D'ya ever wonder where all the other mums of multiples are?

[bubby64]

....or have we scared them all off with our inane chatter and multple moans!

Morning girls x

Trips -

Days 1-3 LA, staying in Anaheim (not sure whether to do disney, universal or sea world - we do all want to see the emperor penguins at seaworld, but we've never been to a universal!) I want to go to Forest Lawns Memorial Park, climb to the hollywood sign, etc. Plus it will be my 35th birthday the day after we land

Days 4-5 San Diego - staying right on the harbour, and hoping to maybe catch a bus over to Tijuana one day

Day 6 Stop for one night in Williams

Day 7-9 Gran Canyon then drive back to Vegas (3 nights at Bellagio, hoping to see Cirque one night)

Day 10 Exploring Death valley then stop at Bishop

Day 11-12 Yosemite, stopping at Modesto for 2 nights

Days 13-15 San Francisco (want to do a night tour of Alcatraz, see the redwoods)

Will be a lot of driving, but we are used to that! I think it totals 1600 miles ish. But the most we have done is 3000 in about the same time, and we've spaced out the three x 3 night stays so there should be plenty of time for a bit of relaxing!

Morning All.
Chops - you are so lucky!, Both trips sound wonderful, and DH is wonderful too for staying home with kids when you go to Canada.
Trips/Shabs - My James was caught by us on line last night, or should I say at 1am this morning- I have now put user time restrictions on his laptop!
Well, at work for the lat 2 days before my operation, which, hopefully, will be done on Monday. TBH, I am looking forwards to the fact that I have to be on bed/chair rest afterwards although how frustrated I will be like after the first 2 weeks I don't know! I am fed up of being the one to run around trying to organize everybody else's life at the moment, because they cant be bothered to organize themselves!

bubby, are they going to give you a wheelchair so you aren't housebound? if not the red cross loan them out.
I've caught dd online at stupid hours too, she uses her phone, so now it stays outside the bedroom!

Ruby, we booked the flights and car hire, then we HAD to fill in all the gaps! Did take quite a lot of hours googling and researching but we got there in the end. I like to have everything planned out - I didn't want to waste time when we got there hunting for cheap hotels or worrying where we were going to stop that night. I've had I think one holiday where we didn't plan for the first week and it got to the second week and we were in a blind panic with all these things to still fit in before we went home!

I will have full day plans worked out before we go I usually alternate busy days with more relaxing, local ones and we get tons done that way.

Were flying into LA and out of San Fran. Only thing is though, that it means we can't fit in the coastal drive down as well as everything else. If we had three full weeks I would have liked to have done that too, so prob wouldn't have done multi-airport.

When you thinking of going? We're going pretty much as soon as the schools break up. dd and ds1 go off to camp first week of the holiday, to Norwich and then my parents will be having them for a fortnight straight after that.

dd was a bit miffed that she not coming cali, but Montreal will make up for that, and ds1 doesn't care less where he goes!

It also means we can ditch the car in San Fran - as parking there is very expensive and it's not really good to drive around. Not looking fw to trying to get to the airport wiht no car though! I think ideally we would have started in san fran, picked up the car on day 3, done it all backwards, and finished in LA.

Hi Chops - have already tried local Red Cross loans, they have not got one available at the moment! Thing is, we have one at work we use very occasionally, only 3 times last year, and as we now also have a carry chair, I might see if I can borrow that. It has come round quick, but not quick enough for me, I am struggling to walk any distance at all now, and the day we went to the cinema showed how bad things had got, as DH had to fetch the car and collect me after the show, because the short walk into town and back, maybe 1/3 mile altogether, tops, took me ages, and had caused me so much pain I couldn't walk any further after. Yes, I am nervous, but more about DH and boys managing afterwards than the actual surgery. I can just see myself sitting there pulling my hair out at the chaos around me and not being able to do much about it

mm, that would be my fear! Prob is a good thing at least though, that it did get brought forward. Can you plan some stuff for dh to do with the kids that involves them getting out of the house?

Shame I can't ship DS1's chair up to you, it's very small though, with bright yellow smiley faced wheels

Bubbs remind me what they are actually going to do, it will be frustrating for you but just think, all over for the Spring and you will literally have a new spring in your step!
Chops, lucky you, have done those places three times on various drives, San Diego to Williams is going to be a long day, really check out gas stations as they can be few are very far in between! Can you tell me why Modesto? It has a special place in my heart! If you want to do SEAWORLD then do it when you are in San Diego. Where are you staying in Williams? Are you driving to the Canyon or taking the train from Williams? Me wants to go................that was our last proper holiday in 2007 before dh got ill. 4 wonderful weeks touring, amazing even the kids who were only 9 at the time still talk about it.

Morning girls x

Thanks for the tip, trips. It is going to be a very long drive, but wanted to make an early start for the Grand Canyon. I looked at the train, it looks really fun but very £££ so we will probably drive.

It just happened tht there was a rather nice little hotel in Modesto with a pool for a couple of days relaxing - hotels in Yosemite itself were rather pricey. Dh has sll the booking confirmations so I'm not sure which one we did book. Do tell me your story!

I wish we had four weeks there! Tbh DH work were funny about him taking three weeks off!

Dd broke my keyboard she chucked coffee all over it. It's now acting drunk, spewing random crap. I got one down from the loft, but tht also inserts random letters, so I'm on the iPad. Need keyboard!

Morning girls xx

Hi Chops - really envious here!
Trips - I'm having this done, but with the addition of a screw going up through the heel bone, and a small bone graft to be taken from my hip.
Panic here last night, gone 10pm and James was going up his bed ladder (they have wooden midi sleepers) when the step broke! He fell off and injured his L ankle too- so a trip to A+E, with me thinking he had a break, and the Dr there thought so too, but x-ray didn't show one, so just a bad sprain, but they are having the x-ray re-looked at today just in case! Now he is at home with leg in tubigrip and on crutches, having to sleep on the sofa as he cant get up into his bed!!
Poor DH, coping with 2 of us limping about. Trouble is, I spoke to a friend who happened to be manning A+E reception last night, and she said beds were very short, so I might find the whole thing cancelled Monday.
By the way Chops, I have a wheel chair sorted now, my colleague has one in her garage she used for her grandfather until he passed away last year, she is going to loan me that.

Oh no...........crutches all round!
Chops, my love affair with the States started way back in 1963, I was 11 years old and just started secondary school. I met a new girl who was to become at the time my new best friend. We both loved writing and decided we should find a pen-pal. We wrote a letter each and popped it inside an envelope and wrote on the outside
To the Head Teacher
Any Girls School
India
We then did the same to America,France, Sweden, Italy etc.
Within weeks letters started arriving, the first being from Karen Scultz
1622, Sherwood Ave, Modesto, Calif 95350. Over the years the others tailed off but Karen and I are going strong. She has been here twice, and we have been to her in 91,93, 95 and 2007 our last big holiday. Karen calls Modesto a "cow town", its big and sprawling, you dont walk anywhere. It was famous in the 70s for a film called American Graffiti, I think still they drive the cars in a parade up and down McEnery Ave. We went to a fun place there called the A&W Root Beer Comp, its a drive in and the waitresses take your order from the car on roller skates!! Also we went to the Gallo Bros winery, thats in Modesto and to the Blue Diamond farm where they do heavenly almonds of every flavour. When Harry was really ill on chemo 2 years ago Karen sent over a huge jar of his favourite Smokehouse ones, cost her $30 in postage!! I am sooooo envious, poor Harry has spent a frustrating afternoon trying to get travel ins to cover his cancer so that we can have a proper holiday this year and go back to America, They have all turned him down, even though he is in remission, has survived the 5 yr marker. Its grossly unfair, with his cancer the only time he is ill is when he is on chemo. He only knows he has a new tumour when he is scanned, no symptoms. He is not going to be in the mall in Modesto and keel over like someone with a heart condition might. They have all declined, so we either go and risk it, or we are to never go back and holiday in Uk or Europe.................I cant bear to think I wont ever do that road trip again.:(
Rubes In San Fran we had a 2 bed suite in a small hotel nr Fishermans Wharf, one block from the tram. In Yosemite we had a cabin, in Vegas we had a suite at the Venetian, 2 queen bed +rollaway.............omg it was fab! In Sedona we rented a private house for 5 nights...................utterly stunning, in Williams we had 2 rooms at the Red Garter Saloon............amazing, right on route 66. In Palm Desert we stayed at The Shadow Ridge Resort a Marriott hotel, a 2 bedroom suite, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven, we ended up in Anaheim where we rented a small cottage minutes from Disney. I would do it all again tomorrow, I love researching, finding quirky places, it is AWESOME :)

Let me know Rubes where you want to go and I`ll look.

Just remembered where we stayed in San Fran, it was our first night, drove from the airport thru the city, grid system seemed easy to follow. We stayed 2 nights at The Columbus Inn on Columbus, great location and had free parking. We had a 2bed suite +rollaway. There was a supermarket a few mins walk, so we bought a pic-nic supper and a bottle of wine and collapsed! From our room you could see the eerie light on Alcatraz!

Morning. Very jealous with the holiday road trip planning

We're off to centre parks for 5 days at the end of the month. Cannot come soon enough.

All chaotic here as usual. Took kids to soft play yesterday with my sister and her youngest two. Joshua had great fun crawling everywhere while Jennifer loved chilling in the swing. Nicely wore everyone out.

Today's plans are a rather more sedate family lunch with two of the children's godparents at their house. I've not seen them in a while so looking forward to that.

Hope you all have peaceful weekends.

It sounds amazing, trips. I'd love to be able to afford to do all the quirky places, but we looked at that red garter inn and it was way beyond our budget! How you met all the pen pals is lovely, dd would love to do something like that, I wonder if it would still work today. WIll be taking notes on Modesto, would love to see the car parade and I think the boys would be blown away by the drive thru!

Regarding the insurance, can't any cancer charities help? It seems absurd that he is still not insurable. There is a list here of brokers that do cover cancer patients, will none of those insure him.

oh and trips, I was speaking to my aunt in Canada yesterday. They do road trips every winter, from Ontario, Canada to Florida

It takes them two days! I would LOVE to do that.

Morning all, got a migraine threatening, so going to have a quiet day, if thats poss with my lot. Chops we have tried them all, they say they cover then after 20 mins of answering questions they turn you down, its very depressing. What else could we do as exciting?