….& BREATHE!!!

The boys went back to school today…as it is, only for two days before yet another loooooong weekend is upon us!! But it has given me a welcome bit of breathing space! The house needs a good clean but I’m not going to waste my time with a fine tooth comb as it’ll all be turned upside down again in 48hours time!

So, what’s been going on since I last posted…which, apart from Mel’s Alphanumeric Blog Hop on the 17th & my giveaway winner notification on the 22nd, has been a whole TWO WEEKS!!!

Well the weather has been glorious, so we’ve been out & about in various combinations of family!! My boys are of an age now where they can opt out of certain activities & be safely left for a couple of hours (Alex’s taking ownership of his insulin injections has helped enormously!) so Lee & I have even had a couple of wonderful, hassle free, lunch dates!

But on Thursday 14th we set off ‘en famille’ to the NEC in Birmingham for the ‘Gadget Show Live’. This is a TV programme that we can all sit down to watch together & enjoy equally!!

Lee managed to secure premier tickets for the live stage show, meaning our seats were central & just seven rows from the stage!

We arrived at the NEC as the doors opened, hoping that Alex would cope better if it started quiet & the hubbub built up around him! We had a contingency plan that if it all got too much for him, that he & I would head off to the relative quiet of the food court & leave Lee & Nathan to carry on!!

We were soon doing the rounds of the hundreds of stands & displays! Alex’s favourite was the ‘Hex Bug’ stand, being a fan of all things robotic!!

While he was at this stand I turned around to see all four presenters coming in through a side door, on their way to an autograph session!

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! I got to shake hands with Jon Bentley…he is such a perfect gent!!!

Then it was time for the live show…

The ‘Super Theatre’ was enormous & every seat was filled. While we waited for the show to start we were entertained by seven foot tall Titan Robots who mingled with the audience (as much as a robot can mingle!!) & then it was time…

…there they were! Jon Bently, Suzi Perry, Jason Bradbury & Ortis Deley arriving on stage by overhead zip wire & on various motorised gadgets including Jon on a supercharged mobility scooter, which raised a chuckle!  Pollyanna Woodward was brought on as the newest member of the team & the fun & games began!!

There was much audience participation with interactive text voting & on stage games to win fabulous prizes, we were treated to two musical performances by Polly & Ortis using state of the art tech (there are those robots again as Polly’s backing singers!!) & even an amazing magician who’s name escapes me!!

Much too soon, & in a blaze of pyrotechnics which almost removed my eyebrows, it was all over! Phew!!

Then we were back into the throng to make some purchases!! I bought a ‘Mojo’ wristband, which was featured on the show a few months back. Featuring  two holographic discs, these bands ‘marry together traditional Chinese Acupuncture with a holographic communication system. The discs communicate through your body’s meridian for a more harmonic, healthy & balanced body’…I have been experiencing pain in my left shoulder, & after the pain, drugs & surgery I went though with my right shoulder I felt anything is worth a try. I’ll keep you posted!!

Alex returned to the ‘Hex Bug’ stand & chose what to spend his hard earned (!) pocket money on!!

We stopped to watch a couple of demo’s & then as it was really busy, Alex & I headed off to a quiet corner for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (him) & coffee (me), while Lee & Nathan settled into the gaming zone for what turned out to be quite a lengthy session!!  All in all a successful day out!!!

The following weekend was filled with gardening, work, oh & of course the cinema!!

We saw ‘Source Code’ starring Jake Gyllenhaal…Wow!!

Even if your not a Sci-Fi fan (& I am) this is an amazing film! The special effects are fantastic…the whole concept is amazing & the slow reveal of the plot & its conclusion is masterful!

Add to that that Jake Gyllenhaal is just gorgeous & it’s definitely worth a see!!

So, those are the highlights of the first week of the school holidays! There has been some crafting in there, but nothing I can share with you just yet!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I’ll be back soon to bring things up to date & share some of that creativity with you!  I’m off now to collect my brood from school & pick up some fresh berries for a Pavlova I will be preparing tomorrow for a very special event on Friday…no, not THAT special event, but something related…more on that next time!!! :)