Hitchinson Family Tales

Weekend at Derbyshire

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sun, 04 May 2008 13:57:00 +0000

It was Tony’s parents Ruby Wedding Anniversary and on the 26th April they held dinner & drinks in a hotel in Derbyshire to celebrate with family & friends. We hired a car and drove up the Friday night, which seemed strange as I am currently in the process of getting my UK drivers licence so every time I have been in a car this year I have had a driving instructor next to me – I quickly fell back into my old driving habits which won’t help when I sit my test next week!

We took full advantage of being in the area by going to the theme park Alton Towers during the day. Both the kids weren’t tall enough to go on the big & new thrill rides and between them both found most of the rides we went on were too scary or not scary enough! Strangely enough they sit had a fantastic day! Tony and I, who both love theme parks and all rides, came to the conclusion that having the kids with us on rides meant that the whole time we were worried about how they were feeling meant we couldn’t quite relax and enjoy it fully – don’t get me wrong we had a great day too but are definitely making plans for us to go back child-free!

Oh another achievement of the weekend, i drove on my favourite motorway the M6 toll and clocked 100 miles per hour again, I easily get used to the faster driving over here :)

The Anniversary do was good as well and we made sure we were back at the hotel ready in time otherwise we would have been in serious trouble, plus Tony was a signatory for the bar tab!
So the eventfulness of this year has already begun and is continuing very soon as my mum and her partner arrive from Australia next week, so I imagine it will be nonstop for a month while they are here.

Spain - Family Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:42:00 +0000

After eagerly waiting since October last year, it was finally time to head off to Spain. We had booked 10 days in Fuengirola on the Costa de Sol, Southern Spain to try and guarantee some sunshine so early in the year.
Heavy showers welcomed us and it managed to rain solidly for the first 3 days. We tried to make the most of it by getting shopping and bits & pieces out of the way on those days.
On the first day a couple of British resort reps descended on us handing out scratch cards on which I managed to scratch off the “top prize”, we were whisked away in their car to the resort in which we were supposed to sit through a 90 minute talk about their holiday club (kind of like timeshare) and then claim the prize. Well 90 minutes lasted about 3 hours but we did come away with a bottle of Cava, a bottle of Bacardi, a free holiday (after reading the fine print we may not be able to use!) and a chauffeured drive around the area – so it wasn’t all bad.
The rain stopped and we ended up with a week of sunshine which was fantastic. We visited the local zoo, a theme park and lazed around the pool. Where we stayed was like a mini England, it was a strange concept to me to be in a foreign country and mostly hear English spoken with British accents, but was a nice place nonetheless. We ate well each night out, lots of seafood including Paella which I had been looking forward to having again, and we easily fell into the Spanish ways of life – sleep ins, buffet style lunches and siesta’s in the afternoons and staying out late for dinner & drinks, the way a good holiday should be.

The pictures are up on the photo page of the website.

Prague - Weekend Away!

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:41:00 +0000

On Valentines night Tony and I flew to Prague for a long weekend away together. As with most things we do it was not without some dramas! Our flight from Heathrow ended up being delayed by 2 hours, which meant we didn’t actually touch down in Prague until about midnight. We eventually found the taxi booked to meet us and we headed off towards the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel something seemed amiss as it appeared locked up and under construction. It turns out there were renovations taking place and we had been booked into a sister hotel, however when the woman on the front desk was trying to explain this to us she frequently used the phrase “I have to explain the situation” before actually giving us any information which did start to worry us! The taxi driver in the meantime had been called back to take us to the other hotel, thankfully as when we arrived the grumpy old man on the front desk didn’t appear to have any information about the change. He reluctantly gave us a key and brief directions to a shop that would be open and we finally managed to settle into our room at 1:00am.

We really enjoyed our time in Prague; we were in awe of the buildings especially in the old town square and the castle and enjoyed trying local dishes and drinks. On our first full day we stumbled across the “Beer Factory” which has beer taps on each table! We sampled the local soup which is actually served in a huge bread roll and realised we had well & truly over ordered when ½ roast duck each was brought to our table – check out the pictures on our photos page!

The Saturday night was also my birthday and we celebrated by booking a dinner cruise. Most of the tables were full so we invited another English couple to sit with us otherwise they were either going to be split up or sharing with an Italian couple nearby who, it would seem, would not appreciate sharing the table. We ended up having a great time and got along with them really well. After the cruise finished we all ended up at a cocktail bar near Charles Bridge until we were kicked out at closing time!

So we had a fantastic time of resting, eating, sightseeing & drinking and managed to visit a place that was at the top of both of our lists of places we want to see! On the countdown now until our 10 days in Spain, bring on April!

Happy 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Yes quite late into the year for the first blog of 2008! I promised myself that I would keep this news section up to date on a regular basis - I should have known better!
So the rest of 2007 was a bit of a write off. My mum came over for a visit in October which was great. She finally got to she where I have been living for that couple of years and I was taken out for lunch everyday which is a bonus.
At the end of October I had an operation to try and correct and older procedure I had a few years ago - this should have only been about a 2 week recovery period but, as most of you will know by now, I didn’t actually heal until the end of January this year!

We are in the process of getting Tony set up to start his own business. Once he is up & running he will be a one stop IT solution provider for individuals & small to medium businesses. This is being set up via a govt organisation so there is a 16 week program to follow but we cant wait - he will be doing something he loves and can work from home. Check out www.httpsds.com !

With some holidays booked and Australian visitors arriving this year, together with the possibility of buying a car (if I pass my driving test!) 2008 is shaping up to be quite a good one for the Hitchinson’s :)

London - Bank Holiday Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:49:00 +0000

Daytime....

We escaped the crowds of the "great unwashed" during Reading Festival which took place on the August bank holiday weekend.

We made plans to meet my school friend Jennifer at the Nags Head a Convent Garden at lunchtime, we had made really good time to get into London so had a bit of a wander around before hand. As we came out of Piccadilly Tube station I saw the most amazing thing (well ok not THE most but pretty damn good anyway!) an umbrella vending machine!! How much of a good idea is that? I even made Tony do the tourist thing and take a photo of me standing next to it - you can check this out on our photos page.

we also had time to stroll around Leicester Square & Covent Garden and watch some of the street performers. It was a glorious day of sunshine so we took full advantage and drank our beers outside the Nags Head.

We decided on the crooked surgeon in Soho for lunch which turned out must be targeted for the Australian travellers, as not only was our waitress Australian most of the advertising was aimed for moving back home to Oz! We had a really nice lunch and catch up together with some nice wine (or in my case lots!)

While the kids are away..

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:39:00 +0000

The adults will play! As most of you will know Tony I have have been left childfree for 3 weeks as Kayla was taken away on holidays to Australia with my dad and Georgie was on holidays with her mum in Europe.

The house has been so quiet and we have had so much time to ourselves in the evenings as I walk home from work so I’m in the door at 5.15 each night. We also have only had to worry about feeding ourselves and not having to follow the usual routine of family life (eg getting baths ready, packing bags and lunches for the following day etc)

We have taken advantage, as much as we could due to finances, of being able to have adult time together.

During the first week Tony met me after work and we headed along to Santa Fe with some of my work friends to have dinner and drinks we had a really good time and I was only hung-over a little bit in the morning! We were able to go to our friends Mike & Ann for dinner one night (rather than them having to come to us like usual). The dinner was lovely, a home cooked curry, even if it did involve an emergency run home to get some antiseptic cream for burnt hands! I managed to consume a bottle & a half of wine so I was talking a lot with my hands – you can see this in the “dinner party” photos – and Tony had to help me stumble up the road at 3am!

We also caught up with Mike & Ann on the Thursday night before Reading Festival. Their band Joey Ultra were playing at the Walkabout, the amount of times I have been in the “aussie pub” after saying I wouldn’t spend the time I have in the UK in them!!, so along we went to show our support and like usual have a few drinks. After the walkabout we stopped in at The Great Expectations pub, which is on the way home, where Ann and I must have been really hungry as we spoke most of the time about great food! Because of this we had a mandatory stop at the servo further up the road and I was apparently quite drunkenly forceful telling Ann she “HAD” to get the cheeseburger in pastry that was on the hot shelf! We also even got a chance to go on a date to the cinema which we haven't done in ages!

del.icio.us Tags: alcohol, child-free, gigs, dinner party, pubs

Smoking Ban Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:17:00 +0000

From July 1^st 2007 England introduced a total smoking ban. I can understand why this has come about, even as frustrating as it is (it would appear that the outside tables at pubs where you can smoke fill up really quickly!) what has really been annoying me with it is it would appear that smokers are being associated with a total lack of common sense.

Every workplace under the new law must be a no smoking environment, when this came into effect every work place building, eg offices & shops, paid for and put on display a no smoking sign with the words it is illegal to smoke in these premises. Now I’m sure some of these places it goes with out saying that there is no smoking - the chemist and doctors surgeries for example. What annoyed me even further was our workplace received an evaluation visit from a member of the local council to ensure that we were following the guidelines of the smoking ban and that a procedure has been put in place if someone attempts to smoke in the building (yes it is - could you please extinguish that cigarette as it is illegal to smoke in these premises!!). Now if every work place in Reading will be receiving these visits surely this will end up costing us tax payers additional money!

del.icio.us Tags: Smoking Ban, workplace, tax

Words from the Tone

noreply@blogger.com (Techietone) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:37:00 +0000

Hello All

I thought I should write something on here as its meant to be a family site and so far Nikki has done most of the blogging. My excuses is that I have a couple of other blogs and web sites that I have to keep up to date (not washing huh ?) Ok So I am lazy. when it comes to blogging and don't really write much unless I have something to say. As most of you know Kayla run off and left us for 3 weeks for Glorious Australia (grrr she so lucky) also Georgina has buggered off as well to Spain so that leave Nikki and I child free for 3 weeks Whooooyoooo you might think but actually waking up this morning was very strange there was so sound coming for the girls bedroom, No Kayla Voice going Can you here me as she trying to talk to Iain on MSN or no really crap music from the Sim's computer game, No TV switch on in the lounge it was like a ghost town. Must strange I can tell you. Its amazing how quickly these sounds become part of your every day life. No Door bell ring as Kayla is picked up by the child minder. I am sure in the next three weeks that will become the norm and it will be a shock to the system when the children do return, So I think we should enjoy it while it lasts.

Hopefully enjoying it while it last will not be as bad for my health as it seems to have started out to be, This morning about 5 am Nikki decided to hit me in the face Why I am not sure we was both asleep !!!, You know I don't mind a slap when I have done something wrong but Not even I can get in trouble in my sleep (or can I) the think is when she did it she woke up apologies and everything next morning hardly remembered a thing so tonight I am wear a crash helmet to bed.

Other new in brief

I have a cold so you should all feel sorry for me ok

If your going to Heathrow on a Sunday night leave 5 hours to do so its a bloody nightmare but if you leaving Heathrow you only need 10 min's

and Final Congrats to Darren he knows why ha ha mail him if you want to know

Family Visits

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:27:00 +0000

Thursday morning we loaded the car up again and started our journey towards Cheadle Hulme (just outside Manchester) to visit my dad Kenny and stepmum Sheila. We spent the afternoon at the local park catching up. Tony was able to sort out some little computer problems in the evening for them both.

As we had planned to have a birthday party for Kayla on the Friday, we had to leave Cheadle first thing in the morning. We were making good time on the motorways heading South. that was until a last minute toilet stop was required! the services were 20 miles away and judging by the tears we could not hold off that long! We came off the motorway onto an A road and pulled off as soon as we could. Unfortunately we came off at a car wash, and after Kayla relieved herself behind a billboard we had to figure out how to get back on the road without going through the car wash. We watched an elderly woman try the same by driving the wrong way down the exit and back on but we decided we weren't going to be that stupid especially as there is a £500 insurance deposit held on the hire car! Tony ended up navigating us home back roads. We had to stop at the supermarket and pick up party food and the way home as well as the all important cake. We made it in the door got the food out on the table and managed to finished getting changed just as the doorbell rang as the kids arrived. We then had 2 1/2 hours to entertain some 8 & 9 year old girls!

Saturday morning we had to get ready to visit the other set of UK grandparents. Tony's parents were having a BBQ for us all to spend some time together and celebrate Kayla's birthday (the 2nd of 3 birthday celebrations she is having this year!) Tony's sister and her family also joined us - so all the kids had great fun spending time together. By the time we left there last night driving the 1 1/2 hour trip home I finally reached the point of being fed up with driving! the novelty has worn off!

del.icio.us Tags: Manchester, Motorway, Computer, Birthday, BBQ

Big Day Out

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 05:17:00 +0000

After a fairly quiet day on Tuesday, we upped the ante on Wednesday and headed over to Bracknell to take full advantage of all the sports complexes there. We spent the afternoon at Coral Reef which is a swimming complex. We joined the long queue for the "fastest" waterslide - the Boa Constrictor. we all managed to sustain some kind of injury while flying down the flume (mostly skin off the elbows!) and each of us managed to come to a dead stop a few metres before the end and had to try and slide our way out of the flume before someone else came flying down behind us! The next time we lined up for a waterslide we opted for the family one - the python - this was a much nicer slide (does this mean that we are turning into old parents???).

We then spent the evening ice-skating. Kayla and I had been the previous week with her childminder and had a great time. So this week Kayla was straight out on the ice skating around very well. It was Georgie's first time skating so after a few times going around holding on to the rails and a couple of falls she then built up confidence to try little stretches without holding on. The first fall of the evening was by Tony, who hadn't ice skated for about 20 years! however he only became unstable whenever I came near him!!

It turns out, however, that doing 2 big things in one day was probably not the best idea as we had 2 little tired and irritable girls in the car on the way home - the key factors towards little arguments! But they certainly slept well that night!

del.icio.us Tags: Ice-Skating, swimming, Bracknell

Seaside Roadtrip

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:49:00 +0000

On Monday we decided to take advantage of the summer weather and drove down to Bournemouth for the day. Although the weekend had been & gone the beach was still jam-packed. We could have guessed this would be the case as we drove around and around to try and find somewhere to park (the one stress we don't normally have to deal with).The girls swam in the freezing English Channel but had a great time. Tony & I watched from the warm beach not even game to stick a toe in. After the beach we stopped for the mandatory ice cream in the park - never far from a disaster we managed to lose one flake out of an ice cream cone before leaving the ice cream van!

We decided to take the country drive back towards the motorway driving through New Forest. On the way we pulled over to take a wander to find wild ponies. We watched some from a distance and saw a foal with it's heavily pregnant mother. They seemed to be quite curious of us and came up close for further inspection. The girls were in awe at being so close to nature and talked about it for the next 2 hours on the way home!

In between hearing how great the ponies were we stopped at a country pub for dinner, we all had a really nice meal which turned out to only be £1 more expensive than the Wimpy we had for lunch at the services on the way down!!

del.icio.us Tags: Bournemouth, English Channel, Beach, Ice-cream, Ponies

Summer Holidays Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 18:14:00 +0000

On Friday 3rd August our family holiday began. Tony's parents were very generous and hired us a car for 10 days. After picking up the car - which incidentally I have fallen in love with and want to keep! - i decided to take Kayla to a park that i had seen on the internet. I was very organised and had printed off directions to get there and back and according to Google it would take about 20 minutes to get there. So after 40 minutes of driving and running out of familiar towns on road signs it seemed that my lack of sense of direction remains intact!

Turning around and heading back towards Reading Kayla was in desperate need for a toilet break, we stumbled across a petrol station and went in to use the facilities. we were then informed that they did not have any but we could try the California Country Park up the road - yes this was the park we had been driving for an hour at that stage to find!

We have so far been blessed with fantastic hot weather since Friday (considering there had been very few signs of summer up until this point someone must be smiling down on us for the week that we had booked off to be so nice!)

Today (Sunday) the four of us drove over to Alexandra Gardens in Windsor and played mini golf. At some point I took over the score cards and managed to mess up a couple, but we think Tony managed to rectify the point tally. The final scores were Georgie at 3rd place with 57, Tony & Kayla tied 2nd place with 50 and I won with a score of 41!

We have a jam packed week coming up so fingers crossed the sun stays shining and we have a fantastic time.

del.icio.us Tags: Summer, Park, Mini-golf, Car Hire

Night Out in London

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 16:16:00 +0000

After quite a long time of seeing each other, Susanne, Rach and I finally set a date to meet up to spend a day together. The idea was to have lunch – perhaps a few cheeky drinks – and go our separate ways in the evening. The easiest place to meet was the The Hog in the Pound at Bond Street which was close to where we thought we would have lunch. So sitting at a pub catching up meant one thing – why not have a couple of drinks first! The sun was finally shining and the coronas were going down very nicely. By 3pm we still hadn’t left the pub. Talking about ideas of what to do, Susanne innocently suggests “why not go to a karaoke bar” and not so innocently says “as it happens I have the details here” as she pulls out a business card for a karaoke bar in Soho. So a quick phone call was made and a room booked for 4pm. We legged it over to Soho and arrive just in time for our hour’s room booking. We then belted out some favourite sing alongs for an hour standing on the couches in the little room – thank god no-one else was there to see!

Our stomachs soon reminded us that we still hadn’t had any food , we passed a Chinese buffet in Chinatown and decided on that rather than spending more time looking around for something else. After piling my plate high with lots of food I worriedly kept glancing at the warning sign on our table that stated any food wastage would be charged – anyone that knows me might know that no matter how much food in on my plate be it a large or small portion I never ever finish it! This was then the time that I was to head home. Susanne was meeting up with a school friend who I had gone to primary school with so I thought I’d go along to the pub in Covent Garden and meet up for a little while THEN head home! After lots of chatting and a few bottles of wine it was soon apparent that I would not be able to go anywhere on my own. Susanne had to call my wonderful husband who agreed it was probably best I stayed at hers that night. After waking in the morning, feeling the effects of all the alcohol the night before – I managed to head back to Reading to spend the rest of the day in bed! It was a great night though!!

del.icio.us Tags: karaoke, Pubs, Friends, London

Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:04:00 +0000

The Easter weekend began coming home from work and discovering our lounge room looked very similar to a computer warehouse. Darren & Megan had come over to spend Easter with us and Darren & Tony had gone out shopping for a new computer for Darren. It turned out it was going to be a better deal to buy all the components and tony build the machine from scratch. Darren has also brought with him his old computer to be turned into one for Megan and another old machine that Tony could use as a (third!!!) server. So the floor could barely be seen with all the machines & components everywhere.
On Good Friday we took Kayla & Megan to the local park although I think Darren & myself got more enjoyment from some of the playground structures! We decided to all go on a swing type thing with four “seats” that swings around in a big circle, the kids got a great laugh at seeing the ‘oldies’ trying to have a turn – check it out in the Easter Album on the photos page.
Later in the day/evening we were joined by Charlie & Debbie and spent a great night in with good company & plenty of drinks and lots of fun playing trivial pursuit family & music edition which I won!!! It turns out I know far too much information about boy bands!!
Georgie came over to ours on Saturday, so the kids had another great day all playing together and we got a day to veg out
Tony’s parents also popped over to see us – which was really good coz we scored a Cadbury’s crème egg Easter egg from them hehe!
That night, after more drinks and a bit of a smoke and quite a lot of laughs we have ended up with another website – not really a “family” one so to speak more like a place for silly ideas - www.stonedideas.co.uk will be up & running soon!
The Easter bunny paid us a visit, so Sunday morning nice & early all three girls had an Easter eggs hunt through the flat. Later in the day we took them to the park next door to burn some energy, again I think the adults had more fun at the park by playing Frisbee.
On Monday we went to Silchester which is an old Roman Town not far from where we live. Most of the roman wall is still standing which we spent a lot of time walking around, it was quite interesting and even the girls seemed to enjoy the “historic excursion” the day was finished off with a nice pub lunch and a nap when we got home – such the life!

del.icio.us Tags: Easter, Chocolate, Friends, Board Games

Addictions

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 11:00:00 +0000

Due to certain situations, mostly weather & finances, we have been spending an awful lot of time at home. This isn’t such a bad thing as we enjoy each others company a lot, it has however highlighted my bad habits – watching lots of TV, snacking and computer games!
Ok so the TV watching isn’t so bad, except Tony would disagree for the fact that I will sit and watch terrible English soaps (hollyoaks) and any “countdown show” that’s on, he also got a little concerned when I wanted to mark the calendar when the new season of house was returning…anyway this bad habit is most certainly the cause of the next one – snacking!! Now apart from the little bit of weight gain due to this I wasn’t overly concerned, or perhaps just lack of will power to cut down, UNTIL a visit to the dentist yesterday! Kayla & I have fallen under the curse of British teeth (no offence) and need a root canal treatment (me) and 2 (!!) extractions (Kayla) poor girl. The worst part for Kayla was after realizing what extractions meant was the thought of Easter a week away, and with tears streaming down her cheeks she asked is she still getting any Easter eggs
I have been introduced to a computer game, which was originally intended for the girls to play, called Zoo Tycoon where you have to build a zoo hire staff etc and make money. I was helping the girls with setting one up and became so engrossed I ended up spending 3 hours the other night setting up MY zoo! Since then I’ve started another zoo its very addictive so much so that I ended up burning the dinner last night coz I was playing the game.
So anyway, as I sit here with a can of softdrink and a chocolate bar wondering if I can fit in some time to build more exhibits in my zoo in between dinner and NCIS & CSI tonight, I will leave it to next week to cut back some of my addictions

del.icio.us Tags: TV, Computer Games, Dental

White Christmas - The Theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 17:55:00 +0000

We had arranged with Tony’s parents to see a show at Southampton on the 6th Jan, as Tony’s mum’s godson Farrick (following?? Hehe) was part of the cast. So the four of us went along and met up with Tony’s sister, husband and their 2 children and some other friends of the family.
It turns out what we were there to see was a musical, White Christmas based on the movie and the lead was none other than Aussie Craig McLachlan - ie Henry in Neighbours 20 odd years ago!
The show was actually really good, and after a year of debating with tony about the quality of Craig’s singing voice I had to admit that he was very good on stage! (we have had a friendly argument in which tony has tried to convince me many times that Craig McLachlan is actually a really good singer and if you ignore the 80’s Mona song the rest are really good and, being me, without actually listening I have disagreed)
Kayla, Georgie and their 2 cousins Gemma & Sophie seemed to really enjoy it, and Every time Farrick appeared on stage Tony’s mum was very excitedly pointing him out – I think she was very proud and rightly so

After the show Tony’s mum had to meet Farrick at the stage door to exchange some Christmas presents and he asked the girls if they would like to meet Craig. Craig came out in the freezing cold half undressed and signed autographs and had pictures taken, he seemed really nice & down to earth and after chatting with everyone for a little while went back inside as I quote “he nipples were about to fall off” from the cold.
After the show we had a nice meal in church that has been converted into a restaurant – such a nice setting. Ricky (Farrick) had organised for everyone to meet up there and as we were shown to our tables he stated that he wasn’t going to eat coz it was too expensive hehe

del.icio.us Tags: Theatre, Craig McLachlan, Southampton

Christmas & New Year 2006/2007

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:50:00 +0000

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!!!
This year we had 2 Christmas days (alright for some huh?!?)
On 25th December we had a Christmas day with Kayla and Charlie also spent the day with us. Tony slaved away in the kitchen to provide us with a roast dinner and the rest of the day was spent playing with his new present “guitar hero – for PS2” – we are all getting quite good at that
On Boxing Day we had our second Christmas as Georgie arrived from her mum’s house, Tony’s parents also came over and Charlie was still staying with us.
There were lots of presents to open on that day and again Tony cooked a lovely traditional roast dinner.
The girls had a great time over the holiday and I’m sure played with every new thing that they got. We played quite a lot of games; monopoly a few times (in which one game Tony’s mum won for the first time ever), a few versions of trivial pursuit (which in one game I won for the first time ever – however it was the Disney DVD version! I must watch too many children’s movies!) and we treated ourselves to Buzz for PS2. The only version we could get was the Who wants to be a Millionaire which we now play with the sound turned down as Chris Tarrant’s (the host of UK who want to be...) drives us all up the wall!!!
We welcomed 2007 quietly & almost sober - a nice change – we had promised the girls at midnight we would go outside pop some bottles of bubbly and sing Auld Lang Syne. So from about 6pm they were asking every hour when it was going to be midnight until about 11pm when it was every 10 mins. They got dressed up in some new party dresses (oh the excitement!) shoes & jackets on and watched the clock until 11.59 we all (Tony, Charlie, Kayla, Georgie & myself) then ran outside and saw all the fireworks around, the adults popped a bottle of bubbly each (ok – I tried to and couldn’t so Tony opened mine for me!) and as Tony & Charlie were spraying each other with booze unfortunately in the dark Georgie fell over and hurt herself :( so after 6 hours of waiting and 5 mins of excitement we all trundled back inside where Kayla mentions that we didn’t sing the song they learned (Auld Lang Syne) Kids – gotta love ‘em!!

del.icio.us Tags: Christmas, New Year, PS2, Board Games

The Wedding - Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:45:00 +0000

We had asked my mum’s cousin Scott to MC the reception and he did a fantastic job. Although there was one part at the beginning of the night that Tony would love to take credit for but unfortunately it was just a genuine mistake. Before the day when giving Scott the list of the bridal party names we had listed Kayla & Georgie first. Just prior to the reception the bridal party stayed in a holding room with drinks and nibbles and it was decided that the bestman & maid of honour would walk into the room first (as we wanted to do the entry to the room slightly different and the big girls and little girls were struggling with where they had to be…) so as the music starts, Tony’s excellent choice of “hey hey were the monkeys” Scott introduces the beautiful flowergirls and in walks Charlie & Erin. It was very funny but a shame as Scott was nervous as it was about the MC job!
After the great meal, we cut the cake to Rod Stewarts “Have I told you lately” and settled in, for what seemed most the night, to listen to /give speeches.
As with tradition, the father of the bride speech was first. Dad was really good & it was funny. A few things of my childhood were mentioned that everyone got a laugh out of.
Charlie’s speech was the best “bestman’s speech” I have heard, he was hilarious with comments such as “I have contacted the Canadian Embassy and they have advised I don’t have to apologise for Celine Dion and you don’t have to apologise for Rolf Harris” and toasting everyone and everyone and stating that it was a great drinking game
Tony hates watching his speech but he did very well and also used humour, only the men seemed to do the funny speeches, and got away with reminding the Australian’s that they came from convicts.
The floor was opened to anyone who wanted to say a few words, which is traditional in Australia but not heard of really in the UK, and quite a few people spoke. Everyone had something really nice to say and although it went for a long time it was enjoyable, the only downside was by the end there was no alcohol left in anyone’s glass and the room was still mostly sober!
Tony and I then had our first dance to “I’ll see it through – Texas”. The dance floor was pretty quiet for a while until Tony & Charlie broke the ice when Bohemian Rhapsody came on to which they performed their traditional head-bang to.
We managed to squeeze in some fun songs, the bridesmaids and I managed to make it through “The Nutbush” and quite a few guests joined in “Superman – Black Lace”!
Towards the end of the night came the bouquet toss together with the garter toss which is very common in Australia but not done in the UK, both were done to “one way or another – Blondie”.
Just prior to Tony & I leaving we had yet another Australian wedding tradition of the guests standing around in what’s called known as the farewell circle so we could go around and say goodbye to everyone. All the guests then turned into a human arch for us to run through to make our way outside.

LATER IN THE NIGHT

No – not what you are thinking!! We will keep the private stuff private haha
Tony and I stayed at the resort part of Twin Towns (the wedding ceremony and reception were held at the Twin Town’s sister RSL club). Most of the wedding guests were due to catch the courtesy bus from Club Banora to Twin Towns at midnight. After having a drink and relax in the room we decided that the night was still young and got ourselves over to the pub part of Twin Towns (still in wedding dress & suit!) to meet the guests who decided to stay out & drink for a while.
There was a live band playing and not long after we arrived one of the guests grabbed me and ran me across the dancefloor and lifted me on the stage as the bank were signing YMCA. The band then changed the tune midway through to “going to the chapel” and sung their own version of “she must be pregnant coz she just got married”
I then had to quickly get off stage as one of the bouncers was heading my way!
We had a few drinks there then made our way back to the hotel.
It was a fantastic day/night and everyone had a wonderful time – well worth the 10 months or so planning!

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The Wedding - Ceremony

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:38:00 +0000

I wasn’t a traditionally late bride, we were actually a little early so that gave us plenty of time to get into positions for when the walking the aisle music started “it is you I have loved – Dana Glover”.
As I walked towards where the ceremony was taking place my heart was pounding, then I saw Tony who looked fantastic and it felt magical. Lots of people who mean a lot to us managed to make it there to share the day with us and there were quite a few tears (happy ones I hope!) when we were declared husband & wife.

Ceremony Wording - Written by Nikki & Tony

The Marriage of Tony and Nikki
Club Banora, Banora Point
11 November 2006
Introduction
Welcome family and friends. We have come together today to reflect the joy and celebrate the marriage between Nikki and Tony. Just when neither of them was expecting it, and after several detours during their lives, a amazing event occurred – they met each other and fell in love. In their hearts, they are already committed to one another. This ceremony gives formal recognition to that commitment. As you have shared different parts of their lives at one time or another, now you can share in the one day that will always remain special.

Reading
And now I would like to ask Malcolm Hitchinson Father of the groom to do a Reading, This is a Song that means a great deal to both Tony and Nikki
Green Eyes By Coldplay

you are a rock
Upon which I stand
And I come here to talk
I hope you understand
Yeah the spotlight
Shines upon you
And how could
Anybody
Deny you
I came here with a load
And it feels so much lighter
Now I've met you
you should know
That I could never go on
Without you
Green eyes
you are the sea
Upon which I float
And I came here to talk
I think you should know
You're the one that I wanted to find
And anyone who tried to deny you,
Must be out of their minds
you are a rock
Upon which I stand.

Giving Away
As has been the custom for many years, we see the Nikki lovingly and tenderly escorted, and presented for marriage, by her father Kenny.
Nikki has chosen to respect this custom, but she wishes to show her gratitude to both of her parents who loved her as a small child. They watched over her, taught her and they have loved her.

Today, we see the result of their achievement as parents. We see that they have accomplished, with success, everything that is expected of loving parents. Their little girl has grown into a beautiful young woman, and this affectionate act of love for Nikki shows their approval for Nikki & Tony to be married today.
However, we still officially ask:
Who brings Nikki to be married to Tony?
Kenny & Beth: We do.

Celebrant Authority

My name is Tennille Jones and I am duly authorised to solemnise marriages according to law. Nikki Jane Campbell and Anthony Hitchinson, before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. According to law in Australia, marriage is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
The Asking
Tony, you have taken Nikki as your friend and now you are inviting her to be your wife and life companion. Do you promise to openly share your life with Nikki – to love, laugh, live for and dream with? Do you promise to accept her as she is and delight in who she is becoming? Will you always be there to comfort her in her sorrows and take pleasure in her triumphs? Will you lovingly support her hopes and dreams and stand by her through whatever may come?
Tony: I will

Nikki, you have taken Tony as your friend and now you are inviting him to be your husband and life companion. Do you promise to openly share your life with Tony – to love, laugh, live for and dream with? Do you promise to accept her as him as he is and delight in who he is becoming? Will you always be there to comfort him in his sorrows and take pleasure in his triumphs? Will you lovingly support his hopes and dreams and stand by him through whatever may come?
Nikki: I will

The Vows
Tony, please repeat your chosen vows of commitment after me.
I ask our family and friends here present to witness that I, Anthony Hitchinson, take you, Nikki Campbell, to be my lawful wedded wife
I love and adore you, you mean the world to me. Today I ask that you share my life forever. I pledge that I will always be loving to you, and always be honest and faithful. There will be fun times, there may be sad times, but no matter what we may encounter, we have each other.
I vow here that this love will be my only love. I will make my home in your heart from this day forward.

Nikki, please repeat after me. I ask our family and friends here present
to witness that I, Nikki Campbell, take you, Anthony Hitchinson, to be my lawful wedded wife husband. I promise to love you, treasure you and respect you. I promise as your wife, to laugh with you, to cry with you, to encourage you and inspire you and to love you with all that I am and all that I shall become. This I promise from the depth of my heart and soul for all our life together.

Ring Exchange
Nikki and Tony, what symbol do you have as a pledge of these vows?
Nikki and Tony: These rings.
These Rings with their unending circles symbolise both of your ever lasting love for each other

Tony, please place Nikki’s ring over the tip of her finger and repeat after me.
Nikki with this ring
I wed you
and promise my love always.
Nikki, please repeat after me.
Tony, with this ring
I wed you
and promise my love always.

Rose Exchange
Not only are Nikki and Tony creating a marriage today, but they also are forming a family with Kayla and Georgina. Just as it is appropriate for Nikki and Tony to declare their love for each other, they also wish to show you (to the children) how much they love you with the gift of a rose.

Reading
Read by Sheila Campbell (bride’s stepmother)

You are the star of each night,
You are the brightness of every morning,
You are the story of each guest,
You are the report of every land.
No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank,
In field or valley, on mountain or in glen.
Neither above nor below, neither in sea nor on shore,
In skies above nor in the depths.
You are the kernel of my heart,
You are the face of my sun,
You are the harp of my music,
You are the crown of my company.

Declaration of Marriage
Nikki and Tony, we have heard your vows and you have symbolised your union by pledging your lives to each other, exchanging rings and through the gift of a rose. May you retain the strength you need to keep the promises you have made. May life enrich you more than you have imagined and your united influence bring happiness to your family and friends. As you have consented together in lawful marriage in the presence of these witnesses, I now declare you husband and wife. You may Kiss the Bride.

Signing of Register
We will now formalise this marriage by signing the Register and Certificates.
Charles Watson & Erin Gray will you please join us.

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Hitchinson.

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The Wedding - Preparations & Dramas

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:12:00 +0000

Well after months of organising and going mad trying to get everything in order from the other side of the world the big day finally arrived.
Needless to say there were a few hiccups upon our arrival to Australia for the final preparations. My mum was given a couple of tasks to control while we were not in the country and as some of you reading this will know those things did not run too smoothly. First was the cake, as at 6 weeks to the big day we were on our 4th cake maker (who was actually the first…) the other 2 in the meantime that fell through was by no means anyone’s fault just time was ticking away. However it didn’t help the stress levels when mum informed me that at 3 weeks prior to the wedding she didn’t have the cake maker’s phone number!! On one of our many drives up to Brisbane from the gold coast we stopped by her house and had to leave a note in the her post box to call us. As you will see in our photos the cake was made in time and was absolutely beautiful! Phew!
The next drama, another one of mum’s jobs, was the ring. Mum had to collect Tony’s wedding band and keep it safe until we arrived.
A couple of days before Tony arrived I asked mum to see the ring so I could keep it with my one. This started a hunt through her entire unit as it seemed to have been misplaced!!! By the time Tony arrived at the Gold Coast the ring was still missing, so we had to head back up to Brisbane and order a replica to be made in 2 weeks. Tension was still rife as when we went back to Brisbane to collect the ring a few days before the 11th and it still wasn’t ready. We managed to convince my brother to pick it up and bring it to the rehearsal at the Gold coast.
During the couple of weeks before the wedding the weather at the Gold Coast was not as to be expected! In between high winds and overcast days there were many large thunderstorms! The biggest storm took place on the day that I had my final dress fitting and the boys had their suit fittings. Luckily when the lightning struck and caused the power to fail in the shopping centre, I had just seen the dress on and approved the last minute changes that were made. The boys however were not as lucky as due to the power failure the alterations on my brother’s suit could not be made and an electronic payment transaction could not be processed for my dads. They then had to travel back the day before the wedding to collect them.
The weather played up again for us, the wedding rehearsal took place 2 days before the wedding at the venue.
The rain had set in for the morning and was still pouring when we arrived at the venue – keeping in mind the ceremony is an outdoors venue we then were being told the arrangements that could be made if necessary for a dry place on the day. By some miracle the rain stopped long enough for the major part of the ceremony rehearsal but as we were standing on the man made beach towards the end a storm had been brewing and we witnessed a huge sheet of rain coming towards us – running for shelter we didn’t really go through properly what was to happen at the end of the ceremony. So we just had to wait and find out.

The morning of the 11th arrived and I actually woke up quite calm and waited for the bridesmaids to arrive. They were absolute stars helping getting Kayla & Georgie ready, and running around after me. Time started to run out as the limo was due to arrive, the flowers and photographer had turned up and I wasn’t finished getting dressed! I only managed to have half a glass of champagne before it was time to leave – but that was probably a good thing!
All the girls looked absolutely stunning and lots of pictures were taken before we headed into the white stretch limo to take us to Club Banora.

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Tone's Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Techietone) — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 16:03:00 +0000

So 34 seems like a big age start of the mid 30's but hey what did we do the same as we always did Got pissed, a fab night out was had by all even those we managed to collect along the way (I blame Charlie for this)
It started in the Nags Head where we was joined after a short while by Barney then off to dinner for 3, Barney, Nikki and myself, ok we we might have had a few drinks before dinner Pizza Express near Covent Garden it was after trying to get in for a Mexican and finding out that is sure they could serve us in like 1.5 hours (to much drinking time wasted there me thinks). Food was well Pizza Express I.e. good food ok price not bad services in an ok place.
Then back to the nags head to collect Charlie and meet up with Susanne and her friends she had met in Japan. the vodka was flowing so was the banter, Barney was smoking girly cigs again (yes i am sure he is not gay!) about 10:40 we left the pub with Barney saying i know where we are going heading for the Borderline Club for the Saturday night Christmas club session. we found the club more by luck than judgement i suspect. Christmas Club is a bargain to get into for a London club and is one of the oldest indie nights in the UK apparently dating back 17 years now
The music was excellent mix of old and new rock/indie. all was going so well until Barney suggested shots (see told you he is not gay) and well it kinda went down hill from then on see the picture pages for evidence
Both Nikki and Barney were a tad (actually totally and completely) pissed by the time we left at 3am Nikki was very concerned that Barney wouldn't get home ok on his own (I am glad to report that he did) . A good night was had by all even michelle and err some guy she was with who seemed to join us in the Christmas club (I still blame Charlie)
of course there was many funny stories from this night that i not possibly repeat on such an open site but Barney is defo not gay ok

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Child Free Week

noreply@blogger.com (Nikki Hitchinson) — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 16:06:00 +0000

During the summer holidays Dad & Sheila kindly offered to take Kayla up to Cheadle Hulme with them for a week, so for the first time since my impromptu trip over in September last year Tone and I had a week of just adult time and took advantage rightly so
After having a nice night in on the Monday together, Tuesday saw us heading into London to meet Charlie & Barney in Leicester Square for a drink before heading to a recommended Indian. We had been given directions how to get there from Piccadilly Circus and was leaving it up to Barney’s “capable” hands to direct us there. So off we headed to Piccadilly Circus to follow the direction and on the way there we walked past a street full of Indian restaurants and sure enough following the directions from the start point and ended up back at that exact same street. It was the best curry I’ve had over here and a great night lots of laughter & drinks!Wednesday night we met up with one of Tone’s work colleagues Mike & his girlfriend Anne and they introduced us to a really good Noodle Bar in Reading. We then ended up in the Rising Sun (an old rockers pub) one of Tone’s old haunts from his earlier days in Reading. We headed back to Mike & Anne’s who have Guitar Hero for PS2 (which Tony has been lusting after since we saw it in a games shop) and let Tony have a turn. They have said that they have never seen anyone fail the tutorials before but I cant talk I didn’t even have a try after seeing both Mike & Anne kick arse on it – we still want one for home though! After work on Thursday I met Tony at Henley-on-Thames as we decided to go out for another meal though just the two of us, this was interrupted for a little while as we were cornered by a drunk local who wanted to talk all night about Saduko (an unexpected drunk conversation admittedly)Mike’s brother Pete has a band Pete & The Pirates who were playing a gig in a converted warehouse in Reading on the Friday, so Tone, Charlie and I went along. The entertainment was superb and we came away with 2 cd’s one of Pete & The Pirates and another of Ben Marwood who played first and was fantastic also.A great end to a fantastic week! Waiting with anticipation for the next summer holidays

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