Thunderbirds are GO!

I wasn't intending to actually talk about Thunderbirds today, but once I had typed in the title, the image followed and then I just had to talk about the TV show!

Thunderbirds was one of my favourite TV shows when I was a child. I loved it, bad plots, strings and all. I guess it was a sign that I would later enjoy such movies as Airplane, Hotshots, Undercover Brother and Team America.

I had most of the toys too, except for Lady Penelope's car, which I thought was a girl's toy. My pride and joy was my metal Thunderbird 2, which by some strange accident was blue. I knew it was wrong, but I still loved it. A couple of years ago I was watching a TV show about collectible toys - my blue Thunderbird 2 is now an incredibly valuable collector's item, as it seems that only a few were sent out before someone realised the mistake and they changed them to green. My toy is, of course, long gone :-(

Anyway, on to the real subject of this post - we have finally been able to book up for a short camping trip in August, using our new tent. If all goes well we will go again before the end of the summer. Should be great fun, so long as we don't run into too many thunderstorms. Whatever happens I am sure it will be an "experience" for the kids...

Stay-cations

This leads me into a meme that Kiki tagged me for. Given that the cost of travel is rising sharply, more and more people are opting to stay at home for their holidays instead of jetting away to somewhere exotic. This was pointed out on the local radio this morning when it was stated that this summer looks like being the start of the return of major British tourism to our area. Years ago, the south and east of England was a major destination for British holidaymakers, headed for a traditional seaside holiday. Cheap holidays in the Mediterranean squashed that, but the wheel is turning again...

Anyway, the meme asks what you do or would do if you stayed at home for a holiday. This is easy, as this is exactly what we have done for the last couple of years!

Main activities are:

Day trips along the coast to a lovely seaside town that has SANDY BEACHES, cute little shops and the best bakery around.

Walks with the dog, often involving a picnic on the beach. The kids often ride their bikes on these walks

Trips to the local seafront to play the slot machines - during the winter, we save up our small coins in a big bottle for these trips.

Dinner at a rather good but very cheap Chinese restaurant that we know.

Fake barbecues cooked in doors on our George Foreman grill.

Endless ice cream with all sorts of stuff chucked on top.

I think that pretty well covers it! Relaxation, time with the family and a lot of fun. You don't have to go to Spain for that!