St. Andrews

One of the things Matt has always wanted to do, bucket list type of stuff, is go to St. Andrews.  So, it became a stop on our scotland tour.  It was a beautiful little town, and we instantly fell in love with it!

 Matt outside the St. Andrews Links Clubhouse

 Right next to the Old Course is a small putting green, called the Himalayas'. For a couple pounds each, the whole family had the opportunity to "golf" in St. Andrews. 

 The boys, all the "boys", were in heaven.

 So was Anya...

 Hannah, lining up her putt.

 I love this picture.  The 3 big golfers in the family, all together in St. Andrews.

 Blurry, but still made the cut.  I thought it was just too darling.  Hannah had just made an amazing putt...she was so excited!

My Hunt man, walking along the golf green.

A view of the clubhouse.

 After we "golfed" as a family, Matt took off to play some real golf on a St. Andrews Links course.  He was pretty excited about this.  This is the only picture he took while out golfing, but said it was so scenic.  He walked across the old course several times, and a few of his holes were along the coast.

 After "we" golfed, we stopped at the car and had a snack and then...

 Headed to the beach!

 This is the same beach/coastline that the race in "Chariots of Fire" takes place.  I tried to get the kids to race, but they just wanted to look for sea shells.

 There were some great tide pools

 Hannah, true to form, found some hermit crabs and urchins.

 After golfing and beaching, we went into the town of St. Andrews for dinner and to see the sights.

 A scottish catholic priest in his full kilt outside his church.

 The ruins of St. Andrews.

Legend has it that the relics (bones) of the apostle Andrew were brought to Scotland, but the ship wrecked along the coast of St. Andrews.  Depending on which story you hear the bones were recovered and kept in this cathedral...or they were lost at sea.  Eventually the church was destroyed during the Protestant/Catholic wars, and the relics...if they were there, were lost.

 It was still a cool ruin to see.  Most of these headstones are so old, all the information has been worn off by erosion.

We really enjoyed St. Andrews.  They had great golfing, a beautiful beach (with bagpipes playing on the wind and all), and excellent fish and chips.  It was a great day in Scotland!

Through the Scottish Highlands

We had not originally planned to go to the Highlands of Scotland. We had heard that the narrow roads mixed with driving on the wrong side of the road and a big American car were not a good combination.  So, in our trip planning, we did not allot a day for the Highlands.  Now I wish we would have!!  After talking to the girls about our plans, several piped up and said "you mean, we don't get to go see Loch Ness?".  So we decided to try to fit it in somehow.  The somehow came on our way to Edinburgh.  Instead of driving straight there, we looped around the other side of Scotland, up through the Highlands, and then down to Edinburgh.  It was well worth it!  What a beautiful drive, and the roads were just fine.  There was maybe a half mile stretch that was slightly terrifying to drive, but the rest was perfect!

 Driving through the Highlands...

Glen of Glencoe, where the mountains weep in rain.

We didn't go to the top of Loch Ness to Iverness, due to time constraints...but we saw the lower part near Fort Augustus.

We found a nice little spot to sit and enjoy some scenic Scottish Loch.

Finding rocks is always a highlight in our family!

 We brought supplies for a picnic next to Loch Ness, it was a true delight, and the kids loved it.

 The sun is starting to set...

So we are watching for Nessie to pop her long neck and head out of the water.  We looked and looked for a long time, but never saw her.  She was as elusive as ever.  We did spot a Sonic out in the Loch, however, so the day was not a waste!

It was a great drive!  If any of you plan to visit Scotland again, anytime soon, here is what I would do.  I would stay the night in Glasgow, and then drive the Highland loop from there, ending in Edinburgh.  I would go to Fort William, and look for the steam train used as the Hogwarts Express.  Then drive out to the Glenfinnan Viaduct.  From there I would loop up around Loch Ness to Iverness, eat lunch, and then loop down to Edinburgh.  

But I was glad we went, no matter how little time we had, it was still a great adventure!

First Day of School!

So, taking a break from posting our summer vacations photos...here is 

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

We have a 7th grader, 5th grader and 2nd grader this year!

I can't believe how grown up they are getting...I just want to freeze time and keep them small forever!

Although, I am at the same time so impressed at what fine young women they are starting to become.  it is an interesting conflict to have going on inside, but I know I am not the only one who has it!

Here is to a great 2012/2013 school year!

Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath

On this day we did a fun little loop in the English countryside.  Just as a side note, I took way too many pictures this trip.  I posted about 150 of the 500 pics I took on facebook, and there are even fewer here on my blog (for obvious reasons).  So, if you haven't seen all the pictures I have posted, but would like to, you can see more of the highlights in my facebook albums.  We were blessed with gorgeous weather while in England and Scotland.  It was sunny, and beautiful the majority of the time we were there.  A few days were cloudy, and it only rained part of 2 days out of the 11 we were there.  I think that is a pretty amazing feat for English weather!

This day, was one of those beautiful sunny days!

 Windsor, the Queen's favorite residence

 One thing I really liked, and probably have mentioned before, is...every tour comes with an audio guide.  Typically we would have to pay extra so would fore go...but not in England and the kids LOVED it.

 Such a pretty castle!

 While there, we got to see another changing of the guard ceremony.

 This is St. George cathedral, the church connected to Windsor.  Buried here are Henry VIII, King George and his wife, the Queen mother, as well as the Queen's sister...Princess Margret.  As well as many other's that I don't remember

 While taking a picture of the English countryside, this man hopped into our photo.  So hilarious, I don't think he realized he was quick enough to actually "make" into the picture.  It makes me laugh though..so I kept it.

 Stonehenge was amazing.  Looking at these pictures, it doesn't seem real.  They look like those backdrops you see at Universal Studios, you can stand in front of for photo ops.  These are no back drops people, This is the real stuff!

 To end our day, we went to Bath to spend the evening there.  Being the Jane Austin fan I am (are you surprised...!) I have always wanted to go to Bath.  This is the Cathedral in the center of town.  

 We toured the Roman Baths, which was a fun experience.  The built the museum on and around the ruins of the baths.  So it was pretty neat to see new meeting old, and they did a really good job trying to recreate the image of how it would have been in Roman times.  

 The baths are fed by a natural hot spring that has believed healing properties.  At the end of the tour, you can get a sample of this "healing" water.  A white gloved waiter brings it to you in a crystal goblet and everything.  It was kind of gritty, very warm, and really not that tasty.

 It was fun to sit around the edge of the Bath and watch the water bubble from the hot springs.  I was worried the whole time, just waiting for one of the girls to fall in!  The boys, thank heavens, were safely attached to Matt and I's backs!

 Blurry picture, but it made the cut because it makes me laugh!

What are they doing???

On the road again, heading back to our hotel.  Tomorrow we leave for a few days in Scotland!

These boys are such troopers, they love to watch "show shows" and pretend they are so cool.  And, No, Hunter is not holding a double mocha latte.  It is just milk, but we discovered (since we left our sippy's at home) that the hotel coffee cups and lids make a great replacement for sippy cups!