Scotland

We took Melina on her first international trip, to Scotland!
 
 Waiting for our bags at the airport. Melina was such a good traveler!

We were welcomed by gorgeous weather, crushing jetlag, our wonderful cousin/Auntie Buzzy, and this lovely fellow, stitched together by Auntie Buzzy!

Beautiful and slightly delerious first day.

 

Exploring Buzzy's neighborhood

The garden patch!

Ice cream on our way north to Forres to Auntie/Grannie Tish and Uncle Stewie!

Auntie Tish's amazing greenhouse!

Hanging out at the park in Forres.

A park for little people!

Playing with Uncle Stewie.

Brodie Castle

Hiking around the lake at Brodie Castle

We saw baby swans!

Melina crashed out in the backpack.

Waking up.

 

 Dancing around the yard with Auntie/Grannie Tish

Collecting orange clothespins.

We put Melina's new Wellies to use on this trip, she especially loved that she could pull them on and off... and on... and off... and on...

We rode a steam train, on the Strathspey Railway.

Melina loved it!

The best part was the wonderfully sweet engine driver, who gave Melina her own tiny dab of coal and who regaled us with a fantastic story of meeting Jacques Cousteau in the Falkland Islands. We also learned that he was interviewed for a Seattle Times travel piece last year.

Hanging out in Boat of Garten.

Gorgeous highland scenery.

Randalls' Leap!

Findhorn!

Playing at the beach at Findhorn.

The kids made a highland coo out of algae!!

Morgan and Uncle Stewie went trout fishing in a loch.

Success!

 

We had a delicious dinner of freshly caught trout and Tannachy vegetables!

Melina could tell we needed a little help figuring out driving on the wrong side of the car.

More of the Aunt Tish's amazing veggie garden.

Our chalet in Ullapool!

Melina immediately began gathering up all interesting items she could find...

 

and bringing them into the shower.

Beautiful scenery in Ullapool.

Contemplating a limpet.

So much fun exploring the intertidal!

But also a little sad.

There was a playground nearby! Melina insisted on taking off her shoes. She loves the feeling of grass and sand on her feet. Hard to blame her!

Uncle Stewie found this bird feather and was tickling Melina with it. I asked Melina what kind of bird she thought the feather came from. She said, with confidence: "A tickle bird!"

They also did a bit of dancing....

And lots of sliding!

Happy times with Aunt Tish.

Hiking above Ullapool.

Our curly-haired kiddo.

On the way back from Ullapool, we found some real Highland Coos! We slogged across the moor to have a closer look.

Mom and two calves.

We couldn't resist swinging by the train station on our way through Aviemore.

Waving at the conductor and engine driver, note two big slices of cake in boxes from the Aviemore Mountain Cafe.

Back in Edinburgh with Buzzy!

Riding a double decker bus!

Exploring Edinburgh.

I

We had lunch at the Elephant House, the birthplace of Harry Potter.

Happy cousins.

The Scottish National Museum was a huge hit!

Melina eating haggis.

Lovely patio dinner.

So much fun!

Harvesting potatoes at Tannachy.

Our chalet in the distance

Trying on the SCUBA equipment at the National Museum.

 

 One last shot of our crew! Such a wonderful visit!

The incredibly sweet flight crew on the way home allowed us to explore the cockpit AFTER our (8 hour!) flight since beforehand they had been too busy. Melina had a blast.. a great finale to a fantastic trip.