First week's adventures and observations

We've had a good first week. We are still in the hotel, sharing one room, three beds and the floor. No such thing as adjoining rooms in Scotland as far as we could tell. The boys rotate turns between the 2 twin beds and the floor. Usually little Charlie gets relocated to the floor even if it's not his turn. Last night he woke saying, "this is too comfy, I can't sleep!" I think we know what he meant to say, poor little guy.

We are anxious to move to our new place and think our air shipment will be here tomorrow or Tuesday.

This week we:

• adjusted to the time change



• practiced driving on the wrong side of the road



• tried to parallel park on the wrong side of the road (I am still working on this as our minivan is the largest car in Scotland!)



• ate lots of pizza



• went to the Botanical Gardens (lots of room to run and play and one minute from home)



• went to the Stirling Castle and the Old Town Jail



• braved Ikea with the whole family



• navigated the grocery store 2 times



• bought school uniforms



• played in our new backyard



• bought a drill and a dryer

Things we miss: family, friends, Missy, zip loc bags, ice, chips and hot sauce, any size other than "WEE", a table in our kitchen (anyone see a steamliner chugging along?)

Things we love: cooler weather, walking tons, energy in the city, old architecture, new accents and vocabulary, biscuits (not southern style!), great coffee, our new attic playroom, friendly Scotsmen asking "how long are you here on holiday?"

Off to bed, it's a school night!

And they're off....

Our departure for our opportunity abroad was finally here! It was bittersweet as leaving family and friends was harded than we could have imagined but we were ready to start our adventure. After the crazy week preceeding our departure, getting on a plane for an overnight flight with three children seemed like a relaxing day. We had an uneventful journey even though it was pouring rain in Dallas as our plane took off.



The boys were excited as we were finally going somewhere! To Scotland or bust.



We arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday morning, October 16th to sunny skies and chilly temperatures. We hailed 2 large cabs after waiting in the Q for 20 minutes and headed to our new home with our 14 suitcases. The boys were excited to meet the family living below as they have 2 girls, Jessica (4) and Georgia (18 mos.), and they were playing in the back yard when we arrived. All 3 boys quickly claimed their rooms in their new home and immediately found the attic playroom. The house became a home instantly with laughter, noise and three stinky boys to fill the space! Now living above another family will be a new challenge as I'm sure you all will agree. With no furniture in the house, every little noise echoes throughout the house and my new mantra is, SHHHHHHHHHH! Scott and I just tried to keep our eyes open and the boys in the yard so we could get through that first jet lagged day. More on the first couple of days soon.......Putting the boys to bed as their first day of school is tomorrow!