The Smith Catch Up V3

Well, well, well, what a busy couple of week we have had. In fact what a busy 5 days we have had.

In the past 5 days we have been to Reading x 2, Windsor x 2, Stafford and London and packed in a lot in what has been a pretty hectic time. Thankfully as Birmingham is in the middle of England it has been a pretty convenient base to come home to.

It was my Dad's 60th birthday on the 12th of August and in honour of the occasion we planned plenty in. Celebrations started with Windsor Races, my Dad loves the races and with my family - including cousins and Aunt and Uncle- all making the trip it was a great celebration. There were no major losses in the betting so everyone had an enjoyable time, even if it got tense at points. In fact we all managed to pick quite a few winners but that mainly covered our betting fees so no-one got rich but it was a good night all in all.

Windsor Races is great over summer as the evening races all end with a music act allowing you to dance into the night. Our act was a Queen tribute band who were actually very good. The crowd was full of all ages belting out the hits and we stayed to the very end as my Mum had packed prosecco and birthday cake so we had everything we needed to keep us dancing.

At the end of the evening we had a 2 hour drive back to Birmingham to be ready to start the working week.

The week flew by and on Friday evening we found ourselves returning to Reading. This time to catch up with one of my dearest friends, Lisa. We met in town and enjoyed a Zizzi's while catching up. It was another late evening as we chatted so late that the restaurant was closing around us. I think we someone how managed to consume 3 courses each so we rolled back to the car.

We stayed with my parents on Friday evening as Saturday was a jam packed day.

Up bright and early the first stop was Laura's Nan in Windsor. She recently had a fall and we wanted to make sure she had enough shopping to save her making unnecessary trips out. Laura's Nan is amazing, even after the fall she was ready and raring to hit the shops. We spent almost an hour checking out everything the food store had to offer and left with an large amount of cakes and ice creams as well as all the meal stuff. I want to be just like Laura's Nan when I am 91.

After taking all the stuff into Laura's Nan's we hit the motorway to Maidenhead to pick up my sister and her boyfriend and then head to the Madjeski Stadium - home of Reading FC. My football club of choice and where my Dad has spent most of his Saturdays over the past 20 years. Reading were playing Brighton (my Dad's childhood team) and we had secured hospitality as a surprise.

Hanging out with the locals Kingsley and Queensly

Mum had gone to the game with my Dad and hadn't mentioned that we would be joining. An hour before the match Laura, my sister, her boyfriend and I walked into the hospitality suite and my Dad's face was a picture. It was the final part of his 60th birthday and he wasn't expecting it at all.

The suite allowed us to have a pre-match meal and drinks while watching the ground fill up. We then had comfy seats (padded instead of hard plastic) to enjoy the match from. Reading put in a great performance against a skillful Brighton and the match ended 2-2. A fair result and my Dad was happy as he wanted both teams to do well.


After the match we headed back to my parents to enjoy cake and a game of pictionary. Laura and I won and the energy helped us through the journey back to Birmingham.

Sunday was V Festival. The drive to Stafford took just under an hour and we timed it just right. There was no traffic and the only queue we encountered was the one going into the grounds. We arrived at 12 and managed to survive until 12.30am.

It was Laura's first festival and the British summer made sure that she got to experience all weather conditions. If you saw any of our day on Snapchat or Instagram Stories you'll know that when we arrived it was glorious sunshine but by the end we had been in torrential rain for over 3 hours.

The day started with DNCE and MNEK, we had a break to wander around the stands and ended up in a Cadbury's fun house where we were given so much chocolate, thrown in a ball pit, made to race using hoppers, slide down a massive slide and in my case perform 'the worm' and in Laura's case 'dress up like a rockstar'. Not your average Sunday!

We then saw Zara Larsson, Foxes, Jess Glynne and Rik Astley, who we enjoyed while stuffing our face with noodles. The evening was spent seeing Bastille, Sia and Justin Bieber. Overall the day was amazing. Our highlights were Zara Larsson (I didn't know I knew so many of her songs) and Bastille. Bieber was interesting - the hits had everyone dancing and singing along but the miming and incoherent chat about pop tarts and work outs grew annoying - maybe it was the fact that when your standing in rain you're not that bothered about how to heat up a pop tart?! He did sing 'Baby' though and that meant he was almost forgiven.

An accident on the motorway home made our journey a long one and we eventually arrived home just after 2am. Neither of us our sure how we made it through yesterday but I can confirm that I made up a few hours napping on my train to London today.

And there you have it - I am exhausted just typing this and it's only Tuesday!

How have your weeks been?!