"Adventure time, C'mon grab your friends, We'll go to very distant lands..."

The sun was out and the troops were playing in the garden so I had no excuse I could use for not cleaning out the car. I'd been putting it off for the last few weeks since before our trip to the beach a few weekends back and it was in desperate need of some TLC. The floor was covered in sand and there was wrappers, bits of Lego and clothing everywhere, it was a mess. It thankfully didn't take long to sort out though which was great. As I opened the boot and looked inside ready to sort that out too I felt quite proud at what stared back at me. It really is a family car and the inside of our boot just proves that. 

The Micro scooters are amazing how they fold down so small which has been great for making sure there is always space for them when we're off on our adventures. They have been awesome to have since Seth's bike has got to big for the car. They've quickly become one of the most played with things since the sun decided to start warming everywhere up.

Our boards from Native skate have their own spot too between the pads and the wellies (gotta make sure you have wellies in the car). Seth has started his own personal rota of Scooter, Skateboard, Scooter, Skateboard which is cute. He doesn't want to hurt one of their feelings if he plays with the other more.

Theres usually changes of clothes, fishing nets and buckets and spades which will be back in there soon. You have to be prepared for anything when you are adventuring with the likes of Seth and Opeie. They are so much fun to spend time with and i love that there is a boot full of goodies to keep them entertained now that we are heading towards summer. I'm really looking forward to some serious summer adventuring.

Gifts From The Pirates in Orlando - Driving on the wrong side of the road and rental concerns.

The thought of driving in the US was terrifying me. I didn't let on to Mrs M just how bad my anxiety was because I really didn't want her stressing out. I don't generally tend to be a worrier but the thought of making a wrong turn and driving the wrong way up the highway was filling me with dread. On our last visit to Orlando we stopped on international drive, probably the most popular area for tourists due to there being bus services to all parks and the I Ride Trolley which pretty much takes you wherever you want to in regards to the parks along its epic route. Although the idrive is great if you want to be doing a lot of shopping etc hiring a car is a must as we spent a small fortune last time on taxi's.

This time round though we wanted to try staying somewhere out of the way so we booked a condo in Davenport, because of this a car was really important. i need to get used to the roads anyway as we will be coming here many more times. We've been lucky enough to work with Hertz while on our tour of Orlando and on arrival of the pick up point, despite feeling like a nervous wreck and firing a barrage of questions at our taxi driver about all the possible things I could do wrong on the roads the two chaps at Hertz made me feel right at home and their friendly laid back attitude definitely calmed me down. 

There's a great selection of cars to choose from depending on your preference. For a little run around your looking at around £200 for a fortnight. You can pay for a full tank of gas up front which works out cheaper and for convenience is just what you want to be on your way and enjoying your holiday. There are lots of add ons, which come at a cost. A satnav is a must if you're not familiar with the area it's made our journeys so far effortless. If you have younger children and need car seats there is the option to add them to your hire package but at $70ish each to hire them for 2 weeks we chose another option. For opeie we looked on eBay for a cheap maxi cosy car seat that we could take in our case which we intend to leave here when were done. For Seth we were lucky enough to be sent a BoostApak by Trunki which has turned out to be an amazing and much needed bit of kit, a backpack that transforms in to a car seat, Seth loves it and feels like its some sort of James Bond gadget. Although the carseat is solid and takes up the full shape of the back pack there is still space to pack items to carry about making the backpack usable out of the car too, great work Trunki. (I will write a full review including spec when we're home).

Anyway back to the driving, the guys from Hertz were amazing and fully showed me round the car explaining every part in detail by the time I got behind the wheel though I felt like I was going to be sick, ridiculous when I think about it now as by the time I'd got 10 minutes down the road I felt fine. Because of the 55 speed limit on most of the larger roads driving seems so much more relaxing, plus we're on holiday, there's no racing to do the school run. It's important to know that at a red light you can still turn right as long as you come to a stop and checked oncoming traffic (apparently if you don't stop it's called a 'California roll'). Also if parking on the side of a road always park facing the way the traffic is going or you will be given a ticket.

Here's a few more of our top tips for hiring a car in Orlando with Hertz. 

• There are lots of destinations where you can pick your vehicle up, use the Zip Code tool to work out where is closest to where you're staying, that way the taxi to the pick up centre won't be too much and you'll save time.
   
• Ideally pay before you hire, this saves you money but also makes it easier when hiring due to the way all hire companies put the payment into a pending transaction , which you have to then pay at the end of the contract hire... slightly confusing when you first sign up, as they add $200 onto your rental agreement in case anything gets damaged, as a deposit, again in a holding form payment, which then gets returned to your bank if all is well with the vehicle.
• Hire a GPS as I've said, worth every penny! Saves you time, stress and makes it easier to drive on the opposite side since they prompt everything.
• Book in advance if possible... a lot cheaper than last minute!
• Make sure you keep the keys safe, there's a excess of $200 to pay if they're lost with any rental company.
• Think about taking out the optional $6 a day road side assistance, breakdown cover. Totally worth it when you think how much it would cost to get towed.

•  Make sure you choose a model which is big enough for your luggage , if collecting from the airport, you don't want to struggle making two trips!

Well its been three days on the US roads and I've not hit anyone, got seriously lost and most importantly I have driven along every road in the correct direction, which was my main fear. The first hour or so is a little daunting while you adapt but once you are comfortable driving in Orlando is really relaxing. There are a few drivers in a rush weaving in and out of traffic, you get that everywhere but a large percentage of the drivers on the road happily drive well under the limit (these may of course be other tourists panicking and being over cautious). In regards to both Hertz rental company and the SUV Style vehicle we chose i cannot recommend them enough, The motoring side of the holiday has been a joy.

"Excuse me sir, but might I inquire as to what's going on? "

We always have a good dance when we're in the car, music is a big thing with me and Mrs M, it was our love of music and similar taste that brought us together. We both have quite eclectic taste and we try to introduce lots of different kinds of music to the boys. Today while driving to pick Mrs M up from work we were having our usual 'on the go dance contest' when Opeie started robot dancing, me and Seth obviously saw that as our cue to shake or steel hinges too. It got us on to the conversation of 'what is the best song to do the robot too?" a question that probably crops up daily for most families, right?

We all decided to take it in turns to pick a track and bust a move, Opeie was first up with:

I'm not a big fan of Will i am but i still let my rusty bolts creek, Seth chose something a little more up my street but i had a pretty good idea what he was going to choose. Great song choice Seth:

 And me? well there's only one sure fire track to get me throwing shapes that C3PO would be jealous of:

It doesn't matter where you are or where your going, there's always time to squeeze in a little dance, me and Mrs M can be found quite regularly having a mini dance off when the boys have gone to bed, its great exercise and a great way to shake off the stresses of the day.

If any of you guys can think of another dance I'm sure we could come up with a mini track list to compliment it.

The Breast Vs The Car

Being a stay at home dad is amazing but there is one thing that I really struggle with if we are in the house. I find it really difficult to get Opeie to sleep as before Mrs M went back to work 5 days a week he had a set routine. As I went through my usual struggle today it got me thinking of the two main heavyweights in the battle against getting Opeie to sleep. Mrs M has been breast feeding Opeie for quite some time now and those relaxing and homely glands have given her the advantage on getting Opeie to relax and inevitably fall asleep since day one. My choice of weapon... The car. When I typed 'Breast Vs The Car' as the title I knew there was no competition really, who was I kidding. I know that as a male I definitely favour one from the other myself so I completely understand.

When Opeie is tired and goes down for a feed he looks instantly relaxed and comfortable like he's having some sort of out of body experience. Although the car does get him to sleep the continuous head flopping forward or having to go down a road filled with speed bumps can't be great and means that he doesn't get a completely uninterrupted sleep.

Opeie has to be absolutely exhausted to fall asleep in the car yet sometimes the effort that he has to put in to his feeding can do all the work for us getting him to his point of slumber in record time. I know the car is a poor substitute but short of growing breasts myself its all I've got.

There's also the added pain of being left sitting in the car for an hour while he sleeps, although it does mean I get to write on the blog (usually about what I'm staring at and more times than none what's on my mind/troubling me). When Mrs M is done feeding though she can get up and go about her day (how I long for breasts). She also has the added bonus of being able to pop them out wherever we are, fast food and speedy snoozing. Now I'm  not in anyway saying that Mrs M has it easy, feeding has been a struggle over the years and I'm so proud of her for sticking with it, our boy is extremely healthy because of it.

I may be a little jealous of Mrs M's fleshy assets but I'm glad that Opeie is still getting the good stuff from her, I think it's the reason he is so lean. In the meantime I will struggle with Opeie's afternoon naps and will continue to be dependent on the magic powers of my 4 wheeled ally, On that note and perfectly timed the little cherub has just woken up. Excellent off to play again for me.