Edinburgh

Love, love, love Edinburgh! Old town is a multi-leveled part of the city. Edinburgh Castle is at the top of the hill and all down the Royal Mile are little stair ways leading to streets lower down. Some streets you walk over have another street a few levels down below you. It's so cool.

Day 5- We took a train from King's Cross in London to Edinburgh. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans you'll recognize the train station. This is where Harry took the Hogwart's Express from platform 9 3/4.


Day 6- Sight seeing again! Around Holyrood Park, saw the Salibury Craigs, and then Edinburgh Castle. From there we walked down the Royal Mile to Holyrood Place.

Found my new home!

Front entrance to Edinburgh Castle.

Holyrood Palace.

Remnants of Holyrood Abby.

Day 7- We took an optional tour to St. Andrews. We aren't into golf, but it's the birthplace of golf for those of you who might like to go there someday. We went to the ruins of the castle and cathedral. The castle was so much fun. During a siege on the castle the attackers would dig mines under the wall of the castle. The defenders of the castle would dig a counter mine in haste to stop them. We got to crawl through the mine. It wasn't more the 3 feet high in some areas. The tunnel ended across the street up against a house.

Ruins of St. Andrews Castle.

Mine tunnel.

Tower at St. Andrews Cathedral site. We climbed up the narrow spiral staircase for a 360 degree view.

You could see the castle ruins in the distance on the shore.

We went to a science fiction bookstore called Transreal. Dan was so excited to find signed books from a couple of his favorite authors that live in Edinburgh. We also went to the coffee shop where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter! From where she sat she could see Edinburgh Castle.

The Elephant House.

J.K. Rowling pictures on the wall.

Her view as she wrote...

Day 8- Before heading off to Dublin I walked around for a while by myself. Dan's foot was hurting pretty bad and we wanted to give him some time off of it before we went to Dublin. I went back to The Elephant House for pictures and then I walked over the park on Princess Ave. It was so lovely. I wish Dan had been with me to see it.


Lastly, how could you be in Scotland without seeing this...


Then off to Dublin...

London

I don't quite know where to start. London is a phenomenal city. I feel like we barely got a glimpse of it even though we were there for 3 days. We were staying a nice part of town called Kensington. On our first day there we wandered around a bit, but didn't go do the big touristy stuff.

Day 2- Sight seeing tour of London. After the tour Dan and I hoped on the tube from Gloucester station and went back to the Tower of London. We walked around there for a while looking at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.


Next up was Big Ben, which is actually the name of the bell in the clock tower, not the tower itself, Parliament, London Eye, and Westminster Abby.

London Eye, right before it started raining again.

Westminster Abby.

After our long day of sight seeing we went to see Harry Potter at the cinema.

Day 3- Our trip to Bath and Stonehenge. To be honest I didn't quit know what to expect with Bath and it was a really wonderful little town. I love the old buildings and it was really interesting to learn that the hot springs were used by the Romans.

The hot spring pools used to be at ground level.

Eating pasties for lunch.

I love the little things that are different. Let's play a game called, we say- they say. Yield- give way, carry out- take away, movie theater- cinema, under contract- under offer, to rent- to let, cell phone- mobile. There were so many little things, like the direction traffic goes. It's apparently so complicated for tourists that they labeled the ground all over the city.

Blogger and the internet are done cooperating with me. I can't seem to add any more photos. I'll post more later when I can.

Day 4- Edinburgh...

friend visit

It's so awesome to have someone come visit you! Laura has been able to come out and see us twice since we moved here. I know Jersey isn't exactly a destination hot spot, but we had a great time.

We were in the annual Kazoo Band. It's so much fun to be part of.


Went to Long Street Farm, which as you all know I love that place. Then a huge neighborhood BBQ followed by 4th of July fireworks!


The Moth.- We listened to unscripted story telling. It was really interesting. There were funny, bizarre, and even some sad moments. The joys of story telling.

Coney Island- Laura took the big kids on the famous Cyclone roller coaster. It's apparently a pretty fun, yet rough wooden coaster.


The kids even convinced Laura to roller skating after our day at Coney Island.

Ocean Grove beach- The kids can play for hours on their boogie boards. Then, some yummy Hibachi for dinner.


Saturday we hit Philly. Went to the Franklin Institute and the City Tavern for dinner.

Sadly Sunday we had to send her back on a plane to Denver. I am so glad she came out here to see us! It was so wonderful to spend time with her. I have some awesome friends. She taught Hannah how to knit, too. Now, who's next?

Once she left I was in serious hurry mode. I had homework, a quiz, an exam, three kids to pack up, a house to clean, and laundry to do. All is well now. We sent the kids off yesterday on a big jet plane solo. It's hard to watch all your babies get on that big plane alone. Hannah told me after they landed that Seth was sad I wasn't with them. It kills me. He'll have fun with his Gramma and Grampa. (Yes, I spelled those wrong on purpose.) Alas, they had to go somewhere, so Dan and I can go on our trip. We leave tonight. London, here we come! I'm so excited!

Update

I'm such a slacker. I had every intention of updating my blog more this summer and I obviously haven't. Oops.

Last day of preK.

Last day of school for the big kids. Seth was still sleeping when Hannah had to leave at 7:15 for school.

School ended on the 20th. Woo, hoo. Oh, wait. Now I have to entertain them everyday to make sure they don't spend all day picking on each other... I do love summer though. Lightening bugs, beach, swimming, hydrangeas, vegetable garden, fresh fruit, BBQ, smores, and fireworks.

Some bugs I could do without. Like this bug we found buzzing around in Hannah's room. It's an inch long... creepy, no.


I finished the nine patch quilt top.


I think the quilting will make it all come together. You'll see. Next up is a baby quilt for Mark and Leann. Finally, someone is having a girl! I've made this pattern before and it's super cute.


Dan and I are preparing for our trip to Europe. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I have to ship my babies off on an airplane all by themselves. Start praying that they'll behave themselves and act perfect for Gramma Stella. Then, Dan and I board an international flight to London! Squee! Our honeymoon, 15 years after we got married...