Ready to head home.

It is our last morning in Edinburgh, it is 5 am and I can't sleep. The sun has been up for a while and I am just nervous and excited about the road home. Also I am pretty sure there has been some sort of concert going all night, that I can just faintly hear and it is driving me mad. We go back the way we came which is long Edinburgh - Dublin - Chicago and then finally Atlanta. We should be home by midnight or so Atlanta time. Jet lag is  going to be serious I fear.

Yesterday we took Eric to the beach. This was the third trip for M & I but poor E had not gotten a chance. It was sunny and lovely when we got there and we stayed until it got dark and rainy, at about 2 pm. You don't often get an entire nice sunny day in this part of the world.

Proof I was there too. 

People ask me all the time how we go on these trips that take us so far away from home for so long. I usually say I don't know, we just do. We have done it for years. This is our second time spending the whole summer in Edinburgh. Last time was ten years ago and we were here for nine weeks since we did not have the kiddo yet. This time we stayed for eight weeks since she has to get back for school. We were at NYU for six months, which was both easier and harder. Was easier since it was in the US and it was harder because six months is a long time.

This was the first trip like this we have done since M started school and we have to go by her schedule. We left the day after school got out and we will be back one week before school starts again. Hopefully we will all be adjusted back to the time by then, I am the one who has the most trouble with this.

Let's get the negative out of the way first and list the things I don't like about these sorts of trip and this trip in particular.
- time away from my peeps, both friends and family. We feel a little like we missed out on some fun summer things at home.
- I miss my own bed and shower and house in general.
- I brought enough clothes for about 7 days and have worn them all over and over and over again. I am looking forward to more variety and my washer and dryer.
- I missed out on a few really cool jobs and projects (Karen's Super Secret Design Project).
- The food - it is expensive and not as good as home, with some exceptions.

Stuff M did not like
- It was cold.
- Lack of friends to play with (however she made lots of playground friends)
- We had to walk a lot of places.
- Had to go out and do stuff all the time, everyday.
- Long boring bus rides
- Not having a dryer
- No TV in our apartment
- Daddy being at work.

Stuff Eric did not like
- It was cold.
- Our bed was too small. (We had a full and we are used to a king)

M did like
- the playground
- Dynamic Earth
- Pavillon Cafe
- Blackwell book store
- Craigmiller castle
- Ridding Digger, and the whole Blackstone Clydesdale experience.
- Ice Cream is better in Europe.
- Museum on the mound

Eric Fav
- Walk everywhere
- Arthur's seat
- Fun work environment & projects
- Some of the restaurants. (Pizza Express, Greyfriear's Bobby, etc...)
- Having tea everyday, which helps with the being so cold.

Things that have been great by my point of view.
- The same thing happened when we were in NY, but staying in a smaller apartment makes me realize we really do not need a bigger house at home. I mean I wish we had more space for guests at times but really we spend more time together and I have to clean less with a smaller space.
- E & M really are my favorite peeps and I can call anywhere home with those two!
- I did not have to spend the summer complaining about how hot it was. I discussed how shocked I was to be so cold all summer instead.
- Delivered groceries, and they bring them all the way up the stairs.
- The bus is easy and we have been able to get everywhere we wanted to go.
- HUGE, fun playground just a couple blocks away.
- Cool breezes.
- The adventure of hopping on the bus and going somewhere new (or familiar and fun) almost every day all summer.
- Some of the food is great and I am brining some great treats home to share.

Though we had a few cases of homesickness and got a wee bit road weary at times, all in all it was a great summer.

A enjoying some hazelnut gelato. 

Shopping at the Scotland Girl Guides shop

Kelpies!

This is M eating her last ice cream cone at the Pavillon Cafe (I love that place too), I had tea and cake. We will miss you Edinburgh! 

A day long horsey adventure.

While A was here I wanted to find at least one good day trip from Edinburgh to somewhere cool. We made it to Stirling (Weeks do Stirling), and the girls enjoyed that but I wanted something they would LOVE. So I found this place, Blackstone Clydesdales. It was a day long adventure that we all LOVED and I am so happy we did it and that we had great weather. 

Train from Edinburgh to Glasgow. 

Then Glasgow to Auchinleck.

John, from Blackstone Farm was kind enough to pick us up at the train station, 

and take us to the farm. 

Yeah! Sweet horses! They loved to be petted and rubbed and fed peppermints and horsey treats. 

Getting ready to ride! I can't believe I wore a sweatshirt and a sweater all day that day. But it was cold fortunately it was not too windy. 

Look how high the stones are to be able to get on these majestic beasts. 

I rode Alfie, M was on Digger and A was on May Time. Digger and May Time are some of the older horses on the farm and were very gentle with the girls. Alfie is a wee bit younger and bigger but was also a sweetie. I had an easy time with him. 

The girls got to feed the pigs.

And they fed the Donkeys, Henrietta and Bubbles.  Donkeys are surprisingly sweet and soft. 

Then we groomed Henrietta and Bubbles.

Every time we stopped brushing them the nudged us for more. 

And we took them for a walk. They really are stubborn and sort of hard to walk. 

A kept getting nudged into the hedge by Bubbles. 

But it was still fun and the girls loved spending time with the animals. 

Monkey Puzzle tree! 

After the donkeys we got to meet their foal, who does not have a name yet. He was 5 months old and the size of a regular horse. We also fed and walked the Alpacas. My phone was in the farm house charging for the trip back at this point and A took pictures. She promised she would send them to me so I look forward to getting them soon.  

The train we wanted to catch back to Glasgow was cancelled so we ended up on the bus to Glasgow which worked just as well. A fell asleep on the bus poor thing was whipped out from all the excitement. Then in Glasgow we grabbed some sandwiches for another meal on the train to Edinburgh.

When we got back to Edinburgh, we caught a taxi and were home by 8:30 almost 12 hours after we headed out. It was a long but fun and memorable day. I hope the girls remember it as fondly as I do. In my next life I for sure want to live on a farm in the Scottish country side. 

Today is Saturday and we leave tomorrow! I am a wee bit sad but mostly happy to be heading home. 

MoDeRn ARt

So this post is a little out of order. This is what we did on Tuesday, but the horse farm adventure yesterday sort of trumps the art museum.

However the art museum was fun. When we were looking at the list of all the possible things we could go do, A said she had never been to a modern art museum. Which to me meant yes of course that is what we need to do.

Once again we hopped on the good old 42 bus and headed through town and over into New Town. There is a stop that lets you off about .5 miles from the museum.









Also there is a free shuttle between the Scottish National Gallery on Princes Street so if you are closer to that you could take the free shuttle.


The gates were cute so I decided we needed to take pictures of each side of the gate. Apparently their thing is that funny aspect of splitting the name up across the gate.

The gallery is splint into two buildings. Outside building 1, there is this grass sculpture. Of course there is a sign that says no running, climbing or sliding on the grass. I did what I could but the girls were not really able to calmly contemplate life while slowly wandering the sculpture. Rules were broken a wee bit. 

Everything will be all right! 

Snack Break.

M.C. Escher style maze

Hey, let's go sit up there. 

Hmmmm.......

I think A thinks we are crazy. 

The most beautiful art!

Then we headed for the bus to head home. 

Is this the last HMV left on Earth? 

Beat the heat? I think these Scottish people would melt if they were in Atlanta. 

Eric and I went out for dinner with some friends at The New Club. A was kind enough to watch M for us. They must have been ok because they were both asleep when we got back. That purse was a gift from Eric, he bought it on this work trip to Italy earlier this summer. One great thing about it is that it is big enough to carry my comfy shoes so I could trade out for walking there and home. 

The countdown begins

We are less than a week away from heading home! I have mixed emotions about this but overall I am really looking forward to getting home. M on the other hand would have left weeks ago and yesterday was battling a HUGE bought of homesickness. Poor baby! She misses her friends and her house and just wants to go home.

It has be gray and rainy so that is not really helping the mood. But we did manage a rainy day outing yesterday.

We walked around Arthur's Seat and down to Dynamic Earth. Apparently the scientist who initially figured out how the Earth was formed  was from Edinburgh. It was a wee but pricey. But it gave us some entertainment on a rainy day. M was telling Eric all about it this morning. And she absorbed way more of the information than I did so I am happy about that. It is a 4D thing you go through and learn about how the Earth was formed and all the different parts of the Earth from volcanoes to ice. I am pretty sure A enjoyed it too. She is so sweet and easy going. Especially in comparison to fiery M. 

There were some little areas set up before you went through the "experience" so M got dressed as a jungle explorer for a picture. A simply said "no thank you" to the dressing up.

After our experience we were going to go grab a bite to eat but it was 4:45 and all the lunch and tea places where closing but none of the dinner places were open yet. So we trudged up the Royal Mile and back home for me to cook dinner.

We are getting down to the wire and we need to use up what food we have here.

Yesterday I got what was probably my last Tesco delivery. 3 out of our 4 delivery men have been sweet and helpful, the other one was just over it. We do have a lot of stairs and they probably trudge up and down stairs all over this crazy city all day. This is not a city for the meek. If you are really going to explore it you have to be in good enough shape for hills and stairs.

The girls headed off to the playground after dinner. It was nice to have a few moments of peace. I love the fact that A being here gives M a little independence and she and I get some breaks from each other.

Today we are just going to putter around the apartment and maybe go to the Pavillon and maybe do a little shopping. Because Eric & I are going out tonight and the girls and I have to be at the train station early tomorrow for our next adventure. I hope it goes well. We are all super excited.

Hope you are planning and adventure for yourself soon! Planning is half the fun. 

Team Weeks does Stirling, Scotland, UK!

While we have gotten to know Edinburgh fairly well, we have seen little of the rest of Scotland. It is a big place and I am fairly certain we will be back, so I am settled in enjoying what we do manage to do and not worrying about the rest. Gotta save some for next time.

Yesterday A was inducted and an official honorary member of Team Weeks. She is a trooper and I think she had fun.

I was pretty impressed with myself for getting us out the house, to train station and actually on the 10:54 train to Stirling!

Once we got to Stirling, the weather was decent (but windy) and we discovered Stirling is very wee. So we decided to walk where we were headed. 

We had heard there was a festival at the Old Town Jail, so we headed there for lunch. 

Vegetarian Dumplings, were sort of weird but totally delicious. 

The girls made a feast of fresh bread, lovely jam, and cheese. 

The cider was mine. M did take a sip and reported it was disgusting 

and thinks I am crazy for liking it. We sat here, also had some desserts and listened to music for a while. Aside from the crazy wind it was pretty perfect. 

We walked from the old jail to the cemetery.

Then up some stairs towards the castle. 

Where we saw some wee doorways. 

Wee-er for some of us.

We learned about music. And there were Unicorns everywhere. M even acquired a tiny one. 

They are cute but not so musical. 

The view outside. 

Unicorns

A unicorn phone. She was talking to Banana VonSchweets about the amusement park she is building. She has a crazy imagination and fills her time in ways I do not completely understand. 

Ceiling medallions. 

Unicorn. 

Ceiling Unicorns.

Applique Unicorn.

Woven Tapestry Unicorn.

A couple of us where pooping out while others of us where doing castle crafts. 

Fighting Unicorns. 

Oh the wind!

Mama, I wanna play by the canons. 

Mama, I gotta sit on a canon. This is one of the only cool things I did today. 

Damn kid! One day she will appreciate how cool her life is. 

We made it back to Edinburgh and had Pizza Express for dinner. 

Sometimes heading to your favorite spot for dinner is comforting. 

After this we looked at the bus schedule and decided it was faster to walk home. M whined and moaned that she was too tired to walk. But as soon as she saw the playground she perked up and wanted to go play. However the rest of us were too tired so she got vetoed. Home & Bed! That is where we went. 

So far this morning we have made "fluffy american pancakes" and are just chillin. However I was just told I have to go to a fancy dinner on Tuesday night, so I guess I better go shopping. I have nothing I would call fancy with me at all. Unfortunately we have a very long day planned for Wednesday, but such is life it will all work out some how. 

We head home one week from today! Which makes me both happy and sad. But there are many American things I am looking forward to especially my peeps!