Disneyland Paris - trip report!

Apologies for the radio silence - we've carried on the illness theme here, feels like it's been going on all winter!!

So, we've been back from Disneyland Paris for two weeks now - the time has flown by! I thought I'd share a trip report and some photo's with you so I can relive a little bit of the magic. It's a day by day account so you might not find it very interesting (sorry!) but, if you're into anything Disney or are planning a future trip, you might find it a little helpful :)

Cast - Me, Little Man (E) and my mother in law (L) on her first ever trip to the Paris parks

We travelled by Eurostar from Ashford International train station and stayed at the Disney Hotel Santa Fe (budget hotel).  

We left home just after midday on Saturday 8th February and headed down to Ashford, we had a room booked at the Premier Inn at Eureka Park and have stayed here twice before so knew what to expect. We were checked in within minutes and headed to our room whilst hubby turned the car around and headed back home as he had decided not to join us on this trip - says he's 'Disney-d out', honestly how is that possible haha?!

Had a lovely meal in the Beefeater next door although E was getting a bit grumpy towards the end - we've both been really poorly leading up to this trip as you know and haven't had a lot of sleep but thankfully we were both feeling much better today so wanted to get back for an early night.

E is asleep by 7 so L and I just chat, read and watch tv until we decide to get some sleep too. At about 2.30am I hear some 'revellers' come back to their room but nothing major and I go back to sleep. At 4am they are right outside our room and are very drunk - not abusive at all but just that drunk way in which you have no idea of time & volume control lol. L wakes up and we have a little giggle at the grown man almost crying like a toddler at his friends because he's lost his socks and nobody likes him! Half an hour later they're still going and now E is awake so I'm not finding it quite so amusing - I stick my head out the door and ask them politely if they could move away a little bit as they've woken us all up. They were all very apologetic in their slurry way and decided that it might be a good idea to go back to their room. Nice and quiet again and E and L go back to sleep but I'm wide awake, grr. I decide to read until the others wake up at 7.30 and then we head down to breakfast, which was fab as always.

I'd asked the hotel to call a taxi for us to go to the train station and when we checked out they asked how our night had been - we had a little chuckle and told them about the drunk people but weren't complaining at all; it was a Saturday night in a Premier Inn after all, I imagine they see much worse things but they immediately said that they were going to refund the cost of our room - very impressed as hadn't even thought to mention it to them and was only a passing comment as they'd asked!

Anyway, taxi arrives and we have a hilarious driver - really sweet older man who gives us lots of tips about what to do at the station (didn't like to tell him we've done it several times before, bless him!) and asks E lots of questions about who he's going to see.

Straight through at the station and no other passengers at security so we're really early but get a drink and snack to pass the time. I decide to ask at the Disney Express desk if we can pay here for our luggage to be taken to the hotel or if we have to wait until we arrive - the staff member says that we have to pay on arrival but if we confirm that we want it he'd take our details and phone ahead to have our tickets and documents sent over to the station so we can go straight to the parks, I never knew this part of the service existed so we were very happy about that and gave our details over.

At this point it's obvious that E needs the loo (he's dancing on his toes, he's that desperate!) - now on our November trip to Disneyland he developed a complete phobia of the automatically flushing toilets in the park. Sadly, it's stayed with him and he is now terrified of public toilets. Not great at all. We have lots and lots of tears as he is desperate but wants to try and wait until we reach the hotel - obviously, not an option and by now I'm worrying that he's going to give himself an infection trying to hold it in! In the end I literally have to pick him up, take him into the disabled toilet (thought there'd be less stress with nobody else around) and stand and wait for him to go, whilst he fights me trying to get away - it was very, very stressful and I was almost in tears watching him be so scared. Thankfully he went and was then very proud of himself - I can't even imagine what everyone else in the departure lounge thought of us, him in tears and me walking him back and forth to the toilets trying to coax him into going in!!!

Not a great start to the trip but it's one hurdle over and done with so I think the day can't get any worse. Wrong. We head to the lift to get down to the platform and head to our carriage. We get all the luggage on the train, sit down and then there's an announcement to say that only one of the tunnels is operating so we can't leave Ashford until at least 11.45 - it's currently 11 o'clock :( Disappointed groans all round but we play games and chat to the very friendly people in front of us and then the train leaves at 11.45 - hooray!! Or not. The train manager announces that we're only going as far as the tunnel and then we have to wait again - for another half an hour :( Boo hiss. By this time, the lack of sleep and the stressful morning are starting to catch up with me. E and all the other kids in our carriage are behaving brilliantly, they really were stars. We finally get into the tunnel but there's speed restrictions so takes approx 35 minutes to go through (normally only about 20 minutes) and then we are finally on our way, We arrive at Marne La Vallee train station, which is just outside the park entrance, 95 minutes late but we're here!!

Bit of light reading to pass the boredom on a delayed train!

We head upstairs to the Disney Express desk and it's chaos - everyone from our train is trying to leave their luggage whilst the people due to go home on the direct Eurostar service are trying to collect theirs and check in at the same time. Anyway, we find the right desk to collect our tickets and pay our fees to have the luggage taken to the hotel (16 euros per adult) and then escape the station.

We head to the main park and I'm expecting the parks to be heaving as it's a Sunday but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared. We go to see the castle and E just doesn't seem very excited to be here at all, which is really unlike him (it's his third trip). I ask him if he's ok and he starts to cry saying that he has earache and doesn't feel well :( We head to It's A Small World (IASW) to see if that will cheer him up as it's his favourite ride - it's a little boat ride that meanders along a river, through different countries of the world, with appropriate scenery - but he is very quiet and is crying again by the time the ride ends. It's dry but very windy in the park and the wind is bitterly cold so we decide we'll go to the hotel and write off today, only it's parade time and we can't get out easily through the crowds waiting to see it! We eventually find our way out though thankfully. By this time E is sobbing as his ear hurts so much . We head to the bus stop to get our hotel shuttle and wait for ten minutes, the crowds are huge and he's really, really upset so we give up and decide to walk instead - back through security we go! It feels like the longest walk ever with a poorly, crying boy but we eventually make it to the hotel and collect our key - we stayed at the Hotel Santa Fe, which is a budget Disney onsite hotel and has recently been refurbished in a Cars (the film) theme, so there's lots of little touches of that around like traffic cone lamps and Lightning McQueen pictures etc. After checking in, we go to get our luggage from the store room but the shuttle bus has just arrived and there's a huge queue so we decide to leave it and come back later. I had emailed the hotel the week before we left to see if we could have a room near reception and a kettle (so English haha!) - the hotel is set out in blocks, like an American style motel I think and we were in block 53, which is down by the river but we did have a kettle so were very happy about that! Poor E is cold and tired now so I pop him in a warm bath whilst L goes back to get the first lot of luggage - she can't carry / drag it all at once and E is being very clingy to me so I can't instead so she has to make two trips, this day is getting better and better lol.

Anyway, finally we have all the luggage and E is warm again and after cuddles he is feeling a bit better. We have a 7pm reservation at Chuck Wagon Cafe, at the Hotel Cheyenne next door (well, just across the river) so head over there. I've never been to the Cheyenne before and I just love the theming - it's a Wild West / Cowboy set up, great fun! Sadly, the food was awful :( The chicken was undercooked and still raw in the middle, potatoes were very dry, the bread stale but the chocolate dessert was fab - I think it was just the end of a very bad day and we gave up trying anything else so all just ate copious amounts of pudding! 

I was exhausted and now felt really ill myself, we just all needed to get to sleep so back to the Hotel Santa Fe for more baths / showers and then early nights all round.

So that's the end of day 1 - I will post day 2 soon :)

AFUK x

And we're off...

...well almost!

The germs are finally starting to evacuate the building and we are all on the mend at last! We've hibernated as much as possible avoiding pre-school, toddler groups I volunteer at, work for a day, swimming lessons etc etc and I *think* that we are on our way back to normal (touches wood, crosses fingers!!).

And just in time because tomorrow we are off to Ashford, Kent to stay overnight before we head off on the Eurostar to Disneyland Paris on Sunday!

Yes, again.

I know, I know. It is a bit greedy but this is kind of an accidental holiday.  I saw a holiday that was clearly mis-priced and booked it on the off chance that the company would honour the reservation, never expecting them to.  I spoke to them several times and have had many email conversations but they've assured me that the booking has been honoured so we are off on our bargain of the century trip in 1 more sleep - hooray!

We were initially going with some friends but due to unforeseen circumstances they can't make it now and hubby is 'Disney'd out' and doesn't want to go again (we were only there 3 months ago to be fair!) so my mother in law is coming with me and little man for her first ever trip to the Paris parks - we're really looking forward to it and if we can drag ourselves away from the fun & magic we might even venture into Paris this time too although we've been before so not the end of the world if we don't make it this time.  We will miss our friends as would have been fantastic to have them with us but we're going to do a little holiday report for them so will feel like they're there with us too :)

Now just to wrestle with the rest of the packing and we can be on our way tomorrow - let's just hope the weather plays ball, I'm not liking the look of the massive storm heading our way and have everything crossed it doesn't do any major damage.

I'll report back when we get home - au revoir!

AFUK x

Poorly people

We are a household of poorly people at the moment. Little man has had a cough for about three weeks - it's not really bothering him and he has just been getting on with things in that fabulous way that small people do!

Last week I started coughing.  It was inevitable really.  Other than the time that little man is at preschool (15 hours a week) and I'm at work at my 'not working from home' job (8 hours a week) we're together all the time - we cosleep too - so it was always likely that I would get it.

My immune system is rubbish - I've had a lot of illnesses and surgeries over the years and it just never seems to be fully functioning. Not satisfied with having just a cough my body decided to throw a house party for germs and invited all it's friends - according to the doctor that I gave in and finally went to see, I have an upper respiratory tract infection and the flu. Yup, party central over here.

Anyway, you'd think after being ill so much I'd be used to it and yes, with the big things (surgeries, meningitis, eye diseases etc) I'm quite stoical - these things happen after all - but throw a cold at me? I moan. A lot. In fact, I swear by last night I was verging on man-flu tendencies.

And then, this morning my poor little man woke up with the dreaded vomiting bug. Me feeling rubbish is absolutely nothing in comparison. There's nothing worse for a parent then seeing their child poorly; you feel so utterly helpless and just want to do something to take it all away.

I hate that he's hurting and scared. Mummy cuddles, although comforting, aren't really doing anything to take away the pain and it makes me want to cry for him.  He's napped on and off all day, which is very unlike him and we've just snuggled really.  Here's hoping that's it's just a 24 hour bug and tomorrow he will be back to his cheeky self.

AFUK x

Book club!

The geek in me is very excited about joining a book club this week!! 

Ok, it's not quite as nerdy as it sounds (it is).  I have some mummy friends who got together (virtually, sadly there is no physical meeting for tea, cake & face to face gossip) and decided to set up a book club to give them all a little break from the daily grind of children / work / chores etc.  

Basically, each month they select a book that everyone buys / borrows / downloads and then reads at their own pace.  At the end of the month they can then chat about it and give their opinions on the characters, storyline, the writing style etc  The book will be from a different genre each month to expand everyone's reading spectrum and anybody can make suggestions about future books to read.  

I love the idea! 

I love reading; I've been a book worm forever. I would much rather curl up with a good book than watch tv and you can learn so much from them, even in fictional chick lit!  

When you've had children and are perhaps no longer so career focused it's easy to lose yourself in the everyday jobs that go with being a wife and / or mum.  There's very little time in most women's (ok, and some men too) day to day lives to make time for themselves but doing this with lots of other people in a similar situation kind of forces you to find that 20/30 minutes a day to take time out and just sit for a bit; a rare luxury.

So, I'm in - yippee!

January's book is 'Necessary Lies' by Diane Chamberlain - I'm a bit late joining the group so I've only downloaded it today but I will give it a go and review it at the end of the month.

If you've got any 'must read' books, let me know and I'll add them to the list :)

AFUK x

Mundane jobs

I'm very good at procrastinating when it comes to household chores - they are monotonous & boring and the longer I can put them off, the better it is...until I can't put it off any longer and realise if I'd just kept on top of things it wouldn't take me hours to do each time!!

So, whilst putting off doing the hoovering this morning I thought I'd check my emails - an everyday job that can take me hours as I'm easily distracted by other websites.  Anyway, I suddenly noticed that I have over 19,000 unread emails. No, that isn't a typo. Nineteen thousand unread emails!! How did that happen?? 

Now I know I'm lazy - if it's a general update email or a newsletter type one (ie from Groupon, Twitter / Facebook notifications etc) I just look at the subject line and if nothing grabs my attention I don't both opening it but seriously? 19,000+ times I've ignored messages?!! Wow!!

I decided to go back to the start of my emails and there's some ranging from 2007 but it's clear that I haven't deleted a single email since the beginning of 2009.

So I've spent the better part of my morning setting up folders for the emails that I need to keep and deleting the really obvious ones that I don't need.  Now to filter through everything else to see what can be binned and what should be kept. Anyone notice that I've put that job off to write a blog post about it haha?!

Anyway, I might be some time - you may have to send out a search party for me ;)

Hmm, all of a sudden the hoovering seems quite appealing...


AFUK x

Retinitis Pigmentosa and me :)

I mentioned in my intro a few weeks ago that I have a disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. I thought I should give you a bit of information about it, how it affects me and what the future holds.  It's a bit complicated but bear with me and hopefully I won't bog you down with lots of scientific info that I don't really understand myself - I am not a doctor so this is just what I've learnt through my own experience with the disease and you'd obviously have to seek proper advice if you think any of this relates to you (it's unlikely but still, you never know!!)

So, what is Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)? RP is a name given to a group of inherited eye diseases affecting the retina - that's the bit at the back of the eye that sees light and transfers the images to your brain via the optic nerve (sorry, I'm sure you already know this!).  Basically, in simple terms it means that the rods (the bits of the retina that see dim light) and the cones (the bits of the retina that see light and colour) start to break up and die causing permanent damage.  As these cells start to die you start to lose areas of sight; usually peripheral vision first so you can end up with tunnel vision but it can eventually lead to total blindness. 

Normally the first symptom of RP is night blindness so it may be noticeable all of a sudden that it's not easy to adjust to low lights like in a cinema or you may find it difficult to see very well at night.  Another symptom is clumsiness - so you might find yourself tripping over things on the floor or walking into door frames more often, this could be due to the loss of some of the peripheral vision (you might just be clumsy though hehe). 

Alternatively, like me, it could just be picked up over a number of years by your optician noticing changes at the back of your eye - when the cells start to die they are no longer a healthy orange colour, they go brown / black so you end up with spots of this pigment dotted around your retina like this 

Photo from esciencenews.com

Once you have symptoms you then have to have tests to try and get a diagnosis, which isn't always easy. There are many types of tests from visual field tests (you look in a machine at a fixed point and press a button when you see random lights flashed around you) to electro-diagnostic testing (you can be attached to various machines with 'contacts' on / in your eyes to measure what is getting through to your brain - very sci-fi!)

Most types of RP are inherited although sometimes you won't know anybody in your family that has it - we think I'm the only one in my family to have it although I know very little about my paternal grandfather so it's possible it came from there.  

There is no cure or treatment for RP at the moment. So far over 100 genes have been discovered that cause or contribute towards it so it's very complex but there is lots and lots of research ongoing at the moment - I'm hopeful that one day there'll be a breakthrough. 

So that's a brief explanation of what it is. Now, the bits that affect me! I was first referred to a specialist when I was about 12 / 13 years old - my optician had noticed some changes in my eyes and wanted them monitored more closely, which was done at the local hospital for a few years.  When they decided that things had changed again they referred me on for further tests and I eventually ended up at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.  After 6 long years I was finally diagnosed with Sector RP - this means that you just have the disease in one part of each eye and it is non-progressive so I was discharged, fantastic news for me! 

Fast forward 10 years or so and I have been getting along fine; still no typical symptoms and apart from the field tests that I have to have for the DVLA to check that I am still legal to drive it hasn't really affected my life.

Until last year!

I decided that as I now have little man I should ask for some genetic testing to see if they could identify any faulty ones in me and if he has them too.  I spoke to my GP and asked for a referral back to a specialist and I saw a new consultant at my local hospital in May 2013.

Unfortunately, it seems that my initial diagnosis wasn't correct and I don't have the 'Sector' variation of the disease as it has progressed and is now affecting the whole of the periphery of both of my eyes.

It was a bit of a shock and it's taking a little bit of time to get my head round it as the thought of going blind is terrifying as I'm sure you can imagine but I'm trying to be positive about it - it's not life threatening and I know it's going to happen so I have plenty of notice :)

Anyway, now we're going back to basics and having all of the tests done again to try and determine what type of RP I do have.  I don't actually mind this bit - I find it fascinating and sometimes it just feels like it's happening to somebody else.  In September I went for my first set of electro-diagnostic tests at the nearest Neurological Centre and earlier this week I was back in London at Moorfields Hospital for the second set and for photographs to be taken of the back of my eyes.  None of it hurts me although a couple of bits are uncomfortable / irritating because there's things in your eyes - a bit like when you have an eyelash in your eye and you can't get it out!

First set of electro-diagnostic tests in September!

There are positives of course - I have found some great charities & organisations that have really helped me understand the disease and have found lots of people through online groups who have it too and cope brilliantly in every day life, they really are an inspiration.  The most helpful one so far for me is RP Fighting Blindness - they have a great website with lots of information and you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter too.

So, I'm back to see my consultant in March with the results of these tests and will update you then on how things are going - fingers crossed it hasn't progressed too much :)

AFUK x

Change

So I mentioned in a previous post that I'm not very good at sticking to new years resolutions.  I hate the pressure of trying to think of something and in years gone by I have just made things up at the last minute because I 'should' - pretty much setting myself up for failure before I've even begun!  

A little while ago I realised that resolutions weren't just for a new year and I made a decision to not only change my life but to really live it.

I'll give you a little bit of background info. A few of years ago I worked for a finance company - I enjoyed my job and was having, what I considered to be, a good career.  The retail side of the company closed suddenly and over the next 3 and a half years the finance side was also slowly wound up.  The best thing about those years were the people I worked with, many of whom I considered close friends.  When I was nine months pregnant I was made redundant - it was expected given the company situation (there was only couple of months left before it closed completely) and absolutely fine, in fact back then the timing couldn't have been any better for me personally.

Anyway, three weeks after leaving, my little man arrived and my world was turned upside down. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be a good time for me.  I had a traumatic birth and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder a few months later.  After struggling on to the point of collapse I was finally also diagnosed with post natal depression when my little man was 9 months old.  Things got a bit better after my diagnosis; I got a part time job in a supermarket - something that was a bit alien to me at first after years working my way up in an office job but it turned out to be my saviour and I'm still there now, loving it - I started to get out more and meeting other mums with babies a similar age to mine and was beginning to feel a lot more like my old self.

It wasn't until June 2012 that I realised that whilst I was feeling better I still wasn't 'living', I was just getting through each day and not really noticing that time was passing me by.  I loved my little boy to pieces and we had a good family life but I wasn't really appreciating it. 

In June 2012 a friend of mine passed away. She was 29 years old.  

In June 2012 a friend of mine passed away.  She had an 11 week old baby girl. 

At the time I learnt of her passing, I was on holiday with my family.  We were happily sitting in a restaurant on the shore of the Mediterranean, soaking up the sun and having lunch.  I happened to log into my Facebook account to catch up with my parents and noticed a message from a mutual friend.  I was in shock for the rest of the day and had a bit of a breakdown later that evening.

We had worked together at the finance company and had kept each other going in that last year when things were tough and we all mucked in doing anything that needed doing, even though sometimes we didn't have a clue what we were up against! 

After we both left the company our lives moved on in different directions and we didn't keep in close contact but we would chat on Facebook and stop for a natter when we saw each other out and about.  I was so happy for her and her husband (also a colleague) when their baby girl arrived.  Just 11 weeks later she was gone, taken by cancer.

The day we arrived home from our holiday I swore that I would make the most of this life.  I would make as many memories as I possibly could for my little boy, I would be thankful for my family, my friends and every day I have with them.  We will see as much of the world as we can, despite my ridiculous fear of flying, we will enjoy days out and not feel guilty that we are doing it when we should be saving for a rainy day. 

Towards the end of last year I lost my way a little bit.  Things changed in my life; new people arrived into it and old ones, who I thought would be there forever, left.  I doubted myself a lot and felt guilty for things that I didn't really understand.  I forgot about all the good things in my life and started to wallow in self pity that things weren't going my way.

Last month I was reminded that life is short.  I don't have an infinite amount of time with those that I love and I shouldn't waste it moping and feeling sorry for myself.  

So, this year - for the first time in many years - I am making a resolution for the new year.  I am going to get fitter and healthier and I am going to remember the promise that I made to my friend.  I'm going to live my life and I'm going to make it a bloody good one!

In June 2012 a friend of mine changed my life forever yet she will never know it.

Thank you B x