This past weekend, Hannah and I had the chance to visit my mom’s first cousin, Fiona, and her family. She is also my Aunt Anne’s younger sister. We left early on Friday morning to take a three-hour bus to Dublin so we could catch our flight to Aberdeen, Scotland. I have never been to Scotland, and although the majority of tourists visit the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, Hannah and I were happy to go somewhere outside the norm.
Fiona picked us up from the airport with her three kids, Amy, who is 10, Ellie, who is 7, and Joe, who is 4. Fiona is also expecting twins next month, a boy and a girl. Fiona is a twin herself with her sister, Kate. My nana’s sister, Kitty, had two sets of twins, Fiona and Kate, and Aiden and Gerard. Fiona’s kids have school off for two weeks for a fall break. Isn’t that awesome?This was the end of their first week, so they were able to come pick us up from the airport. We headed back to Fiona’s and she made us a delicious lunch. In the car, the kids were a little shy, but by lunchtime they had really warmed up to us. Amy is so sweet and a great big sister. She kind of reminds me of myself. Am I allowed to say that? Ellie is going to be famous. I just know it. I told her she needs to invite me to her first Hollywood movie premiere. She is so funny!!Throughout the weekend I kept looking for a pen and paper to write down the funny things she said and did so I could remember for later. Unfortunately, I never could find a pen and paper fast enough. Joe is such a sweetheart and God bless him having two older sisters. I think he has the strongest Scottish accent of the whole bunch, and this weekend he had a little bit of a cold, which made him even cuter. After lunch we headed to the beach for a walk. It was a little chilly by the water, but I came fully prepared with my scarf, gloves and earmuffs. Even though, it was cold, it was really fun! We saw these three guys surfing, and I swore I thought Joe was going to jump in the water and join them by the way he was staring, mesmerized by what they were doing. After the beach, we went home and just relaxed. Hannah and I were really tired from getting up early that morning. Fiona put on a warm fire, and we all got under the blankets and watched TV. It was so nice and really made me miss the times my dad puts on a fire, and we all just sit around enjoying each other’s company.
The next morning, Fiona took us to a few castles around Scotland. The first one we went to was called Drum Castle. There was a garden outside that looked like it was from the movie, Alice in Wonderland. There were four parts to the garden, each representing a different century of flowers and plants. They were from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It was so beautiful and absolutely no one was there. I think it was empty because the castle was actually locked, so we couldn’t go inside. It didn’t matter though. The outside of the castle and garden were beautiful. The next castle we went to on the other hand was very busy. It was called Crathes Castle. They had a visitor center and little restaurant for lunch. We first ate lunch and then took a tour of the castle. It was so cool! It made me wish I was a princess and could live in my very own castle. There wasn’t a tour guide, so everyone could go through the castle at their own pace. They had little hidden Lego knights throughout the castle for little children to find. At the beginning of our tour, we were handed a map of rooms the knights would be in. Under each room, there was a riddle that hinted where in the room the knight would be hiding. Under each knight was a letter. After you found all the knights, you had to unscramble the letters to form a phrase answering a question about the castle. I think I might have enjoyed this more than the actual castle. Ellie absolutely loved it! She sped through all of the rooms searching for the knight. At the end, she was given a certificate to show she completed the knight puzzle. She was so proud, although she had already completed it two times before. The last castle we went to was Dunnottar Castle. This castle was so cool! It was on a little peninsula and took us 15 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the actual castle. There were so many stairs! I was so impressed with Fiona because I was tired after walking up and down all those steps; however, she didn’t even look fazed. We didn’t go all the way up in the castle because it was getting late, but we did see the castle dungeons. It totally freaked me out. To think people actually were in these dungeons gave me the chills. I much preferred looking at the castle from the outside.
I forgot to mention that where Amy and Ellie go to school, each class has a castle they represent. It’s just like Harry Potter only instead of houses like Gryffindor or Slytherin, each class represents a castle like Drum and Crathes. Obviously being a huge Harry Potter fan, I thought this was so cool!
That night, Fiona made us a delicious dinner, and we all snuggled up under a few blankets and watched the very popular TV show, X-Factor. Of course a fire was on which made the whole evening even better.
The next morning, we went to mass. My mom always tells me to make a wish in a new church.So every time I enter a new church, I make a wish. By the time I come home, I’m guessing I will have made 20 wishes. The only problem is that I forget what I had previously wished for, so I probably am wishing for the same thing over and over again. Maybe this increases the chances of this particular wish coming true instead of wishing for 20 different things. After mass, Fiona’s husband, Kevin, took us to Donald Trump’s new golf course in Aberdeen. (Kevin had just come home that morning after a golfing trip in Spain.) It was right on the water and absolutely breathtaking. Kevin kept telling me that I must show the pictures I took to my Uncle Paul because he knows how much my Uncle Paul enjoys golfing. When this golf course is finished it is supposed to be better than Saint Andrews.
By the time we left, we had to go straight to the airport. Since the airport is so small, we arrived only 30 minutes before our plane took off. Then we said our goodbyes to Fiona, Kevin, Amy, Ellie, and Joe. I wish I could have packed them up and taken them with me! I kept telling Fiona she needs to come visit Chicago soon so we can spoil her as much as she spoiled us. We had the best time in Scotland, and I already miss them!
Wooo Bears win! Also, I hope you don't mind me commenting on every blog post... but these pictures are beautiful too, Scotland looks awesome!!
ReplyDeleteOh course not :) I love when I see a new comment, especially because I know it's either from you or your mom!! Go Bears!!
ReplyDeleteOk lets see if I can post again...for some reason I haven't been able to. Sounds like you are having the time of your life. I can't believe you are probably half way through your semester. You are filling up your weekends with wonderful things to do and people to see. Good for you Molly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Aunt Mary Ann! It is going by so fast, but I'm having so much fun! Happy Halloween!
ReplyDelete