Half Term Break in Scotland!

Last Saturday, we embarked on a 6 hour journey to Scotland with a jam packed Prius, plenty of snacks and our handy dandy GPS. The journey was pretty simple and the girls behaved great the entire time. Things appeared to be going perfectly until the sun starting going down when we arrived in Aberfoyle, the tiny village where we were staying. The roads there were NARROW and windy and covered in water! The road (which turned out to be beautiful the rest of the week) ran right along Loch Ard and it was very hard to tell where the lake ended and the road began.

Foggy but beautiful!

Loch Ard views from the road

Swervy road along Loch Ard

Daddy did a great job navigating and we got to our hotel in one piece and were excited to check out our new digs! We stayed in a two bedroom lodge at the hotel with our own kitchen, 3 bathrooms and a sauna room! We decided not to use the sauna room since we heard it used alot of electricity and you had to pay your own electric bill upon checkout! Strange!

We stayed in Red Maple 2

On Sunday we hit up the hotel pool but forgot about daylight savings time and arrived an hour early (during the adult swim). Oops! We took a walk and explored mud puddles and the game room while we waited to dive in (literally)! It was worth the wait and both girls loved the pool! Lyla loved chanting, "1, 2, 3, JUMP!" and Riley showed off what she's been learning in swim class...she could swim all the way across the pool! After the pool, we headed to the Wee Blether Tea Room where we got to feed the ducks out back and then the Blair Drummond Safari Park for its last day of the season. Daddy liked the drive thru safari (animals literally came right up to your car!) and the girls loved the sea lion show and the very cool playground. We were excited that the weather held out and that we got to see the animals before they went on Winter Break!

Can you spot the alligator?

Posing with the penguins

Fun playground!

Riley playing on the castle (easy to spot in her yellow raincoat!)

We planned to visit Edinburgh on Monday but couldn't get out of the hotel...the road was closed for construction until 11:30. Since we didn't want to start a 90 minute drive so late, we let Lyla nap while Daddy & Riley visited the pool. Then we explored Aberfoyle, finding a great pub for lunch, the Scottish Wool Centre and an ice cream shop. Yum!

I love this one!

We made it to Edinburgh on Tuesday (about a 90 minute drive) and visited Edinburgh Castle and walked the Royal Mile. The girls liked the castle but there wasn't very much geared towards kids...I think stopping for tea and a snack at the Redcoat Cafe was their favorite part! We did ALOT of walking and ended up at a very cool old pub with great food. We visited the Museum of Childhood and checked out some out fashioned toys (which were pretty creepy) and did some shopping. Riley got a fancy new wallet to hold all of her British money...now she just needs some British money! She is searching for ways to earn some "notes"...we'll see what she comes up with!

My favorite!

Riley & Daddy climbed to the top for a photo!

Standing guard

Manning the cannon

She really liked it!

She looks so tiny here!

Happy girl in her crazy outfit!

The girls

Say Cheese!

Testing the drawbridge

Look at Lyla smiling in the background!

Family Fun!

Tea at the Redcoat Cafe

Yummy lunch

Being silly on the way to the car

On Wednesday we visited Dundee, where Mommy's great grandmother was from (another 90 minute drive). We had heard mixed reviews but we really enjoyed our visit! We spent the morning at the Discovery, a ship and museum that traveled to Antarctica! The museum was fantastic and had lots for the kids to do...so fun!

Trying to load the boat with flour and keep it balanced

Ice fishing

Fishing again

A barrel of fun!

The Discovery

Lyla loaded us up with coal

Boarding the boat

Steering the boat

Pirates on board!

Aww!!

We then walked around the High Street and had lunch. We were supposed to visit a Mexican place that we heard was good  (Mexican in England= nonexistent) but when we got there it was closed on Wednesdays. Boo! Daddy was happy with the pub we chose though because they had a beer brewed in California on tap. Silly Daddy! After lunch we visited the cemetary where Mommy's ancestors were buried and Riley was a HUGE helper and walked all around with Mommy searching and searching and searching. We were finally able to find the plot but the gravestone was no longer there...it seemed that lots of the gravestones were very old and falling down.

Along the water in Dundee...that's the bridge to the Kingdom of Fife in the background

Santa!

Ho Ho Ho!

Thursday we stayed "local" and visited Glasgow, which was about an hour away. We started our day at the Science Museum which was AMAZING...we tried out lots of cool exhibits and went on a Sky Safari at the planetarium! Afterwards, we boarded a double decker bus for a tour of the city and found another pub for lunch. Riley insisted we sit outside on the top deck of the bus where it was pretty cold but she loved it! Lyla slept while Riley charmed passers by with her cute waves!

Peek a boo!

Working hard

This thing makes music!

Action shot!

Coloring break

Building our rollercoaster

Brings new meaning to climbing the walls!

She's even cute with a mullet!

In Wonderland

Waving to passers by!

Streets of Glasgow

We spent our final day in Scotland in Stirling with a visit to Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument. Stirling Castle was great (we liked it even better than Edinburgh Castle) and there were lots of great exhibits for kids and photo opportunities.

I love my big sister!

Playing in the rain

More cannons

We saw a fantastic rainbow after a very brief rain shower. Daddy REALLY wanted to visit the William Wallace Monument and we hiked up to the Monument right at closing time. The workers were really nice and let us in for free with just enough time to run up and visit Wallace's sword. Pretty awesome!

Another cafe stop for tea

Rainbow!

Double rainbow!

Freedom!

We hiked up to the Memorial

Along the way

The "path"

The Wallace Sword!

As you can see, we were very busy! Even still, we made time for some silliness (and have pics to prove it!) as well as lots of naps in the car!

Petting a pretend sheep

Laying down on the spinning toy at the Science Center

Hot chocolate

On Saturday we headed home for a ride that felt considerably longer than the way there. ( : We got some great pictures on the way out of town (check out this amazing rainbow!!)

 Lyla was excited to see her crib and begged to go to sleep that night and Riley couldn't wait for rugby in the morning. Overall, we had an amazing first holiday in Europe and can't wait for our next trip! Any votes on where we should go next?

Pictures Galore!

A quick post to wish everyone an early Happy Halloween and share some recent photos. Riley is on half-term break and we have been keeping busy with pumpkin picking, horseback riding lessons, playdates and, most recently, a Halloween party! As you can tell from the pictures, both girls have been doing lots of playing and are really enjoying their time together! Riley finished up school on a high note, with a great Parent Teacher Conference and two more certificates (one for excellent reading and one for great behavior)! She has definitely earned this break! Lyla is learning more words every day and has been a good girl too...even though she still will not stay in the creche (childcare) during Mommy's Tuesday morning class! Last night the girls had a babysitter so Mommy & Daddy could go to dinner and both stayed up until we got home at 10:15 eating snacks and doing puppet shows! We leave on Saturday for Scotland...we can't wait! We've had GREAT weather here...pray for the same in Scotland!

Pigtails!

Wild hair after the bath!

Giving Riley's shoe a ride!

Lyla LOVES to have tea parties!

Lounging with every blanket we could find!

At the pumpkin farm with Owen, Charlie & Chloe

The pumpkin patch had a GIANT inflatable slide!

Picking her pumpkin with a little help from a random puppy!

Horseback riding lesson...here we come!

Lyla had to wear her wellies too!

I was in charge of Lyla and Chloe during the lesson...spent the 90 minutes feeding them,chasing them & playing referee!

Didn't get many pictures of Riley riding but she did great! She even got the horse to trot!

Lyla riding in her shopping cart (and pulling off my tablecloth)!

Spooky bananas!

The Lion Tamer/Ring Master

The Lion and the Tamer

Training Lyla!

Fancy Face Paint!

Riley & Isabella

Lyla tested out every toy there. Here she is playing cars with Eleanor.

And drawing with Adam.

Wardrobe change for Lyla!

Fall Fun!

Happy October! We've been really lucky here and are still enjoying lots of great weather! We haven't done much sightseeing over the past few weekends and have, instead, been setting up our house, going to birthday parties, and running back and forth to the base! Lyla was very excited to celebrate her friend Chloe's 2nd birthday and even sported pigtails for the occasion!

These girls have places to go!

Yummy!

Mommy, Daddy & Lyla celebrated Columbus Day with a long hike with Chloe and her mom and dad while Riley and the other big kids were in school. With Lyla on Wayne's back, we embarked on a 5 mile hike from Winchcombe to Belas Knap, which is a large earth mound from around 3000 BC that was used as a collective tomb. Along the way, we saw Sudeley Castle, as well as lots of horses, sheep and cows. Parts of the hike were along the Cotswold Way, which is a National Trail through the English countryside that is 102 miles long. It is very strange because it's not actually a trail...as you can see below you hike right across fields filled with cows and sheep, through kissing gates and over stiles! We accidentally veered onto private property after a wrong turn and upset some horse owners but it was nearly impossible to tell what was the trail! We rested and ate lunch at Belas Knap, a beautiful but unlikely spot for a picnic lunch! Whoever heard of a picnic on a collective tomb!?

Sheep!

The "trail"

Can you spot the sheep?

Chris & the girls in the tomb

Riley is continuing to enjoy life here and sang in her school's Harvest Festival and joined a rugby team! She was nervous to join in but spotted her friend Kasper from school and was fine after that. She did a great job hitting the tackle bags and doing her drills and loved that the coaches squirted them with water guns at the end of practice! Here she is in action.

School is still going great! She had two field trips--one to the park to investigate forces for science and another to her Teacher Assistant's farm. Here are some pictures Mommy stole from the school's website!

The girls have also had alot of fun lately playing at home. Our swingset is now here along with our little trampoline, which has already proved to be lots of fun! We are looking forward to half term, when Riley is off from school for two weeks from October 24th to November 4th. We are going to stay in town for the first week and are planning to go horseback riding and have some fun playdates. We will spend the second week in Aberfoyle, Scotland, which is inside the Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.  We are very excited to explore the park and visit Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, all of which are about 60-90 minutes away. Stay tuned for more pictures & updates after our trip!