camp

Aiden had a really great time at the camp I went to as a kid on Lake Erie, Camp Fitch. I was so excited that he had such a great time, that the minute we picked him up he wanted to sign up for next summer already. The cabents (roof/foundation with tent sides) were still going strong! He was in the camp play for the talent show (It was a script about a Pygmy Awareness Program about accepting everyone even green swamp monsters).

4th sparklers

Some fun with sparklers and snow cones before the fireworks on the church front lawn...

s'mores

Summer=S'mores!

blow up

This funny thing was even funnier to get air into ;)

taco party

A Three-esta Fiesta taco party for the brand new three year old buddy, Aussie Cheese.  Aiden busted through that piñata!

austin's bday

So fun to see Austin get excited about his presents and the chocolate bits on his yummy cake!

cousin buddies

We really enjoyed the chance to meet my cousin Peter's sweet little girl, Oksana and see my aunt and uncle. She and Zoe have matching hair colors.

tidbits

Right after we got back from Edinburgh, as a big year gift and thank you to my folks for taking good care of the boys (and cuddly Zoe!), we went to see Hugh Jackman Live. He really knows how to entertain!  

These guys at our favorite Chuy's coloring my favorite otters and llamas on their menus!

curiosity

The Museum of Scotland was a combination of all the best curiosities you can find at museums.

tartan

We really enjoyed walking down many of the closes or original alley ways that cut through the city. Everything is built on a ridge so there are hills on each side of the Royal Mile and many tall buildings. The tartan weaving was hidden in the basement of one of these buildings.

garden

Right between the two yarn shops in the Royal Terrace Garden's sits the Gardener's Cottage. It was a perfect stop for a negroni and a really tasty berry dessert.

yarn crawl

We joked that J came to Scotland for the whiskey and I came for the wool. We took a fun "urban hike" through town to visit two shops I'd been looking forward to visiting, Ginger Twist and Kathy's. So many colors to see on the stained glass at a shop along the way and so many colors of hand dyed yarn!

parliament

Right across from the Queen's palace at one end of the Royal Mile sits the Parliament building. It is really gorgeous architecture right at the base of Arthur's Seat hill.  The equivilant of the speaker was there being interviewed during our visit.

holyroodhouse

The Queen came to town while we were in Scotland, so they were preparing her palace for the events. She hosts garden parties in and around the grounds.

wallace

We had a chance to race up to the top of the Wallace Monument... the largest monument in honor of a non religious figure. You could see the Stirling Castle from the top. On the way there, we had a chance to see the The Kelpies, a huge metal sculpture as a monument to horse power.

glenturret

The Glenturret Distillery tour did not allow photos in the production area, but it was very interesting to hear how they complete the process.

hermitage

We had a nice walk through the Hermitage forest to visit the Black Linn Falls.

dunkeld

In the Highlands, we had a chance to visit a very small original town, Dunkeld.

scotsman

Our hotel was a historic building that used to house the offices of Edinburgh's daily newspaper. It was a great location right across the bridge and almost in the very center of the Royal Mile. The room had all this gorgeous paneling and the view as amazing!  They left us treats and whiskey flights to enjoy...

scott's

We had a beautiful view of the Scott's Monument from our hotel room. It's on a great spot right near the Mound.

exploring

There's the Elephant House where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter.  Plenty of shops to explore.. Haggis pasties to try ;)

writer's

The writer's museum honors any one that has authored a book written in Edinburgh... so of course, JK Rowling is a feature! She wrote the first Harry Potter in a coffee shop down the road.

museums

So many great free museum to breeze in and out and learn about the history of Edinburgh... also the University and many record stores to explore...

eats

So many treats! The highlight for J was a casual Indian place called Roti with this giant tawa plate. The flights of gin and whisky... ice cream with CAKE inside!  

close

So many "closes" or alley ways that cut through the city and wind down the hill.  The is one very old underground close you can still visit, the Real Mary King's Close. They don't allow many photos inside, but it was really interesting to see how they lived underground (even with their live stock!)  There were of course haunted stories and they leave toys for a child ghost.

calton hill

Such a pretty spot on the top of Calton Hill....They call it the Athens of the North and even have the columns to prove it ;)  J was very curious about Hume's grave too.

owls

This was amazing! Being so close and feeling their weight on your arm makes you really feel connected to them. The white barn owl liked to be scratched between her eyes and dance in the breeze to the street music.

best

We enjoyed tea inside the Castle to let the crowds calm down... really good cake!  The absolute highlight was meeting these owls right outside the Castle.

castle

The Edinburgh Castle is a still active military site... It's so much larger than I expected!  Such great views from the top...

mound

So much art in Edinburgh... The festival in August had a year round presence and would be an interesting but very busy time of year to visit with thousands of performances throughout the city.

So many adorable shops...  Look at that very old portrait of a Zoe lookalike in the Royal Gallery.

royal mile

So much to see along the Royal Mile (from the Castle to the Palace)... We took a tour called the Hidden Secrets of the Mile that showed us some things we wouldn't normally notice like hidden bell towers and imprints of old buildings...

oor wullie

One of Scotland's most famous comic book characters, Oor Wullie, has been transformed as part of a charity art trail.

The first nationwide art trail to take place in the world, The Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail will see the colourful character sat laughing upon his famous upturned bucket dotted across the country from Inverness to Glasgow during the summer.

It is hoped the trail of over 200 individually decorated statues will help raise thousands of pounds for children's hospital charities in Scotland. #OWBBT

We had fun spotting him all over town:

Our rough itinerary for the week:

Monday

Arrived at 9am Edinburgh time 

Staying at Scotsman Hotel 

Waverley Place/Princess Street shopping 

National Gallery of Scotland - Art museum 

Walked down Mound along Royal Mile

Hume and Smith Statues 

St Giles Cathedral 

Roti - Tawa plate

A Boy Wizard shops, etc 

Tuesday 

Walking tour -Hidden Secrets of the Royal Mile 

Edinburgh Castle 

The Tea Room aka cake time at the Castle 

Falconry Borders - owls 

Writer’s Museum 

The Elephant House - HP written here

National Museum of Scotland 

Beirut for dinner 

(Other option could be Spoon) 

Wednesday 

People’s museum 

Museum of Edinburgh 

Record store - Unknown Treasures

Parliament - architecture and debating chamber 

Hollyroodhouse Palace and Queen’s Gallery 

Arthur’s Seat terraced gardens and hill hike 

Dynamic Earth for lunch on balcony 

Ginger Twist yarn shop 

The Gardener’s Cottage in Royal Terrace Gardens 

Record Store Vinyl Villains

Kathy’s Knits 

Tartan Weaving Mill by castle 

(Other option could be Camera Obscura and observation deck)

Ensign Ewart - whisky/gin flights 

(Other option Mary’s Milk Bar and nearby cat bar Maison de Moggy)

Thursday 

Day trip to Highlands with Highlands Explorer

The Kelpies - metal horse power monument

Wallace Monument views of Stirling Castle 

Glenturret distillery tour and tasting in Crieff

Highland Perthshire

Hermitage Forest 

Black Linn Falls 

Ossian’s Hall of Mirrors

Dunkeld - complete 18th century country town

Dunkeld Cathedral bells

Atholl Memorial Fountain

Grand Cafe at the Scotsman 

Patisserie Valerie - Ice cream with cake in it

(Other option could be Monkey Barrel Comedy Club)

Friday 

City Art Center 

Royal Tattoo 

Old Calton burial ground - Hume 

Calton Hill observatory - Athens of the North

Nelson’s Monument 

Real Mary King’s Close underground 

Scott’s Monument via Close stairs 

Walked back up Advocate’s Close 

(The Devil’s Advocate could be lunch option)

Roti for lunch and warm cookie dough/pizookie

Guitar shop Varsity Music

Museum of Scotland part two 

(Other option could be Surgeon’s Museum)

Guitar shop Scayles Music

The Piemaker meat pies - tried haggis 

(Other option could be Michael Neave)

Saturday

Head home...

scotland

Huge thanks to G&P for holding down the VA fort while we had a chance to take an international trip to Scotland for the week! It's an anniversary trip tradition to take some terrible selfies on a trip (for our tenth it was a few days in NYC- https://ababybrennan.blogspot.com/2014/06/nyc.html).  Here's some peaks of our trip to Scotland, especially around Edinburgh...the Athens of the North ;)  A ton more from this trip coming soon....