"Let's go to the..."

...YMCA! Oh yes. Live and kicking, The Village People just had to be seen to be believed at a recent night out at Mohegan Sun! Just for the fun, and the cheese factor! And there they were, in full fancy dress, with a huge crowd to confirm their status as Kings of Cheese! Even a World's Strongest Man contender was in the audience! We're not sure if that was significant.

Anyway, watching the audience was about as much fun as watching the band! There was some choice dancing going on, and mainly from the men! A particular favourite appeared to be "Macho Man" - we think there was a reason for that! They showed their age when they talked about a song being released in 1972, even before either of us were born! But the old faves were present, with "In the Navy" and "YMCA" getting the crowd going.

It provided a welcome relief from the tables for Ian. He wasn't doing particularly well that evening, so it was a good excuse for a break and the chance to get some food. Annalie broke even ultimately, but Ian didn't fare as well.

Being a long weekend for the 4th July, we took the opportunity to go out for the day with a ride out to Newport. Annalie had been with her parents last year, but Ian had never made it across the bridge as he was diving in Jamestown. We walked a little way around Fort Adams - one of the largest forts in America - taking in the view of Newport from the peninsula, and also getting an eyeful of some of the rather impressive houses that are perched on the waterfront.

We then took a drive around Ocean Drive, making the most of the sea air, tinged with seaweed! Then it was on to Bellevue Avenue to take a look at some of the famed mansions from the cliff walk. It was a beautiful day, although the sea breeze took the edge off the hot sun. This turned out to be a problem later on though, as Annalie had forgotten to put the sun cream on and ended up with some slightly burnt shoulders, and a strap mark where her bag strap had rested across her chest! Nice!

When we headed back into the town for a wander around there, Ian was determined that he wasn't going to be fleeced by the many (expensive) parking options. So we headed for the fire department and he turned on the charm to a local "brother". The result was a free afternoon's parking near the town centre! Result!

After a late afternoon stroll and a nice lunch on the waterfront, we had to decide whether to wait around a couple of hours until the fireworks, or whether to start heading back towards home and pick up a closer display. We opted for the latter, thinking that we wouldn't have as long a drive to get home, and after a day in the hot sun, we were both feeling tired. So we headed to Norwich to see what they had to offer. We got there in plenty of time, grabbed a slice of pizza and waited on the bridge for the pyrotechnics to start. They weren't disappointing, but then, if there's one thing that Americans know what to do, it's how to put on a fireworks display! Especially on Independence Day!

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind that has meant that we haven't seen much of each other. On Monday, Annalie had a team night out as a Paris thank you, a celebration of Carla's work anniversary, and as a team farewell to David, who retires in a couple of weeks. So we headed down to the coast to Old Saybrook for a seafood dinner and some mini golf. Oh, and some home-made ice cream . On Tuesday Ian had a fire department training session and Annalie had Happy Hour drinks and snacks for someone's leaving do. Wednesday saw a late night at the office for Annalie, but Ian had already headed out with his Fire Academy mates, and Thursday was the monthly Rolls-Royce "Girls' Night Out" at Trumbull Kitchen. On Friday night one of the guys from IAE was playing in a band at Gilo's, a bar in East Hartford, so many of us turned up to support him.

This weekend we took another day out to the coast. The weather has been pretty rubbish, or at best unpredictable, so we decided to make the most of the sun! Annalie took Ian down to Old Saybrook, where she'd been on Monday, only to find out he'd been to the high street with his own parents last year. However, he'd not made it to the seafront, so we stood and watched some of the boats coming and going.

We then decided to have a go at the mini golf that Annalie had tried on Monday. Despite a bad start, Annalie sneaked past Ian and going into the last two holes was in the lead. The pressure took its toll though and Ian scraped through to win by one shot.

Almost as soon as we began the oceanfront drive we were about to take, we spotted a little eatery on the harbour that offered "lobster dogs". Intrigued by the thought of a hot dog made from lobster, we went to investigate. Thankfully for Ian, they didn't just serve the seafood variety, so lunch was had here, watching the (rather nice) boats bobbing in the marina.

While we were out and about in Saybrook, Ian started getting messages from his Fire Academy pals who had received the results from their exam. Most had passed but one had failed, so Ian started getting anxious to get home and find out if his results had arrived. When we eventually got home, we found that the postman hadn't brought the paperwork so he still doesn't know if he's passed or failed. The agony goes on a little longer!

Saturday night was Mhairi and Steve's wedding party, following their return from their Scottish wedding and Rio honeymoon. We were very disappointed to arrive and see Mhairi in a party dress rather than the wedding dress, but she did go and put it on for a short time to let us all to see. And she looked stunning.

Earlier in the year, Annalie lost about 10lbs with diet and exercise, but put it all back on when she went travelling for 2 weeks. So she's managing to get back into her gym routine but decided to spice things up a bit by joining a small group personal training bootcamp. So twice a week, for the next 6 weeks, she's going to be put through hell for an hour in an attempt to try and improve her fitness and lose the weight again. But she's got to combine that with eating right (again!), or else it will never happen. Give her some motivation!