the Hipps family...: April 2014

Summit fever.

After our time in beautiful Edinburgh, we made our way north a bit to Crieff. We stayed on a wonderful resort in a house - perfect for avoiding getting tired of eating out all the time while still having access to the all important pool. We had a great time exploring the start of the Highlands, driving, walking and even nearly summiting our first mountain, Ben Chonzie...where Owen and Jer climbed so high they found snow. Walter and I nearly made it, but Owen was kind enough to bring his brother a snow ball. They were so excited to see snow! (The first of this year...not to rub it in MN family and friends!)

National Wallace Monument

stopping for a picnic on our climb of Ben Chonzie

SNOW!

at the Famous Grouse Scotch tour

barrels of Scotch

the Falls of Dochart

little lambs overlooking Loch Tay

the view from our house

Lad's Weekend

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Scotland. We left on Good Friday, which is a holiday here, so most of the UK was off work. We had been looking forward to a nice relaxing train ride up and had all sorts of games, activities and books packed. Our train from Brighton was uneventful and we stopped at Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross before heading to our own platform. When we got to the train, we found the train heaving with people...and a group of young men in our reserved seats. They kindly abandoned them for us but had to stand in the aisle as the train was quite overbooked. They turned out to be with a group of 10 dudes in total, all ready for a rowdy weekend away...a 'lad's weekend'. At first I found them to be quite amusing, laughing and being nice and loud. But after a stop in York when they were able to secure a few seats, they decided to blast their techno music and crack open a few more beers...let's just say I wasn't sad to see them get off in Newcastle. Oh dear, it was certainly a memorable way to kick off our holiday and we thought and laughed about the lad's weekend quite a bit during our time away.

We started our trip in Edinburgh where we spent our days exploring the city and swimming in the pool. It is an absolutely gorgeous city full of really welcoming people...and we somehow lucked out and had beautiful, sunny weather! We decided their accent is a bit Yooper so I felt completely at home!

The lines to get into the castle were enormous on the day we went, so we opted to simply view it from all angles of the city. Instead, we headed to Edinburgh's Camera Obscura and World of Illusions which ended up being a total hit...especially since the Easter Bunny had just brought the boys each a book on illusions. Good, good times indeed.

dinner is served

honey, I've shrunk the children...

And the best photos yet...if the Hipps crew were primates...

FBF - April 2009

My little love showing us around his children's house.

sand paper letters

counting sticks

learning odd & even

The Woods!!!

Oh, parting is such sweet sarrow indeed. I thought I had this all figured out...say good-bye to Lindsay & Tracy on the same day I pick up my parents. Then, say good-bye to my parents and leave for a family vacation the next day. Keep busy and have really wonderful things to look forward to...

However, no matter what, it is still hard to say good-bye. We dropped off my parents today and after a fairly together farewell, the boys and I stopped at the restroom before hitting up the M25 again. We all pretty much lost it and cried and laughed together in the bathroom of Heathrow's Terminal 4. We decided to talk about favorite events over the past few weeks with Grandma and Grandpa and the boys both belted out 'the woods' as their #1 thing. They go into a nearby field of nothing but vines, bramble bushes, grasses and a few odd trees and explore and build forts together. The boys love it.

Before saying good-bye, we enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in Brighton. The boys were happy to get spoiled in the sweet shop, on the pier and along the promenade.

In addition to making dream catchers, making up stories and putting a miniature piano man together, we also spent an evening decorating Easter eggs...glitter and all. Oi!

Thanks for coming Mom & Dad! We miss you already!

It's closed, too.

We continue to have fun, fun, fun with my mom and dad here. Last week we went up to London and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on stage. We then went to Hyde Park for some time in children's park. Walter ended up chipping a tooth when he jumped from the ship and hit his chin to his knee...poor guy.

Where's Walter?

On Friday, we hopped the ferry and enjoyed a long weekend in France. We saw lots of beautiful country side, quaint villages and homes and gorgeous flowers everywhere. The one problem we encountered was our stomachs never seemed to mesh with the French restaurant's serving times. It seemed the only thing opened when we were hungry was the patisserie...so we may have overdosed on bread and pastries. (I'm not complaining...) (warning: lots of photos ahead!)