Happy New Year 2015! (just a little late)

I haven't really written a Christmas/New Year's letter for a while. I think I was boycotting because they all seem the same: Last year was great! Everyone did amazing things! And I'm sure they did.  But with Facebook, it seems like if I know you fairly well, and you're at least a semi-regular poster on Facebook, I already know about - and have commented on - the amazing things you have done, almost in real time. Funny how social media lets us keep in touch to a degree that really renders the annual letter unnecessary.

So, this blog post, if you are a regular reader of mine on Facebook, is probably unnecessary. But since this blog is really my way of archiving my own thoughts (and if you like to read it, so much the better) I'm going to write it anyway.

2014 was a big mix.  We had a lot of "normal" time - but we also got to take 5 amazing holidays/vacations throughout the year, plus travel around locally within Scotland.  And this is what I hoped for when we moved to Scotland - that we would get these kind of opportunities.

The "normal" time is just like it is everywhere...work, school, playgroups, more work and school and playgroups.  Getting together with friends, playing video games, reading books, watching kids' TV (slight variations from the US in that the kids watch a lot of Cbeebies shows, the BBC kids network.  My favorites are Katie Morag and Grandpa in my Pocket (which features an incredible shrinking Grandpa as the hero)). Check Facebook to keep in touch, and repeat: work, school, playgroups... 
But the holidays are all different, although if you've been reading along you know it's not all idyllic - the time out car broke down in Gairloch and we had to get towed all the way home, the part about the really choppy boat ride out to Staffa, etc....but it is pretty awesome to get to go to so many new and beautiful places.  The quick summary (and links to my other blogs about these trips) are below.

The weather starts to get better (really!) and my parents and sister come for their first visit to Scotland in April.  We went to Stirling and saw Stirling Castle, St. Andrews for history and proximity to (although no actual playing of) famous golf, and then traveled to London with my parents and the kids.

Dad and C in front of Big Ben, London

Family on the West Sands beach (Chariots of Fire...dum duh duh duh duh dum), St. Andrews

In June, we ticked one of the must-see boxes on my list by going to the Royal Highland Show (with free tickets and parking, no less, thank to friends the Bells!), the biggest livestock/agriculture show in Scotland down near Edinburgh. This show really shows of how rural most of Scotland is...and where else could you get your picture taken with a haggis? Read more about it in my previous blog about the Royal Highland show. 

Girls watching Clydesdale judging

The Parade of Cows

Yes, it's Kay and Claire with a haggis!

In July we did a lot of traveling, with Audrey finally out of school for the summer.  On the Fourth of July weekend we went to see jousting at Linlithgow Palace (see my love letter to Historic Scotland here).  Later that month we did our longest Scotland drive yet, going up the A9 to Inverness, on to Loch Ness and Urquart Castle on Loch Ness, and then over to Gairloch for a few days holiday. Sadly, as those of you who are regular readers know, our car broke down in Gairloch and we had to be towed back to Inverness, then switch tow trucks and then get towed all the way back to Dundee. With a recently-potty-trained three year old. But we were thankful we had the breakdown cover - imagine AAA towing you 4+ hours for free in the States? Thanks RAC. Finally, we rounded out July by going just down the road to St. Andrews to see some Highland Games.  For Scotland purists, yes, we are aware that St. Andrews is not in the Highlands.  BUT due to their well-known University and golf prowess,  they throw a Highland Games mainly for the enjoyment of tourists, which includes events not seen at typical Higland Games, like the International Visitors races for Men, Women, and children. But it also includes typical "Heavy" events such as tossing the caber, the heavy hammer throws, and tug of war.

Linlithgow Peel set up for jousting	Kid jousting
Urquart Castle with Loch Ness behind	Beach at Gairloch
St. Andrews Pipe Band	Tossing the Caber at St. Andrews Games

In August we traveled to Arbroath, a nearby fishing village.  Attractions included a 1960's seaside (beach! wading pool! snack shack! miniature railway!), the Signal Tower museum about the building of a lighthouse 11 miles offshore in the 1800's, and the harbor, with the best fish & chips we've had in Scotland (fish & chips not pictured, neither are the agressive seagulls who also know where the best fish & chips can be found).

Girls wading in the wading pool by the beach

Arbroath harbor

Audrey in the Signal Tower museum with a fish seller

We also took a few days in August to go out to the West of Scotland and visit Oban, and the Islands of Mull, Iona and Staffa. We had one day of sun between two days of solid rain, but you can see that we did all our touring and took all our pictures on that one day!

Mull scenery

View of Iona Abbey from the hill

Cave on Island of Staffa

In an effort to get this post published before it is actually 2016, I'm not even going to talk about our October trip down to Bath to meet up with my world-traveler parents (which also included visits to Stonehenge and Wells, thanks to our intrepid mini-van driver Paul, who gamely drove around the English midlands with only Kay and Google as his guides.

And of course the end-of the year Christmas-New Years trip to Naples, Florence, and Rome, which I had been planning for oh, the preceding 8 months of 2014, to visit the fabulous Rudmanns and see some beautiful art.  Which didn't go exactly as planned (Paul vowed that he would never travel at Christmas again, and I believed him) but we still had some fantastic moments.

So here's my take-home message: Scotland is awesome. And scenic. Even when the weather is not so good, which is often.  And even when it is cold, which is often. But, as Paul says, catch it on a sunny day and you've never seen a more beautiful place. I encourage you all to come visit!