Wakeboarding and Zorro

Another great wakeboarding holiday with the boys at WM Ski in the Cotswolds. Took a while to get back into it – but had a great time. The team at WM Ski are superb and it was good to see some familiar faces. Much recommended.

Mel sadly had a meeting with Zorro as can be seen in the pic. Oops. This was due to falling off at speed on a corner and the board coming off and giving her a great clout. Ouch. I sadly saw it happen and, after seeing she was okay, did laugh a little.....

We’ll be back again J

Day out at Natural History Museum

Starting to taste the relaxing life :) Off to the Natural History Museum today - loads to see. Some funny picture opportunities.... :)

From 0809 Natural History Museum

What a weekend - Happy Birthday Mel!

What a nice long weekend!

Mel was off on Friday, so as it was a lovely day we decided to cycle to Watford along the canal! 30 miles later and all we bought was a pair of shoes for Mel!

Saturday we went to Sandy (Bedfordshire) so I could have my Microliight flying lesson. This was pretty good – apart from takeoff and landing I did the rest of the flying! It was fun and the instructor was cool – but it seemed pretty pointless unless you had somewhere to go. Too many games on flightsims I think....

Then for Mels birthday, I surprised her with an afternoon on the skid-pan near Corby. She did really well – but was a little ill. Hopefully she has got some confidence now in how cars handle on ice which is something she mentioned in passing a while ago..... Be careful what you wish for! We then met a friend in Bedford and had a lovely meal and came home knackered.

Sunday was an easy start, then a 6 mile run (which is gentle for us on a Sunday!). After a nap we did a 10 mile bike ride to town to meet some friends for coffee.

So today is Monday and Mels birthday, and when she is back from work she can have her presents and we’re off out for another nice meal in Egham.

Hope she likes her presents.... Apart from the skid pan, she has a 2.4m2 power kite, a Wii Zapper, travel books, and loads of other bits.... All fun!!

Snowboarding over - both passed!

We're home. And bruised. Good news is Mel passed her tests so is now free to play on the slopes! After a couple of hours every day since Tuesday we seem to be locals. The receptionists know us by name, where we live, and even the instructors know us (Well - Mel more than me!) Today was the last one - and we're glad. We're both sore and both quit slightly early today as we could not face another fall. Mels arm is painful and she can hardly drive and change gear (as we had both car and van with us - she had to grin and bear it!), and my bum/spine as had too many impacts and the thought of another is bad enough. A few good wipe outs, a few new tricks learned (180's and 360's) - not always by choice mind. Water on - time for a much need soak in Radox..... We'll do it again - but the real questions are "when" and "how long for"...!

Snowboarding is: Challenging/painful/fun

Its now Saturday and we've been learing to Snowboard at Tamworth Snowdome since Wednesday. We had a full day on Wednesday and have been back every day since! I fluked a pass after the first day (after learning to "ride the rope" quickly to get more goes than anyone else!) and Mel is having some extra lessons. So a couple of hours a day since and considering we are fit, we are aching all over. Think I've landed on my bum more times than I've had a beer up here. Very sore, and dreading the next fall on it in a couple of hours. So challenging - absolutely. Painful - absolutley. And fun, yes. Mad fun - but we're enjoying it!

NEC Outdoors Show

Decided Sunday was a chilling day, so went to the NEC Outdoors Show show thanks to Steve (Roy Wood Transits) giving us a couple of spare tickets. Reminded us of the BT advert where they say "Why do they call it free time"? Free tickets, 200 mile round trip; food; drink; parking; purchasing - lol - so not really a free day out. Good to see it busy, and great to see so many ideas for adventures and activities. Good to see RWT busy as well with their toys. Funny as a lot of the peopel there were outdoor types, but then a fair few look liked they rolled off their sofa to get there - and were waiting for a bus to get back to the carpark rather than walking. Hardly walkers then ;)

Saw a company there we were eyeing up on the web so it was great to see them, and saw loads of rock climbing and some mental women climbing upsidedown from the rafters like bats. Came home knackered - so missed our regular run. That means, tonight, after work, we've got a 10 mile run to do :(