shattered

Last week we had my niece (11) and nephew (9) to stay. Afterwards I was well and truly shattered but it was great fun. We started by going tobogganing at the Xscape Snow Dome in Milton Keynes. Brilliant - what a regression to childhood, and the competitive tactics that developed between us trying to find the fastest, most compacted route - great fun.

On Monday we went to the London Wetland Centre at Barnes. I must confess to having been scpetical but it turned out to be wonderful. They have recreated a number of habitats and in doing so have attracted over 170 species of birds including some very rare specimens. The highlight for me was sitting in a hide, watching a heron hunt and then catch a fish.

In the evening we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's a great recreation of the book (albeit with a few new touches). I much prefer it to the twee Americanised Gene Wilder version. It's darker, funnier and visually stuning.

Tuesday saw us hop on a train to Brighton where we visited the Doctor Who Exhibition, paddled in the sea and got soaked. In the evening it was a trip to Northampton for the first Cobblers home game of the season. Floodlight failure and a 2-1 defeat meant that this was the lowlight of the week.

On Wednesday we went to Bletchley Park aka Station X and visited a brilliant heritage site. Bletchley Park was the centre of British code breaking during WWII. Enigma was broken here and you can see Enigma machines as well as the machines designed to break the codes. We followed that by going swimming. When I realised that adults were allowed on the slide that was me sorted for the afternoon.

Thursday was a big expensive day. The London Dungeon followed by the Tower of London. A fantastic day but a tad harsh on the wallet.

Friday, the final day of their stay we went to Woburn Safari Park. Always a great place to go if you like to see lions, tigers, heffalumps, wolves, sealions etc etc.

At the weekend I tried to play cricket but was thwarted by the rain, and on Sunday the in-laws came to visit. So by the time Monday came and I headed back to work I was absolutely shattered. It's Wednesday now and I'm just about fully functional again. I need a holiday!