Scotland, Oh Scotland!!

Scotland was amazing!! We flew from London to Aberdeen and it was only an hour and 15 minutes. Not too shabbs. We went straight to my mom/step dads flat and unpacked, got the tour, had snaks and relaxed. Their flat is so perfect, and quaint--great for the 2 of them! 

Cheers!! 

We had reservations at a nice restaurant all the nights we were there. Lots of eating and drinking... But that's what a vacation without kids is all about, right? 🍷🎉🍷

I won't spell out each of the 6 days in Scotland but overall it was so awesome! We went to the casino one night, golf course happy hour on the ocean, visited Dunnattor Castle,

Leave it to my mom to have the most awesome rain boots with ribbons that match her jacket. Adorbs AND I love this pic!!! 😉💛

walked the downtown area (LoTS of walking the whole trip, actually!!!)!, shopped and had afternoon tea, 

toured a distillery, 

and also took a train to Edinburgh and spent one night there. In Edinburgh we went to the castle, 

stayed at an amazing bed & breakfast -- http://www.the-salisbury.co.uk -- we had a gorgeous upgrades suite room. They have a super nice restaurant connected to the hotel and they just so happened to have a 'wine pairing 5 course dinner' that night. We couldn't pass it up. It was SO delicious and I might have drank the equivalent of 2 bottles of wine myself that night! Bonkers! 

The breakfast the next morning was great and then we headed back on the train back to Aberdeen. The views of the countryside, hills, sheep and ocean were truly breathtaking! 

London: day 4

Monday: Starbucks breakfast. All day tour to Windsor castle, Stonehenge and bath. 

Windsor castle is quite extraordinary! The chapel is breathtaking. No photos were allowed inside any of the interior walls of castle or chapel but it was all amazing. We had an audio guided tour which was very informative. The Queen was there today! Usually she would be back in London during the week but today she was in Windsor castle. We didn't go to her private residence but we were able to walk through to other 2/3 of the castle. Quite amazing!!  

Stonehenge was about an hour drive away from Windsor castle, it started to rain a bit on our drive but it was beautiful scenery in the countryside. We were dropped off about 1 mile away from the stones and had to take a little shuttle up 1/2 way or so. We walked the rest of the way up to the stones and they were beautiful. We couldn't go all the way up to them an touch, it was roped off and we could only see from the short distance away.

They mentioned the foot traffic would make the ground erode much faster. The stones were surrounded by fields of sheep and a 'motorway' in the distance. The stones were placed just right for the light to come through and I believe it was more used as a 'calendar' and to track time. There were lots of 'hills' in the ground where it was said that people were buried right there. We made our way around the stones in about an hour and had a latte before we headed out.

Bath, England was another hour away (continuing west). The city from a distance was so gorgeous. We were dropped off at the museum of the Roman Baths. It was pretty impressive. This whole city was made years and years ago for the 'rich and wealthy'. They would build a 2nd home and enjoy the baths, hot rooms, immersion pools, etc during their stay. The waters were said to be healthy and healing. The Royal families would come and women who couldn't get pregnant would come looking for miracles.  The remnants of the baths was incredible. There was untreated water in the big pool area and you could clearly distinguish the different rooms: dressing room, immersion pools, hot rooms, etc. Afterwards we to the circus area where Nick Cage used to live. It was a beautiful wealthy part of town. Then we headed back through the beautiful countryside. We could see the border of Wales on the way home. I never knew we were so far west to see another country! It was impressive! 

We were dropped off at Victoria train station, we went to dinner--we had a full dinner, dessert and even after dinner drinks to finished the long day! 

London - day 3

Sunday: Traditional breakfast nearby, reservations at The Shard, amazing views. Went to 72nd floor and looked through telescopes all around the city. Headed to Tower of London next and went on guided tour. Had lunch at the cafe in ToL. Headed to shopping on Oxford, Bond and Regents streets. Stopped for a afternoon drink at Tibits and continued on to Picadilly Circus. Ate Italian dinner. Lots of nightlife and theater spots for a Sunday night, we just walked through. Took a cab back to hotel and went to have a night drink and 'sweet'/dessert at a great wine bar. 

London - day 2

Saturday: after 15 hours of sleep we awoke and walked to Buckingham Palace. We witnessed (along with thousands of others!) the 'changing of the guards'. Very very cool!! Looked like a marching band with horse guards at beginning and end. 

We met my mom & stepdad back at the hotel around noon and went to lunch at Cucina near out hotel. Delish food. Then headed to the Hard Rock Cafe through west minster and hide park near Buckingham palace and then to Harrods--the amazing department store that sells everything. Seriously everything! Afterwards we took a taxi back to our hotel and changed before our reservations at The Eye. We reserved a 'champagne tasting' experience at The Eye. It included 2 revolutions--so fun and amazing views! The champagne and 'nibbles' were yummy. Afterward we went to the 4d experience of the eye. Fun & informative. Later in the evening we had reservations at Locale for dinner. It was perfect and close to our hotel. 

Day 1 in London!!

Friday: Flight arrived at 915a, Mercedes driver picked us up and took to hotel. Customs only took about 30 minutes. 

Hotel room was ready, thankfully. We checked out the room, dropped our bags off and got a 48-hour double decker bus pass. Rode the bus around all day, the commentary was great. Stopped for lunch at Garfunkel's (fish &chips and a pint of Budweiser!) and then went to National Art Museum. Looked at lots of paintings including some famous Monet pieces, then started to get super sleepy. Took shuttle back to hotel at 545 (both fell asleep on shuttle multiple times 😴--going to bed now! Exhausted!

Almost vacation!!!!

Today was my last day of work before we go on our vacation to London & Scotland. I'm suuuuper excited! My stepmom flies into town tomorrow night and Mike & I head out Thursday. I'm dreading leaving the kids for so long but I've decided to enjoy the time away from home and in 2 beautiful countries!! 

Work has been super stressful this year. I've been working 2 jobs, one 8-5 and the other in the late nights after the kids go to bed. My average time to go to sleep is around 2a which is getting super ridiculous! 😣 

Presley is still not walking but has great progress! She walks perfect if she holds one hand but still isn't confident enough to do it on her own. We are diligently working with her on it daily. 

Asher is getting smarter and smarter. It's unreal. He has so many friends at school, it's so sweet. 

Valentines day wasn't too much different than any other day. We ended up celebrating tonight with dinner at home. Mike made filet & lobster with mashed potatoes. It was SOOO yummy! 

Haircut last weekend: 

Dallas Boat Expo last weekend: 

We hosted a going away party for Rick & Timarie on Saturday. We are super sad to see them go but we know Portland will welcome them with open arms. We had about 50 people at our house. Lots of BBQ, beer and wine! Great success! 

Sweet as pie!!!