More Visitors!

A month after Mimi and Poppa came to visit...we got a visit from Eric and Lesley!  They arrived on my birthday which would have been a fantastic present if I hadn't had to get up at 5am to go and pick them up from the airport :)  They stayed with us for a night and then headed off to Rome for a few days.  After they got back, all 8 of us loaded into our 7 passenger van with our luggage, portacrib, and stroller and headed to Scotland.  Woo-hoo!  

First stop (after over 9 hrs. in a car which should have really only taken us 6.5 but with the stinkin' traffic, we got delayed), was Edinburgh.  We went to Edinburgh castle and then headed up to Arthur's Seat.  It was cold (as you can see from the layers we were wearing in the pictures) but truly beautiful!  Eric, Cade, Tanner and I opted not to climb to the top of Arthur's Seat but Bryce, Lesley and the other kids braved the wind, cold, and altitude and hiked up the hill.   

Eric and Lesley at Edinburgh Castle

Us at Edinburgh Castle

I have always wanted a picture of my kids in a British phone booth...I don't know why!  Funny story, Isaac was in the booth and then shut the door.  He opened it and put his hand up to his ear like he was talking on a phone.  He said, "Mom, call me maybe!"  Made me laugh!

Our crew (minus Bryce who refused to ask someone to take the picture of all of us together)

Decoration in the castle.  I guess it comes in handy should you need to go to war quickly...just grab a weapon off the wall and there you go! 

Arthur's Seat

A view of Arthur's Seat from many miles away.

After visiting Edinburgh, we got in the car and headed to Loch Ness.  At first, we weren't sure about this leg of the trip but now we are oh so glad we went.  It was GORGEOUS!  For the kids, it was their favorite part.

The kids after throwing TONS of rocks into Loch Ness.

We didn't get to see Nessie....or did we???

For dinner that night, we ate at a restaurant that served Nessie Bites on its kids menu.  Tanner had been really upset all day that he hadn't seen Nessie and said, "Now I know why I haven't seen Nessie...I am EATING her!"

We also visited Urquhart Castle which were ruins of a Castle from the 13th to the 16th Centuries.

We stayed overnight in Inverness and then got up the next morning and headed back down South to Stirling.  By this time, I think we were all loopy from altitude and from being in the car WAY TOO LONG!  Bryce was hopping out what seemed like every 10 minutes to get pictures, Lesley and I were standing up through the roof to get pictures, and my brother actually put on a kilt and donned a set of bagpipes for a picture in the middle of nowhere.  I think we scared the kids but I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard!

Once we calmed down, we headed into Stirling.  There, we visited the Stirling Castle.  Actually, I should say we FLEW through the castle because we didn't have much time to see that AND make it to the William Wallace Monument.  So after about a half hour in the castle, we booked it over the William Wallace Monument.

Mmmm....Dinner :)

William Wallace Monument....I borrowed this from a blog online since we didn't get a great picture and obviously since we froze our pa-tooty's off, we did not have the beautiful green leaves of spring yet.

William Wallace's Sword

Lesley yelling, "FREEDOM!"  She is truly AWESOME at it!  She's got it down!

After dinner....Cade was starting to get a little unruly and fussy.  Bryce picked him up by his coat/shirt and carried him this way all the way down the street.  Cade immediately stopped his fussing and went limp.  Too funny!

We had a fantastic time with Eric and Lesley and our time with them went just as fast as it did with Mimi and Poppa.  We are so glad that they were able to come and visit us and loved having them here.  So much fun, so much laughing....I figure this, if they can survive in a car for that long with us, they must REALLY love us and they will survive ANYTHING that comes their way!