A week of Highs and Lows

This week has been a combination of highs and lows and both I guess have been at those ends of the spectrum. It started on Monday with a phone call from my mum to say my Grandad had been the hospital for a check up. Not to go into details about the whys and what fors but the doctor diagnosed my Grandad with the start of Parkinsons. My Grandad is 81 going on 60 and I guess this was a shock to him, my Grandma and the rest of the family. The doctor said he could have had this for a while but I am really sure that the true spirit of the family and my Grandad with his determination and focus will fight this all the way. We spent a few hours there on Sunday and both my Grandma and Grandad loved spending time with them. It really must be amazing to see the 4th generation of family growing up.

The start of this year has seen my Grandma not been at her best. She has suffered with her balance quite badly to the extent she has been unable to get out of bed due to dizzy spells. That fighting spirit and determination to overcome how she was feeling has been proven and she seems to be on the road to recovery. I always remember going to see her a couple of weeks after she started with these dizzy spells and her looking me in the eye and saying, "I wont let this beat me, Ill get over it!" Just inspirational words to know that know matter what life throws at you, if you put your mind to it and have a positve attitude, you can achieve it.

Keep that fighting desire going G&G!

Following on from this we had my mum who was admitted into hospital with a cyst on her back. She stayed in hospital for two nights awaiting for the operation to remove it but every time she was due to go down another emergency was admitted! The doctors eventually put her on strong antibiotics and sent her home with the instruction of if gets any worse then dont hesitate to come back. From speaking to my mum it would seem that in the situation she was in, the NHS where at max capacity. Despite the staff been as helpful as possible and doing everything they could they constantly seemed to be fighting a loosing battle of too many patients and not enough resources. My mum is now back home and hopefully the medication will kick in so she is back to her normal self again soon!

The High was that me and Nikki are proud Godparents to the little cutey below, Angelina Thurlow born on Thursday 22nd October at 2am weighting in at 7lb 2oz. Anoushka did a great job as little Angelina looked liked she would have been more than happy staying in mummys tummy until xmas than coming out. We are so proud of you guys and cant wait to spoil her and give those cheeks a big kiss! Let the good times role and the sleepless nights begin. Congratulations to you both, cant wait to see you this weekend.

Check out our gorgeous little God Daughter and that head of hair.........

Nyahs 1st Day at Play Group!

Wow, After 2.5 years Nyah had her first full day at playgroup. She has been going for the last 6 months or so on a Thursday with Nikki but this was the first time this week that she would be there from 09:30am til 3pm Monday and Wednesday then 09:30am til 12pm on a Friday all by herself, a serious milestone in the May Family.

Obvious parental concerns about leaving your daughter at playgroup for the very first time are only natural, not been in control of what she does, who shes with and the learning curve that comes with it is quite daunting. The four of us dropped Nyah off at just before 9am. She looked cute with her Dora backpack and her lunch box! As soon as she got there she put her stuff in the usual place and went straight over to paint. She turned back for a milli second to say bye but then that was it, on with her apron and brush in hand away she went. (We had the pictures at the end of the day to show how much she enjoed it).

After speaking to the teacher who runs it, she Nyah was great. She had had a couple of accidents with No.1's but she said that is only natural as there is so much to do she didnt want to miss out on anything. She asked for Nikki at about 2pm a couple of times but then she just carried on playing til Nikki picked her up at 3pm. Nyah absolutely loved it, she told us all about it when she got home, who she played with and what her best bits where. Its a great reassurance to know she enjoys it and already after the first week you can see how she is developing so its exciting times ahead. The other plus is that Nikki now gets to spend some real quality time with Ciara, which she did last week.

For the first time I also went out on the new bike, wow its awesome. I just love it! The bike just glides despite going into a head wind pretty much all ride. I did 35 miles and felt really comfortable apart from the last 8 or so miles where I got a slight twinge in my left knee. Going to hit the turbo before the wife makes me sit down and watch X Factor so will see how it is. Bought a new cateye wireless cadance speedo. It mounts to the rear frame and records the speed of the back wheel which is great because it records your soeed and distance when on the turbo which I aming to do quite a bit on between now and xmas.

We also caught up with my Grandma and Grandad. My Grandma hasnt been the best of health recently which has resulted in her struggling with her balance and feeling very dizzy. This has been ongoing for about 3 months now and for the first time in a long while she had been into town with my grandad. Considering how she has been I was really surpirsed at how well she looked. What I love as well is the fact they are in their 80's but they both always look imaculately dressed and the house looks as modern and clean as a Charles Church show room. They really are the generation and model grand and great parents to look up to and to aim to be like. They still have that twinkle in each others eye when they look at each other, it really is great to see. I think them both seeing the girls as well and how much they have grown was a great boost for them both, even though a little tyring!

After visiting them we then headed with my Mum and Dad and Sarah to Hull Fair. What a site that is, well especially from the big wheel. Thought I would be absolutley fine but that is seriously high up and did make me cling to the side railings. Nyah absoultely loved it though, and she loved the merry go round, the trains, the helter skelta and the wackey fun house! We couldnt get her off some of the rides.

Well another week comes to an end, a busy one next week with recruitment fairs with Newcastle Uni at Newcastle FC and meetings so main objective for my training is to do:

• One session of chest & triceps
• One session of Back and Biceps
• One session of legs and shoulders
• 50 miles on the bike (turbo trainer)

Big focus on the diet this week and looking forward to another biking accesary purchase with my Turbo Trainer which comes into stock at Evans on Friday.

How could I forgot, No matter what happens this next week we will have a new addition to the Thurlow family. Heres wishing Anoushka and Ben all the best for the begining of the week and their new addition................................

My New Road Bike

My New little Baby!

Cannondale Synapse

After month's of indecision on what bike to get I have hit the jackpot by picking up this gem of a bike at a bargain price.

So what I have bought...............

Cannondale Synapse

2009 Model

56cm

Full carbon frame and forks

Blue white and Black

Cannondale Carbon Crank

Full Shimano Ultegra SL fIZIK

Arione saddle

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels

FSA Carbon Seat Post

Upgraded FSA Stem 110 White

Upgraded FSA Bars 42 White

Upgraded Fizik Bar Tape Black

NEW Bottle cages

Fizik clip saddle bag

Bontrager bar end stops (help reduce vibration)

The bike really is awesome and I have to thank Ben G for letting me know of the bike which was for sale on the Leeds Triathalon website. It was slightly more than what I wanted to pay but the upgrades that have been added make it a long term investment that will bring years of riding pleasure and pain!!

Heres to the New Bike and where ever it will take me........................

The Birthday Fun continues.....................

After a fantastic weekend party we headed off first thing Monday morning to Centre Parcs at Whinfell Forest nr Penrith for the week. It was about a year ago when we went to Centre Parcs with Nyah who was about 18 months and Nikki was pregnant with Ciara. We had booked into a luxury log cabin with log fire, outdoor bbq area and three bedrooms.

Monday.

Ciara's 1st Birthday!

We arrived on Monday at about 1:30pm after the girls had had a good sleep on the two hour drive up there. After we checked in which took all off 2 mins we parked the car and headed for a coffee and a bite to eat in the complex. Nyah at this point at been under the weather for a couple of days with a sickness bug. She wasnt herself as she was complaining of feeling sick and just wanting to sit down in front of the TV and not move, which certainly isnt like Nyah. Ciara on the other hand was her bubbly smiley self although was starting to get some more teeth coming through which was resulting in her been a little grumpy and crying. Nevertheless, she was still happy most of the time.

Biggest milestone we had on the Monday during the week was Ciara taking her first steps on the walker!

It was a amazing to see Ciara taking her first steps. I always thought she would take a while to walk just because she loves crawling so much and is so quick but there she was starting at one end of the living room making her way to the other. Nothing could stop her! I was looking at old pictures of Nyah and thought it would be good to look at Nyah and Ciara when they where at a similiar age. Take a look below!

Tuesday

Daddy's 30th Birthday

Nikki had booked me and my dad in for quad biking on the Tuesday morning. After we had our breakfast of bacon and eggs we headed off to the quad biking circuit about 25mins walk away. I had never done quad biking before but been on my motorbike and biking etc was really looking forward to something similiar but on four wheels. We started off with the compulsary introductions etc then onto the bikes. The hardest thing was getting used to the throttle which was a little lever, similiar to that of a push bike gear. We started off by doing an emergency stop. After this we then headed onto a circuit to get familiar with the bikes, then it was off onto the bigger circuit! We where in a group of 8 and i was second to last with senior bringing up the rear. Think it took my dad a while to get familiar with the controls in particular the throttle. Sorry Dad but the tears where streaming down my eyes seeing you on the bike making up your own course and your knees going in all kinds of directions! Once you got the swing of it though you where right on the pace. After an hour or so of wheel spinning, managing obstacles, watching one of the girls over turn the bike we headed back to the cabin to get have a well earned bite to eat and rest for the afternoon. Everyone was that shattered that by 1pm everyone was asleep apart from me and Ciara. So with Ciara not really settling we headed out on the bike for an hour and did a couple of circuits around Centre Parcs. She loved it on the bike and was beaming from ear to ear all the way round.

Tuesday night saw us booked in at a restaurant in the main complex. We arrived to Nyah complaining of feeling sick so we ordered the food and took back home with us to have at the cabin where Nyah sat in front of the TV until she fell asleep. She really wasnt herself.

Thankyou Nikki and the girls and my M&D for making it such a special birthday, not just today but the weekend and for the things we had planned for the rest of the week.

Heres to the next 30!!!!

Wednesday

Today was the day we had booked Nyah into Bubblebees play group for the morning. We both really felt she would be ready for it and have a great time. Due to her not feeling well at all we cancelled it and decided to book her on a pony ride the next day. My mum and dad headed over to the Lakes today to see Elizabeth and have a walk around Kendal. This left me and the girls the day to fly around on the bikes. We had borrowed Sarah's mountain bike from round the corner. Nikki fell in love with it. The gear weight of it and gears made her do things on this bike that she just couldnt possible do on hers so thats now resulted in Nikki wanting a new bike!

We had lunch at the sports bar where Nyah played in the play ground which as always was a nightmare getting her off! At 2.5 Nyah really is fearless, she would walk across small blanks of wood set up off the ground and go down slides that took Nikki 2 mins to physic herself up for!

Wednesday night was my kind of night. Blue sky, in a forest having a bbq with the family. The pictures speak for themselves but I would much rather get the bbq on and cook the food myself than go out and spend a fortune for food that that you can cook just as well at home. My M&D had got the food from M&S, We got the bbq, Nyah was picking accorns up and putting them in a bag and Ciara was sat outside in her travel cot eating breadsticks like they where going out of fashion. Happy days. Not to mention rounding the day off by sitting in side on the sofa watching TV (Robert Dunlop Story, Joeys Brother!) next to the log fire (with only wood bought from the complex of course Dad!)

Thursday

The totally relaxing day of the holiday! As Nyah had not been herself all week we booked her in for a horse riding trek this morning. Nyah was so excited and like a natural on the horse. The picture says a million words below and she absolutely loved it! She went on the ride for around 45mins and from the second she got on the horse to her coming off the horse she had a smile from ear to ear. Having spoken to my mum about a friend of hers that has a horse and the £450 a month it costs to maintain it, Nyah and Ciara can think again if they think they will ever get their own horse!!!!

In the afternoon Nikki and my mum where booked into the Spa for treatments and a relaxation. They where that relaxed they didnt come back till 6:30pm. In this time me and dad took the girls on a bike ride then hit the play ground. When it comes to playgrounds, slides, obstacles, Nyah is fearless. One of the funniest things was seeing my dad come down this steep slide. He had built up that much speed coming down that his whole body took off from the end of the slide and he landed on his backside on the wood chippens on the floor! Nice one senior!

Me and Dad then hit the Spa ourselves. Wow, forgot how good that place is. Swimming outside in a hot swiming pool in the dark, looking at the stars followed by an ice cold shower, 15 mins in a turkish steam room then after that hard effort laying on a water bed and falling asleep! I was that relaxed I feel into a real deep sleep and did what my dad usually does, wake up not having a clue where I am waving my arms and legs around in the air!

Friday morning was spent around Centre Parcs then we headed over to Stavely in the Lakes to have some food at the Eagle and Child. We then went to wheelbase to look at my new bike. Change of mind on that front as not going to get the 1.2 2010 Trek. I loved the colour scheme on the net but in real life it didnt blow me away. What did was the Trek 2010 1.5 in the black and white colour scheme. Only problem, they dont have any in stock in Evans so looks like I will have to get from Wheelbase........ Watch this space!

This bad boy will take me places...........................................