The beginning of the holiday starts TODAY!!

After months of planning the holiday started and better yet the boy still doesn't know.

After finishing school and saying bye to everyone (not forgetting the dogs) for our one night away, we were off two suitcases, two backpacks and one teddy bear named Threadbear.

Two hours and 18 minutes we were pulling in the valet parking at Gatwick airport which is a breeze to find and even easier to find a place to park. 

Once parked we emptied the car of any food and bags and headed to the desk to leave the keys and sign the forms. Unknown to me until this point I could've had my car cleaned inside and out for when we returned at a small extra cost. This would've been perfect if I hadn't had it clean the day before we left Poole. 

The check in to the valet took less then five minutes with minimum paperwork to fill in as it had previously been booked.

When staying at the Bloc hotel, and booking valet parking make sure you ask as you can get 10% off the total.

The Bloc Hotel.

 After Walking across the road and the terminal building we were on a roll with two bags each to manage. Finding the hotel entrance was really easy although the signage was a little confusing to begin with as TJ read it as go straight and not up the escalator.

Once at the top of the escalator the Bloc Hotel is on your left.

 The small reception that looked like a small cosy box to two very nice staff, who were very helpful and polite. Whilst one distracted TJ I found the paperwork to check in, and was directed towards the elevators and room. The elevators will only work with the room keys when trying to access different floors which we didn't realise for a few moments. 

Along the corridor and to the end we walked and accessed our room which had a fantastic view of the runways. 

The room was lovely and clean with a double bed fitted in an alcove area, a television built in to the wall at the foot at head height. One of the ceiling lights is along the far wall of the bed which I found to be bright even though it was a purple color.

The bathroom was a wet room which I didn't realise had two different showers. The showers are controlled by the same tap and whilst investigating the taps I managed to get soaked in the process. 

The tablet that is on the wall by the bed controls the lights all around the room and the thermostat.

 

Checking out of the hotel was as easy as ABC gather your things, head down the elevator and drop your key in the box by reception. 

This was a lot less stressful then any other hotel I've stayed in the night before. Next time I go away I'm definitely booking to stay again.  

Bonus print is the way forward

Animal kingdom from the sky

Typhoon lagoon 

  I'm fed up of seeing the same calendar on all my friends walls and thinking I wish I'd done something different. So I did this year I have decided to make my own calendar with my own pictures. I added all my favorite holiday snaps and the end result was amazing.

Discovery cove - TJ and my nephews 

I cannot wait to start seeing my favorite photos at the beginning of every day on display.

The display to do this was easy to I decided which photos I wanted for each day and made the choice of background if I wanted it ( which I decided it looked better without) and uploaded the pictures and waited less then a week for the calendar to arrive.

 The photo album was a little bit trickier due to my internet going down on various occasions during the uploading time. Which was due to poor service provider problems.

Queen Mary Ca.

  When choosing to do a photo album there is so much to take into consideration including photo size, writing (if any), How many photos per page?  

Disneyland Ca.

 The photographs I chose were placed automatically in the album as each folder uploaded from my computer. I found this helped me as it saved time on trying to decide which photographs to choose and put up as my favorite. You could place up to nine pictures per page including captions if needed. 

When the photo albums came back I was amazed at how well they have turned out with such clear pictures and writing on each page. 

Calico and Barstow Ca.

 This picture was printed on a board and came with the fixtures ( no nails) so it could be hung straight away. Again the quality of the photo is amazing. This photo was originally taken on my phone and zoomed in slightly. The photo has come back arger then the original so no doubt it would have had to have been blown up a little to fit the board. 

The image was taken whilst visiting Calico ghost town near Barstow California. 

 I have had another picture printed on to wood but as it holds a direct view of my sons face I have decided not to put it up. The picture quality again for this photo is fantastic and so clear.

It's amazing how they've done it too I never thought about printing straight on to wooden planks before.

 Bonus print have impressed me so much that I will now only use them to print my photos and I print a lot as I also scrapbook.

The prices are the best put there to and if you sign up for email updates they also have some really good offers running most of the time.

Thunderbirds are go, go, go!

I am in love with this new RC Thunderbirds 2.

Unboxing the T2 didn't take much effort there were 2 pieces of string wrapped around the T2, a small piece of cable tie around the charging cables which was slotted inside a cardboard slit. The controller was held in with 2 small plastic pieces that were easily twisted to release from the packaging. This has by far been the best and easiest packaged toy I have opened in a very long time.

Packaging 

Once out of the packaging the controller needed 4 x AA batteries, I was prepared to get the mini screwdriver, but it was not needed. There is a neat little button that you need something similar to the size of  a biro pen nib to push in and slide out. Again this was so easy to do even a small child could do it.

Flying competition

From the minute I charged the aircraft my 35 year old brother and myself have been trying to out manoeuvre each other.

The controls are easy to use with the left thumb stick controlling height with the right thumb stick controlling the turning.

 Its light weight with a polystyrene shell in the shape of T2. This covers the power core and the stabilization gyro making the T2 harder to crash and break. The shell helps protect all the walls and furniture from being chipped at by the rotating blades.

(sorry about the mess) T2 at a steady height.

Due to the rotating blades that spin round the bottom of the Thunderbird 2 I would recommend using with hair up ( longer hair ) as it causes a draft when flying overhead causing hair to go everywhere. 

The T2 flies in various directions, but because of the lightweight design is easily blown of course when there is a draft which makes the craft a little harder to control. 

Charging time is very quick and the charge for the Thunderbird 2 we found have lasted about 25 - 30 minutes with each charge.

April's Loot crate

Aprils Loot crate came through the post today, the box was a little smaller then previous boxes that I've received.

 When I opened the box as always it was stuffed to the brim with items. This month I hadn't looked up anything to do with the crate as I thought I'd have a surprise.

I unpacked the box to find 6 various movie/TV series related items inside.

• T-shirt - Labyrinth
• Socks - Harry Potter  
• A poster - unchartered 4 
• An ice dice
• A drinks holder that is shaped like a tusk - Vikings

The blue ice cube maker is fairly large and fits comfortably in the hand. The instructions are on the box and I cannot wait to test it for a party of some sort may just have to use it as an excuse to throw one.

The socks unfortunately did not fit my 8 year old son properly due to him only being a size 1, the socks are for size 6 - 12's so I've managed to nab them back.

The horn has a cross body holder so the horn falls across the side. There is plenty of room on for it to be crossing over the body. and it holds the horn up right with liquid in it. 

The t-shirt material is soft with a Labyrinth print ironed on. The sizing is very generous which is fantastic as I'm larger on my top half. The top also washes and dries well in the dryer.