April 14, 2009

Edinburgh, Scotland Part 1

Our journey began on a Thursday evening with hours to spare in driving time and pounds to spare in the suitcases, two rare events that we were fortunate enough to have occur simultaneously on our first plane travel within Europe. I should have known that something wasn't right. It was just too easy!

Rhi Waiting to Fly

We traveled to the airport in 3 cars, successfully losing the lead vehicle almost immediately, which was not a big deal as we all have gps. Unbeknownst to the us and the other car, we were heading to the wrong airport while the lead car was headed to the right airport. Upon arrival at Dusseldorf Int. we called our friends who promptly informed us of our mistake. No worries, we needed Dusseldorf Weeze airport. Same city right? Wrong! We had to drive another 80 km north which under defensive driving conditions will take just about an hour. Under offensive driving conditions it takes 35 minutes. We had 40 minutes before the check in desk closed. Blessedly, Germany has no speed limit and we had a team of great friends ready and waiting to help us haul ass into the airport and valet part the car for us! We made it just in time and then guess what?!...the plane got delayed about 45 minutes. Totally figures. But we were never happier for a delay I tell you.

Our first day in Edinburgh we got right down to walking around the city and the Royal Mile. It was really difficult navigating the traffic because they do drive on the left side there. There are beautiful gardens and parks, closes (which are really narrow streets, alleys by our standards, that all travel down towards the city center at a very steep angle) lots of shops and pubs (poobs), and places to eat. One thing that surprised me was that some restaurants that have bars would not allow us to eat there with the kids, even for lunch! Obviously we saw some bagpipers and took pictures of the kids with them. We hopped on a double decker bus tour and heard a little about the history of the city.

Playground at the Base of the Castle

Cemetery-Only the Wealthy Could Afford Headstones...the Rest are in Mass Graves

Jim stayed in for the night with the kids and the rest of us went on a ghost tour of the city. We toured these rooms that are built under ground within the structure of one of the bridges and heard tales of ghosts, torture, and body snatchers and other questionable activities that took place there. In one of the rooms, a woman in the back began hyperventilating and had to leave the tour. After it was over, we found a disembodied face on one of our pictures from that room. That wasn't the only one either. We found several faces and many orbs throughout our collected photographs.

Look Closely in the Top Center for the Face

Orb on the Black Cloak

Orb in the Dirt on the Right Side

Ghostly Face-The original photo is not on my disk but this is way zoomed in.

More Orbs

If she had been moving the candle, her arm and hand should be in a trail as well.

Huddled in a Close

We topped off the first night with a few drinks at the Bank Bar and a successful attempt at stuffing 5 people into a phone booth.

April 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Danielle!

Saturday I turned 31 as most of you know. I thought turning 30 was bad. I didn't think this last year would be on fast forward. Time seems to be going extra fast when we are always on the move. Now, more than ever before, I know that life is short and we are very much into traveling here and seeing what we can of the world. We have crammed a lot of life into the past 8 years together, much more than the average person and for that I am grateful. Our lives are definitely not boring and I hope we continue on this same path for a long time. I am especially happy that blogs were invented because now I can share our lives with our families and friends and our kids will have the best books to recall their own lives and read to their own children someday.



On a more celebratory note, we had a houseful Saturday night. I bought birthday hats and horns for the kids and they all played in our new ball pit and on the swing. Rhiannon wanted the party to be fancy, so the girls all wore tutus and princess dresses. Jim wanted to burn the horns and justifiably so, because once all the kids were blowing into them at once, we couldn't hear ourselves talking to one another. But they had a good time with them at least. I still can't get over how when a cake or dessert appears, kids seem to flock to it from miles away. Rhiannon was very proud to help me make and frost the cake.

The Aftermath...

It doesn't look that bad in the pictures, but it was...trust me!

Throughout the underlying depression of getting older, I still have my kids to keep me young and laughing. Brad's new words include "gunch" (lunch) and "shit" (sit) as in "Mommy, I shit down." He has also become afraid of elevators and when we have occasion to get in one, he says "Mommy, I shared." (scared)

We went to Rhiannon's music class last week and upon encountering her teacher in the hallway, she lightly informed us that Rhi told her she wants Roswell (our cat) to die so that she can get a dog. Jim and I were horrified but torn between laughing and worrying that she is going to throw the cat out a window while we are sleeping. Kids say the funniest things. We have since had a little chat about the finality of death and even if and when the cat dies, still doesn't mean we are getting a dog. I told her she doesn't have the time to take care of one properly because she is in school all day and she told me she would just skip classes to take care of the dog. Conversation over. I am no match for her.

Off to Scotland Friday. Let's hope this beautiful weather follows us there so we can fill next week's blog with amazing pictures of the country, and don't forget Nessie!

March 29, 2009

March was a pretty quiet month for us. We had a few events at Rhiannon's school and the weather has been getting much better too. The kids have been able to get outside more. Brad is also banging himself around more so I have recently ordered 24 feet of foam edging that I am covering all the marble and brickwork in the house with. Hopefully that will prevent a few of the looming bumps and bruises. Jim should be flying up over Europe within a few weeks, a huge milestone he's been waiting a long time for. Another friend from Florida (whose family we just met) has arrived and they have two boys, one the perfect age for Brad. It seems our "group" is expanding and we've all been spending a lot of time together BBQing, hanging out, and letting the kids all play together. It is really starting to feel like home here. In two weeks we leave for Scotland!

Just Playing Around

Spaghetti Fest

Rhiannon's Sideways Music Class

Almost every weekend, Jim has been going to an open podium at a place called Cafe Classic in The Netherlands. He sings and plays guitar along with the other patrons. Sometimes he plays alone and other times people will join in on the piano or the drums, etc. I finally was able to go with him last night and it was a great experience. There were so many talented people in there, and they all collaborate together. The owners were so welcoming and friendly and explained how they always wanted to have a place where people can come and play music together. We heard the blues, Spanish guitar, American music and Dutch music. It is a really cool place and I hope to hang out there more often. It was great to see how happy Jim is playing for a crowd.