Summer update

Well, we're 4 weeks into the summer holidays and it's been fairly uneventful. The restaurant has been very busy, which is good, but the weather has been pretty lousy, which is bad! The kids have not been up to a lot but they have been going to a play scheme organized by the local leisure centre. They go every Tuesday afternoon for 3 hours and they swim (and play on a big bouncy castle in the pool!), circuit training, football, basketball, crafts.... they're kept very busy and best of all - it's free!! They've also started going kayaking (in the pool) on Sunday afternoons which they both really enjoy and though it's not free, it's only just over £3 each per session which is really very reasonable. The downside of the playscheme has been that Katia has caught a bug twice - the first was 2 weeks ago when she caught a summer cold which lingered for about 2 weeks - and this week she caught a stomach bug - which was really not very pleasant at all! Luckily, none of us have caught anything from her (touch wood)!

Two weeks ago, Michael, a young lad who used to work for us 3 years ago, had 10 days off from where he currently works and volunteered to cover for Martin so that he could have a few nights off here. He worked with Martin on a couple of nights first, then was on his own for 4 nights at the beginning of August. We had originally planned to go away, but as there seems to be so many little jobs that we do without even thinking about it and making a list and assigning other people to do them seemed too much work, so we decided to stay here, get our jobs done early and have the rest of the day off. We managed to have a day out in Liverpool which we all enjoyed. I have been on a shopping excursion before, but Martin had never been before. He'd always thought of Liverpool as being a bit of a dump, but they've done quite alot of work to improve the centre and the historical buildings are really beautiful. Here's a link to my photos on Facebook.

We liked it so much that the kids & I are going on a coach excursion there this Saturday - it will be a very early start though - leaving at 7:15 am! We also managed to have a meal out one evening at a local restaurant - a new Caribbean-themed restaurant. It was very nice - and spicy! The kids managed to eat most of theirs - but it was a tad too hot, even for Spicy Girl Katia!

We've been opening for most Sunday evenings since the schools broke up, but we took a day off 3 weeks ago and we're also closed tonight. Martin has gone with a friend to do the "14 Peaks". He did it last year - started at around 5 am and finished around 8 pm, but his friend is much less experienced than he is, so they might not even finish - but they will do their best. The kids are going kayaking this afternoon and I had thought about taking them out for Indian food tonight, but perhaps that's not the best idea for Katia who is still suffering with a bit of a dodgy tum! For a change - it is a beautiful day! It's really lovely and I feel quite happy that we don't have to work!