The Valleyfair Scare

Off to Valleyfair yesterday, the Minnesotan answer to Alton Towers - the major difference being it is not found at the end of a country road, slap-bang in the middle of a tranquil, country village. Lots of similarities; The Corkscrew, Nemesis and rubbish food (although Staffordshire has probably never seen giant turkey legs and Dill-Pickle-On-A-Stick). There's also a very tiny water-park, with a few slides and a jump around in the waves pool. T was extremely disappointed that she was an inch too short for a lot of the rides. Me, I'm concerned that next year I will be dragged around on them.

All the creatures have successfully come out of hibernation and are now creating havoc in the garden. The raccoons like to sit in the tomato plants, for instance, as testamented by their little muddy footprints around the edges. One raccoon, who seems quite young and little compared to some which come around, eats his cheese and Branston like a six year-old. He held up the sandwich (he was there in broad daylight), opened it carefully, putting the top piece on the floor. He then commenced licking the pickle off, then gently peeled off the cheese and nibbled that, followed by the two pieces of bread. His nose goes up and down as he eats, making his whiskers tremble like a particularly agitated RAF Flight Sergeant.

The temperature, thanks to El Nino, zipped up to a toasty 34 degrees yesterday. Today it's a bit colder, but hopefully all the rain will be tonight and we will have a clear day for boating on the lake tomorrow.

School holidays start in 2 weeks' time. This year we will be playing tennis, doing outside swimming lessons, making forts, jam-tarts and a bit of a mess, then making up and a spot of TV. That's the first day sorted, then.