learned

Receiver Allen Robinson II spent one season with the Rams. It didn’t go the way L.A. fans had hoped when the former Pro Bowl receiver signed a three-year, $46.5 million deal with the then-reigning Super Bowl champions.

Still, Robinson had some positive takeaways from that portion of his career to share during a video he posted to Instagram on Monday announcing his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons.

“I learned a lot about football from Coach [Sean] McVay and Cooper Kupp and the guys I was around to be able to then use for the rest of my career,” Robinson said.

The video, titled “No More Sundays,” was posted on Robinson’s 33rd birthday. It shows Robinson watching film from every stop during his football career — from his days as “a kid in Detroit trying to be like Randy Moss” to his final NFL season with his hometown Lions in 2024. It and ends with him turning off the projector and literally hanging up his cleats.

Robinson played three seasons at Penn State and led the Big Ten Conference in receptions and receiving yards in 2012 and 2013 and receiving touchdowns in 2012. The 6-foot-3 player was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round of the 2014 draft and made the Pro Bowl in his second season.

During the first game of his fourth year with Jacksonville, Robinson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and missed the rest of the season. He signed with the Chicago Bears before the 2018 season and had four productive years there, which led to his contract with the Rams.

Robinson was expected to be an upgrade over veteran receiver Robert Woods, who was subsequently traded to the Tennessee Titans soon after the Robinson deal, but wasn’t able to achieve his previous levels of success. He wasn’t able to establish a rapport with veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, who did not throw passes during offseason workouts or part of training camp because of a right elbow condition.

A foot injury caused Robinson to miss the final seven games of the season. He finished the year with 33 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns. During the offseason, the Rams traded Robinson and a seventh-round draft pick (No. 251 overall) to the Pittsburgh Steelers for that team’s seventh-round pick (No. 234 overall). The Rams were on the hook for about $10 million of Robinson’s salary.

“I did get injured, so I didn’t have a full season in L.A.,” Robinson said. “But I think I learned a lot about myself, being able to just kind of persevere, go through adversity and being able to mentally grow up. I can say that my career wouldn’t be what it was if I didn’t have a lot of those learning moments.”

Robinson finishes his career with 565 receptions for 7,058 yards and 43 touchdowns. He and former NFL cornerback Prince Amukamara started the “Press Release” football podcast last year. In addition, Robinson has hosted several youth football programs over the years.

“Football gave me more than I ever could’ve imagined,” Robinson wrote on Instagram. “It challenged me, shaped me, humbled me, and rewarded me in ways I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I came, I saw, I conquered and I leave with nothing but gratitude.

“The memories, the relationships, the victories, the lessons, they’ll stay with me forever! Thank you for every moment, every cheer, every lesson, and every opportunity.”

The Mirror’s Stephen Jones and his wife Charlotte have a lot of tips to pass on to other news parents after taking their newborn babies on holiday for the first time to the TUI Blue Orquidea in Gran Canaria

‘That’s it,’ my friends said, when I told them we were expecting twins. ‘Wave goodbye to your nice holidays, you’ll never have another,’ they warned.

Could it be true, that I would never relax in sunshine again? Never have I been determined to prove anyone so wrong. And never have I wanted a holiday more after the exhausting first few months of keeping two newborns alive, we needed a break.

A week-long trip with our TWO four month old babies to the fabulous all inclusive TUI Blue Orquidea in Gran Canaria (flying time: four-and-a-half hours) seemed an apt test. Whether you think we were brave, foolhardy or naive, I am pleased to say we not only survived, but we enjoyed it! Here’s what we learned.

1. It pays to prepare

We did our research and bought a lot of decent equipment in advance. Our rule was to pack half a suitcase each for ourselves while each baby had the other half. Pushing a suitcase and a pram each at the same time proved an acquired skill but was made easier with the two Bugaboo Butterfly 2 which can stow in overhead lockers. And we sensibly booked a night at a London Gatwick hotel to ease the stress of our 5am check-in time.

Having two babies sat on your laps for the whole flight once you have factored in feeding and sleeps isn’t too bad; having bottles prepped for both take off and landing is essential. We bought Alpine Muffy ear defender-style headphones to protect their precious ears, and Jellycat cloth books to keep them entertained. Changing a nappy in the cramped toilet is a challenge but doable. As the wheels touched down I breathed a sigh of relief the flight hadn’t been as bad as I expected and I felt buoyed by the sense of achievement.

Booking a private transfer from the airport to the hotel 20 minutes away in Bahia Feliz with two baby car seats was a luxurious extra which proved worth every penny and we will do again.

It meant we avoided queues at check-in and after our warm welcome, we were pleased to discover our room was spacious enough to accommodate two travel cots and the balcony provided a quiet post-bedtime drink spot.

We can highly recommend following travel journalist mums like Emma Cooke (@petite.blondine) on TikTok and Instagram for useful tips like bringing an inflatable chair for bathtime and collapsible bucket for sterilising bottles.

2. It doesn’t matter how much noise your children make

The one thing I really feared before our holiday was the embarrassment of our babies crying. I soon discovered the truth is most people are too busy worrying about their own children to care what yours are up to. The reassuring sight of so many other families trying to do exactly what we were trying to do spurred us on.

Even when our kids did cry in the restaurant, it was too noisy for anyone more than five metres away to really hear, and not once did anyone look bothered. The hotel’s buffet-style set up had a huge variety of choice but importantly meant we could take it in turns to get food while one of us stayed with the babies. A highlight of our stay was an evening out at the Orquidea’s scrummy a-la-carte restaurant La Taverna where they thankfully behaved.

The one time one of our babies did have a meltdown (in a queue on a day trip), people were sympathetic not judgmental. We soon realised the joy our babies bring others far outweighs any panic.

3. Plan, plan, plan

When you have babies you have to slow down your itinerary. Aim to only do one or two significant things a day. We soon learned to always make up bottles for the next feed straight after the current one; the next comes around pretty quick!

When you have fed them, you have a gap of max three hours to do an activity before they get grouchy, so try to already have something planned or booked in advance. Before our trip ,we hadn’t really appreciated how well set up for kids aged under three years old this family friendly resort was. One of the best things we did all week was a visit to the baby spa put on by the TUI baby and tots club staff, a sensory led experience where both babies delighted in being pampered.

Most days followed a pleasantly simple rhythm: breakfast, play time, lunch, naps, swimming, dinner and sleep. And repeat. When I have since been asked what the best thing about our holiday was, I’ve replied: ‘Being able to take the kids swimming every day’. Getting them used to being in water daily in the calm surroundings of the toddler pool, kicking their little legs and grinning while we held them, is a precious memory. We planned a lot of our feeds around these dips.

4. Hotel staff will help you out and people are kinder than you imagine

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of people who on seeing we had twin babies were only too happy to allow us to push in front of a queue or be served before them.

That said, travelling with babies is never completely stress-free. There were often moments when one twin decided nap time was optional or both babies demanded attention simultaneously. And we never left our room without extra nappies and wipes (having restocked at the nearby Spar) ready for any unexpected drama.

But somehow everything felt manageable. There was a godsend of Baby Lounge with aircon next to the pools we used every day to change nappies or just quiet time (the staff organise playdates for kids and their parents here too).

There’s tonnes for kids of all ages to do on a TUI holiday but it’s worth stressing they have trained staff who will take your babies off your hands for a couple of hours while you go and enjoy a peaceful lie by the pool or trip to the luxurious spa or gym (I pleased to say I made it to both more than once).

Indeed, the TUI staff couldn’t do enough to ensure we enjoyed the best possible trip – while we were staying at the busy Grupotel Orquidea, they recommended we check out their more sedate sister hotel, the Playa Feliz next door. This was a tip that made our trip as that’s where we ended up spending most of our time (the staff hold Little Splashers sessions for babies here as well).

5. Once you’ve done it once you will want to do it again

Now we have done it – and survived – I almost can’t remember what we were worrying about in the first place.

One of the other highlights of our trip was a day out to the village of Mogan – a picturesque fishing village on the coast known affectionally as ‘Little Venice – which you access via ferry.

I was 50/50 about booking a boat trip with babies but there was nothing remotely difficult about ditching our prams for slings. Our Ergobaby Omni baby carriers’ mesh design coped well in the heat as we explored the village’s quaint streets and waterways by foot.

Mogan has a pretty, sandy beach where we were able to dip the kids’ toes in the sea for the first time, a memory I will never forget. It was at that point I realised that’s the point of holidays, a chance to make those kind of long lasting memories. And when I started to think where we could go next.

Book the holiday

• TUI offers seven-night holidays to Gran Canaria, Spain staying at the 4T TUI BLUE Orquídea on an all-inclusive basis from £900pp, based on 2 adults and 1 child sharing a twin room, flying from London Luton in August, and 23kg luggage per person and transfers included. tui.co.uk
• TUI Musement offers a Gran Canaria’s ‘Little Venice’ – visit Puerto de Mogan by boat from £45 per adult, £28 per child (3-12 years old) and children (0-2) go free. tuimusement.com/uk

Less than two hours from Oslo airport, PAN’s sky-high forest cabins offer hot tubs, canoe trips, wildlife spotting and a lesson in slowing down.

What is the lure of a treehouse? Is it the memory of climbing trees, higher and higher into the secret world of pinecones and canopy? Or something more primordial – not just admiring nature from a distance, but becoming part of it?

In the depths of the Norwegian forests, there are many places to escape into wilderness, but few are as beguiling as PAN’s Treetop Cabins. Three futuristic prisms, eight metres up on metal frames. Up here, you’re level with the treetops, and the world falls away. They have an otherworldly, science-fiction feel, yet they’re discreet. You come upon them suddenly, before they merge secretively back among the pines.

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Less than two hours drive from Oslo airport, they stand on a hillside of Finnskogen, a vast forest nudging up against the Swedish border. These woods have an ancient feel – silent and still. It’s easy to understand Norway’s guiding philosophy of friluftsliv here – that wellbeing is found outdoors.

Sleeping in the sky

Inside, each lodge is the perfect tiny house – a pocketsize kitchen and living area at the front, the bathroom in the centre section with a spacious shower. The walls are pine-clad and it all has that Scandinavian sleekness: everything you need, nothing you don’t. On the upper platform, the double bed overlooks the triangular view.

Oh, that view. Pan is the kind of place where you can feel happy filling your time with very little. You can while away a whole afternoon curled up on the sofa, watching the birds flit between branches, and the sun peel out over the lake below. It’s fascinating in any weather. We had blue-sky sunshine, sunsets and a storm that rolled in over the horizon like slate sheets. It hit the lake and we watched from afar, cosy in our sky-high retreat. I put my phone down, opened the floor-to-ceiling window, listened to the hush of the forest and read a whole book in one sitting.

Embracing the cabin life

Meals can be as hands-on or hands-off as you choose. The cabins are stocked with essentials, but PAN can also arrange breakfast hampers and catering from local producers. We woke to a basket of fresh bread, pancakes, local cheeses and honey, and in the evening I made elk stew with juniper berries, to their neatly measured recipe.

In the simple, pared-back cabin life, cooking and eating together felt celebratory, with the panorama of forest and lake beneath us. As evening settled over the trees, we lingered over dinner by the window, watching the changing light on the water long after the plates were empty.

At ground level, we found a table dotted with tall candles in glass lanterns, to light up al fresco suppers. Off-season, you can barbecue here (not in summer, to prevent wildfires), but any time of year you can lie out on the fur-clad seats, pull up a blanket and watch a billion stars overhead.

Exploring Norway’s ancient forest

There is much to pack quiet days with. Bicycles await to pedal the wooded paths, but we loved just walking. This forest is special. Centuries ago, Finnish refugees were drawn here, bringing myths and folklore with them. The silence is immense, the lichen underfoot puffs green dust, and sometimes a strange mist hangs in the distance, as though a forest spirit has shifted its form, just as you came upon it.

There are still wolves, bears and lynx, moose, foxes and arctic hares. We saw the latter two – not the rest to my chagrin. Our host explained we wouldn’t – “They know how to disappear when they hear you coming,” she commiserated.

But the highlight for me was the ‘Room with Three Walls’ – the outdoor, wood-fired hot tub. The fourth wall is the forest, the ceiling is the sky, and sitting in the steaming water as the forest turns gold in the sunset, with a glass of something sparkling in my hand (which, heads up, I bought at the duty free in London because booze is mighty spenny over in Norway), was holiday perfection.

A river safari through the wilderness

We signed up for an evening canoe down the Fløgåa River, sharing a boat with our guide, Amund. We pushed off into the dark waters and floated quietly downstream. Along the journey, signs of beavers were everywhere – dams of muddled twigs and neat points on felled tree trunks you’d need a Black & Decker to be able to recreate, though the elusive creatures refused to materialise.

By now, we were used to the silent stillness of the Finnskogen, but on the river, with the gentle lap of the oar and the forested bank reflected in the depths, it felt closer than ever. As we approached the final bend, Amund hissed, “There. On the left,” and a fat beaver trundled down his slipway and submerged into the current with barely a ripple.

On the journey home: Norway’s famous buns and Europe’s only emerald mine

A final tip if you’re driving the route back to the airport, along the shores of Norway’s largest lake, Mjosa. There are two stops enroute, both bizarre… and unmissable.

For a sweet treat, pull into the service station at Espa (suspend your disbelief) for Norway’s most famous bakery, Bolleland. It’s packed with neon ‘I [heart] Bolleland’ merch that lends it a crazed vibe, but the chocolate and caramel buns are legendary.

Don’t scoff them in the car, head to the emerald mines – Ole Jørgen Bjørnstad Smaragdgruvene, where you can eat them on the stony lakeshore while you sift for small – yet genuine – emeralds. It’s the only such mine in Europe where you can keep anything you find. A viridescent souvenir of the forestlands.

How to book PAN’s treetop cabins

PAN’s Cabins are available from £480 per night. Breakfast and meals available at an extra cost. Book your river kayak (and other nature experiences) through Pan.

MOST people go on a cruise to relax, lie on a sun lounger and enjoy some pina coladas as they sail from one destination to the next.

But my cruise has a legend on board who is intent on putting guests through their paces.

Enter Shirley Ballas, head judge of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, who has been invited to run a masterclass on the jive.

At a diminutive 5ft 2in, Shirley’s stature might be small, but she takes no prisoners as she issues loud, stern instructions: “STEP, TWIST, SWIVEL, KICK, AGAIN!”.

This is day two of a seven-night Norwegian fjords voyage round-trip from Southampton on MSC Cruises’ 19-deck, 6,300- passenger ship, the MSC Virtuosa.

Shirley is scheduled to host several activities during the sailing, but for now the focus is on the jive, which is taking place somewhere in the North Sea.

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More than a hundred of us have turned up and it’s proving tricky. As if the shimmies, chasses and spins weren’t enough, the music then speeds up. I’m as coordinated as a two-legged spider.

Think right foot instead of left; arms up instead of down. I’m confident with the kick, but then a fellow passenger whispers in my ear: “If you point your toes it will look more elegant!”

Far more certain is that the jive will leave you out of breath and sweaty. “Forget the gym,” says Shirley. “This is a much ­better workout.” Agreed!

And it’s also a lot of fun. Who cares if you’re any good — it’s about having a go.

And Shirley never lets on — despite being asked endlessly — that Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe will be the hit BBC dance ­contest’s new presenters.

Before we finish, Shirley sets a challenge: To practice and film ourselves dancing the jive and she’ll post the best performances on social media.

MSC is an Italian line with an Italian vibe and if you’re looking for La Dolce Vita, you’ll find it on Virtuosa.

Deck 15’s Via Dei Cappellari points guests towards the swimming pools.

Deck 5’s Galleria Virtuosa is a replica Italian shopping arcade. Were it not topped by an LED Dome — which has mesmerising light shows projected onto it nightly — you’d think you were in Italy.

As for the buffet, it offers superb pizzas and pastas, though if you’d prefer a roast, that’s available too. And elsewhere there’s lots of glitter and glitz, from the champagne bar to the three-storey Swarovski crystal staircase in the atrium.

There’s no Deck 17, a number considered unlucky by Italians. There is, however, a Deck 13 and my balcony cabin is on it.

It’s stylish, roomy and, because the ship is sailing from Southampton for the summer, it has welcome British touches, like a kettle and Yorkshire tea bags.

My fellow passengers are an international bunch, most of whom are European. They’re also younger than normal (the average age is 42) and like to dance.

Wherever you go, whatever the time of day, you’ll find dance classes and much hip-swivelling. The sessions are all free and feature pop, bachata, samba and rock.

I try salsa, hoping it will improve my jive. It doesn’t!

And much of the action happens in the Galleria. You can be walking along, window-shopping, when suddenly you’ll be swept up in a silent disco or flash mob.

That’s how I find myself performing Village People’s YMCA alongside hundreds of others.

It’s all rather joyous, a word used by Shirley multiple times during a Q&A session held later in the week in the ship’s theatre. She uses it to describe the experiences she seeks in life.

Of course, there’s plenty of en­ter­tainment that can be watched rather than participated in.

Such as the ship’s ABBA show, in which hits such as Mamma Mia and Waterloo are performed by a cast in flared trousers and tasselled costumes.

Then there’s Ajedrez, a Cirque du Soleil-style show whose acrobatics are so staggering it’s a struggle not to gasp in amazement or cover your eyes.

Even Shirley (who’s sat in the row behind me) thinks its fab!

I get off the ship in Edinburgh and Norway — where the cobbled backstreets of Stavanger are lined by white clapboard houses so cutesy it’s as if they’ve been built for Instagram.

Yet for many guests, the ship itself is the destination and they can’t wait to get back on board.

MSC Virtuosa will be offering another Strictly-themed sailing in August when former pro-dancer Kristina Rihanoff will be on board to host masterclasses and dish up show gossip.

Meanwhile, I try to perfect the jive —  and at one point a fellow passenger even praises my leg extension. But I’m not happy enough with it to dare send a clip to Shirley.

I am inspired though, and will keep dancing. As for the cruise, it’s a 10 from me!