Disneyland Paris – day 1!

Posted on by Libby Price

So it was an early start – but the flight all went fine (apart from quite a lot of annoying kids on the flight – other people’s not my own – although they did try too!)

The first problem was our pre booked Disney driver wasn’t there to pick us up.  Now I have to say this wasn’t a huge shock as exactly the same had happened to our next door neighbours when they’d last been.  I phoned to query this and was told to get a taxi and the hotel would pick up the tab as our driver was ‘stuck in traffic’.  We had a lovely driver – who said it should only take just over half an hour as there was no traffic today!!!  He was very informative – although spoke little English – but thankfully I understood enough of the French to translate for the rest of the car.

taxi

Possibly the highlight of the car journey was when the Vanessa Paradis classic ‘Joe Le Taxi’ came on – being the only French song I know!! Reminded me of when The Proclaimers were playing in a pub in Scotland in May.  Got to love a good stereotype!!

We arrived at the hotel and were given all of the relevant passes and tickets even though our room wasn’t ready (well, after a minor confusion when they tried to check us in as the Brice family rather than Price family!)

We decided to do a bit of a recce of the Disneyland Park ready for hitting the parks hard tomorrow – but the benefit of staying in a suite in the Disneyland Hotel is that you get to permanently Fastpass the rides!  No limit of a certain number per day, or only one every 2 hours, anything that can be Fastpassed you can join the queue.  However, it would appear that MOST OF THE WORLD has Fastpasses.  I began to question whether FAST meant something different in French?  “F*cking absolutely slow thanks” was my suggestion……

We tried to order some drinks and donuts from a stand and it took about 15 minutes – again, this backs up my opinion that the French just don’t do the service levels Disney needs as well as the Floridians (I am yet to do California).

Buzz Lightyear was a hit with everyone – as always – and obviously Mummy and Daddy were the most competitive (Daddy won – boo!!!)

Then our suite was ready so we unpacked before deciding the only way we could keep everyone awake until dinner was to go out again – this time to the Walt Disney Studios.  By now it was raining – deep joy…

rain

The big 2 wanted to go on the Tower of Terror, whilst the littlest wanted to go on the Toy Soldiers parachute drop – with Mummy (oh how my day was improving!) but we survived.  Then we Fastpassed Ratatouille – which was as efficient as all previous Fastpass attempts.  The highlight of the queueing was our 6 year old’s incredulousness that the French family in the queue in front of us had 5 kids – it’s pretty rare for us to find families with more children than ours!!

Finally it was back to our hotel for dinner (although we all needed a change of clothes first as we were soaked through).  At this point the husband and I fell off the wagon – and had the first booze for a fortnight – a lovely New Zealand Sauv Blanc – but we stopped at one bottle between us (high five to us!).  We ate at the California Grill – which the concierge said was the best restaurant at DLP.  The food was exquisite – BUT – no chips, and the 6 year old was gutted by this (she is renowned for being *slightly* fussy with her eating!!) however this did lend itself to the comedy comment of the night.

Husband “Oh, I think that boy’s got chips?  Oh no, it’s actually pasta”
11 year old “You should have gone to Specsavers”
6 year old “We should have gone to McDonalds”

Aside from that it was a lovely meal (and from hearing about the food my friends’ kids have in French schools, I guess they have much broader tastes than British kids!!) but the 4 year old was asleep before her main course.

We’re back in the room now and after catching the fireworks and laser show from our balcony (which could not be a better view)

fireworks

the rest of the family are asleep, which pleases me as:

a) we have a long day planned tomorrow and
b) with them all asleep and off their devices, the wifi is much more efficient for me #priorities

So day 1 has been survived.  And as far as my plans go from my prologue:

1) No characters have been punched.
2) You can not Fastpass the ass out of the parks as the Fastpasses are not fast.
3) OK – so I’ve moaned about queuing – but I have not had any fights with anyone in a queue – as yet!
4) The food has been amazing in the hotel (but with an amazing price tag too!)
5) The rain dampened the magic – but even I thought the fireworks and laser show were great.
6) It is not possible to stay on the wagon when combining Disney, rain, European queues and hotel rooms.

Here’s to day 2……..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disneyland Paris – the prologue…..

Posted on by Libby Price

I am somewhat renowned for being a bit bah humbug when it comes to certain things – primarily Christmas and Disney!

I am also known for sucking the fun out of things for being over competitive.  There were the owls in and around Birmingham in the summer of 2014.  Way after the kids had lost interest I was still insisting we travel around the greater Birmingham area to ensure yet more inanimate objects were ticked off our master schedule (I’m still quite annoyed we didn’t see them all!)  And then there was a friends’ wedding recently where I managed to drop the f bomb in front of the entire reception.  There had been a quiz, but 3 teams had drawn and so there was a round of ‘heads and tails’ to decide who won (deciding a quiz with a game of chance somewhat rankles!)  Anyway, I’m still *almost* sure that the coin was ‘f*cking tails’ as I announced to everybody present……..

Anyway, back to the whole bah humbug about Christmas / Disney thing (which is mostly to off set the fact that my husband is obsessed with both – just imagine him in the Disney Christmas shop!)  We’re off to Disneyland Paris this half term.
Last time we went it was Christmas – so at least this time it will be Halloweened up rather than that (small mercies and all that!).
We’ve been a couple of times before.  I have just about recovered from the first time – about a decade ago – where 2 glasses of warm milk on room service cost 38 Euros!  Admittedly the exchange rate was better than the practically parity it is now – but still!
So – I’m going to try and embrace this trip.

I will:

1. Be pleasant to all characters (I almost punched “Mary Poppins” at Epcot)
2. Not stress about the order we go round the rides (although I want to Fastpass the ass out of both parks!)
3. Be patient when queuing (hey, I did queuing theory as part of my maths degree – but that isn’t about how rubbish Europeans are at the entire concept)
4. Not moan about the food (you’re in France, where amazing cuisine is prevalent, but everything available at the park is either simple carbohydrate, fried, or often both!)
5. Generally have a ‘tres’ magical time

And I plan to do all of this whilst *possibly* staying on the wagon.  We shall see.

More updates coming soon…….

[Edited to add – this would not post from Birmingham airport this morning, so we’ve already done half a day at Disney.  I have already struggled with items 3 and 5…….]

My name is Libby and I like a drink…..

Posted on by Libby Price

champagne-bottle

My name is Libby and I like a drink!

Prosecco and gin are probably the favourites but wine (white, pink, red, green, fortified), beer, cider, spirits (except perhaps Pernod after an ‘incident’ with it at the Glen Bar at Southampton University in the early 90s that resulted in me throwing up in a soon to be boyfriend’s sink in his university room – but maybe after a quarter of a century I should try it (the Pernod, not the vomiting) again?) are all imbibed on a reasonably frequent basis.

The husband is also a fan of a post work beverage – and it had got to the point where we were drinking most nights.  I’d spoken to a GP friend about alcohol in general – and her view was you need to have at least 3 dry days/ nights a week to not have an issue – and we weren’t hitting that target.  It’s not like we were hiding vodka bottles in the airing cupboard, or needing a glass of wine to start the day – but still we knew we were drinking too much.

We’ve tried the ‘not drinking in the week’ thing – but more often than not something would crop up – bad day at work, kids being a pain, seeing friends – that would result in a bottle being cracked – and ‘the week’ would become a random Tuesday.

I’m also trying to lose some weight – and whilst my eating is fairly good, and I exercise at least 3 times a week – I have been stuck at the same weight for ages – probably due to the huge amount of empty calories in booze!  I wouldn’t dream of sitting on the sofa eating a huge box of chocolates (well, I would dream of it – but I wouldn’t do it) – but necking a bottle of wine would have a similar calorific effect.

So – last weekend we decided we’d stop drinking completely – and 7 days later we’re still going strong.  I think the fact that we’re both doing it has really helped – and the fact that the standard of non alcoholic beers and wines has dramatically improved over recent years.

My liver seems to think I’m pregnant again (which I’m not!) but some R&R for it must be very welcome.  I was rarely waking up with a hangover – but to wake up without a slight fuzziness is great.

I’ve managed to be strong willed in the pub with friends for an afternoon, at friends’ for Sunday lunch and at an 18th birthday party – as well as just at home in the evenings.  Strictly without fizz was a revelation this weekend.

I’m not sure how long this abstemiousness will last (we’re off to Disneyland Paris for half term – and the thought of Disney or French people, let alone a combination of both, without booze, does not sound tempting) – but we shall see.

And in the meantime I will be smug and teetotal.

The husband sent me a text last week saying as the alcohol free week was going ok, he thought he’d go vegan too – I think he was joking………….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Pumpkin Project by Katie Smith

Posted on by Libby Price

I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a children’s book on the blog before – despite having a house full of them!  However, this is a special one.  Not only did it win ITV Lorraine’s Top Tales 2016, but it was also written by the cousin of a friend of mine, Katie Smith.

Katie’s had a bit of a tough time recently, as you can read here, so when Lorraine Kelly announced Katie was the winner I had a proper weep with vicarious pride (whilst sat in the hairdressers!!)

Anyway – back to the book. Here’s the Amazon blurb:

“Lottie and her class are given an end of term project competition called Big and Small. The problem is, class show-off Penelope Pembleton-Puce always wins.
But this time, Lottie and Gramps come up with a brilliant idea: to grow a giant pumpkin!
With the help of grandad’s old vegetable growing tricks, they set about trying to break world records for the biggest vegetable ever. But this pumpkin is fussy, demanding and has a mind of its own, and with Penelope willing to do literally anything to win AGAIN, does Lottie really stand a chance?
A beautiful, heart-warming story about friendship, family, and growing confidence … as well as a large vegetable!”

 

the-pumpkin-project

I would suggest this is aimed at about 8-10 year olds – and my 6 year old is giving it a good go – but I decided to read it myself first!  So whilst the eldest was having her brace fitted at the orthodontist – I settled down to read about Lottie.

Lottie is immediately a likeable little girl, who doesn’t have the easiest of home lives, with a Mum who is more interested in her phone and chocolate than her daughter.  The story is about how she and her Grandad try and grow a huge pumpkin to beat the spoilt Penelope Pembleton-Puce who usually wins all of the school competitions.  It’s very cleverly written – and some of the jokes about wind and farting would probably go over the head of a small child – but I loved it.  I was especially proud of page 126 where Finlay Church and his collection of teddy bears featured (and Katie’s cousin has revealed there are other snippets of real life woven in to the book which is just wonderful).  The illustrations and diagrams also really add to the book – and even the chapter and page numbers are drawn in a funky way.

I won’t give too much away – but all turns out well in the end – phew!

It is a lovely, feel good children’s book, and I would definitely recommend it as a stocking filler this Christmas.

I look forward to reading this again with my littlest two, and also look forward to more books from Katie in the future.

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Posted on by Libby Price

eligible

This re-telling of the Pride and Prejudice story has been a best seller and I’ve seen great reviews of it in magazines – but the friend who passed it on to me, whom I usually have very similar reading tastes to, had given up after a few chapters as she couldn’t get into it – so I have to say I was a little wary starting it.

Here’s the Amazon blurb:

“The Bennet sisters have been summoned from New York City.

Liz and Jane are good daughters. They’ve come home to suburban Cincinnati to get their mother to stop feeding their father steak as he recovers from heart surgery, to tidy up the crumbling Tudor-style family home, and to wrench their three sisters from their various states of arrested development.

Once they are under the same roof, old patterns return fast. Soon enough they are being berated for their single status, their only respite the early morning runs they escape on together. For two successful women in their late thirties, it really is too much to bear. That is, until the Lucas family’s BBQ throws them in the way of some eligible single men . . .

Chip Bingley is not only a charming doctor, he’s a reality TV star too. But Chip’s friend, haughty neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy, can barely stomach Cincinnati or its inhabitants. Jane is entranced by Chip; Liz, sceptical of Darcy. As Liz is consumed by her father’s mounting medical bills, her wayward sisters and Cousin Willie trying to stick his tongue down her throat, it isn’t only the local chilli that will leave a bad aftertaste.

But where there are hearts that beat and mothers that push, the mysterious course of love will resolve itself in the most entertaining and unlikely of ways. And from the hand of Curtis Sittenfeld, Pride & Prejudice is catapulted into our modern world singing out with hilarity and truth.”

Now I read P&P many years ago at school (and suspect I’ve watched a film version or 2 at some point) but the storyline didn’t really stick in my head at all – so whilst the names were familiar (and clearly Fitzwilliam Darcy was Colin Firth) I wasn’t sure on the storyline.  And to that end, I’m not sure how much of the story is true to Jane Austen and how much is purely Curtis Sittenfeld.  Some of it clearly is from the original – the 5 sisters, Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy; and some of it may well me – Mr Bennet being ill?  The family house falling to rack and ruin?  Maybe even the geeky cousin trying it on with Liz? But some of it I am sure is totally 21st century reinvention – reality TV, IVF procedures, LGBT issues.

So all in all I was pretty much reading it as a standalone book and not as a rewrite of a classic.

Having said that – I really enjoyed it.  It did start out a bit slow – but quickly gained pace, and really kept me intrigued.  The characters of all 5 sisters were very different – and mostly you see things from Liz’s point of view – and she was definitely my favourite (and not just because we share the same first name!)  Mr and Mrs Bennet are almost cartoonish in their awfulness at times – but that rings a bell from the original.

I was actually quite disappointed to finish it as I’d enjoyed it so much.  I also think I’ll have to read the original Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice again soon.

 

 

Book Review: Playing Grace by Hazel Osmond

Posted on by Libby Price

playing-grace

I have read a couple of Hazel Osmond books recently (Who’s Afraid of Mr Wolfe / The Mysterious Miss Mayhew) and thoroughly enjoyed them, so started this with high hopes.

Here is the Amazon blurb:

“Grace Surtees has everything carefully under control – her work life, her home life and her love life – especially her love life. But then her boss hires Tate Saunders, a brash American, to spice up the gallery tours his company provides. Messy and fond of breaking rules, Tate explodes into her tidy existence like a paintball, and Grace hates everything about him… doesn’t she? Because, for Grace, the alternative would be simply too terrifying to contemplate: to love Tate rather than hate him would mean leaping out of her comfort zone, and Grace’s devotion to order hides some long-kept secrets… secrets she’s sure someone like Tate Saunders could never accept or understand.”

However, I must confess that when I started this I really didn’t like it.  I found it really hard to get into (whether that’s the subject matter – which is art, and not really my bag) or the character (I found Grace really pathetic and annoying) and I just couldn’t get into it. This may also have been because I’d just read THE BEST BOOK EVER that I am not allowed to blog about yet as it’s not out until 2017 – but I think anything after that would have been a let down (keep your eyes peeled for ‘Eleanor Oliphant’ next year is all I can say!)

Anyway – I kept reading a bit and then putting it down and just not getting my teeth into it all.  But, I don’t like to be beaten by anything (I persevered with The Goldfinch for goodness sake!) and so kept going back to it.  In the end it was ok – and I did want to know what would happen to Grace and the other characters.

I guessed fairly early on what her boss’s secret was and felt that element of the storyline was really dragged out.  I liked the change in the relationship between Grace and Tate and how that concluded.

But overall, definitely not my favourite Hazel Osmond book at all.

 

 

 

Book Review: Dead Heat by Lee Stone (and James Patterson)

Posted on by Libby Price

dead-heat

I read a previous Bookshot by the James Patterson / Lee Stone (old school friend) combo earlier in the year and reviewed it here.  That was set during Wimbledon – and I read it with the tennis tournament as my backdrop.  This time the sporting event in question was the Rio Olympics, and I read the books straight afterwards, so that helped build the back story / atmosphere.

Now, when I downloaded them on to my Kindle they were in 4 individual books – which I thought was a strange concept – and this view was only backed up when I started reading – as there was no way each segment would standalone!  However, when going back on to Amazon to download a photo for this blog piece – I can see that it’s now offered as a single book, which is far more sensible and mitigates my only complaint!

This is what the Amazon blurb had to say:

“It’s the day of the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and excitement is at fever pitch.

But a key athlete has gone missing and Detective Rafael Carvalho, on the brink of retirement, is assigned the case.

When the athlete suddenly appears at the ceremony, it seems the case is solved. But Carvalho soon discovers that he has returned with the deadliest of intentions.”

I immediately liked the 2 main cop characters – although very different people – and thought they were straight away given a good back story and personalities.

The plot twists and turns dramatically involving many different sports / countries / issues – and it’s not evident straight away who is behind this.

It builds to a huge climax which was really exciting – and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I read the entire story on a flight from Munich to Birmingham – so it really is a shot of a book not a long drink – but sometimes, that is just what you want!  Not everything has to be The Goldfinch (thank goodness!!)

But, I really enjoy Lee’s writing – and hope that these Book Shots are just the start – and we get some longer books to get our teeth in to in the future – just wondering what sporting event he’ll pick next?!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step away Bridget, they’re my pants!

Posted on by Libby Price

bridget-jones-the-edge-of-reason-2004

Back long before Bridget Jones was having her pants removed by Daniel Cleaver, I was already a fan of the control pant.  They were  ‘special occasion wear’ to make me look slimmer when ‘out-out’.  I have to say that a few times (ok, most times I wore them!) they ended up in my handbag by the end of the night, as after you’d been to the loo and wrestled them off and back on a few times (which happened with alarming regularity when you were a 90s ladette drinking pints with the boys) it just wasn’t worth the effort, and so going home commando was the better option. Honestly – life as a trainee accountant was life on the edge!!

Anyway – over the years I’ve been through many iterations of the control briefs in different shapes and colours.  Some even had poppers ‘down below’ reminiscent of a late 80s body suit!  Which was a) a bit dangerous after you’d been drinking and you were trying to do up the poppers without trapping anything in them or b) you completely forgot to do it up altogether and it ended up working its way out of the top of your jeans (a surprisingly frequent sight to be seen in nightclubs throughout the era!!)

But 4 children and 4 stone later you find even more foundations are required  – and my current Spanx go from bra strap to knee.  However these new ones have a magic invention – a cotton double gusset* area so you don’t have to wrestle them off to go to the toilet!

Now my husband didn’t understand what I meant – so after wiggling in to them on Saturday I cocked my leg up to demonstrate and he is still traumatised!!  His exact words were ‘Oh my God, I think I just saw an ewok’!!!

 

But I can report they did the job brilliantly – and I managed to use the double gusset perfectly all day at a wedding on Saturday and so didn’t end up with a moist* gusset at all!  I think you might need to be careful to sit in a ladylike manner (which obvs I do at all times) for fear of doing a Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct otherwise – but given they are down to your knees, you’re not exactly going to be wearing a mini skirt (or if you do, you will look very odd!)

I am definitely ‘plus size’ and these give me a bit more body confidence – and they also negate VPL (visible panty line) issues, which even  the skinniest of people can suffer with {evil laugh}.  They also give amusing anecdotes so that everyone can laugh at you over Pimms and canapes!

I should point out that this is not a sponsored post, I have paid full price for all of my underwear – and will definitely be adding to my Spanx collection very soon.

 

 

* words I hate

 

 

 

Winning at School Shoe Shopping is Winning at Parenting

Posted on by Libby Price

School shoes

‘Shopping for School Shoes’ is a topic to instil fear into most parents – and with the 4th child starting school in September this meant buying new shoes for all 4.  School shoe shopping expeditions in the past have resulted in tears from children, me and, I suspect, the shop assistants – so I decided to divide and conquer, and take the children in pairs to reduce the stress (or prolong the agony – depending how optimistic we were feeling!!)

I’d taken the eldest 2 shoe shopping in Worcester – as a practice run on the train for their new schools in September (this also provided a new haunt for Pokémon go hunting – which is a good motivational tool this summer!)  After texting a friend who is proficient in shopping in Worcester (amongst other places!) we found the shoe shop she recommended and with frightening efficiency (and a bit of Googling of uniform requirements) pairs were bought for the 13 and 11 year olds with absolutely no tears or shouting #miracle.

I was concerned that this had lulled me in to a false sense of security, and hence buying shoes for the younger 2 was going to be horrific, so we headed off to our school shoe shopping regular haunt of Humphries in the Kingfisher Centre in Redditch.  Youngest child chose some with absolutely no stress at all (helped by the fact that the shop assistant had the same name as her) so the only one left was the 6 year old – who does have a reputation for being ‘feisty’…..   This had all of the hallmarks of being the nightmare.

The lovely assistant brought out 3 pairs in her size – and there was one Startrite pair I particularly liked, so I used all of my ‘mother of 4 kids’ wiles and went for the whole reverse psychology technique.  I told her the ones I liked were far too grown up, and her big sister hadn’t had a pair like that until she was at least 9 years old, so at 6, she had to chose one of the other 2 pairs.  Of course, that meant the Startrite ones I liked were clearly the most desirable shoes ever.  After some umming and ahhing I ‘gave in’ and let her have the ‘grown up’ ones!!

Winning at school shoe shopping is winning at parenting.  #boom!