A Wee Bit of Whisky

We are definitely not Scotch drinkers, but one does not visit the Scottish Highlands without taking a little trip down the Whiskey Trail. So, that's how we spent our afternoon. It was interesting to visit a couple of distilleries, but it was also a gorgeous drive. We truly had a wonderful time!

The Tormore Distillery 

Just lovely!

The Glenlivet Distillery

The visitor center at The Glenlivet

Whisky bottle art

The Glenlivet cask room

Fill your own bottle

I loved this poster in the Glenlivet distillery

The Whisky Cake was the highlight of the day for most of our group

Beautiful old warrior's cemetery we happened by

Whisky barrels are sort of the same as statues

A wee door at The Macallan Distillery

The Macallan's fall decor

The house featured on The Macallan label

Seeing the Highland Cattle was one of my goals for our visit to Scotland. Check.
(Thought of our sweet friends, the Dyers, and their small herd back in Texas)

Inverness and Loch Ness

Because a real-time viewing of the Aggie game was our only option this week, we stayed up until 4:00 am to make it happen. It was worth it, but that is why I am barely able to type right now, so don't judge me by my typos. I need to tell you about our fun day, so I'll try to hang in there just a little longer.

So, of course, we all slept in (because 8:00 am IS sleeping in when you have little kids who are desperately hungry--and loud-- the moment they wake up) and had a very slow morning. Eventually, we were all pretty much showing signs of life and were ready to take on the world...or at least a more northern part of Scotland. It was a gorgeous day, so we headed up to Inverness, where we enjoyed a lovely picnic at Whin Park, which sits right on the Ness River. The boys scarfed down their food as quick as a wink, so they could get down to business on the awesome playground. The girls decided to take a little walk along the river and down to Inverness Castle. It was lovely!

Later, we drove a little further down the road with the hopes of catching a glimpse of Nessie, the supposed inhabitant of Loch Ness. We did not find her, but we did get to see the ruins of Urquhart Castle. And, the lake (loch) itself was spectacular to behold!

Picnic at Whin Park

A very small portion of the things this amazing park had to offer

The River Ness

Two of my favorite ladies

So much beauty!

Inverness Castle

Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness

The rest of the ruins and another view of the loch

A fantastic day with fantastic people

Fun in Newtonmore

We had a lazy morning, and then some of us went for a nice little walk down to the lake to feed the ducks. After lunch and naps, we were introduced to a new-to-us sport called shinty. It's kind of like a violent version of field hockey. We only watched until half-time, but it was certainly interesting. Weston said he might like it even better than rugby. Then, we had more laziness, making it a great day.

Feeding the ducks

This boy was so excited to feed the ducks!

Reading with Nana

Shinty Match

Only the stick was the victim this time

The Wildcat Walk
(There are decorated wildcat statues hidden all over town.
The kids have been having fun finding them.)

Nana's Here!!!

We got up early this morning, so we could get to the airport to pick up my mom, who will be staying with us for the next three weeks. We have all been looking forward to her visit for months, so the party is in full swing. We were also changing locations and are now in a very large and wonderful house in Newtonmore, Scotland, which sits within the boundaries of the beautiful Cairngorms National Park.

Nana's here!!!

Our lovely Newtonmore home

Familiarizing ourselves with some local cuisines

So much happiness!

Nana brought special treats

Exploring Newtonmore with Nana,
while everyone else was buying groceries

Hiking around Lake Imrich

Preparing for the future of being a cowboy in
a rocketship with a bow and arrow

Beach Boys

My older two kids don't enjoy sandy beaches, and if I didn't have vivid memories of pushing them out of my body, I would seriously wonder if they actually shared my genetics. But, my little guys love the beach. They get excited about the sand, the water, the rocks, the shells--all of it. And they are now big enough to play without me having to hover over them, which makes it fun for everyone. What a joy it was to spend several hours at the beach with them this afternoon! We got there when the tide was way out and stayed until it reached its predetermined stopping place on the shore. And for most of that time, we were the only souls in sight. It was a wonderful way to spend a gorgeous afternoon!

The tide was way out, which created a treasure trove of
tidal pools, unexplored rocks, and a lovely layer of pure sand.

These boys have been talking about digging all week!

The beach is my happy place!

Building a dam

Max manufactured a waterfall and then waited for the tide to fill it up

Here comes the water

A bonus treasure: seaweed connected to a rock!

Perfecting his technique

A great skipper

The rare beach rhino

Know what's better than finding an intact shell?
An intact shell with a tiny critter inside!

Port Seton, Scotland

On Friday, we left Wales and made the eight-hour drive to Port Seton, Scotland. We are staying in another caravan park situated on the Firth of Forth, which is just cool to say. We spent Saturday just resting and relaxing, and enjoying many of the fun amenities this holiday park offers. Yesterday and today, we've been working on some school work, and whiling away our evenings in the presence of Harry Potter. We also caught the Aggie game, which was honestly more stress than I need in my life. We had to wait a full 24 hours from game time for the privilege of that heart attack, which meant we kept ourselves off social media to avoid having it spoiled. In hindsight, it might have been better to be warned. But, thankfully, it ended with jumping around and cheering loud enough for all the neighbors to hear, instead of big, fat sad faces.

A beautiful welcome

We love the Seton Sands Holiday Park!

Hanging out on the beach

The Firth of Forth

Little Diggers

Dancing Machine

Kings of the playground

Scooter Boys

An amazing sunset over the firth