Today was my mam and dad's wedding anniversary. They have been married for 14 years. I really wasn't sure what to get them, so the night before their anniversary I went to the Spar that was in the holiday park just to see if there was anything nice there. I had already got a card for them when I was back in Celbridge so I was sorted for a card. I went in and there wasn't anything really there so I freaked out because I had to get something. I ended up getting my mam a bag of toffee popcorn which she loves and a nice bracelet. I got my dad a postcard of Blackpool and a box of sweets. When I gave them their presents they were really happy that we made the effort and they loved the presents even though they were something small.
Today on their anniversary we decided to go to a wax museum in Blackpool called Madame Tussaud's. We were all really looking forward to it because we would get to have pictures with our favourite television celebrities. When we went in there wasn't that many people there, which was good so we could take our time. When we went in it was so big and there was loads of wax figures of people like Simon Cowell, Graham Norton and Lady Gaga. It was so funny because we would do poses beside the wax models, some more strange than others which was funny. There was one thing and it wasn't a wax figure, it was like a cardboard cutout where you put your face through it and you can take a picture. It was so funny because instead of just smiling, we all made a face to suit the character. Here's the picture that we took:
As we made our way around the museum, there was people that worked there, ready to take a picture of us in a scene, for instance, there were wax figures of the Queen, Kate and William, so we stood beside them and did our best royal wave. When we saw all of the wax figures, we went out into the shop. This is where you could buy souvenirs and get your photo's printed off. We got some sort of package deal where we got big photo's, magnets and key-rings. Here are 2 of the pictures that we got:
Dean bought this statue thing which is like a Grammy and he got something engraved on it. It was something like "Dean Murphy met the stars at Madame Tussaud's in Blackpool" or something. He only payed about £7 for it and the engraving was free, I didn't really want anything like that because I would like clothes better. When we got out pictures, we left and decided to go for a walk around the markets and shops. We got a couple of bits and my mam even got a nice top for herself. It's like a red top with frilly parts and a nice necklace to go with it. After a few hours we decided to go home and get ready to go to The Dungeon under The Blackpool Tower. When we came back to The Dungeon about 2 hours later, it wasn't open and we were puzzled as to why it wasn't open because it would've been good to have it open during the night because it's scary. We decided to go back to the holiday park and just go to the entertainment instead.
When we got there which was at about 9pm, we were only waiting a few minutes when a table became available, when the person who was sitting there before us left, I ran over and snatched it. Most people were leaving at that time because seeing as it was time for the mature entertainment, they were bringing their young children home to bed. My dad came down with a big jug of beer and two glasses which he has got every-night so far since we have been in Blackpool. The night was really good and since as it was my parents anniversary, I went up the the DJ box and told the guy to give a shoat out to them on their special day. They were really appreciative and gave me a big hug and thanked me for doing it. The rest of the night was good and it was coming up to 12am when the fire alarm went off. We didn't mind going home because we were going anyway but even though it was just a drill, we all had to go anyway just in case.
Here is some of the pictures that we took that day:
Today we went to the main road in Blackpool where all the tourist places are and the markets are. We spent hours there looking for nice things and cheap things. A few hours passed and we managed to buy loads. After that we went back to the holiday park and then we went into the swimming pool. We were only in there about an hour when we had to get out because some girl who was about 6 or 7 decided to take a shit in the pool >:( NOT COOL!!
Today we were leaving Leigh and heading towards Blackpool. We checked out of The Park Inn and made our way up to Blackpool. We checked in at about 2pm and got the keys to our new home for the next week. As always me and Dean fight about what bed we get. I got the one by the window :P Over the next hour or so we unpacked and put all of our stuff on the shelves above our beds.
When we unpacked everything we decided to go over to the entertainment venue. Everytime you wanted to get into it, you had to show the security man a card to prove that you were a resident in the holiday park. Inside there is over 100 different things you could play. We went over to the money machines where you drop a coin in and you might win the prizes if all the money pushes the prizes off the edge. About and hour or two we won loads on the 2p and 10p machines. They were good little prizes. Dean was on a 2p machine trying to win something when a woman came over and handed him a full little bucket of prizes. It was really nice of her because she must've been there for hours. She said that she only plays on the machines for fun not to keep the prizes.
Later on when we went to the entertainment, me and Dean were too hot so our mam gave us money to go out and play on the games. We were playing on this one and there was about 5 prizes hanging on the edge and we were there for ages trying to make them fall but they wouldn't so I went over to a man who worked there and asked him could he take them out. I expected him to take them out of the machine altogether but no, he put them in our bucket that we had on the side of the machine. He didn't have to but we were pleased.
We went back into the entertainment that was going on and oh my god, it was rubbish well for me and Dean. There was little kids about 6 years of age that were loving it but we thought it was crap so we went back to the mobile home and watched some television.
Today my family had planned to go to the Trafford Center in Manchester and Phillip had planned to go to spend the day with Berni, Lilly and her husband Tom. When we were on holidays in England about 3 years ago we went to the Trafford Center so we were looking forward to it because it is so big that you could get lost in it. It was so convenient because it had every shop in it and free parking because people wouldn't go there for a few hours, they would go there for a day out. We weren't there when we got some food. The food hall was massive and had many food outlets including McDonald's, Burger King and KFC. We got a table in the big seating area which had a ship deck theme. Me and Dean stayed at the table and my mam and dad came over with a KFC. Yummy! We all tucked in and the prowled all the shops looking for bargains comparing it to the euro. I managed to pick up a nice dress which is all different colours and it's like a strapless, boob tube, knee-length dress. It's really pretty and it's like my black dress. I also got another top to go with my 000's that I brought on holiday with me. It's like navy with other colours on it and it has a massive peace sign on it. We went into a few more shops and I got a pair of earrings in H&M. After being there for most of the day we headed back to the hotel. Instead of going down to the bar downstairs we stayed in the hotel room and then my mam and dad went out for a drive when Phillip came back and about an hour later they brought back pizza's, wedges and garlic bread. After that I was tired so I just went to bed.
Today was the day of the wedding. My family usually attend weddings of people who we have never ever met so this one was no different. My dad's auntie's brother-in-law's 3rd daughter was getting married. We attended the wedding of her older sister 3 years before. We were looking forward to the wedding. My mam woke me up at about 7 or 8am and did my tan for me. All of the lads were still asleep so my mam had me standing in the middle of the room turning around and making sure that there was no streaks or white patches. When everybody was awake we all started to get ready and by about 12.20 we all went downstairs and got a taxi to the church which was about a 10 minute drive. We made our way into the church and sat with my dad's cousin Ann and her husband Colin. Lilly, Berni and Phillip. The ceremony was lovely and loads of people were crying. The bride (Alison) wore a beautiful dress and she had an up-do which was very elegant. The bridesmaids dresses were black; which is not a colour that I would have at a wedding but they looked beautiful with a big bun on the side of their hair. The ceremony was about an hour long and it was disappointing because it was raining really heavily. After there was a long wait because the photographer wanted to take loads of pictures.
When we were at the last wedding the reception was right beside the church so we assumed it would be the same at this wedding. It wasn't because it was in a different venue about 20 minutes up the road and my feet killed. I was really happy that I brought flat shoes in my bag. I really liked my outfit, I was wearing a one-shoulder, black and silver, sparkly, knee-length dress, a pair of open-toed, black and silver wedges which were really high. The rest of my family were dressed up too, my mam was wearing a summery top and white trousers and my dad and Dean were in suits.
When we got to the venue, we had assigned seats which was good because we were all sitting with Berni, Lilly, Ann, Colin and their daughter Megan. We were surprised because we were sitting at the table closest to the top table. Everybody was starving but the speeches were yet to come. There was loads of people making speeches including the bride, groom, best-man and father of the bride (Alf). When about an hour had passed the food was served. Usually at a wedding there's a set menu but at this wedding there was a buffet. I think that is better because people can just get what they like. There was loads of chicken tikka, hotpot and cakes and bread and loads of food that I didn't really what it was. We were delighted when our table was called to go up and help ourselves. I got a bit of everything and started tucking in.
As day turned into night Alison and Michael had their first dance. Most people started getting up to dance with them. I was really enjoying myself and then my family got up to dance. I generally don't mind them dancing but this time my mam and dad were pissed. My mam and dad were dancing weird and embarrassing and then when my dad sat back down my mam kept going and she was dancing with this guy who was about 20 years old. It was funny to watch until she had he leg up around him. I just thought that was cringey. Coming up to about 11pm I was getting really tired. Everybody at my table were having a good time taking pictures and telling stories.
It was a unusual wedding because there was a raffle during the meal and if you had the same tickets as the ones that Alf pulled out you got to keep the flower display in the middle of the table you were sitting at. When Alf looked at our table, he laughed and my mam spat out wine from her mouth because she was laughing so much. Before the raffle had started, we took the flowers out of the vase and put them in our hair. All of the girls on the table were messing with them and we sort of ruined the table display. We didn't know that they were going to be raffled off so we ruined them instead. The whole table was chuckling for about 20 minutes and the English people were looking and staring and only us being Irish would laugh off our heads and make the whole situation a joke.
It was coming up to about 12am when most people were going home and the newly married couple; Alison and Michael were gone to spend their first night together as a married couple. We made out way over to the taxi office that was right beside the wedding venue. There was loads of drunk young people there so when we went inside the man who worked there told us it would be about 30 minutes until a taxi was available. About 5 minutes later the man came over to us and put us in a taxi, I was confused but my mam said that because of all the drunk people then man probably wanted to get rid of us sooner because maybe he didn't want children (me and Dean) to see drunk people getting into fights. We were all tired and my mam was drunk so when we got back we all just went to bed.
Today was the first day of our holiday. We were getting the Stena Adventure at 8.30 which means we had to get up at about 6am. We made sure a few days before that we had everything ready. I helped my mam pack the suitcases and clean the house from top to bottom before we went away. Sleeping in my bed which had been changed the day before so they would be fresh for when I came back I tried to get to sleep. I managed to get a few hours of sleep and then at 6am my mam came in and turned the light on. All I had to do was get up, get dressed and make my bed. Everything in my room was in its place. I grabbed my bags and we started to fill the car. I think travelling by boat is better than flying because there is not limit to what you can bring. So we made sure that every nook and cranny was stuffed with holiday gadgets. we left at about 6.30am and made our way to the ports. There was surprisingly a lot of cars on the road at that time but they would've been going to work.
When we got there, my mam and Dean went into the seating area place because Dean wasn't feeling the best. For the past couple of days he has been sick and even went to the doctors. Apparently he has a virus in his eye that is affecting his eyes, nose and mouth meaning cough and cold. I had my bag ready which I was bringing on the boat with me. We were going to be on the boat for 3 hours so I made sure I was prepared. I had my phone, Ipod, Ipad and Nintendo charged up. We brought different games that we could play and a colouring book and colouring pencils. We drove onto the boat and made our way up to the lounge areas in search of a seat. My dad's cousin Phillip and auntie Berni were also going to the wedding so we sat with them on the boat. The time flew in because the two of them are so funny and great to be around. It honestly felt like a 1 hour journey because we were with them. I had loads of fun on my Nintendo and Ipad. We also got breakfast on the boat, I am not really one for breakfast so I just had sausages, rashers and beans. It was arranged that Phillip would get the train up to the Park Inn hotel in Leigh and Berni was going to stay in her sister Lilly's house. We had about a 3 hour drive ahead of us and we would all be squished in the car so half way through the journey we stopped off in a McDonald's in Wales which gave us a chance to eat and stretch the legs.
When we got to my great-auntie Lilly's house, we went inside and my dad was talking about when he was younger, we stead there for a while and then we made a move and headed for our hotel. We stayed in this hotel about 3 years so we knew what the hotel was like. We checked in and we walked in and we got a double room again. The main bedroom was nice with a huge bed and nice bathroom. We went into the other room where there was 2 sofa beds and a table and chairs. The room was massive, we were all so surprised and we relaxed for a bit and started to unpack. My dad was on the phone to Phillip and because of problems in his marriage his wife cancelled the reservation in the hotel so he had nowhere to sleep. We all felt bad so we tried to get him a room in the hotel but they were fully booked and every other hotel/ B&B were all full because there was a famous 80's rock band playing a concert there and everyone wanted to see them. I never heard of them "The stone roses". Phillip was saying to us that he was just going to go home but we said to him that he could stay with us. He felt embarrassed and after much persuasion he came up to the room and that meant instead of my mam and dad sleeping in the big huge bed and me and Dean having a big sofa bed each, I would be sleeping with my mam in the main bed and my dad and Dean would have 1 sofa bed and Phillip would have the other. I didn't really mind and we all went over to the big store that was built in front of the hotel which was built recently because it wasn't there when we were last there. My mam was happy because it was a Morrison's. We went in and got some food and because Phillip felt bad about "squatting" with us he paid for the whole thing. The cost was about £40. We got some sandwiches, drinks and a huge case of bear. There was 30 cans of Carlsberg for £15. We then went back to the hotel room and ate the food.
Later on in the night we all went down to the lounge area and stayed there for about 1 hour, had a few drinks and had fun. Phillip was interrogated me about my boyfriend Brian. He wanted to text him and scare him. HE sent a text saying something like "Lauren and I are having a good time here in England", we were all laughing and Brian texted back saying "Who's this?" I knew Brian was getting freaked out because an unknown number sent him a text saying that he was having fun with his girlfriend. I decided to text him on my dads phone and explain everything. It was at that point where I felt low because it would be ages away until I would see him. We all then went to bed and I had a really good nice sleep because me and my mams bed was so comfy :)
From the 29th of June to the 9th of July I was on my holiday in the United Kingdom. The plan was to get the boat over to Hollyhead (Wales) with the car and then drive to Leigh (near Manchester) stay there for 3 days, attend a family wedding and then drive to Blackpool and spend a week there. So in the next few posts I will explain what I did on each day of my holiday starting from the 29th of June to the 9th of July.
