst ignoring advice that it might be a bad idea to pick it up!
The next day was mostly spent in the car. We drove up the West coast, past Hearst castle (couldn't face it with the kids) and on to the coast road, which is supposed to be stunning. Sadly the sea fog obscured all but about 5% of the coast. When we could see it, it was stunning, but it was basically windy roads in the mist. This was pretty disappointing. We stopped to look at Elephant seals, but that was about it. Our target was Carmel, which Linda said was "lovely" but we knew nothing about. It is a very atypical American town! It reminds me of Padstow. Designer shops on the coast. Quite quaint though by US standards. All the restaurants appear to be fine dining at first view, and all were booked out when we arrived. We did find a nice Italian though and had (easily) our best meal out in the USA. I suspect we'd have been disappointed at the fare for the fee in the UK, but standards have been lowered somewhat.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Friday, 18 September 2009
Tinkerbell
After Seaworld we headed off to see Peter, a friend of Thomas'. The first day we spent slobbing around his house then hatched a plot to stay with them the following night. This we duly did, and had a lovely time with them on the Pacific beach at Oceanside. All three girls GREATLY enjoyed boogie boarding and so did Thomas. E: "Fun with a capital F". It was thoughtful and sad time on Sunday night knowing our fleeting visit with Peter was almost over.
We had hummed and hah'd long and hard about the time to spend at the temple of American culture known as Disney. In the end we plumped for three days at £500(!). We'd already booked a hotel near the park at £80. We revealed the fact we were going to the girls at 8am on the Monday to much excitement. I think that they have many friends who have been to the Florida one, and they already had a lot of ideas about what to do.
We got to DW at 10am and entered the fray. It is really two parks - and we'd bought tickets that allowed you to swap between the two. I think Tamsin and I had naively expected the park to be quite empty in the off season. WRONG. It was HEAVING by 10:30 and got worse. But, they do a lot of stuff right. Suffice to say we queued, rode, ate and watched with the best of them. The family favourite was "Thunder Mountain" (aka the runaway train) which Harriet was *just* big enough for.
We had a disaster on the second day in the other park ("Californialand" or something) when we decided to go on the big wheel that had weird rocking and sliding gondolas. Elizabeth worked herself up (quite rightly as it turned out) and ran away and I went to be with her sin ce she did not want to wait on her own. I persuaded her to go in the non-swinging gondola and she then proceeded to wail all way round the wheel. you think you have made it then it goes round again - which upset her once again as she thought she had come to a stop.
This was nothing compared to the genuine terror Tamsin, A and H undergoing in the other gondola. By all accounts is swung wildly and Abigail was absolutely terrified, this rubbing off on to T and H. I think H was OK, but Tamsin and A were in pieces when they finally got down. Apparently the moment they realised they had to go round again was the worst!
A nice gently merry-go-round restored confidence.
The third day was the best, much quieter and we knew our way around. I could rattle on
about DW for some time - the food was OK, the crowds massive, the hatsgenerally silly with two ears. But we did, in fact, have a good time!
Amazing.
The drive to Glyn and Lindas was long and dull. LA traffic has to be seen to be believed. 8 lanes of dense traffic.
We had hummed and hah'd long and hard about the time to spend at the temple of American culture known as Disney. In the end we plumped for three days at £500(!). We'd already booked a hotel near the park at £80. We revealed the fact we were going to the girls at 8am on the Monday to much excitement. I think that they have many friends who have been to the Florida one, and they already had a lot of ideas about what to do.
We got to DW at 10am and entered the fray. It is really two parks - and we'd bought tickets that allowed you to swap between the two. I think Tamsin and I had naively expected the park to be quite empty in the off season. WRONG. It was HEAVING by 10:30 and got worse. But, they do a lot of stuff right. Suffice to say we queued, rode, ate and watched with the best of them. The family favourite was "Thunder Mountain" (aka the runaway train) which Harriet was *just* big enough for.
We had a disaster on the second day in the other park ("Californialand" or something) when we decided to go on the big wheel that had weird rocking and sliding gondolas. Elizabeth worked herself up (quite rightly as it turned out) and ran away and I went to be with her sin ce she did not want to wait on her own. I persuaded her to go in the non-swinging gondola and she then proceeded to wail all way round the wheel. you think you have made it then it goes round again - which upset her once again as she thought she had come to a stop.
This was nothing compared to the genuine terror Tamsin, A and H undergoing in the other gondola. By all accounts is swung wildly and Abigail was absolutely terrified, this rubbing off on to T and H. I think H was OK, but Tamsin and A were in pieces when they finally got down. Apparently the moment they realised they had to go round again was the worst!
A nice gently merry-go-round restored confidence.
The third day was the best, much quieter and we knew our way around. I could rattle on
about DW for some time - the food was OK, the crowds massive, the hatsgenerally silly with two ears. But we did, in fact, have a good time!
Amazing.
The drive to Glyn and Lindas was long and dull. LA traffic has to be seen to be believed. 8 lanes of dense traffic.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Thomas' Thoughts on Disney
I cannot imagine how awful it is in the holidays. The park is heaving and you have to wait around 20 minutes for most rides. I suspect that in August you will be lucky to get on a ride within an hour.
We remain stunned by the obesity here. I fear I see the UK's future. I remember being in the USA and being shocked at all the fat people, but that is exactly what we see now in the UK. Disney has fat families in electric carts being hoisted from cart to ride and back again. They are the minority of course but there are a lot of them.
You also see older kids being pushed around in strollers (9-10?). Harriet has done without a push chair for two days now and she's done fine.
We are not too offended by the food or its cost. I suspect that for the average American it is expensive, but for us, fresh from the UK it seems fair enough. For the volumes they produce it is edible enough.
As for the park itself, it is, indeed, quite good fun. The rides have got the kids going apart from Mickey's Big Wheel (or whatever) that scared Abigail so much that she screamed in genuine terror throughout and Tamsin was pretty upset. Harriet was too in her own way! I was baby-sitting Elizabeth on the same wheel, but in a fixed carriage - and she still sobbed thoughout. I am glad we were not near Tamsin's cage, I suspect I would have found it torture to hear them. Harriet had a bad day. The 3D Bug's Life film terrified her.
We all like the runaway train (as we call it - Thunder Mountain??) and will try to make it to that tomorrow. We also liked shooting Zurg and the 3D Toy Story ride. We have failed to see Tinkerbell a few times now - it is a massive wait. At least 30 minutes. The girls are keen to tough it out tomorrow. I hope it is worth it.
I have nothing to say about It's a Small World.
We remain stunned by the obesity here. I fear I see the UK's future. I remember being in the USA and being shocked at all the fat people, but that is exactly what we see now in the UK. Disney has fat families in electric carts being hoisted from cart to ride and back again. They are the minority of course but there are a lot of them.
You also see older kids being pushed around in strollers (9-10?). Harriet has done without a push chair for two days now and she's done fine.
We are not too offended by the food or its cost. I suspect that for the average American it is expensive, but for us, fresh from the UK it seems fair enough. For the volumes they produce it is edible enough.
As for the park itself, it is, indeed, quite good fun. The rides have got the kids going apart from Mickey's Big Wheel (or whatever) that scared Abigail so much that she screamed in genuine terror throughout and Tamsin was pretty upset. Harriet was too in her own way! I was baby-sitting Elizabeth on the same wheel, but in a fixed carriage - and she still sobbed thoughout. I am glad we were not near Tamsin's cage, I suspect I would have found it torture to hear them. Harriet had a bad day. The 3D Bug's Life film terrified her.
We all like the runaway train (as we call it - Thunder Mountain??) and will try to make it to that tomorrow. We also liked shooting Zurg and the 3D Toy Story ride. We have failed to see Tinkerbell a few times now - it is a massive wait. At least 30 minutes. The girls are keen to tough it out tomorrow. I hope it is worth it.
I have nothing to say about It's a Small World.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Oceanside
A small update on our travels by Thomas:
The arrival was smooth through customs but chaotic afterwards.. uphill through a tunnel with our three huge trolleys. One (Tamsin's) inevitably collapsed, and as I rushed to help my hastily parked trolley (through fog of fatigue) started to roll backwards down the slope to screams of 'look out for the child' from the gallery above. It was all fine though. A porter leaped in to help. E was brilliant and stayed very calm. We filled the Hertz bus with luggage to much amusement from the rest of the occupants; until they found they were packed in! I had to order some dopey passengers to move up the bus to make room for the luggage in the end.
We got a massive car. EASILY fit the luggage in the boot (nothing in with us, and I could see out of the back). We were all ravenous despite it being 2am and got navi to get us en route to San Diego whilst keeping a beady eye out for somewhere to eat. The fact we got an identifiable, quick, tasty, sit down meal at a reasonable price now seems quite miraculous as we have since bailed out from meals at the door stage because various of the above criteria have not been fulfilled, particularly 'identifiable' and 'sit down'.
It was two more hours from when we stopped and I toughed out the driving. I idly wondered what the stats were on post long haul drives as I grappled with an unfamiliar and enormous car travelling at 65mph next to massive trucks on the wrong side of the road at 4am Thomas time.
At first sight the hotel was a little worrying but as we gave settled in we have got used to it and it is pretty good. The best rooms are 'beach' ones, but they are very expensive I suspect. Modern decor, flat panel TVs etc. We were more bargain basement with the dated electrics and weird 80s decor. But we can see the bay and walk to the public (park) beach 50m away. The pool was lovely and *almost* Tamsin temperature. We worked out how to make tea using a microwave and a paper pepsi cup, and this made us happy since the coffee here is universally awful (so far).
The pacific beach is lovely but we hardly spent any time there because the hotel one is less crowded, safer, and has a playground. And we have spent two days in Seaworld.
Seaworld is all you'd expect from the name. Water based animals and rides. They have a massive area aimed at 2-8 year olds which all three enjoyed. Elizabeth is somewhat anti rides after going on a very traditional (creaky wooden) rollercoaster by Mission Beach, so the gentle kiddy rides were right down her street. The killer whale show was fabulous in a showbizzy sort of way. The kids lapped it up of course and we went back the next day. E, A and I had been drenched (my pants were full of water, and not in the US sense of the word) earlier in the day whilst on a wild rapids ride. This meant E and I (A too cold) sat in the front row of the soak zone where the whales splash you. H decided this looked fun so sat with us. I was unconvinced she knew what was coming, but she had it all worked out and complained whe we didn't get wet early on. She was so excited when we did get soaked by icy salty water from a 2 tonne whale 3m away that she started dancing for joy. It was delightful though quite offputting if you were trying to watch the show whilst stop her falling off her seat to the concrete floor. We ate lobster for dinner. They deal with the kids meals so much better here. Cheap and simple fare that comes quickly. I was still damp when we got home. Glad to get a fresh set of clothes on!
The next day we headed to spend the day with Peter. Great fun mucking around at his house and swimming in the community pool. We hatched a plan to sleep on their floor last night and checked out of the Bahia a day early. Yesterday was spend almost entirely at the Pacific Ocean at a beach called Oceanside. The kids loved it. Elizabeth enthralled by boogie-boarding ('Fun with a capital F'), Harriet swallowing half the Ocean but coming up with a smile.
Today - off to Disneyland...
The arrival was smooth through customs but chaotic afterwards.. uphill through a tunnel with our three huge trolleys. One (Tamsin's) inevitably collapsed, and as I rushed to help my hastily parked trolley (through fog of fatigue) started to roll backwards down the slope to screams of 'look out for the child' from the gallery above. It was all fine though. A porter leaped in to help. E was brilliant and stayed very calm. We filled the Hertz bus with luggage to much amusement from the rest of the occupants; until they found they were packed in! I had to order some dopey passengers to move up the bus to make room for the luggage in the end.
We got a massive car. EASILY fit the luggage in the boot (nothing in with us, and I could see out of the back). We were all ravenous despite it being 2am and got navi to get us en route to San Diego whilst keeping a beady eye out for somewhere to eat. The fact we got an identifiable, quick, tasty, sit down meal at a reasonable price now seems quite miraculous as we have since bailed out from meals at the door stage because various of the above criteria have not been fulfilled, particularly 'identifiable' and 'sit down'.
It was two more hours from when we stopped and I toughed out the driving. I idly wondered what the stats were on post long haul drives as I grappled with an unfamiliar and enormous car travelling at 65mph next to massive trucks on the wrong side of the road at 4am Thomas time.
At first sight the hotel was a little worrying but as we gave settled in we have got used to it and it is pretty good. The best rooms are 'beach' ones, but they are very expensive I suspect. Modern decor, flat panel TVs etc. We were more bargain basement with the dated electrics and weird 80s decor. But we can see the bay and walk to the public (park) beach 50m away. The pool was lovely and *almost* Tamsin temperature. We worked out how to make tea using a microwave and a paper pepsi cup, and this made us happy since the coffee here is universally awful (so far).
The pacific beach is lovely but we hardly spent any time there because the hotel one is less crowded, safer, and has a playground. And we have spent two days in Seaworld.
Seaworld is all you'd expect from the name. Water based animals and rides. They have a massive area aimed at 2-8 year olds which all three enjoyed. Elizabeth is somewhat anti rides after going on a very traditional (creaky wooden) rollercoaster by Mission Beach, so the gentle kiddy rides were right down her street. The killer whale show was fabulous in a showbizzy sort of way. The kids lapped it up of course and we went back the next day. E, A and I had been drenched (my pants were full of water, and not in the US sense of the word) earlier in the day whilst on a wild rapids ride. This meant E and I (A too cold) sat in the front row of the soak zone where the whales splash you. H decided this looked fun so sat with us. I was unconvinced she knew what was coming, but she had it all worked out and complained whe we didn't get wet early on. She was so excited when we did get soaked by icy salty water from a 2 tonne whale 3m away that she started dancing for joy. It was delightful though quite offputting if you were trying to watch the show whilst stop her falling off her seat to the concrete floor. We ate lobster for dinner. They deal with the kids meals so much better here. Cheap and simple fare that comes quickly. I was still damp when we got home. Glad to get a fresh set of clothes on!
The next day we headed to spend the day with Peter. Great fun mucking around at his house and swimming in the community pool. We hatched a plan to sleep on their floor last night and checked out of the Bahia a day early. Yesterday was spend almost entirely at the Pacific Ocean at a beach called Oceanside. The kids loved it. Elizabeth enthralled by boogie-boarding ('Fun with a capital F'), Harriet swallowing half the Ocean but coming up with a smile.
Today - off to Disneyland...
Sunday, 6 September 2009
The diaries begin...
Well, we made it to the Ramada, but it was a long, tiring, emotional day. The kids were brilliant on the train and bus despite the drunken passenger asking them if they would prefer him to be their dad before he touched up a nice young woman we had been talking to.
We staggered in to the hotel at 6 and had a snacky dinner after the massive pizza fest at lunch. Thank you to everyone who has wished us luck on our journey by txt and email today. We really appreciate it.
We are both mortified that we forgot to retrieve the registration documents for Holly, but it can be sorted out. Also frustrating was finding the keys to The Old Manse in Tamsin's bag. One more thing to sort out before we take off (in addition to the insurance and getting five people, 16 bags and a kite box to the airport). But if they are the only mistakes we have made/things we have forgotten, it won't be so bad.
I remain someone with nagging doubts that I have forgotten to pack something important and I will start off teaching in Fairlie in my underpants because I forgot to pack trousers...
We staggered in to the hotel at 6 and had a snacky dinner after the massive pizza fest at lunch. Thank you to everyone who has wished us luck on our journey by txt and email today. We really appreciate it.
We are both mortified that we forgot to retrieve the registration documents for Holly, but it can be sorted out. Also frustrating was finding the keys to The Old Manse in Tamsin's bag. One more thing to sort out before we take off (in addition to the insurance and getting five people, 16 bags and a kite box to the airport). But if they are the only mistakes we have made/things we have forgotten, it won't be so bad.
I remain someone with nagging doubts that I have forgotten to pack something important and I will start off teaching in Fairlie in my underpants because I forgot to pack trousers...
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Reaching for leaves
Handed in the keys today and had a grump about the state of the house. This from the letting agents:
"Obviously very shocked to hear about the damage to your fridge and the
other points you have raised. We will deal with these issues
immediately. It is of no consolation to you but I can honestly say that
we have never had any complaints about our cleaner's work before and we will be getting the cost of making good from the cleaner."
Not much consolation but the right response.
I have been trying to get to grips with the new camera in this new free time thingy that I have discovered. The manual is more than 1cm thick and I am having to work hard!
"Obviously very shocked to hear about the damage to your fridge and the
other points you have raised. We will deal with these issues
immediately. It is of no consolation to you but I can honestly say that
we have never had any complaints about our cleaner's work before and we will be getting the cost of making good from the cleaner."
Not much consolation but the right response.
I have been trying to get to grips with the new camera in this new free time thingy that I have discovered. The manual is more than 1cm thick and I am having to work hard!
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