The Stirling Castle more Views

Stirling, Scotland Continued...

On a Bridge Driving back to Aberdeen

Saturday - Stirling, Scotland

Saturday we spent the day visiting the Stirling Castle, seeing the National Wallace Monument and meeting some friends at the Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park, all in Stirling, Scotland. The Stirling Castle was amazing, and especially exciting for us as it was the first of many castles for us to visit here in Scotland. The Palace part of the castle was built in 1540. The National Wallace Monument was built in the 1860's and you may recognize from the movie "Braveheart". I really want to watch the movie again now! We met the Hollis' and the Woods at the Safari and Adventure Park where the kids really enjoyed themselves. Trent and Landon loved playing in the children's castle with slides, the sand, the sea lion show, the bird adventure show, seeing the chimps, lions, camels, elephants, riding a paddle boat and other activities. It was so much fun and we enjoyed watching the boys play with their new friends as well. The moms even rode the zip-line and they enjoyed watching us!  What a fun day we had! And...I finally have a car to drive this week, I will post a picture later this week. I've been driving more today with Jon but tomorrow I will be on my own...wish me luck!

Traveling by Train

On Friday, Jon and I found a used car near Stirling, Scotland that looked like a great vehicle for me and decided we would take the train from Aberdeen to Croy to purchase the car and drive it back. The train ride was around 2 hours long, with so much countryside to see! Of course it was beautiful, we loved the opportunity to sit back, relax, look around and not worry about driving. It ran along the coastline most of the time as well. Trent and Landon really enjoyed traveling by train and seeing all the trains at the station. This trip worked out really well as we already were planning on meeting some friends in Stirling the next day so we decided we would just stay the night at a local hotel. Here are a few pictures.

Day 6 and 7 - Aberdeen, Scotland

After  one week of being here in Scotland, we have almost fully adjusted to the time change (well the best we can since we are all staying in one hotel room). Jon is working everyday but usually leaves the office early so that we can handle some business we need to take care of to get adjusted and settled. Trent and Landon are usually asleep by 9 pm and both are sleeping until 9 am. I would usually complain about being in a hotel this long but I think the boys being a little older has made a difference. When they were babies staying in one hotel room was not easy, one would usually wake up crying and wake everyone up in the middle of the night. We are all sleeping very good right now here.  I like the fact that there is breakfast ready here every morning. Eating out is getting old but it is giving us a chance to try out new restaurants here and pick the ones we like best. I also like the fact that there is an indoor swimming pool at this hotel which Trent and Landon love and they are very tired after swimming a couple hours each day.

On Day 6, Tuesday, we felt like we were getting a bit more accomplished. I took the boys swimming at the pool in the morning for a couple of hours, had lunch, and then Jon and I finally were able to set up a checking account here! With no history in the UK it has been a little more difficult with the process. Hopefully that will make buying things somewhat easier while we are living here. Scotland currency is the British Pound and I have been constantly converting my US Dollars into Pounds or having to use a US Credit Card which is not processed the same here. Right now, 1 British Pound = 1.58 US Dollars making the British Pound stronger than the US Dollar. Technically that would make things more expensive here. I have found that a lot of things are priced lower in pounds and when you figure the exchange rate, they are priced about the same as the US Dollar after converting. For dinner that night we tried the TGIF Restaurant (like the one in Texas) along the Queens Leisure Park along Aberdeen Beach and it was pretty good. We like eating in this area because we love being able to look out on the beach area.

Day 7, Wednesday, we invited Christi, Brantly and Brady over to swim at the hotel along with Vanette, Audrey and Avery. The boys had so much fun swimming and were wiped out afterwards. This afternoon we had to be at our house in Aberdeen at 3 pm to wait for our Air shipment to arrive. Well they did not show up until 5:45 pm! It looked like everything we shipped by air was there and nothing was damaged, I was thankful for that. I think our sea shipment is expected to arrive on October 27, and hopefully that will not be delayed. I'm ready to start moving in and decorating the house! After waiting at the house so long we decided to just go back to the hotel, order pizza, and call it a night. Not sure if I mentioned it before but everything here in the restaurants is served with "Chips" (french fries). Well while I was ordering my pizza on the phone I was asked if I wanted any "chips" to go with that. We had to laugh, only in the UK would I order "chips" with my pizza. Sigh. We already miss our breadsticks and marinara, oh and the boys would like some ranch too please :)

Swimming with Brantly, Brady, Avery and Audrey at the hotel

Landon and I enjoyed a Rolo McFlurry today at McDonalds...this maybe the closest thing I get to a Reeses.

Day 4 and 5 - Aberdeen, Scotland

We are enjoying the nice weather here for a change from the humidity in Houston. The temperature typically stays in the lower 50's (F) during the day and night and it is very comfortable right now. We have days where it is cloudy most of the day, days when it is misty with an occasional light rain, and days where it is bright and sunny with the cooler fresh air. And then there are the days where it is bright and sunny in the morning, light rain in the afternoon and colder dry air in the evening. The weather seems to change frequently, but so far it has been fine and I'm loving it! I've never experienced such beautiful fall colors. I get to wear my sweaters and jeans and boots everyday and I love my UGGS! 


On Day 4, Sunday, we decided to take a day off to rest and relax at the hotel. We had lunch, rented a movie in the afternoon and discussed all the things we needed to try and get set up or accomplished this week. Here in Europe it is "Fall Holiday Break" for all of the children in school so Trent and Landon will not start school until next week at the International School. I did decide I was ready to drive some and drove around this side of the city, towards our neighborhood. The roads tend to get VERY narrow but I managed to feel a little more comfortable. It was nice having Jon as the passenger though, he is pretty patient with me :) 


Monday, Day 5, Jon went to the office while I took the boys to breakfast at the hotel and came back to try and set up a few more things online. After that we met Christi and Brantly at the Cinema in Union Square to see the movie "Marmaduke" which the boys loved. Ticket prices were comparable to the states, given the exchange rate. Movie releases are behind though. I noticed that the "Alpha and Omega" movie isn't in theatres until October 22 here and it was already playing in the states. I was happy they had "Coke Zero", my favorite. When buying popcorn, I was asked if I wanted it salty or sweet. I ordered it salty but tried some of Christi's sweet popcorn and it tasted much like kettle corn! It was yummy! No butter here though. I was caught off guard by Landon's mishap in the movie though, he stuck a popcorn seed in his nose!!! He kept picking at his nose, so I asked him if his nose hurt. He turned around and said "Yes Mommy there is popcorn in my nose!" I tried not to panic and kept making him blow his nose praying it would come out, and eventually it did, yes a whole popcorn kernel fell in my hand...WHEW what a relief to have saved a first trip to the Dr. for sure (another thing I need to sign up for here soon) Hopefully he learned his lesson after the episode and my long lecture, that's the first time to have dealt with one of my boys sticking something in their nose!!!

Fall Leaves in the Front Yard of our home (taken with my Iphone)

In the driver's seat

At The Cinema - Trent, Landon and Brantly

My plan today was to get a cell phone for myself, but after a second trip to the Apple store and providing proof of residency I was again turned away saying that I need to have lived in the UK for 3 years. I called the service here and hopefully it will be set up tomorrow, if we get our checking account set up! I've learned that most services here take weeks to set up, and things run a little slower. Guess I will have to slow my pace....tomorrow will be a better day :) Goodnight!

Day 2 and 3 - Aberdeen, Scotland

I was planning on writing a blog last night but I was not feeling too great so I am writing about our Day 2 and 3 adventures tonight.

On Day 2, Friday, Jon woke up pretty early to return to his office here while Trent, Landon, and I caught up on some sleep. I woke the boys up around 9:30 am so that we could make it to breakfast at the hotel by 10 am. The breakfast buffet consisted of several pastries and toast, cereal, fried and scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon (reminds me more of ham), fruit and several other things I was not sure about. The boys were really excited that they had frosted flakes here!  We went back to the room, played with toys and Jon came back to the hotel around 1 pm to take us to lunch and to do a little more exploring.

For lunch we ate at KFC chicken! Jon had found it when he was here and knew we would like it because its like the one we have at home. Food was great! The boys really like the “fruit shoots” that come with most kids meals here. Its like an apple juice box but in a pop top plastic bottle so it is fun for them. We went to the Bank of Scotland to try to set up a bank account here but its not that easy when you have no history of living in Scotland, same with getting a cell phone here! Jon drove me through a car lot to look at cars and see what I might feel comfortable driving with on the road. I’m used to driving a big SUV and all of the cars here are pretty small. A smaller car would be fine though considering how fast everyone drives and how narrow these roads are. I’m thinking I may need to figure this out pretty soon, not sure how long I want to be without a car to get around. I may try to take the bus some next week around town. We drove back to our neighborhood to check on the painting in the house, wash some clothes and let the boys run around for a while at the park again. I found out it maybe 2 weeks before we move in now, so we are looking for an extended stay apartment in the meantime. For dinner we headed to a local restaurant, Four Mile. It was not the best meal I’ve had here, everything tasted so different to me, and I was sick to my stomach most of the night…not fun!

Day 3 was a long day of exploring again. Today we had breakfast at 10 am (notice we still are adjusting to the time!) Jon and I grabbed a map and decided we would head to City Centre, Union Street shops, Union Street Mall, the beach and to see the International School of Aberdeen which they will be attending in a week. Trent and Landon really liked seeing all of the big ships in the harbor. The buildings and cathedrals were amazing. I love all the architecture here. There is so much history to see. The mall was fairly new and even had an H&M store and a huge Apple store. We had lunch at the Pizza Hut in the mall, and I’m not sure that Pizza Hut ever tasted this good, seriously! Near City Centre and the mall was a beach to the North Sea full of big waves crashing into the shore. Next to the beach we found where the “River Don” meets the North Sea.

This evening, we were invited to have dinner with some new friends, Steve and Christi Hollis from Houston who have been living in Aberdeen for a couple of years now. Christi has been such a big help over the past couple of months with helping us and answering questions I had while preparing for our move. I had come across her blog one day on accident while searching for information on moving from Houston to Aberdeen, Scotland. I saw that she had two boys close to Trent and Landon’s age and thought I could use any helpful information she could provide. It was so great that the boys were able to meet each other tonight as well and they had a great time playing with each other. They are also very excited to have new friends here. We also met Howard and Vanette Wood and their two little girls. They moved here a couple months ago from Conroe. We look forward to getting together again soon. Thank you Steve and Christi for a wonderful dinner and great hospitality!

As I write this we are watching the Texas A&M vs. Arkansas game on the computer via Slingbox. I’m so excited that it is working and I can watch my TV shows like I do at home. The best part is we can DVR the shows we like and watch them when we want because of the time difference. We connected the Slingbox at my in-laws, Anita and Tom’s house back at home so that we can watch all cable shows through our computer, which we can then hook up to our TV here in Aberdeen.

Everything is going great! Cheers!