Edinburgh Scotland

The train ride was beautiful as we went along the North Sea. The train ride took just about 2.5 hours from York. Upon arrival of course I had the address, but no directions to get to the hotel. My dad ended up meeting us as we got closer. We were able to rent an apartment through the hotel, which had 3 bedrooms. The Walton Hotel and the Bellevue Apartment.

It was huge, on garden level, and showing its age by comparison to the home we are living in in York. The 2 bathrooms had been renovated and were very modern . The kitchen was lovely as it had been remodeled as well with a 6 burner gas stove, which would be so nice to have while canning and granite counter tops.

I find it strange adjusting to how few hours of darkness there are. It throws me off...it gets dark around 10:15 and is starting to get light by at least 4am. I just noticed it more while in Scotland, because it was just slight later than York UK. I think I have more time in the evening to relax or read than I really do.

There was a learning curve when it came to staying at the apartment. We had to call the office for several different issues...which switch was necessary to turn on the gas stove, how to turn on the heat (it was quite cold our first night in the apartment if you had to get out of bed), one of the showers was clogged and needed Draino, and one of the breakers flipped at 10pm preventing electricity in 1/2 the apartment during our second night. All made the stay a little more humorous. Lily was so tired the first night she fell asleep at 5pm for the night, but awoke at 3AM. Boy is that early. The following 2 nights she was awake from 4 to 5AM. We were hoping this was not going to continue once we returned home.

Our first full day was spent taking a bus around the city in the morning for about 1 hour. It was on an open air double decker bus, which was a little chilly at times. It was nice to get a general overview of the city.





Michael and I took Harrison up to Edinburgh Castle. It was very impressive and quite a hike up hill to get there. It would have been quite challenging with the other 2 kids and the stroller. We walked in at 12:55 and were able to see and hear the cannon, which goes off everyday at 1pm.









Later that afternoon I took Oliver and Lily to the Elephant room, which is a coffee house where JK Rowlings wrote the first couple Harry Potter books. My friend here thought the kids would get a kick out of that, well I corrected her to say I would enjoy that much more. I met my folks there for tea, hot chocolate, and a snack.

Michael still gets stressed with travel, but overall he was tolerable to have around. Michael and Grandpa took the boys to the Zoo the following morning. Grandpa said it was one of the best zoos he has seen. Harrison liked the Pigmy Hippos and Oliver liked the Monkeys.




Grandma and i took Lily to the Art Museum of Scotland, which was lovely. It was free, so we were able to leave when Lily decided it was time to go. I especially liked the Monet paintings. We did some window shopping and ate lunch out.

Grandpa was successful with finding a park nearby, which allowed for a picnic for the kids and time on the playground during the early evening. There was even an Adventure Playground there...Scotland Yards...but it was closed that time of day. I found it interesting that this Adventure Playground was set up for children with special needs.







Sunday we headed home and arrived in time for naps. Grandma and Grandpa decided to spend a few extra days visiting Loch Ness and traveling to Inverness. They return on Wednesday.

As we are about to leave for Scotland...

As the family was preparing to leave for Scotland, Harrison and LIly were outside with Grandpa and Michael and I were upstairs finishing getting dressed etc and Oliver starts walking down the steps to go outside when we hear a bang and crying. Oliver comes upstairs with a bloody chin. He had tripped on the last couple of steps and rammed right smack into the corner of the gate at the bottom of the steps. It was not deep, but it had split open 3 ways, so we decided to see if he needed stitches. He did really well. As our train was scheduled to leave in about 1 hour we sent Harrison with Grandma and Grandpa. LIly stayed home with Michael and I took a taxi with Oliver to the Hospital ER. Amazingly we only had to wait about 30 minutes and were done 15 minutes later. The nurse cleaned it and placed steri strips on it. He was very very brave! Not exactly how we wanted to start our trip, but we did catch a train about 2 hours after Grandma and Grandpa and we made it to Scotland.

As you can see from the photo...Oliver is healing, but he'll most likely have a nice little scar.

Hadrian's Wall

We took a bus to Hadrian's Wall...actually it was the Roman Fort and Hadrian's Wall. We had to push the stroller up and down some hills until we reached the base of the Roman Fort (about 1 to 1.5 miles) Not bad. There were so many sheep on either side of us. The boys were looking at a couple of baby lambs and the mommy or daddy sheep came running over toward them making it quite clear they were a little too close. We made sure we were moving the boys right along and keeping them a safe distance away from the lambs.


Once at the base we could park the stroller and walk up. There were groups of students were on a field trip, who were able to dress up as Romans complete with helmet, swords, and shields to act out protecting the fort. That would have been an amazing field trip as a kid. Too bad we don't live closer. haha


The boys loved climbing on the all the rocks.

After taking photos and walking up on the wall






we decided to head down to the base of the Fort where our stroller was parked. Grandma went inside to look at postcards with whom I though were the 2 boys, while grandpa, Lily, and I were outside. Harrison had not gone with Grandma. I panicked a little bit and ran around looking for him. Of course Harrison said I needed some more exercise, so I was just walking down the path a little ways to see the sheep and pick up some rocks. Totally oblivious to the rest of us.

Then the boys played on a slide play area and ate lunch. Then began the LONG trek home starting with a bus ride at 1pm and then taking not 1, but 3 different trains to get home. We arrived home at 8pm. Oh were we tired and ready for bed that night.

Another One Bites the Dust

We are dropping like flies. If you have not heard from us in a couple of days it is not because we don't want to chat the reason being...

1. we are having difficulty with our internet connection
2. we are sharing a flu bug at the house...after traveling for 2 days Thursday morning at 2am Oliver started throwing up, 24 hours later I followed, 6 hours later LIly followed, 1 hour later Harrison followed, by 7pm Grandpa followed, by morning grandma too. Daddy has been working and has avoided it, but only time will tell.

Lots of laundry as you could imagine.

It only appears to last 24 hours, with decreased appetite the second day. I'm feeling much better today. Thank goodness grandma and grandpa were here to assist with the children, because I was exhausted and would not have been able to help. I think Daddy's queasy stomach would have had trouble with all the repeated episodes of throw up as well. I think he seriously considered getting a hotel room last night, but he ended up sleeping on the couch just in case.

The bathrooms have been disinfected, so say a few prayers for better health.

More From Durham

The challenging part of traveling with young children is our lack of ability to provide a way for them to nap. With all the walking we are doing here all 3 of the kids take an afternoon nap. Lily for 1.5 hours, Oliver for 3 to 5 hours, and even Harrison 1.5 to 2 hours. I love nap time! :-) Lily can sleep a little in the stroller "buggy", but if her brother notice her sleeping most likely they try to touch her or wake her up.

We decided to try to take a boat ride on the river for about 1 hour this afternoon in Durham. We thought the boys would especially like it. I should have realized that this might not be the boat for us as standing in line were about 30 people around the age of 80 or older. We had to sit on the top of the boat, which was fine. There was a man using an electric miter saw prior to us getting on the boat and he just unplugged it and placed it at the back of the boat...highly accessibly. There was also a larger pair of hedge clippers on a table at the back of the boat. All signs of a non child friendly boat ride.

We get on the boat and Lily starts screaming...not fussing...screaming. I cannot calm her down, grandma cannot calm her down, and not even grandpa can calm her down. The boat leaves after about 20 minutes of screaming and she continues for another 30 minutes. Oh what a long boat ride! Oliver and Harrison want to move around, but it is not situated for this type of movement. Lily finally calms down for the last 20 minutes of the ride. That was one overtired little girl, not to mention she just broke through her 8th tooth. She NEVER screams like that.

I'm not saying I would not do another boat ride, but I might ask a few more questions before taking the kids on another one. I'll also make sure Lily has a good nap beforehand. The Boys did have fun! At least someone did.

Oliver also fell asleep at Lunch and at dinner today. By 8:15, we are reading books in bed and he is out. Yeah! We are staying at a lovely Bed and Breakfast...2 the Crofts. It is in Corbridge, which is near Hadrian's Wall. That is tomorrow's trek. Mommy is sleeping with Harrison and Oliver. Lily gets to sleep in the same room with Grandma and Grandpa. We have not eaten breakfast yet, but the home is beautiful.

Durham and Harry Potter

For my dear Harry Potter Fan Friends...

We went to Durham Cathedral today, which is where some scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed. It was obvious that the Cathedral inside was used, but no photos allowed inside. we were about to leave and we needed a bathroom break. I walked through several hallways to find the outside grassy area, so here is the video I was able to take. This was the best part of the day. Very fun.

First time in North Sea

Oliver on the Zip line

Oliver likes the Zip Line too.

Scarborough

Scarborough

We made our first trek out of York on Friday. My folks and I took the kids on a train ride to Scarborough, which is the oldest seaside community in the UK. The kids LOVED looking out the windows during the short 50 minute train ride. The scenery was beautiful!

Upon arrival we headed straight for the beach, even though it was only about 55 degrees outside. The kids had never seen the ocean, although technically it was the North Sea. It was lovely. The tide was out, so there was a lot of sand. Oliver immediately started playing in it. The wind was cool, but it did not seem to bother them. Harrison and Oliver took off their shoes with Grandma and walked into the water, just a bit. We had to watch Oliver the most, because he was ready to jump into the water. They had a great time. Hopefully next time it will be a little bit warmer.

Next was lunch and since we were at the beach...it was time for Fish and Chips!. The kids loved it. It was not dripping with grease and they were yummy! Lily even enjoyed the fish.

Next we caught an open aired double decker bus. Harrison, Oliver, Grandpa, and I sat up on top while Grandma and Lily stayed down below. It was chilly and Oliver was a little nervous on top, but once he was sitting on my lap he was happy as a clam. We got off and had a mile walk to the SeaLife Center. Harrison thought they looked like pyramids and Oliver thought they looked like Volcanos. It was really nice, but probably only a one time trip. Not Seaworld, but perfect for the kids. Lily was interested in watching the fish and making the fish sounds with her lips. The most interesting sights were jellyfish, various kinds of stingrays, sea dragons, sharks, crabs, and the tread fish. The boys were able to touch a crab in his shell, hermit crab in his shell, a star fish, sea urchin, and a sea anemone. I was impressed they actually touched them, especially Harrison.

We caught a bus back toward town and had a little time to kill, so we had an ice cream cone and walked around the area. It was really a nice day. We took dinner and ate it on the train ride home. That made the ride go by very quickly. No naps, except for Lily that day, so we were beat. The kids were excited to see daddy before bed that night.