Scotland - Inverness to Isle of Skye

Mel, Val, Sharee and Holly all met up in Inverness on Monday night and spent Tuesday at Loch Ness and Culloden.  At the Culloden visitors center they explained a lot about highlander culture and how the battle of Culloden was won.  I wasn't there but these pics of Mel and how a kilt would have been worn were so awesome - I had to include them. 

The kilt is just a huge piece of fabric with the pleated folded in as you put it on.  The kilt was difficult to put on and wouldn't have been changed often.

The layers would have also been used as protection from the weather.

The shield and spear of the highlander.  The more decorated the shield the more wealthy you were.

We had to take a pic for the boys.

Our first meal together was delicious - even the haggis meatballs.

Laura ordered the dessert for us and the waiter teased that that was a lot of dessert for one person.  She played it up as well so when he brought out the sticky toffee puddings and the cheesecake he placed them all in front of her.  They were so yummy.

The next morning we headed to Isle of Skye with a stop at Eileen Donan before we crossed the bridge.

Our first stop on the Isle was the Fairy Pools.  We put on all the rain protection we had and set off in an absolute downpour.  The wind sent the rain at us sideways which meant our right half was soaked in no time.  our pants were so wet they started dripping water into our shoes.  So much for being waterproof!  We could feel the water slowing creeping from the top of our sock, to the heel, to the arch, and finally the toes.  Soon water was squishing out of my shoe with every step.

The wonderful falls and pool were incredible and the intense wet made the experience memorable.

From there we drove to the lighthouse which was absolutely covered in fog, but it wasn't raining too hard so Val, Laura, Mel and I decided to see if we walked closer if we could get a better view.  The wind was absolutely fierce until we got a little lower and took a little turn and then it was lovely.  There were a bunch of sheep and lambs avoiding the weather as well.

The fog was such that we couldn't see the lighthouse until we rounded another bend this time into the wind again.  We opted not to walk any closer and retreated to the less windy section of the trail.

By that point we were getting hungry so we headed to the nearest town.  For most of our time on Skye the roads were narrow - only wide enough for one vehicle.  There was a lot of pulling off and backing up, definitely not driving for the fainthearted. 

We found a pizza place and were thrilled with food, warm beverages, and lots of chatting.

Our hotel that night had a lovely view of the sea complete with colorful houses and shops.  

The next morning looked beautiful until we got higher up and found fog again.  We intended to see the Old Man of Storr, not realizing that the hike was quite intense.  Sharee didn't last long and Holly walked her back to the van.  The rest of us trudged on through the fog, cold and rain.  My shoes were still wet from the fairy pools so I did the hike in my Chacos.  I received a few comments that I was crazy.  

We had on too many layers and more than one of us shed a layer but kept it in our raincoats to keep the layer dry.  It made us look pregnant. 

Just when the hike seemed too long and we started to feel bad for leaving Sharee and Holly we looked up and could see it.

The Old Man was pretty unique even through the thick fog.

We hiked up a little farther where we seemed to be on a mound in the middle of the clouds.  We were wet and cold but loved the hike and amazing rock structure.

From there we checked out Kilt Rock and Mealt falls.

We headed to Quirarang which was so foggy but as we walked the fog cleared for some gorgeous views of the valley.

We got stuck behind a biker on the one lane road on our foggy drive back into town - quite the adventure. 

The Fairy Glenn did not disappoint except with their lack of bathroom.  I may have had to wander off the paths and around a bit to find a place where only the sheep could see me tricky pee.

We had to wait our turns to climb through narrow path through the rocks to be able to view the whole glenn.

This is the rock we stood in a line to climb to the top.

Loved watching the sheep as we waited for them to cross the street.

We ended our day at Dunvegan Castle.

We were surprised and creeped out by this life-size figure hiding around the corner to show the servants hallways.

The grounds were beautiful with so many unique plants.

I tried to see the seals that live near the castle but struck out.  We headed to our hotel, which was right next to the bridge leading off the Isle.  While waiting for Laura to check in I spotted dolphins in the bay.  Our day totaled at 19,000 steps and 100 flights - not too shabby.  

We enjoyed an odd but good meal at our hotel while Holly asked us questions and we all enjoyed just being together.

Kitties and more kitties

We got home from Australia to little kitties with their eyes open but still so small and helpless.

The girls loved to have their friends over to see the kittens but Shai soon grew tired of all the strangers handeling her babies so she moved them out of the box and under the chairs against the wall to put more distance between her babies and the unwanted attention.

However, more friends and potential kitten owners came to see them so Shai moved them all upstairs first in Kate's closet then under Emmy's bed.  So we accommodated her by moving in a litter box, food and water to help them stay put - I didn't wan't to wake up to kitties in a new spot every morning.

They spent most of their time deep under the bed sleeping but the started coming out to play more and more every day.

We tried feeding them cat food but they weren't very interested - but Shai was eating a ton and the kittens liked to play in her food and water.

We stared having scriptures in Emmy's room every night so we could watch the little cuties.

We tried bringing them down for conference weekend but Shai quickly put an end to that by bringing them back up stairs.

The girls named each of the babies:

Kronk -first born and biggest, mews whenever picked up

Tuxie - the only black and white one, 1st to eat solids

Baby Shai Shai - the only non-black kitten and the smallest

Yzma - all black, second biggest, sweetest

Jean Luc(from Bluey) - the other runt

They got good at climbing up our legs - Baby Shai Shai could get all the way to my shoulder.

But all good things come to an end.  Our method of keeping kittens in and still letting Shai go in and out started to fail - kitties were escaping! And they had started peeing and with no way to get under Emmy's bed for clean up a change was in the wind.

We released the party and corralled them into the toy room where we could put up a better barrier, put out lots of liter boxes and have less hiding places for pee accidents.

Everyone still spent lots of time playing with the babies and hanging out together in kitten land.

The girls might have had a little fun with their doll's dog cone of shame.  Jean Luke didn't like it.

After a while we let them play in the game room too and they loved to all cuddle together on the recliner.

Look how big they are! This was one of the last photos of them together.  At 7 weeks we took Shai in for a spay and declaw -she was not happy about leaving her babies.  The vet told me to keep her away from the babies so they wouldn't hurt her.  When she got home she went crazy trying to get into the toy room and didn't calm down till she was back with her babies.  She was such a good mama.  

That week Tuxie and Kronk went to their new homes with Ysma following close behind and being renamed Charlie (more appropriate for a boy).  We were sad to see them go but at this point they were all over the house, no barrier could keep them in.  One had fallen from the banister and Ditten was hissing at all of them whenever she was in their presence. Suddenly, we were down to just 4 cats and so far we still have 4...still looking for homes...we will see.

Celebrating 14 Years of EMMY!

This girl celebrated with bear claws for breakfast, Jack in the Box delivered for lunch, and chicken cordon bleu casserole for dinner.  She loved all her new shorts and t-shirts, tennis shoes, macaron how to book, and binoculars of her very own.

Emmy had big plans for her birthday cake so we stayed up late Monday night making it so it would be ready for her birthday dinner - her favorite part was definitely the meringue and the blow torch.  We had quite a bit of drama with the graham cracker cake but we got it all worked out in the end and the s'mores cake looked and tasted delicious.

What would we do without Emmy's spunk and fire adding laughs, accents, drama, operatic singing, and pizzazz to life?

She was proud of her work of art!

Sunday, once Natali was home, we invited the Wilfords over and had a double celebration for Natali and Emmy's bdays - finishing off Emmy's cake and devouring Natali's.

We called it a due date party since they were both due on April 28th and that Sunday was the 28th.

Love both of these amazing girls!

Moscow here we come

Since dance production was canceled this spring we decided we'd better enjoy the weekends more so we headed up to Moscow after dance on Friday.  Lily read for over three hours trying to get on top of her 5th grade book list while Kate listened to TSwift's new album and Emmy and I listened to an audiobook.  We got there just in time to take Mack out for dinner and go for a walk in one of the campus arboretum.  Which is pronounced something like "Arbor eat um", or "are burit..yum" - I think they sound like eating burritos, a dog command or something but in spite of the weird name they are really cool.  They are forested areas right on campus.  The one we walked through Friday night was full of trees and plants from all over the world.  It was beautiful and I could see why Mack spent a lot of time walking there.  

After our walk we found our Vrbo rental, Fox Hole, a cute little family room kitchen with a loft with a queen, twin bunk beds, and a small bathroom.  It worked perfect for us and kept us laughing with how many foxes we found - Lily's count was 16 + 100 (for a set of sheets she refused to count).  By nine o'clock the girls and I were getting sleepy (ten our time).  So Mack said goodnight and headed over to his friends place and we went to sleep.

The next morning we went out and ate way too much for breakfast and headed out to tour campus.  While wandering we found a Science expo and Mack said he got extra credit if he did 10 stations.  The girls thought it looked fun so we got our station sheet and started learning all about volcanos, glaciers...

amazingly cute and colorful caterpillars,

rocks, fossils, mammoths, seed, the water table, prehistoric sharks, and a lot more.  Everyone enjoyed it, we all learned something, it was free, we got treats, Emmy got to show off her hard earned science knowledge and Mack got extra credit.

Then we continued our campus tour and visited the famous water tour before we explored the other arboretum on our way back to our car.

The second arboretum felt like a full on forest - what a cool place to escape to on campus.

We decided to let Mack do some homework and we went back to the Fox Hole for naps and downtime.  Then lunch at Panda before hitting the mini golf course.  Kate proved to be okay despite ignoring every tip Mack and I shared.  Emmy was all over the board but gave us a lot of laughs.  Lily, Kate, and I managed a hole in one.  Lily did pretty well but definitely didn't like the holes when she got over 5 strokes.  Mack and I managed to tie it up for the win - he with several more pars, me with a no holes over 5.  The weather was perfect and everyone loved it.

Emmy wanted to get to Pullman, Washington to see the grizzly bears at Washington State.  They were pretty sad looking bears but she was happy.

After that we dropped Mack off so he could do more homework and watch a bball game with his friends.  The girls got some yummy ice cream, went window shopping at target, then enjoyed a nice dinner before heading back to our place to watch a movie from our beds before heading off to sleep.

The next morning we got ready for church and got all our stuff packed up in the car.  We had learned Saturday night that Elder Gong was visiting Mack's stake conference Sunday.  So I dropped the girls off early at the stake center to barely get a our seats in the cultural hall, then went and picked up Mack.  We were all seated 30 minutes before the conference started.  Suddenly, I felt an elbow from Lily and looked up to see that Elder Gong was standing in the isle right next to Emily.  I watched as he tapped her on the shoulder and then shook her hand.  He proceeded to shake each of our hands.  It was a special experience to look into his eyes and feel his love.  He made a point of shaking many hands as he walked toward the stand and he ended the meeting 30 minutes early in order to allow time for people to line up and shake his hand.  His love for each of us was real.  Both he and his wife's words were powerful.  Sister Gong reminded us to that life is hard but we are not alone and everyday is precious so be grateful.  Elder Gong taught that the Lord looketh on the heart, everyone has a story, be quick to observe, and there are somethings we can't do alone. He talked to the primary kids even walking like a penguin to teach that penguins jump off cliffs all together to scare away the leopard seals - remember you have a whole group of penguins ready to jump with you - you are not alone!  It was a great meeting.

We grabbed some lunchables and such items for lunch, said bye to Mack 😢, and hit the road for an uneventful drive home.  Fun times.

 

Kate is 17!

Kate's birthday was on Tuesday and Emmy was going to be in McCall for the whole week at MOSS science camp so we decided to party on conference Sunday.  I made her mini vanilla scones for breakfast - they were a hit with the girls- eaten in Emmy's room with the kittens.

Then we enjoyed conference petting Ditten, taking notes, and drawing on each other.😉

When conference was over the Wilfords came over for slidders for dinner and a bunch of fun presents.  The clothes hand picked by Rachel were a hit as was the Australia shirt from Lily (to replace the one she left on the airplane), the cow squishamellow from Emily,  and a blender, egg cooker and sweatshirt from mom and dad (she is already planning for the future).

I made the same cake she requests every year - the Reeces Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Factory cake. A bit of a process but worth it.

Thankfully the Wilfords helped us eat half of it and then we froze another fourth of it.  The cousins couldn't get enough of the kittens but Jonny and Val were unmoved even when Luke sent them this photo!

Kate is growing up so fast.  It is hard to believe that she will be a senior next year.  She is a wonderful big sister- sleeping with Lily most nights and laughing and supporting Emily each day.  We can't get enough of her "would you rather" questions at dinner and her humor keeps us guessing.  Love you girl.