Aaron's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘cinema’

I was very, very luck in that I won 2 tickets to see Everton vs Man Utd in the Premier League at Goodison Park at the start of March by entering a competition with Barclays!!  I was very excited!! So, we decided to make a weekend of it in Liverpool.  It was decided that Ben was going to go to the game with me whilst Kelly took Aaron and Coby to the cinema, so they were all very excited then as well!! heehee

We booked a Premier Inn for the Saturday and Sunday night just off the main road into Liverpool and I took the Monday off and Kelly rang the boys in poorly, as the game kicked off at lunchtime on the Sunday.  

We drove up on the Saturday morning as Ben’s Plymouth Kolts match had been rained off (like most of them this year!) which was a blessing in disguise really!! We made good time and went to the Everton Superstore at Goodison before going to the hotel, to have a look around.  We weren’t meant to be buying much but we (myself, Ben, Aaron and Coby) ended up spending a bit too much money and came away with the current home shirt, joggers, other kits and other bits such as Everton Top Trumps!! Well, we aren’t there very often and a lot of it was selling off as it was coming to the end of the season!!  We then headed to the hotel, unpacked and went to the Beefeater next door for tea.  We had basically booked the Beefeater beforehand and we were glad we did as it was full!  The food was nice as well!

We went there again in the morning for breakfast, which was nice, and ate plenty to keep us going through the day.  We then relaxed in our hotel room until it was time for Kelly to drop me and Ben to Goodison to watch the game.  We got there a fair amount of time before kick off so we could take in the atmosphere and have a good look around the pre-match entertainment which included a band playing, people in costumes such as Darth Vader and The Predator, and we also had a look around the Everton memorabilia in the Church, which was very interesting.   We did buy a couple more things as well!! tut tut!  It was a nice day as well, sunny and dry, which was ideal, though it was quite cold!  

When it was time to find our seats, we walked around to the Main Stand (as the tickets were for there) and eventually found our way to our seats, which were situated towards the back of the middle section of the stand.  They weren’t brilliant seats but we weren’t complaining at all!!  We were so excited! We took plenty of photos whilst we were there and settled in for the game and tried to pick out as many people as possible, including Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Sigurdsson, Tom Davies, Bernard, etc, etc.  All the best players played, even Andre Gomes, who had just come back from a horrific ankle dislocation break, so that was a bonus!

As for the game itself, well, VAR robbed us of a perfect ending unfortunately.  We were very gutted at the end and the 1-1 draw felt like a defeat!  Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in the first few minutes when David De Gea kicked the ball out and it hit DCL and rebounded into the net.  Ben and I were jumping up and down ecstatically, and the stand was literally rocking!!  Unfortunately, half way through the half, Bruno Fernandes scored when Jordan Pickford should really have saved it.  It stayed like that right up until the end of the game when controversy struck.  There were a couple of attempts on goal, one by Sigurdsson and he ended up lying on the floor in front of the goal.  DCL then got the ball, went past a defender and struck a shot which deflected off another defender and wrong footed De Gea in goal and went in!!  Ben and I, and the rest of the home supporters went crazy excited, and the referee and linesman gave the goal only for VAR to interrupt things several minutes later.  The Everton players were all celebrating as it would have been a great win but then it was announced that VAR had ruled it out as they said Sigurdsson was in an offside position in front of De Gea which impeded his sight of the ball.  So the stadium went quiet for a moment before a load of boo’s rang out at full time, at which point Carlo Ancelotti went and confronted the referee and got sent off.  So it was a really bad end to the game even though it was a draw.  But, like I said above, it felt like a defeat to me and Ben, and the rest of the Evertonians.  Oh well – we had still had a great time at our first match at Goodison Park!!!

After the game, we made our way away from Goodison and waited for Kelly and the other two to pick us up.  We then got back and headed over to the Beefeater for tea again before heading back to the room and having a quiet evening.  Kelly, Aaron and Coby had gone to see the new Sonic The Hedgehog film and said that it was really good, so I was pleased that they had had a nice time as well.

The following morning, we had breakfast at the Beefeater again, before packing up and heading home.

We all had a nice weekend away, and were stuffed with all of the food that we had eaten, but it was just a shame that mine and Ben’s first trip to watch a Premier League game ended in VAR controversy, but it was great watching Everton live!! 🙂  We will definitely have to do it again, if we can get tickets!

This year, we went and stayed in Largs for a week again, the same as last year.  This time though, we rented a different house and didn’t go with anyone else. The house was lovely and clean and was in a nearby street to where we had stayed before, so we had the same access to Largs as we were used to.  On the way up, we stayed in a hotel in Stafford again, though a different one to last year, just to break the trip up for the boys. We left later this year as Ben and Aaron only broke up from school on the Friday 27th that we were travelling, so they had been at School all day. I had taken the afternoon off work to help Kelly load the car, also with the help of Coby!  The journey up went very well, unlike last year when it took 8 hours to get to Stafford, and the boys were quite well behaved, even though we had to tell them to quieten down on several occasions! We did it in roughly half that time this year, which was much better. There wasn’t even any stoppages for traffic – amazing really! The hotel we stopped in was fine and we attempted to get some sleep before setting out early in the morning, but Kelly and I didn’t really get much, due to the lack of pillows available. At least it meant we were up early and out the door a decent time to finish the drive!

Saturday

We arrived in Largs around 3pm and unloaded the car. We had already booked a Tesco delivery for between 4pm and 6pm, so that we didn’t have to rush off to the shops to get some food, and it turned up just after 4. By this time, the house had been explored and the boys had chosen their rooms although there were a lot of changes as one room was an attic room and Ben was unsure if he wanted to sleep up there on his own. The other room was on the same level as the one Kelly and I were sleeping in, and had bunk beds for 2 people, so in the end, Ben brought his mattress down from the attic room and slept in the room with the other two! He did manage to sleep in the attic room on one occasion during the week though! 😉

After the delivery had come and we had put it all away, we drove into Largs and went to Wetherspoons for tea. We had been there last and it was nice, and it didn’t disappoint again as our food was again lovely. Unfortunately, whilst going to the toilet, Ben decided to take his fit watch off and ended up leaving it in the cubicle.  By the time he had remembered that he had done that, it had gone, so we were all very annoyed!  The weather wasn’t very nice at this point (which is why we drove in) and we were tired out from all of the travelling, so we didn’t have a proper look around Largs but instead went home and relaxed. We did spot that the arcade on the front had closed down though, which we were quite shocked about! Thank goodness there was another one in Largs! 😉

Sunday

On the Sunday, we had been invited to Kelly’s Auntie’s house for food in the afternoon, so we didn’t do too much in the morning. I went for a 4 mile jog around Largs early on, until my knee started hurting and the rain came in. Kelly was going to go for a jog as well but decided not to due to the weather. We had a cooked breakfast and chilled around the house until the early afternoon. We then drove in to Glasgow to Aunty Christine’s house, where we also met up with the rest of the family including Kelly’s Gran. There was loads of food to eat so we all ate loads and had a catch up with everyone. Luckily, they had put some gazebo’s up as there were some heavy downpours. The boys didn’t mind though, as they were playing football in the garden in the wet.

We left there in the early evening and decided, whilst we were out and the weather had become nice and sunny, to visit Ibrox stadium, as it was just down the road. So we parked up there and got out and took some photos. We then went over to Hampden Park and did the same. We didn’t go to Celtic though as it was in the opposite direction. We then headed home, by which time it was dark and nearly 10pm, and put the boys to bed. We stayed up for a little longer before heading to bed as well as were tired out.

Monday

We were going to go to Edinburgh Castle on Monday but the weather wasn’t great so we decided to postpone that until Tuesday and instead went to Braehead for the day. Firstly, we went to see The Incredibles 2 in the cinema, which we all enjoyed. We had a big tub of popcorn and Coby and Aaron had a tub of candy floss, so they were happy! After the film, we had a few quick goes in the arcade that was next to the cinema and won a Mr Incredible soft toy in the grabber machine. I was extremely pleased with that! 😉 We then went to TGI Fridays to have some dinner. We had never been to a TGI Fridays before but enjoyed the food, even though it wasn’t as big a portion as most other places. Finally, we went over to the indoor shopping centre, which is situated in a different area of Braehead and looked around the shops. The boys spent some of their holiday money in a toy shop that we had also been in last year. By this time, the weather had come out much warmer and sunnier so we drove home, grabbed a sandwich for tea and went for a walk along the seafront at Largs, all the way to the Pencil monument. The boys took their scooters, so they were happily zooming around! We also found a geocache at the Pencil and also were told by some passers by that there was a Seal sat on the rocks nearby, which we saw, but swam off when we tried to get closer. We were all shattered by the time we got back to the house but had had a lovely day and still had to make sandwiches to take with us to the castle on Tuesday, so it ended up being a late night!

Tuesday

We got up nice and early and left to drive to Edinburgh Castle. We had already booked tickets online and decided on a car park to park in, so everything was pretty straightforward until we parked up and walked out of the car park and then didn’t know where to go to get into the castle. As the Edinburgh Tattoo was being setup and taking place that evening, a lot of the roads and paths were closed, which didn’t help, but there were no signs outside the car park telling visitors where to go. The car park was literally right next to the castle as well. So we ended up setting off in a direction we hoped would lead to the front and luckily, we found some very steep steps which led up to the castle entrance. It was absolutely heaving though, so we were glad we had bought tickets already so we could just walk in. The weather was a bit murky and windy, but once you got to the top of the castle, the wind was really strong. Until you are in the castle you don’t realise how high up you are as you can see the whole of Edinburgh from the top of the castle walls. It was an amazing view! We had a good look around and had a short tour with a tour guide who explained certain areas of the castle before leaving us to look around ourselves. There was lots to see and the queues for certain buildings were massive, so we ended up not quite seeing everything. The best part of the castle, which we all agreed on, was when we queued up and saw the Scottish Royal Crown, Jewels and Sceptre.  It all looked amazing, especially to think they were all made hundreds of years ago. We all spent quite a while looking at those, and Coby was excited to see a real Crown. We stayed wandering around the castle until closing time before we made our way back down and through the Edinburgh Tattoo stands (which was crazy to see as the seating stands either side were literally hanging over the side of the castle courtyard with a massive drop just below them!). We walked out the proper entrance this time, which was still really busy, and walked the other way around the castle grounds to get back to the car.  Along the way, we stopped to hear a band play a few times and walked through the park below the castle. We didn’t get back to the car until gone 6pm so the boys were hungry as we had only had a slice of pizza each from the cafe for lunch, along with some snacks. So we cracked into our sandwiches and I drove back to Largs. We were all exhausted again by the time we had got home so it wasn’t long before we all went to bed. It had be an enjoyable day exploring the castle though!

Wednesday

We had a much quieter day on Wednesday as we had been non-stop since we arrived up until now. So we didn’t rush getting up and having breakfast but, when we did, we went for a walk around Largs and along the seafront to the boating lake at the other end.  We did some geocaching along the way and found a couple, and the boys whizzed around on their scooters again. We also stopped in the park for a play this time, as the weather was dry enough to begin with.  On the way back from the far end, we went in the arcade and won a few items from the 2p and had a bit of fun. We then decided to walk back past Morrisons and get some pizzas and goodies to eat back at the house whilst watching a film, which we did. So we had a nice relaxing afternoon and evening. Once the boys had gone to bed, Kelly and I watched ‘Blair Witch’ which made us a little jumpy in the house overnight! 😉

Thursday

We had arranged to meet Aunty Rosena and Uncle Graham, and their dog Ollie for a walk around Largs during late morning, so there was no rush to get up again, which was good! 😉 We ended up meeting them at the park, so the boys could have a play whilst they parked and walked over.  We then had a walk along the beach section and over to the Pencil again.  The boys all took turns holding Ollie’s lead and throwing a ball for him to fetch, which they all loved. He was very well behaved, which was great. We then walked back the other way and into Largs town and stopped in a pub for some food. The food was very nice and we all enjoyed it. Kelly and Aunty Rosena even had a large cocktail! We then got some Ice Creams and walked on a bit further before it was time to turn back and for them to go home again. It was a lovely walk around with them. Once we had said our goodbyes, the boys went on a couple of rides on the small fairground before we spent some more time having fun in the arcade. We had been collecting up all of our tickets ready for our final visit on the last day of our holiday to get some good prizes! We then walked back to the house and the boys had some tea before we decided to drive down the coast to Ardrossan, the same as we did last year.  Because of our plans for Friday, we knew that if we didn’t do it today then we wouldn’t have chance to view the coastline again this year.  Typically, Coby well asleep during the drive so when we parked up at Ardrossan, myself, Ben and Aaron got out and walked up to the little parapet overlooking the sea and left Kelly in the car with Coby. We didn’t stay out for long though, as the weather turned and the rain came in. We did stop in Asda there on the way back and bought a couple of things before heading back to the house.   Ben actually slept upstairs in the attic room on his own as well, which I think was very brave of him! 😉

Friday

As the weather was going to be nice on Friday, we had decided earlier in the week that we would get the Ferry across to the Isle Of Cumbrae and then get a bus to Millport for the day.  So we got the ferry, which was very exciting for the boys, especially Coby, and travelled the short journey across the Clyde to the small port on the other side, where we got on a bus and travelled to Millport.  The bus journey was a little scary as the driver was bombing along on the small roads and was so close to the edge on a number of occasions! We were all hanging on tightly! Once off the bus, we stopped for some snacks and then had a good look around. We firstly went in one direction and ended up climbing on some rock pools and going through a park, where the boys stopped to play, and then further along to find a geocache in a spot which overlooked the other side of the island and where you could see the next set of islands. It was a beautiful spot and a great place to put a geocache. We then walked back and along to the other end, looking for geocaches as we went, and found a few. Once we had walked along to the other side we went out on a rock that was painted to look like a crocodile, which was a tourist spot on the island. By this time, we were all hungry som we got some fish and chips for tea, and the boys has chicken nuggets (Coby), a jumbo sausage (Aaron) and a burger (Ben). We ate this and then wandered back up to the bus stop. We did stop in the very small arcade on the way, but it was so small and we didn’t feel comfortable in there, so we left straightaway. The bus trip back to the ferry was just as bad as on the way, but we got there in one piece, before catching the ferry back over to Largs and walking home. We were all shattered by this point and crashed out for a while before we started to pack our stuff up as we had to be out of the house by 11am in the morning. Once the boys had gone to bed again, Kelly and I sat down and tried to relax for the remainder of the evening.

Saturday

We couldn’t believe Saturday had come around already! The week had gone so fast and we all had had a great time and enjoyed everywhere we had visited. We had to be up early as we had to finish packing and then put all the gear into the car. We managed to do this all on time and were just finishing when the cleaner arrived to start sorting the house out for the next set of visitors that were arriving that afternoon.  I then drove the car down to the sea front and parked up there whilst Kelly and the boys walked down with their scooters. We then walked to the park and the boys spent some good time playing in there before heading over to Wetherspoons for some food. We were very lucky to get a table though, as it was heaving for some reason! The food was very nice again and we ate it all up before heading to the outside rides to use up the remaining tokens that we had.  The boys had a couple of rides each and we then went to the arcade to use up the rest of our change and to get the prizes that the boys had earned with their tickets that they had won. We ended up with some good prizes including a couple of superhero mugs and some sweets. They were all happy with what they had, which was good. We then wandered through the shops and bought some tablet and fudge before heading back to the car, to start our journey to the hotel in Liverpool for the night, ready for the surprise that we had in store for the boys on the Sunday morning.

We all had had a great and fun time in Largs this year.  The weather was slightly better than it was last year but typically the hot and sunny weather that we had had over the past couple of months decided to change to cool winds and clouds as soon as we arrived. However, it was nice to not be boiling hot all the time! The house we stayed in was very good as well and we would definitely stay there again. As usual though, the time there went too quick, but we will definitely be back at some point in the near future!

During the Summer hols, I took Aaron to watch Cars 3 in the cinema. We had a lovely time and enjoyed watching the film together! 😉

For the first week of the school holidays this year, we went up to Largs to stay in the house Kelly and myself stayed in 11 years ago with Kelly’s family.  Nan Nan and Pops went as well and Mike and Alex and Caleb also stayed but at different times. We had a nice week apart from the house was quite filthy when we arrived unfortunately, so we had to complain, and the weather wasn’t great. But it was a good break away from the norm.

Friday 28th July

I had a half day at work so Kelly and the boys picked me up at 12pm. We started our long journey up but we were only going as far as Stafford as we decided to break the journey in two to make it easier for the boys. The journey was still meant to take over 4 hours though but ended up taking nearly 8 as the traffic was ridiculous on the M5! We stopped in McDonalds at Cullompton on the way and had some nice food, but that was extremely busy as well. We eventually made it to the Travelodge at Stafford Services at about 19:45 and had to unpack our overnight bags in the pouring rain. All of the nice food in the services was gone as well, due to us arriving so late, so we didn’t really have anything nice to eat for tea and what Coby and Aaron had was mislabeled. They were meant to have had a cheese and ham baguette but it turned out to have mustard in as well, which was really spicy! Poor boys. We ended up just eating snacks for tea before settling down for the night. It was a bit of nightmare start to the holiday really!

Saturday 29th July

We couldn’t sleep too well so we were up nice and early to continue the journey. Nan Nan and Pops had left early in the morning and so had reached the services just before we were ready to set off, so they parked up for a break and the dogs had a bit of a runaround. We eventually left just before 9am and had a good clear bit of road for a while before we hit more traffic due to an accident.  So we had to sit through more of that for a long time before being able to continue. We stopped a couple more times for toilet breaks and dinner and eventually pulled up in front of the house in Largs at roughly 3pm. We then had to take all our baggage in to the house in the torrential rain only to find the house hadn’t really been cleaned at all, and was covered in dust and grime. At least we were glad to have got there as we had sat in the car for a very long time over the two parts of the journey. The boys did very well really and didn’t complain too much! We just had to keep giving them snacks and drinks and making sure they were watching something on the tablet! 😉

After we had unloaded, Kelly and Nan Nan went to Morrisons to stock up on some food for the week. We had already decided to have a takeaway that evening already. So, I went with Ben and Pops into Largs and parked up and Ben and I went to get an Indian whilst Pops went to get Fish and Chips. It took ages for the Indian to be cooked and once we got home found that it was horrible. What a shame! It was burning hot spice wise and my Rogan Josh looked the same as the Chicken Tikka Masala, which didn’t even look like a Chicken Tikka Masala.  So we wasted money on this and we didn’t really eat it! Oh well!

Later that evening, once the rain had stopped, we went for a quick walk down along the Firth of Clyde and into the town. We didn’t stay long as the rain started again, but we had a few goes in the arcade before walking back home again. 

We then found that underneath the beds were disgusting and looked like they hadn’t been cleaned for months, so Kelly and I ended up hoovering and cleaning ours and the boys bedrooms. Kelly then managed to speak to one of the owners of the house to complain and sent some photos as it really was disgusting.

Eventually, the boys went to bed and so did we. It had been a very interesting start to our holiday in Largs!

Sunday 30th July

I was awake very early on the Sunday so decided to go for a jog along the coastline. It was a lovely jog and I did a good 4 miles as well, in a good time! When I got back we had a cooked breakfast, even the boys! They had already had cereal as well! We then relaxed for a bit before walking down to the shops and along the coastline again. As we hadn’t had anything sweet, and were still full up from our cooked breakfast, we thought we would just have some ice creams, so we ended up in Nardini’s and had a Sundae each. It was very nice, although quite costly! We then wandered back to the house for the afternoon. 

During the early evening, we all decided to go for a walk down to the Pencil. We ended up driving down with Nan Nan and Pops and had a nice walk around there. We then walked back up towards the house whilst Kelly and Pops drove the cars around. It was a nice evening as the rain had finally stopped, so was a nice walk around.

Monday 31st July

We had to get up early on the Monday as we had booked a train trip into Glasgow City Centre at about 8:30am. We got there in plenty of time and got some good seats so we could look out of the window during the journey. It took just over an hour to arrive at Glasgow Central station which we found to be massive and in a very old style. It looked like something straight out of Harry Potter – it was really nice to look at. We nipped to the toilets and then walked outside to try and find the City Sightseeing bus stop, as we had also booked a days on and off trip on the sightseeing bus (as we had done in Cardiff last year and Bath the year before). We eventually found it and boarded and started our first tour around the city. Unfortunately, it started to rain during the journey, so we had to leave the open top seats on the top of the bus to some that were under cover. We continued the tour and got off again at St George’s Square, which happened to be stop number 1 on the tour. The sun had come out by now so it had turned really warm.  We had a good look around the Square before going into a conveniently located Wetherspoons for dinner.  The food was very nice so we were all fat and full when we left to go on the tour around the city again.  This time, we were able to stay on the open top section throughout as the sun was quite scorching and the full tour lasted nearly an hour and a half. It was so warm that Coby actually fell asleep and was cuddled up to Kelly for half of the tour. We got to see lots of the sights of Glasgow and were told lots of interesting facts and figures, so it was highly enjoyable.

We got off again back at stop number 1 and went for a walk around the shops and ended up in Hamleys in one of the shopping centres as the boys had some money to spend. We all bought something (apart from Mummy!) so we were happy. We then had a further walk around the place before deciding to catch the train home a little earlier than planned but it was still nearly 6pm and we were all tired out and our feet were hurting. We only just managed to get on to the train as a lot of workers were on it travelling home as well, but we again managed to get decent seats by a window.

Once we arrived back in Largs, the weather was still lovely, so we walked back along the coastline to the house and got some sandwiches for tea before relaxing for the rest of the evening. It had been a lovely day in Glasgow and all three of the boys loved having a ride on a train and on the bus!

Tuesday 1st August

We didn’t really have anything planned for the Tuesday as we didn’t know if we were going to be tired out still from all the walking in Glasgow, and the weather wasn’t meant to be very good.  So we didn’t really rush around when we got up but lazed around the house before deciding to go down the coast to Saltcoats to take the boys to the cinema to watch Despicable Me 3 and then into a soft play area in the same complex.  We took some sandwiches with us to eat on the way, although it was only about 30 mins to get there. We ended up parked up in the cinema and soft play complex’s car park, which was overlooking the sea and Saltcoats seafront. The wind was awful so we ate our quick lunch in the car before going into the cinema to get our tickets and some popcorn for the film. This was the first time that Coby had ever been to the cinema, so we weren’t sure if he would keep still and quiet throughout, but he did! He loved every minute of it and enjoyed the film loads!  It was Ben and Aaron’s second time at the cinema so we knew they would be OK. 😉 The film was great and really funny, so we all enjoyed it. Once it had finished, we went into the soft play area and the boys had a couple of hours running around in there, which they all enjoyed as well. Kelly and I had some time to sit down and relax!

By the time the 2 hours were up, it was time to drive back to the house as it was late afternoon, although we did take a slight detour further down the coast before turning around and driving back up to Largs. We had tea when we got back and then, as it was dry in the evening, we went for a walk into the shops and went in the arcade for a bit.

Wednesday 2nd August

We all got up a good time and made sandwiches to take with us as we decided to go to Loch Lommond for the day. We also had money off vouchers for the Sea Life Centre there, so we had that to visit as well. Nan Nan came with us to help show us the way to get there but we ended up getting there with no issues. The weather was dry in the morning, which was lucky, so we had a good walk around the visitor centre area and along part of the Loch.  We also had a quick look in the shops there, but they were very expensive! There was a nice big park there as well, so the boys went in there for a while before we went back to the car to eat our dinner.

Once all the food had been scoffed, we went into the Sea Life Centre, which was very busy. We weren’t expecting very much really, as the one in Newquay was pretty rubbish the last time we went, and you could view all the exhibits in less than an hour.  So we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually really good – especially the Otter section where you could see them under water! We had a good look through the centre and attended the Otter and Ray feed, which was good. The boys loved it in there and were very excited to see all the fish and the Seahorses.  We spent a good couple of hours there in the end, and also went to the top of the centre before we left, to a ‘look out’ area where you can view right down the Loch.  The boys also got a free badge each for completing a questionnaire as you went around the exhibits, so they were happy with those. 

We then went home and got stuck in the rush hour traffic in Greenock but also nipped into Tesco there to try and get some medicine for Kelly as she had a slight recurrence of her Tonsilitis that she had only just recovered from before we went to Scotland. We also ended up going along a different route as there was a road closed, so it took ages to get back to the house in the end! Mike had flown up as well during the day, so was there when we got home.  We had pizzas for tea but couldn’t go out for a walk afterwards as the weather was atrocious with heavy rain and wind. So we ended up staying in all evening and playing Uno.

Thursday 3rd August

Like Tuesday, we didn’t really have anything planned so we didn’t rush to do anything first thing in the morning.  We had a cooked breakfast and then decided, as the weather was actually sunny and hot, that we would take a trip on the ferry across to the Isle of Cumbrae. We didn’t get off the ferry this time but had a ride there and back.  It was the first time the boys had been on a ferry as well and they all enjoyed it.

When we were on dry land again, we had a look through the shops again and ended up at the arcade with Mike for a while.  The boys had gathered loads of tickets by now and were hoping to get more before we left on Saturday to get some good prizes!

After we had used up all our change for the day, we went back to the house and played football outside in the adjoining little field where there used to be a pony when we last stayed there.  Alex and Caleb had arrived by now as well, so they were settling in when we got back, so Caleb joined in with the football.

We had pasta for tea that night and then went for a walk down along the coastline and into the town again and ended up back at the arcade, before going home and the boys quickly managed to play in the park for 10 minutes before it got too dark and cold.

Friday 4th August

Mike and I got up early and went for a jog along the seafront, but my time wasn’t as good this time as we were chatting throughout! We did a good 4 miles though, so it wasn’t too bad.

Once washed and breakfast eaten, we went (with Mike) to Braehead shopping centre for a look around and where the boys spent some of their holiday money. We then went to see the adjoining entertainment complex as we wanted to show the boys the massive indoor ski slope.  They were very amazed by it and Coby wanted to have a go! 🙂 We then had a quick look around the rest of the building that housed numerous restaurants and arcades, an IMAX cinema, Ten Pin bowling, a climbing wall and a few other shops, before heading back to the car and back home.

When we got back, a lot of Kelly’s family had arrived to visit (we were a bit late getting back!). We quickly had some sandwiches for dinner whilst the family headed on down for a walk into the town, before following them. We caught up with them and Kelly’s Aunty Rosena bought the boys an ice cream each, which was very nice of her. Of course, none of Kelly’s family from Scotland that were there (apart from Kelly’s Gran) had met the boys before, so the boys had no idea who they were! Everyone had a nice time walking and chatting before going back to the house for a bit, to catch up further. They all left before tea time so we decided to go and have fish and chips and park up along the other side of Largs near the boating lake (which was empty unfortunately). We got the fish and chips from the place on the seafront next to Wetherspoons and it was very nice, although we did have to wait for a while for it to be cooked. Nan Nan, Pops, Mike, Alex and Caleb also came and parked up with us.

After we had finished eating, we split up and whilst we went for a drive along the cost back down to Saltcoats, the others went back to the house. We stopped off along the way next to the coast to take in the view and then stopped off in the cinema car park in Saltcoats to have a quick walk out towards the sea. It was lovely weather during the evening, if not slightly too windy! We then made our way back to Largs via Asda in Ardrossan and spent the rest of the evening packing our stuff up (or as much as we could!) before our journey home the next day.

Saturday 5th August

Well, it was our last morning in Scotland already.  The week had gone so fast! We wanted to try and make the most of the time left so we walked into the shops and had a proper look around this time. Previously, we had just scanned the shops and not really gone in for a proper look. We got some fudge and the boys spent a little bit of their money on souvenirs. On the way to the shops, the boys finally were able to spend a good amount of time playing in the park. Every other time that we walked past, it was either late or raining so the boys hadn’t really had a good opportunity to have a proper play there.  Once we had finished in the shops we went into the Paddle Steamer Wetherspoons pub for dinner. The pub was set out like a steamer boat and it was very nice. The food was good also so we were very happy with it. We then went into the arcade to spend our final bits of change and for the boys to get prizes for the nearly 1,500 tickets that they had amassed during the week! As there was so many tickets, they managed to get 3 prizes each, so they were all happy. We then stopped in the little Nardini’s ice cream shop and got our last ice cream of our holiday before strolling back to the house to finish packing the car. We were a little later leaving than we had planned as it was now past 2pm but we did stop in at the Pencil on the way to have one final walk along there. We managed to get about half way to the Pencil before it started to rain, typically, so we headed back to the car and started our journey back to the mid-way point hotel in Stafford that we were staying in that night.

We ended up going the wrong way to get back on the motorway (somehow!) so we had a bit of a scenic tour of the Scottish countryside before we did get back on the correct route! It did add a little extra time to the journey but we didn’t mind too much! We did good time down to the hotel in Stafford even with stopping a couple of times for a break and to have our sandwiches for tea, and we had a good trip back home on the Sunday morning.

All in all, we had had a great week in Largs, even if we did have issues with the cleanliness of the house! We had visited some great places and met up with the family as hoped.  There were still lots of places that we would have liked to go so, no doubt, we will go up to Scotland for a holiday again soon. The weather could have been a lot better and warmer, but it didn’t really matter too much.  The boys loved it there and were sad to go home but they had a good time in the soft play, the cinema, the park, the arcade, the Sea Life centre, etc and had plenty of ice cream!  As mentioned, we will definitely be going back again, but too a different house!

I completely forgot until today, that back in February, I took Ben and Aaron to the cinema for the first time! Dear me…my memory! haha

Coby was at a party with Mummy so I took the opportunity to take the other two into the Reel cinema in the centre of town to watch the Lego Batman Movie.  I hadn’t been in that cinema for nearly 20 years and found it to be very rundown now unfortunately. The material on the seats was all ripped and the paint was coming off the cinema walls but it did bring back good memories from when I was growing up that I wanted to try and share with Ben and Aaron.

Before the film started, they stocked up on sweets and went to the toilet a couple of times. We had already booked the tickets online so we didn’t have to buy them there and they were much cheaper than the Vue Cinema! We then sat down in an ideal place and watched the film, which we all enjoyed.

Of course, Aaron ate all of his sweets too quickly and started to feel sick about half way through the film, and was asking when the film was ending! Tut! I knew Aaron was going to do that! 😉 Anyway, he wasn’t sick (thank goodness) and Ben was fine throughout. 

When the film had finished, we met Mummy and Coby at McDonalds for some dinner, so it was a great morning and the boys enjoyed their first visit to the cinema. 😉

1st Cinema Trip