Skiing in Aviemore, Scotland

Since this was Trent and Landon's school break week we decided to head to Aviemore, Scotland to the Cairngorm National Park and attempt to do some skiing in the Cairngorm Mountains this weekend! There was still plenty of snow for beginners and the area was just beautiful to see. This was their first trip to ski and Daddy and Mommy were VERY proud. We had not been skiing since about 6 years ago in Lake Tahoe so we were really looking forward to getting back on our skis.

After a beautiful 2 hour (68 mile) scenic drive through the highlands we arrived at the Hilton Coylumbridge Hotel near Aviemore. This was a brilliant hotel for both moms and dads and the kids! It had a kid fun center with Put Put Golf and plenty of other games and soft play. It also had two restaurants at the hotel and a Bar area where we could hang out and let the kids play. The indoor swimming pool even had a fun kids slide! That evening we played some golf, went to the Woodshed bar for some nachos and adult beverages (blue slushes for the kids), went swimming and then had a late dinner. Saturday morning we had breakfast at 8 am and headed for the ski slopes. Trent and Landon had private ski lessons from 10 am - 12 pm. It was a very cold and windy morning on the mountain, with lots of clouds. We rode the Funicular Railway up to the top of the mountain (the UK's highest mountain railway.) We skiied from the Ptarmigan Station. The boys did great with their instructor although Landon did get cold after about an hour and said he was done. It seemed like more work to me, I stayed around and helped Landon and Trent get their skiis set up each time they skiied back down the bunny slope. Jon went and did some skiing on his own. I was a little worried about taking Trent and Landon skiing the second day, but Jon reassured me that the second day will be better for them because they will be using what they learned. We had lunch in the Cafe up the mountain and warmed up! That afternoon we headed back to the hotel for another round of golf, a visit to the bar and more swimming.

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day and headed to breakfast. With a much warmer forecast (11 C), no wind and sunny skys, I knew this would be a great day on the slopes. Great news...Trent and Landon were excited to go back!!! They had another private lesson from 10 am - 12 pm. This time they were both going to be going up the zip line (t-bars) and skiing down. It really worked out well. We all made the first run together. The instructor took both boys and Jon and I followed them down. After that we took turns, the instructor would take one of them and Jon or I would ski down with the other. This second day was even better! I actually was doing to do a lot of skiing myself and didn't have to help the kids so I was excited. Jon and I were having fun and enjoying the views from high on the mountain. The boys were laughing and giggling going up the slope and down and it turned out to be a gorgeous day!

At a nearby Wildlife Park

Day One - Ready with Skis

On the Funicular

First Day of Lessons

Landon

Some Views from a Nearby Lake

Road to Cairngorm Mountain

Our Hotel

Ready to Ski - 2nd Day. It was so bright T&L couldn't even look up for a picture.

Trent

Boys headed downhill

Getting Ready to Ride the Zip line (T-Bars) up the hill

From the Top of the Hill

Mommy Skiing

Trent Skiing Downhill

Jon and Trent going up the lift

Landon Skiing

Trent and Landon

Landon Skiing

Visit to Storybook Glen

I've been wanting to visit this place since we have been here and since it is Easter break week I decided to take the boys to various parks here in Aberdeen that we have not seen. On Monday we visited Storybook Glen here in Royal Deeside Aberdeen. Such a cute place, it had over 100 larger than life fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters scattered throughout the 20 acres of pretty wooded glen. We had fun reciting the nursery rhymes we could while we were there and the boys just loved running through the glen. 

Jack and the Beanstalk

Hey Diddle Diddle...The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

The Wishing Well

Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill

Shrek

Gingerbread House

Pumpkin Shelter

Tractor from Old Mc Donalds' Farm

Old Mc Donald Had a Farm

Fairy's Castle

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe...

Three Little Pigs

Cinderella

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall..

Rainbow Trout in Banchory

Today was such a beautiful day, we decided to head to Banchory, Scotland (about 15 minutes away from us) to Raemoir Trout Fishery for some fishing. There was a kids loch for fishing and both boys were ready to catch their first rainbow trout here! We were fishing for a while before Landon caught his first one! We did not see a lot of activity today in the water and were ready to head back when Trent caught his first rainbow trout as well. It was fun watching all the men fly fishing next to us. Next we headed to downtown Banchory, ate at a restaurant there and did some walking to see all the shops. Of course we also stopped for some ice cream, you can find ice cream shops here everywhere...and Landon our little ice cream lover has it all figured out! We had a great day out in Banchory.

Happy Mum's Day in Scotland!

The flowers are blooming around Aberdeen. We took a few pictures this weekend.


This Sunday was Mum's Day here in Scotland. Lucky me, I get two Mother's Days this year! Trent decided he would get up before all of us and cook me toast with butter in the kitchen all by himself for breakfast. He wouldn't let anyone else in the kitchen, it was really sweet of him! We went to church in the morning and then headed to a Mum's Day Carvery at Kippie Lodge. That afternoon, we took our first forest hike or walk to Kirkhill Forest and Tyrebagger Wood.  We saw lots of tall trees and different things in nature, we even found several of the strange sculptures hidden in these woods. There are very many hiking spots in the forests here around Aberdeen so we hope to visit a lot of them in the future, a lot of them have great views as they are high in the highlands. The weather is getting a lot nicer with occasional highs around 14 degrees Celsius! I think thats about 57 degrees Fahrenheit. It stays pretty windy here though, so it really feels a little cooler. I would love a nice hot sunny day from Texas really soon!

On Friday Trent and Landon had a Mother's Day program at school. They sung a special song. This is Trent's Mother's Day painting from school. He wrote some great things about his Mommy, I felt really special!


Here is Landon's painting. He also did a great job!


Below are a few pictures from our hike.

Landon loves playing with his airplanes and helicopters!