February 2010

Hello all.

Well not too much to talk about from the Longworth clan this month. We've been busy getting ourselves sorted for my move back to Wycombe. I can't wait! This will be the first time Sharon and I have served at the same unit since 2004.

Well, as you're all aware, Sharon & I have got our plots for working abroad for the next year and we've not got anywhere too concerning so I guess that makes family & friends happy.

Emily & Hannah both had their H1N1 jabs, Hannah has taken to being a happy slapper - which we're addressing, and Emily is just Emily. Both are just too cute for their own good.

We're hoping to start getting round the family in England, Ireland & Wales soon so hopefully theres some photographs to share about that. I had a quick review of the blog & there's not a lot of our families on so tht will be rectified this year for sure.
We have some photographs of the kids for February which I'll add in the next few days.

Peace & Love

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one & all.

It's been a while!!!.........

Well, I reckon it was about time that I took a bit more time on the blog. 2010 will be a better year for us, especially so because I'll be working at the same unit as Sharon; the first time since 2004!

Sharon's doing fine. As are Emily & Hannah. They both loved Christmas day. We didn't take them to midnight mass; they're far too young for that yet.

We've been over to Fermanagh a couple of times in 2009 looking at houses. I reckon we'll find that dream house this year and then that'll be us ready for settling down there in 2012.

Anyways, here are a few pictures of the clan from 2009.......

I'll be back each month to update the blog.....it's a New Years resolution!

France August 2009

Our summer holidays for 2009 were at a holiday resort at Domaine De Kerlann in Brittany. We had been before in 2007 when Emily was just coming up to her first birthday. This time around, Hannah was just over her first birthday and Emily had her 3rd birthday. It was nice going back to the place where Emily had her first foreign holiday

Here’s a selection of pictures from the holiday…

These were in Lorient, a beautiful seaport town where we found a park for the kids to play in after looking round…

Followed by Emilys favourite snack of chocolate croissant...

We went for a great day out at a small town called Chateauneuf and had a lovely walk down a riverbank after lunching at a beautiful little cafe..

Like I said, it was Emily’s 3rd birthday and she loved her party and trip into Quimper

I couldn’t resist putting this picture of Emily giving her Ma a gig cuddle..

Our favourite place on both our visits has been Pont Avon, a really picturesque little town……

There were loads of nice beaches around Brittany…

& here's a picture of our accommodation…….

It was a great holiday. The kids both loved it; as did Sharon and I. Even the entertainment put on by the site, something we normally avoid like the plague, was ok. We took Emily & Hannah up to the dance every other night…

Would we go back again? I think so. The people are friendly, the countryside is beautiful, and its reasonably priced. Yes, it’s worth further visits.

Ireland June 2009

Hi again folks. Well, I've been a bit poor on the old blog front and despite all my promises to do retro entries, I've left it so long that it seems a bit of an impossible task to update. To that end, I'll just put in an entry from a holiday in Ireland and a holiday in France.

So here's the blog from Ireland:

We went over in late June 2009 to see Sharon's family and also to look for a house (I've about two & a half years left before I return to Ireland to set up home).

We stayed with Sharon's sister, Denise, who always looks after us when we go home. Emily & Hannah love Auntie Denise's. Emily moreso bu thats to be expected; she's Emily's godmother.

Anyway, here's a picture of Denise & Sharon on a quay on the Loch Erne....

As always, Sharons family looks after us when we come home. Shirelle, Sharon's sis in law, always makes sure we're included in the family and she's an absolute star. This visit, she'd organised a bar-b-que for the Griffith clan.................

We went across the border to Bundoran in Donegal

Well, this is a short looksee at Ireland....

...France is next.......

Last outing to London

On 21 March 2009, we headed out of Stanmore - once again bound for London. This was to be our last outing to the capital while living in Stanmore. Seems a shame as we loved catching the London Underground to Westminster and then strike out from there. This time however, the line was closed from Green Park. Now - for those of you who don't have kids and not used the tube, I'll have to explain that Green Park is not the most family friendly station for facilities in London...although their staff are wonderful........

Emily had declared that she wanted to see the Queens house.........so off we went! We walked through Marble Arch.....

After Emily had seen Buckingham Palace, after all that travel through the underground - the mile walk - the crowds, she took one look and said 'I don't like it, daddy'. After an inward scream & an outward smile, we had a bit of a pla around & a spot of lunch in St James Park.

A kerfuffle

Hi folks. We're back online now & all settled in the new jobs & new home!! We had an absolute nightmare getting broadband sorted in the new address. BT threw a hissy because there was still an active MAC on the address.....then found out they were the culprits, then seriously arsed us around with cancellations & broken promises.

For a full month of arsing around - being on the phone daily for at least an hour, this was the routine hastle I went through.....whats your order number? your name? your address? no sorry sir, that order has been cancelled. why? I don't know..can I put you on hold while I find out? I'd either wait until the phone went dead (about an hour) or after 1/2 an hour or so, someone would say...can I have your order number? your name etc...then say the order had been cancelled and they would promise to ring me back within the hour or within 24 hours. They never did.

So I told them to shove it, went back to Tiscali cap in hand, and was connected within a week. I wish I'd never looked at BT. I'd even changed my line rental from TalkTalk to BT which I'm seriously regretting. I'm chained to them for 12 months, but as soon as that time has expired, I'll be moving away from them.

Well, we've a small backlog of entries to get through and I've sung BT's praises long enough now.

It's good to be back
:-)

Off Air Again!

Hi to all!

Well, we've moved house, but we're having massive problems getting broadband installed. To spare you the details, it would suffice to say that the Longworths and Tiscali have parted company now. A shame because we've used them for years...way back when it was lineone as a matter of fact. All down to one very stroppy and nasty employee of theirs and a particularly unhelpful and abrasive attitude.

All's well otherwise. Sharon and the kids are fine and we're all settled. We're hoping to be back online properly in a couple of weeks.

Peace & love

Aldenham Park revisited

It was a wonderfully sunny day on Saturday, so it was time to get out and run the kids ragged! As tempting as it was to head into London again, we wanted to get them out into the countryside. Aldenham Park is a great day out. We've been there twice before with Emily and she loved it. Now it was Hannah's turn.

We started off with a lunchtime picnic by the lakeside. This picture doesn't really reflect how much the kids loved it; Hannah look asleep but she just wanted to get out!


It didn't take long before Emily got bored and started running round like a crazy horse!

Then off to feed the ducks.....

After that, we went to see the farm animals.....

We finished up at the play park to finish them off so we could get a decent nights sleep!!

As I said earlier, we'd been there a couple of times before. It's really good value and a fantastic day out. £4 for the car park and that's it! For a full day out in the fresh air, lovely picnic area, a place to feed the ducks, a myriad of farm animals to go and see, a well tended area of childrens activities for all ages....

........no, I'm not on commission from Aldenham Park; it's just one of those little gems that we need to share with you :-)

You may have noticed blurring on some of the pictures........thanks to Emily's first attempts at taking pictures and her insistance on holding it by the lens!!

I'll keep you posted on this weekends visit (where is yet undecided)