Edinburgh, Day 2

Joan fed us all up with a big breakfast and then marched us out of the hotel for the day.  The sun was splitting the heavens and it turned out to be a very warm day, no idea of the temp in F but it was 25C and toasty.  First stop for a photo was at St. Giles cathedral.  We then decided we should take a bus tour around the city and let the children see all the hot spots. 

 Headed back in the direction of our hotel (this was the view from the lobby) and started our tour. 

This turned out to be one of the very few photos I snapped of Holyrood House (the Queen's official residence in Edinburgh).  We couldn't get any closer that day as a member of the Royal Family was in residence.  

Salisbury Crags

 Above and below are the Scottish Parliament buildings. 

 One of our "must sees" in Edinburgh was Greyfriar's Bobby. 

I'm not sure who this is, but the photo was by Chloe.  Castle in the background. 

After we did 2 laps on the bus tour (we don't like to miss anything!) we got off at Princes Street.  First stop on walking tour: Princes Street Gardens. 

 Cole was fascinated on the bus tour as, in addition to the audio channel that gave a commentary on the areas of interest, there was also a channel called "Horrible Histories".  It told tales of people being tortured and hanged, murdered or beheaded.  We had to walk down to the area that was notorious for having its graves robbed. 

Then over to see Bobby, up close. 

And on to the "birthplace of Harry Potter" as it proclaims itself.  This is the cafe where Jo Rowling started to write Harry Potter. 

We walked back to the Royal Mile (Cole was on a mission to buy Edinburgh Rock) and the girls tried on hats. 

Past John Knox's house. 

And up George Street. 

Finally, we made it back to the Royal Mile, just in time to catch the last of the sun at St. Giles, before we found somewhere for dinner. 

Edinburgh, day 1

This turned out to be a busy day. We dropped Annette at the airport, and then went to Belfast to get the HSS ferry from Belfast to Stranraer in Scotland.  This was the first time the children had been on the car ferry. 

Joan brought a picnic. 

 Gorgeous weather in Stranraer with good views of the Ailsa Craig. 

 Finally we stumbled across the Holy Grail.  We'd planned this part of the trip to be able to see the Electric Brae, outside Ayr.  We spent quite a while freewheeling "uphill". 

 This is the view from the Electric Brae out towards Ailsa Craig. 

We drove up to Glasgow, before heading over to Edinburgh. 

Our hotel was right around the corner from the Royal Mile so we were bang in the centre of the city. 

 Practically all of my parenting dreams came true when all 3 were excited to stumble across an entrance to the Ministry of Magic!  How'd I get so lucky to have 3 kids who all love Harry Potter?! 

I am sure there were a few Muggles wondering why children were posing at a phone box! 

 These are the horses from the riding school where the girls go to ride on the weekend. 
 On the last day of Annette's holiday, we took a quick run over to Downpatrick to shop see where St. Patrick is buried. 

North Coast

 It took a few days to recover from Dublin.  Well, more like 24 hours as we spent Saturday over at Hillsborough, walking around the lake.   We managed to escape with only 1 child as the girls had gone for a riding lesson.  Saturday night, we went for an Indian for dinner and then hit the town.  As in, Ballynahinch.  Haha.  We partied it up in Cloisters. 

 Lots of people called for the craic over the weekend. 

 We posed in my mum's new kitchen. 

 Look, Michele!  A MN blanket!

After the weekend, we were in serious need of some fresh air, so along with Joy, Ken and Granny G, we set off to drive up the north coast.

 The Vistitors' Centre at the Causeway is undergoing a revamp so we set off on a path that was new to us. 

 Same good views though. 
I don't know what this child is doing without her coat, it was a pretty windy day. 

Funky Stones

  

 We have these photos from years past, but somehow every time you see it, it's as impressive as it was the time before. 

Group shot at the Giant's Boot.

We had a picnic lunch (thanks, Ken!) right at the water and then set off for the drive home. 

Dublin

 I abandoned  left my children with my mum and Annette and I ran away to took a little trip to Dublin. 

 I took exactly 3 photos of cultural things and then put my camera way.  The photo below is actually of the building in the background of the photo.  Can you see it?  It's really funky. 

Lack of photos though doesn't mean that we did  not have a good time.  We did.  We had a great time.  I have not been out so late in quite some time.  We'd purchased very expensive Euros and we were determined to spend them all.  We were successful. 

We had planned to do a bus tour the next day and I was full of good intentions of taking more photographs, but somehow that didn't happen.  :) 

We made it back to NI, despite a "security alert" (formerly known as a bomb scare) on the train line. 

Back in the Saddle

I was starting to wonder if I'd be able to remember how to get into my blog, but by some stroke of luck, when I typed blogger into the url bar the dashboard came up straight away!  So, I have no idea what my blogger username or password are, but I'll make the most of it while it lasts. 

We had a fun trip over this year; my friend Annette flew over with us and it was fun to have someone to travel with.  We let the kids have all the cokes they wanted on the plane in return for peace and quiet while we sipped our (complimentary) drinks.  We navigated our way through LHR with a bottle of Captain Morgan that we bought in duty free on the plane, but despite our panic that the Captain wouldn't make it through Flight Connections at Heathrow, he did. 

We started out with a day for R&R, which for Annette equals Shopping.   We had time to browse and wander round as my mum kept the kids with her. 

Tuesday, there was no rain in sight so we set off for Tullymore with Joy and Ken for a bbq. 

 Everyone was pretty happy to be back in one of our favourite places. 

Cole had to go and take a picture in front of the monument.

After Tullymore, we took a quick drive over to Newcastle to buy ice-cream and to check out Uncle Ken's boat in the harbour.