Hi Bloggers!!!

Monday was contender day. My husband went along with 300 other sporty types to try and win a place on Sky TV's hit show Gladiator.
Apparently 10,000 people applied for the show that pits normal people against super fit gladiators in an attempt to win the £50,000 prize.
Anyway they split the 300 into teams of 4. Then they put them through their paces with tests which would make a normal person cry. At one point they tied their legs together and made them crawl along a carpet for 40 metres using only their arms. After this they had to do pull ups.
At the end of the tests, only 3 people qualified.
All I can say is keep the fifty grand- rather them than me!

My husband has just announced that he is auditioning for Sky TVs show Gladiators. I don't know how he is going to do as he is already nursing an injured Achilles tendon.
He's really got the TV bug since I bared all for Channel 4's Embarrassing Bodies programme last April (I will write about that one day).
The audition is next Monday so watch this space.

This morning while watching the 400 metre runners at the Olympics, my husband said to Sam (our 3 year old) "Daddy used to do that when he was younger"
Sam was amazed and happily exclaimed " Was you black daddy? You was black? You was, wasn't you daddy?"
When we looked, all the runners were black and Sam has recently learned all the colours. He just said what he saw. It wasn't a racist. He just hasn't reached the stage of awareness that stops us from saying what we think.
It reminded me of a holiday I took to Mexico a few years ago.
We had been to Jamaica the year before and where we stayed there were loads of stray cats and they used to hang around meowing to be fed.
When we were in Mexico, we were playing crazy golf when suddenly a load of cats and kittens appeared. My husband Dan turned to me and said. "Oh my god, it's just like Jamaica here".
That's when we became aware of the couple standing close by. They were African Americans and were speechless at what Dan had just said. What do you do in that situation? We couldn't explain as we didn't know them, and I doubt they would have believed us anyway. We were stuck in that same resort with that poor couple for another week. What must they have thought of the nasty English racists?

One of the best things about having a child is you get to see the world through their eyes.
I was out doing the weekly shop with my 3 year old son. As we toured the aisles looking for the various things on the shopping list, we chatted away. I realised we had forgotten to get Oranges and said to my son, " oh let's get some of those lovely Oranges".
Looking at the Lemons, he thought for a moment then said " shall we get some yellows too mummy"? He does make me laugh!

If your idea of a great seaside break with the kids is spending a week on a run down council estate with fat smokers with millions of sugar fuelled kids running riot, go to Pontins!
I have never been to a "holiday camp" before, let's just say it was far from a pleasant experience.
As we entered our holiday home, the smoke fumes of the previous occupant enveloped us. A cobweb above the shower was proudly decorated with pubic hair. This complemented the mildew around the drain.
The beds, oh my! The sleeping facilities (beds is too far fetched) consisted of two 2 foot wide single divans with 3 inch thick plastic covered springs. The double sofa bed was uncomfortable sofa to sit on. It had a downward slant to the seat which meant you had to brace your feet against the floor, or you fell off. The mattress was even worse. I slept on it one night only and was left with imprints of the springs on my body.
We were supposed to serve 4 days in this hellhole but managed to escape on Wednesday. I have never been so happy to leave a place before. That must be what it feels like to get out of jail.
As we waited at the gate for the Polish guard to open the barrier, I was scared we wouldn't be allowed to leave.

Hello and welcome to my first ever blog. I am completely new to this. Apologies if I am doing things completely wrong, or if I don't understand the blogging language yet. And please excuse my grammar, I'm rusty!

I suppose I will start by telling a little bit about myself, and why I am starting my blog.

I am a 42 year old mum of three kids who range from 3 years right up to 23 years.

I live in Kent, close, but not too close to the M25.

A few Sunday's back, I was having a pub lunch, when I spotted an airship. I haven't seen one since I was a child living in London. There used to be an airship that flew over London with Goodyear logo on the side. I had always wanted to see one up close.

I showed my 3 year old son Sam the airship and he was fascinated by it. Afterwards, every time we saw the Stella Artois Star Over London, he would stop what he was doing. "Mummy, the balloon is up in the air again".

" Would you like to have a go in the airship Sam"? I didn't expect him to say yes. We had been to watch the Bigging Hill Air Show earlier in the year. Things were fine until the Tornado took off and did a flyby.For anyone who has never heard a Tornado, they make the loudest sound have ever heard, ever. And the scary thing is they seem completely silent as they approach, it's only as they pass that you hear the sound and it must be what an earthquake sounds like.

When Sam heard the growl of the Tornado, he dropped to the ground covering his ears. "I have had enough, I want to go home"

And that was the end of our Biggin Hill Airshow!

I kept thinking about the airship. How could we go for a flight in it?

I thought it might be beyond my budget and then it occurred to me. I'm always Googling, why not google "win a trip on the Stella Airship? And voila, up popped http://www.londonbloggers.net/44/stellas-joining-us-for-the-summer-party/#comment-69

It was a competition to win a flight. Six flights were up for grabs. All I had to do was join the Group and write a review on my favorite pub. That was easy, it's the pub where I first saw The airship. It was fate.

I entered and won a place, and the kind people that run the competition let me take my little along, he even got his own seat.

It was wonderful, an hour long flight over London, taking in all the sights.

London looks so different from the air. I have some photos which I will be posting soon. I didn't know there was a Ferris Wheel at Greenwich. Somewhere near Charlton/Shooters Hill there was an open air swimming pool with one brave soul swimming in it. And you would not believe how many people have those giant trampolines in their gardens there were hundreds of them!

Seriously though, to see the Dome, The Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palce and Canary Wharf from 300 metres was pretty cool.