Mims and Gramps in Scotland

This is the town of Tobermory on the opposite end of the Isle of Mull from where we stayed. We took the above winding road through the beautiful countryside to see this town.

This is the house we enjoyed, Ardchrishnish!

Muscles on the beach near the Weaver's Farm.

The beach and the locals. We never tire of the rural landscape here.

Weaving Machine.

Preparing for our Crab Feast and enjoying the sunset at Ardchrishnish.

More locals and buying our dinner as we exited the ferry. These fisherman charged us one pound (GBP) per crab. I still can't believe it. Huge crabs, don't know how I missed a close up shot!

The beach on Iona and the definite intruders! I can't begin to tell you how cold the water is.

On the boat to Staffa and on Staffa.

Fingal's cave on Staffa.

Staffa with Fingal's Cave on your right.

Iona Abbey.

Enjoying the fresh air and views at Ardchrishnish.

*****So sorry that you have to read below to find out what I am talking about in the captions. i still do not have the ability to post pictures anywhere in my post except the beginning! ARGH*******

Well, if this isn't long overdue like several thank you notes I need to write, then I do not know what is!

I can't seem to catch up. So if you log on regularly (grandparents), my apologies for the sporadic and delayed posting lately.

As I mentioned in my last post, we had the pleasure of having Mims and Gramps (my parents) here for the October School Break. It was delightful. We saw things we hadn't seen before (Scotland's Secret War Bunkers, Mull, Iona, and Staffa) and we did a few things that we'd not done together here (M & G played 9 holes of golf with Christopher and Ethan, Glasgow Cathedral and St Mungo's Museum, and relaxing lunches in cafes!).

Probably the highlight was our trip to the Isle of Mull. We stayed in a fabulous house on a fabulous hill with a fabulous view. It was isolated, rugged, well-equipped and perfect for our family. And to top it all off, we had absolutely brilliant weather, a rarity for this part of Scotland!

The Isle of Mull is one of the Western Isles of Scotland. We chose it for it's scenery and for it's close proximity to 2 other Isles we wanted to visit; Iona and Staffa. On Mull we enjoyed time in the fresh air, a pub dinner in the dark (electricity not too reliable in these parts!), a trip to an organic farm and weaving shop, beach walks and much more.

Iona is thought to be the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland. The Iona Abbey was founded by St. Columba and his followers in AD 563. Since that time, the Abbey and subsequently the Isle of Iona has been inhabited by many Christians from many different backgrounds. Today, the Abbey is home to the Iona Community, a "dispersed Christian ecumenical community working for peace and social justice, rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship." Mims, Gramps and I enjoyed a tour of the Abbey and the shops while Scott and the boys enjoyed a trip to the beach. http://www.iona.org.uk/

Our trip to Staffa was on a small boat with approximately 20 tourists to see the magnificent basaltic columns similar to those in Mammoth Lakes, CA at Devil's Postpile. We were also lucky enough to see a seal pup up close! It was a terrific tour, even if Gramps and I were close to heart attacks each step the little boys took! Check it out: http://www.staffatours.com/

We had such a great visit and loved having you here Mims and Gramps. Thank you for coming accross the pond!

Busy.

Whew. We've just completed a whirlwind Fall Break full of fun, fun, fun!

The boys were off school for a week and a day and boy did we fill it up! Our dear friends Brian and Julie W. came for a visit all the way from Dallas. They'd been to Ireland and then popped over to Scotland for the weekend. We walked around Glasgow, shared meals at some of our favorite spots, cycled around the Isle of Cumbrae (check out that crazy 7 seater bike), visited a few sweetie shops, toured Edinburgh Castle, walked the Royal Mile, and took a drive through the Campsie Fells (the countryside).

It was such a treat to catch up with our friends and to show them a little bit of our lives here in Glasgow. Brian and Julie, thank you for taking the time to come for a wee visit!

The day they left, Mims and Gramps were scheduled to arrive. Their flight was canceled due to weather in Shreveport so they were delayed a day which we filled with laundry, errands and the cinema! Mims and Gramps left this morning after a wonderful week in Scotland. We had such a great time and I'll post about that tomorrow. Gotta run finish homework and head to fencing. More soon!

Last Strawberries

One of the gifts of this dear green place is the fresh strawberries. If you've read our blog before, then you may have seen earlier pictures from our trips to the Cairnie Fruit Farm. We love this place. It's an adventure playground and pick-your-own fruit farm in one. The boys and I decided to make our last trip this season to pick til our hearts content. It was glorious. Beautiful day, not crowded, plenty of yummy fruit and pumpkins for our front door!

Bliss.

Monster Madness

Not the Halloween kind. The 2-wheeled kind. Last Saturday, we took the boys to the Museum of Flight (where we went this summer with Grandma and Davis) to see the Magnificent Machines. They included Monster Trucks, steam trains, ambulances, firetrucks, tanks, motorcycles, BMX bikes, scooters, and of course all of the planes on site.

It was right up our alley. The weather was perfect, windy and cool and we spent the whole day testing our families testosterone.

But I forgot my camera. So no cute pictures. Scott took a few on his phone but has yet to share them with me and he's on his way around the world.

So just for now, picture a Monster Truck Jam in Texas with Scottish scenery, 4 smiling boys and you got it!

Backpack

A few weeks ago I went to the Coldplay concert with a few girlfriends and had a ball. The weather was decent, the music was brilliant and the company was terrific.

One of the things that cracked me up was the drink distribution. I'd never seen the beer keg backpacks before and had to laugh at the inefficiency of their use in a crowd of 40,000 people. The beer queue was 1 hour long. And there must have been 40 guys with these backpacks on. Have you seen these things?? Seems like a regular tap at the concession stand would work better. But they didn't ask me.

http://www.thirstsolution.com/thirst-packs.asp?gclid=COvqu4X_k50CFYIA4wodgUhp0w

Birthdays finale 2009!

To finish off the Nicol boy's birthdays for 2009, we celebrated with Ethan at the Cream O Galloway Ice Creamery on Sunday. For those that do not know, we went there this summer with Grandma Jane and Cousin Davis and had a blast. Even though it's 2 hours away, Ethan was set on having his party there.

So Sunday morning, we loaded 13 children and 5 adults into a "people carrier" and my car and headed south. The day could not have been better! The weather was brilliant, the ice cream making was spectacular, and the outdoor playing was SUPER! And we all slept really well Sunday night!

Ethan had a great day and weekend! Counting our blessings!

Tartan Night Out

One of life's greatest blessings is a trustworthy, fun, kind, mature babysitter. We've been blessed many times.

In Dallas, we had a few regulars. One of these was Kimberly. She moved to London shortly before we moved to Scotland and it's fun to keep in touch on this side of the pond. We email back and forth and chat about the little things we miss and the things that annoy us here. Kimberly came for a quick visit a few weeks ago and it was if no time had passed. It was great to see her, and Kimberly, we thank you for taking the time to stop in Glasgow!

And in Scotland, we've been lucky enough to have a wonderful child-minder (as they are called). Once a week, Scott and I have a quiet dinner sans children and the boys get time with Gemma. They look forward to it each week and so do we.

Gemma planned a night out for the boys' birthday. She booked a table for dinner and let me know when she'd be here to pick them up. They were so excited and readily agreed to put on a button down shirt and clean themselves up a bit. Don't you wonder about Charlie's outfit?? I'm not sure Ethan would have been allowed out of the house like that but I'd like to think, I've relaxed a bit in the last 5 years.

The boys had a blast and Scott and I enjoyed dinner at home sans children, a first for our time in Scotland! Here's to more tartan nights out!