a bit of common sense...

Ever since Bucket jnr was little he has always had a really, REALLY good gag reflex (this could get yucky so if you want to look away, now is a good time).

We've been caught short a few times in restaurants (funnily enough mainly in France) where he's wanted to try something and then all you can see is all of us diving for the napkins and shoving them in front of him to lessen the damage.

Now, we've brought up our children saying "don't eat with your mouth open" and Bucket jnr does this very well and we didn't foresee a problem but....

A few weeks ago I had a phone call saying that Bucket jnr had been sick at school so I went to pick him up and was mortified for him that it had happened in the lunch hall. But when I questioned him, he wasn't sick or suffering from an illness - he gagged at all his friends showing him their mushed up food in their mouths whilst eating (can't say I blame him).

Well, as all mums know, once a child is sick they have to stay off school 48 hours after the last sign.

So he stayed off school. Perfectly all right. No problems at all.

I had a little chat with him about what to do if this happened again and nothing happened, for about a week.

Well, there I was Christmas food shopping when I get the dreaded call again. I raced home, as safely as I could of course, and picked him up.

Yep, he gagged...AGAIN.

But hope shone through and common sense prevailed - I had a phone call from his teacher later in the day who let me know that as he isn't sick he could go back into school again and we will try and manage this.

YEAH!!! I am soooo glad, I was really dreading all the schooling he would miss until this was sorted out. But it does mean, for the moment at mealtimes, I have to show him my open mouth full of food so he can learn to look away and ignore it.

It does seem a little step backwards in teaching manners but it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to teach all the other kids to close their mouths whilst eating. Sam xx

A bit of this and a bit of that...

It's been that sort of time where lots of little things have been done so I thought I'd gather them all up and put them all into one post.

Miss Bucket had lots of clothes that she had grown out of and when I was sorting them out for a 'bags for school' day I found some really lovely jumpers hidden in Miss Bucket's drawers. They were so nice I didn't want to give them away.

The picture doesn't do them justice, they are incredibly soft and look sparkly. I sat and had a thought about what I could make them into...wrist warmers,cushion covers - it's an ongoing project.

Bucket jnr was sent home during school for being sick (not really sick-sick, he had some sandwich stuck in his mouth) and we had a talk about what he'd like to do so he didn't get bored.  Crafts was the answer - with glitter - great (already visualising the mess). The thing is as I was talking to Bucket jnr about being careful with glitter I dropped about a teaspoon of the stuff all over the carpet and it goes a LONG way. It's not the kids I have to keep an eye on - it's me!

My neighbour was kind enough to look after Bucket jnr whilst I saw Miss Bucket at her class assembly and when I got back they'd decorated some spirals (one for the neighbour to take with her). We then made some angel cards that we stuck up in the kids rooms.

 We also had a power cut recently which lasted about an hour - I loved it.. All the neighbours rallied round, checking on each other and making sure that everyone had candles which was nice, you don't realise how dark it is without the street lamps. Brought back memories of power cuts when I was a lot younger, also made me glad that we chose a gas cooker.

I finally started on the snowmen. I know, I know, I was meant to do them ages ago but something always got in the way (thanks kids!) and I really have to concentrate when crocheting and count the stitches otherwise I completely forget what I'm doing and whereabouts I am in the pattern - my brain is a complete sieve.

I also sent for a pattern from Annaboo's House - it's an elf. I always keep meaning to get one of those 'elf on the shelf' but I either don't have the money available or I can't justify spending that amount of money on it. So this is better!!!

What else.....sorting stuff for the school bazaar (amazingly managed to get rid of some stuff but must make sure that it doesn't somehow get bought and brought back); watched some 'made for tv' Christmas films (absolutely love 'em); made cheap and easy meals to get us through this last week of the month (I love mince - sooooo versatile); wrapped up some Christmas presents early - WOW!! I'm usually panicking and swearing a lot on Christmas Eve, asking myself WHY did I not do this earlier; helping a friend Christmas shop; sorting out cars, cards and the like; watching a sweet nativity play...

Think that's about it but that should be enough for the moment. Sam xx

Giveaway alert....

Not that I really want to tell anyone as it makes my chance of winning a lot smaller.....but.....

Sew Sweet Violet is having a giveaway - a copy of Mollie Makes Christmas book and a sweet bird called Master Wally Winterbird.

 Source: Sew Sweet Violet

To be in with one chance to win you need to become a follower on her blog (which is easy as the blog is brilliant) and leave a comment. And for a second chance to win, put a link on your blog or facebook letting others know about the giveaway (this was a hard thing to do as I really want to win) and then comment again on her blog.

Good luck if you enter. Sam x

Pearls of Wisdom 1...

I've numbered this post just in case there are any more.....and I'm sure there will be:

It's 6.45am on a Monday morning...

 Source: Google Images

Bucket jnr: Mummy do you know where polar bears live?

Me: No, where?

Bucket jnr: In the antique.


Cue lots of sniggering from me. Sam x

Cakes and more cakes...

I was going to name this post 'problems with silicon' but thought I'd get some dodgy readers with that one.

Had an interesting weekend baking cakes, namely a cake for Ma Bucket for her 70th. It was suggested to me by Pa Bucket but thought it would make a good present. So I set to work.

Three cakes later I decided that I hated silicon 'tins' and I'm going back to using my old ones again. I thought the point of the silicon ones is that things don't stick? I had a complete nightmare.

I also decided to use fondant icing (I usually use nice, messy buttercream) for a good finish. Several attempts later I finally got some on a cake...note to self:- use LOTS of icing sugar under the fondant icing, not a light amount that the packets suggest. Also, I need loads more practice with this type of icing - I needed to patch up some holes and then it didn't look neat enough for me.

Finally went to bed about 1am, totally fed up with the cake. So the next morning I made another one just in case I really did not like the first one.  But after putting the decorations on and placing a huge ribbon around the cake to hide the imperfections it didn't look too bad. Although Mr Bucket had to keep reminding me that "it is homemade and if they wanted a shop perfect one then they would have bought one".

Ma Bucket loved it and it tasted good so that's the main thing.

 One of the spare cakes that we'll have today

 But I learned a couple of new things doing this:

* Instead of using icing sugar to attach a ribbon to a cake, measure and then wet the ribbon (gently squeezing off excess water), then wrap around cake. Press and hold for a few seconds and then presto, the water and sugar bind together and the ribbon is held onto cake.

* To cut a big cake in half evenly, lightly score around the cake; wrap cotton thread around and cross over then pull slowly. This works, I tried it and the cake was cut really well.

I don't know if everyone knows these things but it was news, to the few people that I spoke to, about the ribbon trick.

Hope everyone's having a good weekend. Sam xx

Inappropriate clothing...

Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhh - my eyes, my eyes..

Source: Google Images

Just had a bit of a shocker this morning when dropping Bucket jnr off at school.

Now, can I just say that I'm NOT a yummy mummy or a runny mummy (the really energetic ones that wear skin tight running gear). I'm a mum who prefers jeans and converse, sometimes with/without makeup (if I have the time or inclination), hair tied up if I haven't had the time to wash it and looking fairly, well......normal.

But there is a dress code of sorts for dropping your kids off and I don't think that BUILDERS BUM is one of them. That was a sight I hope to never, never, EVER see again - especially that early in the morning.

One of the dads (thankfully someone I didn't know) was dropping his kids off to another class and as I got within eyeball range he moved, his jumper lifted and there it was - saggy jeans hanging low and everything on show.

REALLY???? Do I really need to see that at school; early in the morning and after only ONE coffee. If I wasn't totally awake before then I definitely was after that. It wasn't just me either, another mum saw it too and we both started giggling (out of shock I think and because that image is now burned into our brains).

My day can only get better after that. Sam xx

It's a good day..

source: Google images

Today started off really well...

Normally I wake up with birds-nest hair; my crows feet and lines look like trenches - I want to trowel the makeup on without looking like Dale Winton and usually the kids are shouting at each other.

Today...

...my hair was manageable - not perfect but not too bad...

...my face looked photo-shopped this morning - sparkling eyes, my skin looked good and the wrinkles weren't deep crevices...

...the kids were actually playing together, and quietly - unheard of!...

...I actually found something I like in a charity shop - a hardback copy of 'The Borrowers', in excellent condition (I started reading it as soon as I got home)...

...and the sun is shining...

I'm now keeping an eye out to see if anyone's dropped any money on the floor, you never know. Sam xx

A London visit...

Get your cuppa and have a seat, it's a long one...

The Bucket family visited London this half term -  the idea being to visit the Natural History Museum, grab some lunch and then onto the Science Museum.

Well, you know what happens to best laid plans.

The Natural History Museum was our first port of call. We headed straight for the dinosaurs (what else) and it was fun to see Bucket jnr looking at the exhibits. Although the animatronix ones freaked him out slightly, he kept saying "look mummy they're REAL, they're REAL".

After a while we wandered through the other rooms, looking at bugs and things in jars (really creepy looking); walking through a big cocoon and then onto the large animals which is always a favourite.

We had a brilliant time but by lunchtime our stomachs were growling and we headed out, the queue at this point for the dinosaurs looked quite long and we patted ourselves on our backs for our early start. As we stepped outside we noticed two things - it had been raining (glad we missed that) and the queue didn't end inside, it snaked outside, round and round a barrier, out the gate and down the street. WOW!! I'm soooo glad we got there early as the kids would have hated standing around (in the rain) in a queue that long (and so would I).

Right, lunch....was a nightmare. Didn't appreciate how packed places got. We are definitely spoiled by living outside of London where you can generally get a table anywhere straight away. We'd headed to Leicester Square as has loads of choices of foodie places but it was totally heaving. We eventually found a place which seemed nice but I've never been more surprised by an interpretation of a dish. I'm gutted I didn't take a picture as it was a picture.

Try to imagine - Chicken Stroganoff with rice. Now I thought of some succulent pieces of chicken in a sauce and either on or beside some fluffy rice. Right? Like this picture...

mmm, looks yummy - what a shame I didn't get to eat this

What I got was some chargrilled chicken pieces that had been lightly brushed with sauce on some rice with piles of peas either side and across the top slices of tomato and across the bottom slices of cucumber. It was the strangest plate I have EVER seen but then again Mr Bucket ordered Beef Stroganoff which also came with the tomatoes and cucumber.

Note to self, next time don't go to a steak house restaurant that's in Chinatown.

After some discussion we gave the Science Museum a miss because time was getting on and we couldn't face more queues. We said we'd treat the kids to some toys at the Disney store and set off looking for it (I couldn't remember if it was Regent or Oxford street) which took some time. On the way we got to Hamleys - the excitement of the kids was catching and we pushed our way in (with the amount of people this was the only way).

I have to say, what a disappointment.

It's not the best laid out shop in the world and there are loads of floors to navigate but what disappointed us more was how they'd jacked up the prices on toys. Imagine you've walked around (who am I kidding, herded would be a better word), the kids have found some toys and then you look at the price and realise that you can get them at least £3 (or more) cheaper at home - cue the tears and the upset. And then because of the crowds you can't make a quick getaway out the shop. We survived, JUST!

So we set off again and, after some helpful directions, found the Disney store which was charming in its own way with soft Disney music and a more open store. We were there AGES just not by choice - the kids couldn't make up their minds.

Eventually we escaped left and as it was late decided to go home.

Bucket jnr charmed a pretty blonde lady on the tube and he whispered to me "this might sound odd mummy but I think she loves me" - altogether now "aaaahhhh".

It was a long day and our feet now hurt - it was good to get home. Sam xx

Woodland wanderings...

At this time of year you grab your good days where you can, so when there was a nice sunny day (a bit cold, but not too much) we downed tools, grabbed the wellies and gloves and set off.

A leisurely walk through the woods.

Trying not to step on the wildlife.

 Looking at the Autumn colour.

After all that, we were starving and stopped off for a delicious pub lunch. No pictures I'm afraid, but it was tasty and filling enough that I needed to just sit and rest for a little while afterwards.

Sam xx

Pruning & Baking...

Today started off pretty well - the kids weren't arguing, which was a start.

There's meant to be colder weather (frost probably) coming our way this weekend so I thought that I'd give the roses outside our house a haircut. Out I went, all prepared in coat and wellies into a misty, damp day.

 

 getting the tools ready

I have a bit of love/hate thing with trimming the roses as during the summer they look gorgeous and we've had a few people say that they look great. But when this time of year comes around I have to be fairly vicious with them and they always look a bit sad and pathetic when I've finished. They are normally the main flowers at the front of our house and it makes everything look a bit derelict and abandoned once they're cut down. Plus I'm always worried that I've cut them too much and they won't grow back.

the ones on the left done, now to start on the right

At this time in the month, money can be a bit tight so I said to the kids that I would bake some cakes. Now this is something that I've done many a time before - I'd even go so far as to say I'm rather good at it.

Well today I took my eye off the ball....all looked good when I took them out of the oven and set them aside to cool. A few minutes later when I turned around.......... THEY HAD SUNK!! 

WHAT???!!!

This has NEVER happened to me before, and I mean never, ever, ever.

I tried one (ok, a couple) to taste them and they seem fine, so I looked online to see what went wrong and I think it might have been because I put them on gas mark 6 and not 4. I did briefly wonder why they cooked faster than normal but it was only a fleeting thought so I didn't take too much notice of myself.

Some of them look really sunken but I suppose if I shove enough buttercream on top then no one will notice. It's not as if they last that long anyway once the gannets get their hands on them. Sam xx

p.s. definitely the temperature - had a little bit of cake mixture left for a couple more and they look perfect if I do say so myself.

The tooth and nothing but the tooth....

Source: Google Images

Well I did it....this morning I admitted to Miss Bucket (9 years old) that I was her tooth fairy and that it was ME that had, for the last soooo many years, been putting money beneath her pillow.

It was me that crept into her room, trying not to let the door squeak too loudly.

It was me that rummaged under her pillow, trying to find the bag with the small tooth in (she like to try to hide it).

It was me that answered her notes to the 'tooth fairy' - making sure my handwriting was completely different.

It was me that ran full pelt out the door when it looked like she was about to wake up.

It has been fun joining in with her excitement and wonderment, keeping a straight face as she got older and had her suspicions. Only last night saying "it can't be me, I'm broke and what on earth would I want your old manky tooth for?".

There have been a couple of times when I went to bed and completely forgot to put any money under her pillow. My excuses of "the tooth fairy must have had a really busy night" never questioned and then when she went off to the bathroom/sitting room, racing into her room to grab the tooth and stash the money for her to find 10 minutes later.

It has been fun and she thought it was really funny when the truth came out (thank goodness) and she realised all the subterfuge that had gone on. I don't think she realised before how sneaky both her parents really are. But, then again, it's a little bit sad that she's growing up and the magic fades a little.  

One good thing is that there is still Bucket jnr, he still has a mouthful of baby teeth so the fun can continue and this time we have a willing helper in Miss Bucket.

The magic goes on. Sam x

Let it snow ...

...Today I'm going to do some crochet.

Sitting here with my coffee (what a surprise) and looking at the early frost out the windows, I thought I'd look back at earlier pages in my blog to look for something that I'd promised to make a while back (December 2011) - I know, SHAMEFUL!!!

It was a little crochet snowman from Jill at Dapper Toad.
 

 These are NOT mine - what I'm hoping mine will eventually look like

I used to love crocheting but what with kids, school stuff, housework, baking, cooking and lots of other fun stuff, I haven't got around to making anything in a LONG time.

My main concern is the magic circle/ring but I've found a really good video on You Tube that shows how to do it really clearly and I'll share it with you if it works.

So I'm determined this is going to get done, by hook or by crook (definitely pun intended there) I'm going to finish one of these today.....hopefully. Sam xx

Reflection...

It's been a funny old week... I know we're currently in the middle of a week but I haven't posted for a little while so was just thinking back.

We've eaten all the cakes finally.

I've had a couple of job interviews - didn't get one and waiting for the other.

We have a tween in the house - won't say too much but if you look up 'tween behaviour' I'm sure you'll see what we've been coping with.

Bucket jnr has one of those lovely hacking coughs.

But, there have been a few little upsides...

I bought some seasonal socks which for some reason make me feel better (think red, white and grey nordic style).

There have been some lovely foggy, Autumnal mornings - hate rain but love the fog.

Yesterday was a calm, smiley tween day.

Read some good books and some good blogs.

I wouldn't say a lot has happened recently, things have just been ticking over with some good and some bad. Just wondering what today might bring. Sam xx

Happy Birthday...

...to Mr Bucket.

It was actually his birthday yesterday but I didn't want to embarrass him on his special day - I have plenty of other days to do that (only joking).

I won't let on how old, let's just see if you can guess.

His only request was that I made a HUGE coffee cake and here it is. It's a bit plain but he doesn't really care for all the extras that the kids like on their cakes.

This is the reason that we haven't completely finished off our chocolate fudge cake yet. Sam

Chocolate Fudge Cake..

The Infant school where Bucket jnr goes has a very good parent association - they help and organise loads and raise money for the school.

I've decided to help a little more and this weekend they had a Food Festival where new and current parents met and mingled with some food and drink.

The idea was that we make a dish (savoury or sweet) to bring along, so I made a Chocolate Fudge Cake.  I don't really have a savoury dish that I wanted to share but this cake we make every Christmas and at other times when we remember to. It's one of those dishes that only get made at a certain time i.e. pancakes, simnel cake, roast turkey... you know what I mean.

The only thing was, I had to make two - one for the school and one for us.

This recipe was given to me by my Mother-in-law and she had it as a recipe card from Bourneville (the chocolate).

Chocolate Fudge Cake

4 oz butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
8 oz digestives
1 oz raisins
2 oz glace cherries (halved)
5 oz dark chocolate

Fudge Icing

2 oz chocolate
1 oz butter
3 dessert spoons water
6 oz icing sugar

Grease and base line a 1lb loaf tin.

Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan. Stir in the biscuits, fruit and chopped chocolate until mixed. Press firmly into the prepared tin and leave in a cool place to set.  Later turn out onto a board.

For the fudge icing melt the chocolate and butter with 3 dessertspoons of water over a gentle heat. Remove from heat and stir in sifted icing sugar and beat until cool and thick.  Spread the icing over the cake and dust with icing sugar to decorate.

Now this makes a really nice cake but it's not that big and you might find that it goes WAAAAY too quickly. So do what we do.... double the ingredients and make a WHOPPER of a cake. Sorry, forgot to take a picture straight away but this cake never lasts long in our house as you can see.

Also, with all the butter and syrup this cake is quite rich so don't cut huge chunks off until you've actually tried it and know that you'll manage to eat it (piggy).

The cake disappeared in double time at the Food Festival and I also had a couple of the mums asking for the recipe, so I was really chuffed.

Thanks Mother-in-law. Sam xx

Family game...?

I've just had a request to buy a game.

Now I'm not against family games - we love Rummikub and Sorry and we're even known to play Monopoly now and again. But I think I can definitely say that I will NOT be buying this one...

I know that kids find this funny but I just can't play a game about collecting dog poo.

Sorry kids, not this year (or ever). Sam xx

Crocodile plushie...

I have been around, honest. I've just been looking at other blogs, pinterest and trying to organise pockets of my cluttered house now that the kids have gone back to school (Bucket jnr started full time).

And after much nudging and hinting, I've finally gotten round to making the crocodile. If anyone wants to try doing a plush crocodile, to get some ideas I found it much easier to look up 'alligator'.

I did look at this site which gave me some ideas but in the end, with the rain pouring outside and armed with a pencil, rubber and a much needed cup of coffee, I freestyled a drawing of a crocodile.

 Then I changed the mouth.

 Cut out the material.

Might I just point out that this type of material is REALLY fluffy, especially when you cut it. The end bits all fluff off and get absolutely everywhere.

 My top used to be black,

 Nearly there.

 And, here it is...

 I didn't add on any eyes as I couldn't find any that I liked. Also, the little tag on the belly of the crocodile is to remind me where I sewed him up just in case he needs a bit of re-stuffing.

I have also recently made a bag and bought a cute jar/pot and I'll put some pictures on here soon but this crocodile has taken me all morning and I've done NO dishes; there is fluff EVERYWHERE and I also need to go shopping for some bits before the kids get out of school.

Definitely worth it though, to see the look on Bucket jnr's face when he comes home.

I'm just a bit worried what Miss Bucket is going to come up with to make for her next. Sam xx

Sewing some pouches..

I've finally gotten round to some sewing - HOORAY!!

 mess, mess everywhere

Bucket jnr has been staying for lunch at school and then next week he'll be there all day, so I've had a little extra time to do some other things.

I was looking at making myself a bag but thought I'd start small first and made these really cute pouches. I won't bore you with a tutorial as this wasn't my pattern and there are literally hundreds available to find on the internet. But in case anyone's interested, I followed Anna at Noodlehead's pattern which was easy enough even for me to follow.

Although I did have a few niggly moments: the first pouch has a wonky zip, so sorted this out by using tailors chalk on the next one. Also thought the stitches needed to be smaller; the second one is a bit smaller in size as I got carried away trying to make all the edges the same size; the third one I forgot to undo the zip a little bit so had to pick some stitches and then once I'd sewn it up again I realised that I'd forgotten the little tag so more picking.  Remember that I changed the stitch size? Yep, took me ages to unpick even a little bit.

I really thought that by the fourth one I'd cracked it, I sewed it all up and admired it lovingly. It was only when I was ironing it neater that I realised I'd mixed up the tags for no.3 and no.4....aaaarrrggh. Also, the tags are slightly on the p**s lop-sided.

Nevermind, I still like them and I'm NOT unpicking them again.

The open one is for me, the car one for Bucket jnr and the pink doggy one for Miss Bucket. The other one can be a spare. I think I'll pick up some more zips and make a whole load as gifts for that upcoming season that shall not be named, maybe fill with nail varnish or little sweets or both.

My next project has already been decided by Bucket jnr. Can you guess by the fabric?

 

 It's a .......crocodile.

Or at least it will be when I figure out how to make it. I'd better sort it out soon as I'm getting hassled hourly for this.
Sam xx

Santa wish list...

I don't know how everyone else handles Christmas but my kids get a stocking from Santa (everything else is from us).

Every Christmas morning they wake up to find that Santa has placed a gift in their stockings and I let them open them first (wouldn't dare to try and stop them).

This morning Bucket jnr came in to speak to me, all serious:

Bucket jnr: Mummy, I want a bumblebee and an optimus prime for Christmas.

Me: Ok.

Bucket jnr: Can you put it on your Christmas list.

Me: Ok.

Bucket jnr: I don't know how big they'll be but Santa can make them for me that way they won't cost you anything (aaahhhh).

Me: Ok but that's a lot for Santa.

Bucket jnr: I think that as I'm getting bigger then the toys should get bigger and more.

Me: Ok, you're going to have to be a REALLY good boy for them.

Bucket jnr: I know, I'm going to try to be good for the rest of my life (he's into big timescales at the moment).


What a sweetie, I tried not to smile too much as he was only standing in front of me in his pants and I was trying to take his seriousness seriously (hope that makes sense).

My lack of words was due to this being a three cups of coffee morning and I was currently on number two so not totally awake.


Ok, a sweetie no longer. He has come back and is now shooting his nerf gun at me with the phrase "I've got me a mummy kebab" - I have no idea where that is from and I probably never will.  Sam xx

Off sick...

Bloody typical, come back from holiday and get sicky bug or food poisoning.

Whatever it is, please go away.

The Bucket family is now in quarantine but I've got loads of lovely blogs to catch up on whilst we all recover.

Sam xx

We're back....

Finally arrived back after a wonderfully relaxing interesting holiday.

We went glamping down the South of France using Key camps and I must say, it was a good site if you've got kids. The facilities were great; close to the town and beach and the people were helpful and thankfully spoke really good English. My holiday French isn't too bad but when I get flustered I resort to charades.

 the view of the Pyrenees from the decking by our cabin

There were only a few niggles - we went down on a Saturday and got caught in a load of traffic; during the traffic our car started to overheat so we had to have the windows open with the fan on hot; as the windows were open I got sunburned (I'm a bit freckly) really badly on one arm so had to wear a really attractive sun top (with long sleeves) whenever I went swimming for the first week; because the car got wrecked we had to take it to a garage to get fixed - very large bill.

That's the bad news over and done with.

I asked Mr Bucket "who's idea was it to come this far down France?.... Oh yeah, it was mine".


After two weeks camping, we travelled back up France and stayed at Versailles.

We saw the Palace...

 I laughed at first at the tourists with little umbrellas but I'm telling you, if you visit this place then take one. There are white cobbles all over the place and on a sunny and hot day you boil. I took my factor 50 all the time and this is the only place where my nose got burned.


We visited Paris...

 

The architecture in this city is absolutely amazing and I would definitely love to go back. We grabbed a train from Versailles and then got on 'Les Cars Rouges', big red buses that you can hop on and off or just travel around if that's what you want to do. I've just got to say that I LOVE the Louvre, it is the most impressive place I have ever visited.

 We joined the masses at Disneyland...

 

 A great place but make sure that you have sturdy shoes; take your travel sickness pills for the rides and don't mind waiting approx 30-70 mins to get on a ride. It isn't that bad but when the kids got hot and tired it made it feel longer. A plus was that the food was reasonably priced and covered all ranges.

Oh yes, and take lots and lots of money because if you have kids then they have all the gifts your darling children will ever want.

A funny moment was when Bucket jnr wanted to stay on a good rollercoaster ride and started crying. As we were walking out the exit people were staring at him and you could read their faces and knew they were asking themselves "was it that bad???". I couldn't stop myself from saying "he did like it, really".

It was an enjoyable holiday but if we ever go back I'm NEVER taking the car again - it's a hire car for us next time, it would be cheaper. Sam xx