"It is better to travel well than to arrive."

Booking a holiday, as exciting as it is, can also be very stressful! With so much to organise before you actually board the plane, the build up can be quite a daunting time. As a parent, I am thankful for anything that makes the trip that little bit easier on everyone and this year before heading off to Florida my favourite company came to our aid, helping with something that worries us every time we go away. There is a lot of walking involved at the airport, which I guess I don't really notice that much because I am so focused on getting from A to B with all the bags etc. For Seth though, all this walking can be very stressful due to the effect his muscle condition has on his legs. 

If we have to walk long distance while at home, there is a lot of stopping and starting so that Seth can relax his legs before starting the next leg of the journey (haha). A few years ago we started an ongoing adventure with a company that has changed our lives in so many ways and helping Seth get to his destination quicker and with a little less strain on his legs was one of them. Being able to push and roll gave Seth much more confidence getting about and really changed our outdoor play. So much so that before heading out to the states, Seth, along with all of us in fact, were talking about how much we wished we could have taken all of the Micro Scooters away with us.

As much as we would have loved to take the four scooters away, it was Seth that could have done with one the most and Micro (being the AMAZING company that they are), had a very special scooter, suitable for our needs, taking the strain off of Seth and giving him the confidence to be on his feet a little longer than he probably would have liked, while turning heads and giving him a huge amount of street cred! 

The ladies were swooning as Seth scooted by...

The Steve Aoki Micro Luggage Scooter is an awesome bit of kit, with its colourful quirky design it had everyone taking at the airport as Seth whizzed by. Being able to maneuver from baggage, through to security then to the shops before making our way to the departure lounge on wheels made all the difference to Seth's legs, and the smile on his face as he did so was contagious. With certain points of the airport being too busy to scoot, due to the number of people about, being able to turn the luggage scooter into a trolley to pull along made our journey even more productive.

With a 26 litre capacity, the Micro luggage scooter is perfect for hand luggage, which means your wheels can stay with you throughout the entire journey. This was great as I don't think Seth wanted to let it out of his sight. If the look, feel and fact that it revolutionalises your travel isn't enough, the SoundtoGo sound system included (yes is has a speaker built in!), easily connects to your phone via Bluetooth making it possible to listen to your favourite music as you scoot along. 

While reading the box when the scooter arrived, Opeie informed me of who Steve Aoki is and his favourite Aoki remix (yes our 5-year-old is that cool!).

“Nothing makes a room feel emptier than wanting someone in it.”

The problem with deciding to have a couple of weeks of intermittent writing is that you spend the following few weeks playing catch up. A couple of weeks back Mrs M had to work away for a week in Holland and it was the first time we have had to spend this sort of time away from her. I wont lie it was really difficult, not because I need her home to help with things, me and the boys had that covered but more because we just need he about. All those little things that sometimes we take for granted, like tucking the boys in at night, reading, the crazy sofa acrobatics that they do and for me the way she looks at me when she tells me she loves me had been put on standby for 5 days.

For Mrs M the time flew by because she was so busy, but for us, not so much. She may not have been with us but she made sure that despite being away she made a huge amount of effort to make us all feel special (Do you remember the treasure hunt?). To show her how special she is to us, we spent our time making a banner so that we could surprise her at the airport.

The Friday evening we picked her up was really emotional. I had given myself a headache through the sheer excitement of her coming home, the boys were eager to get to the station the day before she was due to get back and as soon as Mrs M saw our boys standing there with their banner there was floods of tears. Despite the fact that we were away from her for the week, myself and the boys are so proud of what she has achieved this year in her career. For someone that puts so much effort in to everything she does and is passionate about her work she deserves everything that is coming her way.

Mrs M, you are an amazing person and I feel so lucky every day that you go to such lengths to look after us, I hope you know how much we adore you. X

"If we took a holiday. Took some time to celebrate. Just one day out of life. It would be, it would be so nice".

 It seems that summer is now a thing of the past and we are back to having our family days out ruined by the grotty weather. Last weeks pumpkin and conker hunt ended in an inevitable down pour and Mrs M has complained many times in the last week or so that she has soggy feet. Carrying Opeie about on my shoulders has now turned into me trying to avoid muddy foot marks down my coat. We need a holiday! it's been 18 months since our last proper holiday. This thought was only made more clear today when we opened the boot to get an umbrella and saw our Visit Orlando umbrella staring back at us. 

Even Seth has been desperately looking through his books for pictures of bright skies and sunshine to try and cheer himself up. I thought id write a post about booking a holiday to try and take my mind off the rain thrashing it down outside. Plus Seth has been desperate to make some airport related lego pieces.

Booking a holiday can be quite a stressful time (for Mrs M that is). She is quite the negotiator when it comes to planning that perfect family time away, so I leave her to her own devices. I may make many sarcastic comments about her habits but Mrs M's obsession with making lists has never steered us wrong yet (it's a habit that Seth seems to have taken up too, list after list after list). Once the booking is out of the way, transport sorted, insurance, money, cases, those special locks you need for those cases, transfers, car seats, travel adapters and airport parking It's time for Mrs M's pack the car with cases for a test run activity (yes she's very organised).

And then it's time for my least favourite part of the holiday, hanging around the airport waiting to depart. I never like this part and always feel a little anxious but I guess a lot of people feel the same. Sending your cases off through that black hole with plastic tassels wondering if its going to be there waiting at the other end

Having to send your hand luggage through the x-ray machine can be a little daunting too especially with all the limitations of what you can and can't take through.

 There's something about having to walk through the metal detectors that makes you feel a bit like a criminal, I'm always expecting them to go off and that sinking feeling in my stomach only goes when I've stepped through beep free. Maybe that's just me though, I get like it coming out of shops sometimes too.

Once that's out the way though there's the sitting in a waiting area for x amount of time twiddling our thumbs. We took full advantage of virgins V room last year which was great and made our waiting around that little bit more bearable.

(Mrs M has taken to living in her new Pj's while at home so it's only right that her minifigure does too)

Although the airport arrival time can be daunting its usually over within three hours and then you're on your way to your holiday destination, it's a shame that's not now for us as the rain beats off our Lounge window and I'm having to sit here wearing a jumper... And socks!!

I cant wait to get out of this country for a bit at some point this weather always puts me in this gloomy mood.