Day 29

Today was a very good day. So good in fact, that it is only 9:30 and I am already in bed and ready to pass out.

My alarm first went off at 7:30. Too early for me on a weekend, so I reset it for 8. It was in that short half hour that I had a very odd dream I won't even get into. It was too weird. Got ready and went downstairs. Tim heard me, and asked if I could drive up to the cricket club with him to pick up the other car. We did that and by the time I got back, Toni was waiting for me in the driveway.

I put the keys in the house and jumped into her car. We waited for Tim and the boys to leave for Football so that we could pull out. We went on a short ride to Felsted where we picked up Irene, (neither of us knowing how to get there, but Sat Nav helped a great deal, and I actually knew where we were at some points!) We arrived at the pub Irene normally meets us at, but she wasn't there. After a couple of texts and phone calls we got a hold of her. Turned out she was at a different one today, but she ran over to where we were and we headed to Chelmsford. Toni and I went ice skating while Irene sat and watched. We had so much fun out there! It was great. Toni hadn't gone skating too much before now so she had a couple of falls, and unfortunately will probably hurt tomorrow, but we had a great time and lots of laughs anyway. There was an attempt at teaching her to skate backwards. She did get the motion after a while, and I think after a few more tries she'll be able to do it no problem. After going around a few times, she began to gain confidence and pick up speed. It was great. There was a guy who came on for a bit, and you could tell he was a hockey player. Pretty amazing to watch. Toni was impressed with his stop, but couldn't watch him for too long or she would end up on her bum. We could tell Irene was getting cold, and she didn't seem to be enjoying it quite as much as us...but we had told her our plan before, and had asked a few times if she definitely just wanted to sit and watch us. She said yes. So we skated for about 2 hours. Once the open skate was finished, Toni and I returned our skates, and with jelly legs, headed to the car.

We drove over to the town center, and our first stop was Starbucks. MMMMM. Toni tried a Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino today. She says she's going to work her way through the menu hehe. I had my regular, but unfortunately it wasn't made properly so I didn't enjoy it as much as normal. I'll have to go back on Saturday.

Once we finished are drinks and chocolate chip shortbread, the 3 of us went into Next. From there we made it over to H&M where Irene spends a lot of her time. Toni and I left her there so we could pick up a few things at WH Smith, then we went back to see her but she needed more time. The two of us went to Argos - an experience in itself - Argos is a store that you walk into, and there are a ton of magazines laid out. You choose the item you want, go over to a computer, type in the item number and pay...then the receipt prints off...you get a number and wait for them to call it. When they do, they have what you've ordered ready at the counter. It's insanity! But a good idea I think. Makes things go a lot faster. We walked back to see Irene who still wasn't quite ready. She got in line to buy her things, and after waiting there for about 5 minutes, decided she wouldn't buy anything.

We started walking back to the car and Irene decided she had to go into Tescos. Our parking was nearly up so Toni went to wait in the car, while Irene looked around for about 15 minutes, and I helped translate for her. Back in the car, listened to Mika on the drive home. Toni and I are so excited for the concert! We dropped Irene off, and then Toni dropped me at home.

I came in and had a good conversation and a cup of tea with Heloise. A little bit of quiet time in my room, and then watched Spongebob with Nathaniel and Zachary until it was time to go to Uncle Clifford's for supper. When we got there the two boys, Tim and I went for a swim. It was sooo nice! My ears were acting up in the pool, but I wanted to go anyway as I've been here 29 days and had yet to get in, even though we are there weekly. Today I just said forget this infection...and jumped in. Had a lot of fun. Threw the boys around, and we played catch. (Josh was at his swimming lessons). We got out about 45 minutes later and got changed for dinner. Aunt Jill's sister and her husband joined us for dinner, and Josh and Uncle Clifford came home shortly after. Everyone dished up. There was a ton of food, and it all tasted very good. Strawberry cheesecake, ice cream and strawberries were for dessert. Finished that off and piled into the cars to come home.

I had full intentions of going to bed as soon as we got here...but then I remembered X Factor was on, and Robbie Williams (who I love) was performing tonight. So I turned it on and was luckily able to hear his performance. The rest of the show however, was a write off. The boys were in bed...but Tim's not so keen on shows like that, as I learned very quickly tonight. Anyways, it finished and I came up to write this. Listening to Robbie right now. I love his voice.

Busy day tomorrow, and not a lot of time to do anything as Zach only goes for half the day. Better get some sleep. Good Night xx