Lilly says

We're on the plane home and Lilly keeps shrieking "plane me!!!" and doing the happy shakes! And "ah eh aih-pane!!" (I'm in an airplane)"



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Golf Lesson

The Links are called that in golf because it was the unusable land that linked the coastal farming land to the interior farm and cattle lands.

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A Few Words on Scotland-aug 14

Scotland - Most significant about Scotland is how masculine yet gentle this land seems.  Of course, the prevalence of fishing, golfing and whiskey adds to the manliness of it - but the land itself: rugged and wild, almost unshaven... but is beautiful.  It's giant hills and cascading likes it's are covered in plush blankets of the softest grass I've ever felt.  It's no surprise that the sheep, hows and horses are often seeing laying down on their sides or backs: a sight rarely seen in Texas.  The moss covering the centuries old stone fences is sublime. It's gentle misting rains that are frequent are comfortable to walk in and let fall on your face.  The winding roads can occasionally meander into a cove of trees and suddenly you're deep in the middle of a forest with most covered tree trunks, light peeking through the treetops and lush ferns covering the ground.  This gloomy and grand country is at once cool and warmly inviting. Kind and comfortable.

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Scottish Country Roads

If I close my eyes, I can still see the sides of the road and the views from drives in Angus. Much better than any of these pictures.

I sure hope that lasts for awhile.

York

Molly just shouted "Jackson! We're in OLD York!!"

Soundtrack to our Summer

We now have all words to all songs memorized. And although there are limits to how many times we'll repeat the album on any given day, it's playing a lot.

And honestly, it could have been a lot worse. And the message in many of the songs is inspiring and sweet - so we kind of lucked out on this one.

Even Lillian sings "nevah, nevah!"

Train Entertainment

Lilly drew "Lizzy" while in the four hour train from Edinburgh to London's King's Cross. She is so proud. Alas, that excitement does not translate into indoor volumes.

The kids are delighted being in the train, enjoying the countryside and views of the ocean as well as the stations, plus bridges are a special thrill.

Jackson has been especially grateful for our train ride and nice seats.

We just passed Newcastle which means they are about to come by with the trolley again and take our orders for lunch.

Cortachy, pt 4

More Cortachy fun-

You can see the Win Jones look alike in the background behind an adventurous Jackson

Molly was given this purple glitter bottle by a woman who felt bad that we had been told the games started at 4, when that was really pretty much the end. There was certainly some disappointment when we drove up and saw the trampolines being hauled off, but thankfully we were able to over come that with all the fun we packed in, anyway.

And finally: the mini digger. Brilliant. Jackson even finished dropping the tennis ball into all the tubes in 2:05- the operator told us anything under 3:00 was quite impressive!

All while an auction of the flowers from the flower show was happening over the loud speakers so accents and wit floated through the air to add to the charm.

A++ for the Cortachy Highland Games!!

Lizzy

"Lizzy" the beloved play-doh lizard(s) live on! Some times they go "night-night" in their containers, but we have finally stretched beyond just the green - now ANY color can be Lizzy.

Here, Lilly proudly shows the camera "Lizzy"

I couldn't have guessed how helpful this late-night-right-before-we-left addition to the luggage was going to be for everyone. Lizzy has squelched many a tantrum and provided hours of fun and contentment.

All diner long, and all fitting in a sandwich-sized zip lock bag.

Fun With Insects Continues

August 12

We have had more fun with bigs this summer than you could imagine.

Here, the excitement started when the girls found another one of the giant black slugs and they called me over. Then they alerted Jackson and they all stood around and started at this dude before it finally devolved into Dada picking it and chasing the kids around the yard with it.

We found some average looking slugs on the west side of Scotland a couple days ago, but the ones around here like this one and like we saw on our hike are massive and impressive.

Cortachy, pt 3

Aug 12

Because you can't just GO to the local Highland Games and WATCH - the kids COMPETED!! Gotta be that Scottish blood, right? They hopped right in there and ran two laps. Jackson ran in his wellies, which was quite a challenge- and Molly kicked hers off and went for it. The streamlined clothing must have helped because she ended up passing the older girl running with her. It took her a minute to catch her breath afterwards, she later told me.

Cortachy, pt 2

The duck race was amazing! From picking their duck to watching their race unfold on the water to the bitter end when some escapee duckies wiggled under the net and started going down river- it was for sure a highlight of the Highland games. To top it off, the Scot in waders collecting the winning ducks - and later the escapees - looked just like Win Jones, just add a Scottish accent and about 5 years! Then a boy trying to help fell/jumped in the water. The whole scene was fantastic. None of our duckies won, but we didn't care. The race was awesome.

Cortachy Highland Games and Flower show

Well, we made it to some Highland games and they were right here in our 'hood, no less! Living up to tradition but also not a huge production.

Lots of thick country Scottish accents, plenty o' kilts and klan wear and an outpouring of happy Scottish attitudes and humor. Ah, so much to learn from these gentle folk.

And overlooking the whole scene: the Cortachy Castle.

The Park on the Champ de Mars

Getting up early had other benefits: we enjoyed strolling around and a leisurely lunch in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower before any major hunger meltdowns. Lunch was followed by a solid play sesh at the playgrounds I had eyes years before and wondered what it would be like to have kids play there. The playground equipment had recently been updated and provided a lovely time for the crew.