(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Lovely Scotland

T and I were able to spend a week in Scotland, part business trip, part vacation time.

I snapped this photo from our hotel room. No super zoom. This was our view. Looking right at the Edinburgh Castle.

We eventually walked up the hill and checked out the city views from Castle Hill.
Yes. That is the Old Course at St. Andrews. The birthplace of golf. We played the Jubilee Course, it is much younger,opened in 1897. Though it rained and the wind blew, we had a wonderful time playing golf here and at Gleneagles the following day.

Typical scene on the main roads of Edinburgh - kilt-wearing bag piper. Love it.

One evening, we enjoyed a tour and dinner at The Whiskey Experience. We got to see a 3500+ bottle collection of whiskey, as well as eat a lovely dinner and have a fun whiskey tasting.

Once again, we were blessed with a fun-filled and relaxing week away from the kids. MANY MANY MANY thanks to the grandparents for watching the munchkins so we could really enjoy the time away!

Roll with it

Tuesday tends to be the "free day" in our house. No school. No playgroup. No classes (for a few more weeks, anyway). It tends to be our day to accomplish the necessary and mundane (like flu shots and haircuts) but it also brings outings with friends or trips to the zoo. We planned to go to the zoo yesterday, but we got a late start and couldn't get a parking spot. Fortunately, there is a great park nearby, so we took our picnic and had a great time.

For the Birds

Last week, we had a dinner picnic with G's Godmother, Amber, and friends to help celebrate

Amber's birthday. The location was a local schoolyard where we watched some birds. OK, it was a bit more than that, but I will leave it up to the experts to explain this incredible phenomenon.

Check it out here.

Six Years

Hard to imagine that this was us, six years ago on Sunday. Lots of love that day. Even more today. I am grateful to have married such a caring, selfless, understanding, romantic man who is a loving and engaged father. Though there are times when his job takes him away from home, he is never gone.

His devotion to our union, our family, our partnership motivates me each and every day to try harder, to be more appreciative of the beauty in our lives. I thank God each day for the blessings in our world and each one of those is tied to this incredible man. Thank you, babe!

It works!

As I mentioned earlier in the week, one of our travel mates was experiencing a major medical issue in their family. Well, all of those little prayers are working. They were told to prepare for up to six weeks of treatment and that treatment may be ending tonight because their son's lungs are working again. You can see the details here. What a wonderful morning!

Welcome Fall

I love school. If I could be a professional student, I would. I love buying school supplies, new sweaters, back packs. I love the feeling of infinite possibilities that the new school year represents. B, however, does not share this same enthusiasm for new things. Even though he kept going to "school" all summer, the format was more like a camp. Though he is in the same building with the same kids, this week brought a new room and new teachers. He tried to stay happy and positive for the drop off and even chatted up all morning how excited he was and how much fun he was going to have in his new class. Ultimately, however, the drop off did not go well. Lots of tears. Lots of begging and pleading for me to stay. Oh well. At least G was happy all day. I got a kiss, a wave and a, "Good Bye, Mommy" as I walked out of her room with B. Batting .500 I guess.

First Sandcastle

Say a little Prayer...

There is a special bond that seems to form between families who have gone through international adoption. That bond is even stronger with the families who have adopted children of a similar age and from the same area of the world. Needless to say, even if we don't see one another very often, I will always feel connected to the families with whom we traveled in Ethiopia last year. One of those families is going through a life-threatening journey right now. Their 4 year old son (who came along on the trip to bring home his little brother) is fighting for his life. You can read about it here. Here we are pictured, in the yard of the guest house in Addis Ababa, cuddling with our beautiful babies. Happier times for sure.

Please send your thoughts and prayers their way.

File this under cute things the kids say...

We took a quick trip to the coast over the holiday weekend and stayed at the Inn at Spanish Head. The day after our return, B wanted to asked me a question.

He started with, "When we were at Ant Splash Head..."

He noticed my puzzled look and said, "You know. Our hotel at the beach."

My reply. "Oh. Inn at Spanish Head. Got it." Giggle. Giggle.

Blog MIA

Lots going on in our household.

Summer "Camp" ended at B's school, which means he is heading to a new classroom after the holiday weekend. Here he poses with his teacher. Ms. H is a lovely lady who B adores.

Then my sister came into town for a week. Not sure if we'll be able to do a professional cousin photo before the holidays, so we set out to do one on the first day of their trip.

Though G was a bit grumpy, the group shots turned out pretty well.

Then we had one of many family dinners. Cousins being goofy in the dining room.

One of the most important elements of M's visit is her time with Nany. Sunday morning, the three munchkins ran around her apartment complex and had a blast checking out the scenery.

We were able to enjoy a beautiful afternoon with Great Aunt/Godmother Martha and Great Uncle John. No, they weren't playing dress-up, they were preparing for our afternoon boat ride.

Monday brought a trip to OMSI, our local science museum. The big kids were running to the door while G was too excited to keep up.

She eventually caught up.

Working away in the discovery lab. I knew B liked to work with hammers and nails. Here G shows her prowess as well.

Tuesday morning, we headed to the zoo. Here the grandbabes are trying to wake up a sleeping Boppa, who stayed overnight on the air mattress. Reminds me of the Saturday mornings from my childhood when my sisters and I would all run into my parents' room and jump on him trying to wake him up.

Off to the zoo.

Three baby birds play in the mock bald eagles' nest.

We spent one day at my folk's house, catching up with some old family friends.

A was serenading us all with the little guitar.

Boppa's former business partner, Rodger, and his wife, Kate, were entertained by the antics.

Off to a local park to play in the water fountains.

Finally, the very tired grandkids pose with the very happy Mamama and Boppa.

Can you see why there's been NO time to post??