Amazing – Mike completed the 25 hours at  Project Walk last week and he is still alive to tell the story. It was great for me to get to spend the week and see what he had been working on …. it was really very impressive and there was a lot more fine movement and “muscle turning on” (there will be some weird technical term for that) type work than I had thought there would be. Mike finished the week absolutely exhausted but with Pat and myself reasonably confident that we can keep this up at home. I think Mike is definitely looking forward to some rest time but it was sad leaving so many people who we had gotten to know quite well over the last 7 weeks. There was some more TV footage shot of Mike on Friday afternoon so he worked right up until the end ….. this was not good news for me as I didn’t get very long at the memorial day sales over here which seem fantastic!! Oh well, maybe another trip. Really it is truly unbelievable that he can do that much exercise in a 5 day block and still be able to do other stuff outside his time there. They do not go easy and the time is very much full-on.

As Mike had been finding that a couple of glasses of red were helping him sleep, we decided to try taking the boys to a brewery we had heard of … Stone Brothers. We had heard of them because they make a beer called the Arrogant Bastard and another called the Double Bastard. We had hoped to be able to get some Double Bastard gear for Mike’s primary trainer and get something put on it about the hack squat machine but alas there was none, we will have to think of something else! Anyway, the brewery was an amazing place and we had the most relaxing 2 hours of the trip there!

In our usual fashion we let Mike rest for a grand total of about 5 hours before we packed up the condo and headed to Anaheim for a few days in Disneyland. Thus far, it has not gone completely according to plan but we are having fun!! We couldn’t fit all our luggage and all the people in the car so I drove up and the others caught the train … a great idea in theory but it took them nearly 3 hours compared to my 50 min drive …. at least they got to use the train we had been listening to for 6 weeks!! A bit of a disaster but they got here eventually and we had an hour or so with Ash in the pool here …. she is a tenacious little thing – they told her she couldn’t go on the water slide unless she could swim across the pool by herself — needless to say about 20 mins later across the pool she went and the guards said she was good to go. She trotted off up the stairs with a whole pack of 6-10 year olds (looking even more tiny than usual!) only to be stopped at the top and told she couldn’t go on it. Eagle eye Mike spotted this and got the guard to yell up on the loud-hailer thingy that she was fine ….. by this time nearly the whole pool is watching as she launches herself down the slide …. too cute, she was so mini but she did it and loved it!

Cannot believe we have come to Disneyland on Memorial Day long weekend — I am an idiot! Was so crowded in there today it was completely maddening but was great with Pat and mum here as we had lots of help with Mike and mum could watch Ash. Mike decided it was time to “feel alive” which apparently requires you to go on lots and lots of rides which have big warning signs about neck and back conditions. i was horrified but he loved the Indiana Jones ride and Pirates of the Carribean boat trip and it appears that the titanium in his neck is holding together beautifully! Sadly, the line at Splash Mountain was too long so we didn’t make it in there — probably a good thing but maybe he will try it tomorrow! Anyway, saw a shirt that made me laugh out loud in the shop — it had a picture of Doc (ie, 7 Dwarfs) and it said “I’m with Dopey” … love it!

Click here to see some photos taken by Pat

And here’s the video version



Not a huge fan of Anaheim (kind of nothing to do except go to Disneyland or be very “in” to Disney characters) and Ash seems to be more interested in the pool at the hotel than Disneyland but hopefully will have another fun day tomorrow before the crowds disappear for our last couple of days. Not entirely sure how on earth we will drop off all the equipment and get ourselves home but it is bound to happen somehow!

Looking forward to seeing you all when we get back. Will be a very busy few days coming up as it is family holiday with no carers but i think worth it to have some time together. Have a safe few days and see you on the weekend!