Scotland

Was AMAZING. The company - Karissa, Gregor, the kids, Terri and Ray, and our hosts Catherine and George - was gracious and kind, helpful and friendly. The food - YUMMY! And the accommodations - perfect. I will blog more on it later, when I can find the download cable to add some great pics of the castles, palaces, beaches, villages, and yes, Thomas the Train. The boys had a fabulous time with their friends Nolan and Keira, and I saw my sweet little men reemerge. They were fun and happy and didn't break anything! And Karissa's kids were their usual happy, sweet, fun little selves. Leaving them again just about broke my heart. It is like they are my other children.

Brad seemed to enjoy himself, too. He was at ease with everyone there. They are really like a second family to us, now. He finally got a little sleep, he read a bit, he played Chinese Checkers in the agonizingly slow way anyone who has played strategy games with Brad would recognize, he went for walks, played with the kids,etc. It was great watching him just take it easy for a bit. No need to answer pages or the phone (well, not much. He did get a few work calls, but not many.) He ate some fabulous meals, and particularly enjoyed the Beef Wellington and, like me, the lavender creme brulee.

The weather was much nicer than I expected. I guess I thought it was going to be really cold. It wasn't hot, or even warm. It was more like long sleeve t-shirt weather, so it was wonderful. There was so much to do within walking distance of George and Catherine's home and with perfect weather we enjoyed taking advantage. We didn't venture out in the cars more than 3 times - to Thomas the Train, to the palaces and castles, and for me to get my haircut! We didn't have to fill up the tank of our rental car and it was considered "full" when we dropped it off! We caught a break there since gas was so expensive. We walked to the main village of S. Queensferry several times. There was a fabulous view of the two bridges from the front yard, and we were able to get close enough to the train bridge to watch "absailers" - people dangling from the bridge on wires, sort of scaling the braces of the bridge. It was like rock climbing a bridge, I think. Fun to watch, and looked more fun to do than bungee jumping!

I will post pictures as soon as we find our upload cable.