Closed

The idea of a closed weekend this early in the season seemed like a good idea when suggested by my wife. After all I had completed 5 Supply League assessments , led on a Basic Course for New Referees and attended a handful of meetings in the first 3 weeks of the season. A weekend sitting around catching up on films downloaded from SKY, maybe watch a game or two on the tv ... well not quite.

We left home almost as soon as I got in from work and made the 150 mile journey south to my in-laws where we deposited our dog, grabbed a few hours precious sleep and then headed for Legoland near Windsor. We paid extra on our tickets so we could effectively queue jump using the Q-Bot. It's a nice piece of tech, where you select a ride with a long queue, book your place and then wander around until the time slot you've been allocated. You then turn up and walk past all the people who have stood in line, straight to the front of the queue. It's absolutely invaluable when you have an impatient 5 year old who wants to be "doing something" all the time.

After 9 hours of fun and games, we headed to our hotel, the Holiday Inn at Reading. I was concerned that we might get caught up in the Reading Festival traffic but it was all clear on all routes and I found we were staying about 15 minutes walk from the home of Reading FC, the Madjewski Stadium. No football on there though!

Day Two and we headed for Chessington World of Adventures. This is a place I've always wanted to visit but when I got there it appeared slightly run down. To add to the disappointment, their equivalent of Q-Bot cost £40 per person which was just a little too much so we missed out on many of the "big" rides. Nevertheless, we had a good time and timed our sitting down for lunch perfectly as we watched the skies open and the torrential rain poured down as we sat inside the pizza/pasta restaurant abusing their "all you can eat for £8" option (18 slices of pizza ... a new record!!!)

Weary legs needed some rest after 7 hours wandering around Chessington so we headed to the swimming pool when we got back to the hotel, but we only got 30 mins in the water. It was long enough for me to injure myself (no surprise) as I slipped on the steps and raked my shin down the metal steps into the pool - it really brought tears to my eyes.

The final day saw us take a trip to London. Driving around north west London trying to find somewhere to park the car was a nightmare. Eventually a sharp turn down a side street, saw me pull up at a cobbled strip. As I checked for traffic, I realised I was driving across Wembley Way with the huge stadium on my right still decked out in the banners, etc. from the rugby league Challenge Cup Final which had been played 2 days previously. Then it was on to the tube and into the capital.

We had booked a "flight" on the London Eye. It was my third trip and Liam's first but he wasn't that impressed, spending time drawing a picture of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. On "landing" he insisted we go see a street entertainer he had seen, who was dressed as Darth Vader. His grin spread from ear to ear as he jousted with "Vader" before being patted on the head. His next treat was a trip into County Hall for the last day of the London Film Museum display.

It was a great treat for all of us and Liam's highlight was finding some Stormtrooper armour, being allowed to "film" inside the Tantive IV and marvel at Batman's costume from Batman Begins. Our weary legs finally carried us to the Science Museum which, like Chessington, was a bit of a disappointment. This time it was as much through our own exhaustion but some bad signage and information found us in a deserted basement, with routes to other areas blocked instead of a display area.

We decided to forego plans to visit the Notting Hill Carnival as we were all exhausted, so it was back to the car, up the M1 to the in laws, collected the dog and home. I've learned my lesson though ... no more closed weekends, they're just too tiring!