Wow, what a season!
As the season gets near the end, we always look forward to having a family holiday. I always holiday with the children in the summer on my own which is nice, but not quite the same just the 4 of us, we always miss having the biggest kid of the Harris household with us.
It's really hard when you have children in school to have a family holiday in a fixed window of time - we basically have November through to February as our family holiday window - which in reality is a 3 week window - 2 weeks at Christmas and/or 1 week February half term.
Last year we went away the week before Christmas to Cape Verde, it was beautiful but let me tell you when you have kids being away so close to Christmas when we came back it was chaos and Christmas felt very rushed and I could've done with another holiday to recover lol. This year, luckily our children's autumn half term fell late and they were off from 30th October til 7th November, with Chris's last meeting on Saturday 28th October, it was perfect timing for us this year, and we booked a last minute family holiday to Egypt for a week of sun, slides and all you can eat ice cream - the perfect way to end the season.
Holiday preparation was in full swing and I was busy packing whilst Chris headed to France for his final meeting of the year. I kept saying to him please just take it easy we have a plane to catch when you get home, I want you home in one piece. Well, turns out it was me that needed to be careful as I spent the Friday night before we went away in A&E ...
Rushing around packing and trying to sort the kids for bed I bashed my ear on Cruz's bedframe and caught one of my peircings - one of those that you have to manouver in and out and you can't just undo the clasp and take it out - so 5 hours in A&E, a cylinder of Entonox, 7 attempts and 25 minutes of cutting - they finally cut my earring out and i was allowed home at 1am Saturday morning.
We watched Chris's final meeting in France on the livestream - it was a meeting filled with drama and the it went on for what seemed like forever. I knew the boys would miss the travel they had already booked and would have to get a later ferry / train home which would mean he would be later home on the Sunday - my anxiety was kicking in being so close to our holiday travels lol. Chris had a decent meeting and helped Morizes to win the league, another title to add to the list. Finally he was on his way home, later than planned but in one piece so that's all that matters. Season officially complete, and breathe .....
Chris finally arrived home early afternoon on Sunday to help with last minute holiday prep and have the children, whilst I headed out to re-live my childhood at the S Club concert in Birmingham with my good friend Martin (aka Chivsy Travel). We enjoyed Sky VIP and Martin bought along my fave Magic Stars, and we sang & danced the night away.
Monday morning arrived and we headed off on our travels to Egypt to a beautfiful hotel in Sharm El Sheikh right on the beach, we arrived on the monday evening and stepped off the plane to gorgeous starry skies, with a a temperature of 27 degrees, meaning we were in for some hot sunny days to my delight - i absolute love hot sunny climates, if it was my choice i would move to one... The week was jam packed with funfilled days from the jetty walks and waterparks by day to the enteratining shows and disco's by night, from the stunning coral reef to crazy golf, from the all you can eat pancakes to all you can eat ice cream...
All of the kids are water babes, and spent endless hours in the waterparks having the time of their lives, and so did Chris - the biggest kid of them all. From inflatable fun to water fights to pool discos we did it all and made some special memories that will last a lifetime.
A week away from Speedway, well almost .... from Speedway fans in the hotel to Chris & Cruz's daily obsession of talking all things bikes and racing we didn't quite manage it, maybe next year lol
The 5 of us together for a week away from the hustle and bustle of life & the daily life chores, the phone calls etc is much needed for us all after a hectic season. And i have to say, a well deserved week off for me from cooking!
The Harris family holiday was over, and we returned home and straight back into the daily hustle. In a prior post on my page i mentioned that the crazy season started early this year before this season actually ended. I genuinely thought that we smashed it this year and the rollercoaster ride that we take together each year was short and sweet, but like with most things in life a smooth ride ended with quite a few twists and turns at the end.
But, we got off the rollercoaster in the end with 3 signed contracts which include 2 new clubs / new challenges for 2024, which Chris is super excited about, and the fact the season is starting earlier next year so less time to wait for this eager legend.
On a side note, we have read a few sarcastic posts about Chris keep moving from club to club, I mean, it's not all down to the riders is it? The keyboard warriors would be looking through rose tinted glasses if they think that clubs are not also to blame, especially in more recent years.
I mean, Chris could not stay at Peterborough for 2024 because they've closed so yes he has had to change clubs, but look back to 2018 when he won the league at Poole he made it clear he wanted to stay, Poole on the other hand played the numbers game, so Chris had no choice but to move clubs.
You only have to look back at this season at all the clubs that sacked riders and/or changed their 1-7's on numerous occasions, and/or who start next season with a different 1-7 than what they finished on to know that it's not always the riders.
On that note, i am going to sign off this blog as myself & Chris are busy preparing for Father Christmas to visit the Harris Household, whilst the kids are at school ...
Another blog, incoming very soon ......
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