The Build

Its been a while since my last blog, but that's not a sign of inactivity, I just haven't got round to sitting down and blogging. During September, 3 builders moved in (well that's what it felt like) and we have been able to make the changes to our house that we have been planning for some months now.

It certainly feels like a transformation as we have changed the direction of car access to the garage and created a lovely kitchen diner with large French doors. The French doors will overlook a new garden space created through relocating the drive. I have put some before and after photos at the end of the blog.

At one point we had contractors working on the drive, electricians, builders, plumber and the guy fitting garage door. Never mind the project managing, the tea and coffee order required a spreadsheet and meticulous planning. 

Orlando to Fort Lauderdale

Well unbelievably 3 weeks have passed and we have come to the end of our family holiday in Florida. In the second half of our week in Orlando we visited Universal Islands of Adventure and then Aquatica water park. I was forced to overcome any fears of roller coaster rides by being 'encouraged' onto Dragon Challenge (not once but twice) although some incoming electrical storms meant that 'unfortunately' the Hulk roller coaster had to be closed.

The water park was good, the highlight was a 80ft drop slide, where you stand vertical in a capsule and the floor drops away from you, talk about an adrenalin rush, its bizarre that I'm not bothered about that but roller coasters make me nervous.

Orlando

Our Villa in Orlando is lovely, all the comforts of home plus we have our own pool. Its nice to be able to step out into the patio and take a dip. I've developed a technique of being able to float on the lilo with beer in hand without spilling a drop - although not when Meg is about!

On Sunday we went to Universal Studios. We had a great time, we met up with Gru and the minions, Shrek and donkey, The Simpsons and E.T. you forget how tiring it is walking round.

We went on as many rides as possible but gave the Harry Potter Escape from Gringots ride a miss with a 3.5 hour wait time.

We settled down to watch the parade at 7pm and went to get a drink, as I came to pay I realised my wallet with all the cash and credit cards was missing.

Key West & Miami, South Beach

While we were at our apartment in Key Largo, a lot of the Americans were doing day trips to Key West and saying how busy it was. One of our favourite American expressions so far, (apart from the usual 'awesome' which everything is, even when it really isn't, and everything is a 'good job' even if its an unmitigated disaster) was from a guy who had just come back from a day in Key West and clearly finding it a little too much said (in a good American drawl " this ole dawg, just wana  sit on the porch"

So we did wonder what we were driving into as we headed to the southern most point of the continental USA. The drive down was quite special going over the bridges that connect the keys, and thin strips of land with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic on the other. We arrived at our hotel in the old town of Key West, an old Victorian wooden house, veranda and all - so this old dog had a porch to sit on! The hotel was beautiful, and the majority of the buildings in the old town were of this type, some really lovely colourful houses.