New year and new resolutions

I remember like it was yesterday how we waited with anticipation for the new year to come in 2000... And tonight we herald in another new year. Exactly where did 2007 go? The pages of the calendar seem to fly off the refrigerator before I can even doodle on them. While the year has flown by (again) it was a good year-- Full of happiness- Full of firsts--and full of memories. Both kids moved-- Christopher to a place all his own and Amanda to a houseful of roommates. A learning experience for both, My brother in law got married and had a little girl, Mike and I took not one vacation but two-- Alaska how do you top that?? For me it was sharing it with my parents-- Then there was Scotland the trip of unknowns and adventures. Amanda got engaged to the love of her life and was offered a job for after graduation. Yes I would say it was a very good year.

And on to 2008-- Today as Mike and I were making an afternoon snack he told me to eat up today because tomorrow we starve... I guess that will be the first resolution. We will join the millions of other people who had pie one too many times in the last week and we will DIET.

On Ali Edwards blog today she wrote about her word for the new year. I like the concept but haven't found a word. Last year I think the word would have been SIMPLIFY. She also brought up project 365 which means taking a photo a day... not sure if I can do that-- but maybe slimmed down to project 52?? hahaha

Seriously though some resolutions:
1) Diet -- 15 pounds (hmmm that was on my list last year)
2) Print more photos
3) Back up photos on a more regular basis
4) Bring order to the chaos that is my basement.
5) Spend one day a month to learn more about photoshop
6) Get up and Get out-- alittle exercise would do a body good. Need a game plan for this one as I hate to get out... and the thought of sweating makes me.... well sweat..
7) Make time to read-- read anything... where does the time go?
8) Take notes, remember to write down what I'm thinking so I only have to do it once.

Ok I think I will stop at eight-- afterall we are only talking about 365 days right? If I devoted my time equally that would be about 46 days a piece.

Wishing you a bright and shiny new year--

Putting off housework.

While my to do list may be a mile long today I seem to be giving it the big heave ho-- Started out by sleeping in til 10 am... HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?? and then I got sucked in to the WWW.. some days I think were just meant for doing nothing...
Anyhow-- while surfing I came across something interesting... remember our little talk about CHINA? Well on the
Simple Scrapbooks blog I read an interesting little factoid. Both Scenic Route and Tinkering Ink both manufacture almost everything right here in the good ol USA... SO THERE! I have always loved Scenic Route-- and now love them even more!!! This past summer Heidi, Leah, Amanda and I spent a great deal of time at their booth at CKC in PA. And yes we dropped alot of CASH there too.. See I wasn't just spending willy nilly-- I was supporting our country... like how I spinned that one?

Changing the subject-- yesterday When Mike left for work he left Madison in bed... and at 4:30 when he arrived home... guess where she was? still in bed! hmmm to say she didn't sleep well last night was an understatement. And it didn't help that Christopher arrived home at 5:30am after work and woke both dogs up... We all knew Madison liked her sleep but that was a bit much...even for her.

Mikes off today to get all his "stuff" that he has had stored up at Johns. Apparently the shop is no more and if he doesn't claim his stash someone else will. GREATTTTTTTTT where does someone store multiple car doors, fenders and assorted other body parts??? I guess today I will find out.

Ok I suppose someones got to put away the laundry, clean the kitchen, and steam clean the carpets... I'm off....

Cough cough

Madison went to the doctor today -- shes had a terrible cough. The cough resembles a barnyard animal most times although every once in awhile she gets going and I think she sounds like a frog. Medicine it seems will fix it. IT is a cold nothing more. (or so they say). It was back to work today-- nothing exciting.. I don't think the phone rang more than 2 times all day. Soooo looking forward to going back tomorrow.

Christmas changes

So with more family in Florida this year and children that are no longer children I decided to try something new this year. I thought why not celebrate on Christmas eve? It didn't seem like it would be that big of a leap and it would allow for alittle more relaxation on Christmas. It didn't go off as well as I had hoped, as the rest of the family had other obligations. But change is something we have all had to adjust to lately and this change while unexpected was worth the try.

We did invite the "new" inlaws to come over and Mike and I spent the entire day... and when I say entire I mean we cooked from 9am til about 3:30. After many years of celebrating as a big family it had been awhile since we had cooked the whole meal....but in the end I can look back and say it was fun... and it was some good food. And since we were embracing the whole change thing we (I) agreed that Amanda could split her day with Dahls. AND bring Corey to open presents. While I admit I may have mentioned I wasn't sure how I felt about Strangers being there Christmas morning it did turn out ok. (yes I know hes not a stranger but still....) And with these little changes I realized our lives would be forever changed from this day forward. The kids were no longer children who were waiting for Santa, and traditions would be different and families do grow.

So instead of waking at dawn to open presents we waited until 10:30-- and instead of going to Christmas dinner we had Brian, Krista, Ryland, Toni and Nicholas over for afternoon dessert.

And now? Amanda and Corey are off to eat another meal, Mike and Christopher are in the garage installing a birthday radio... and I am going to sit down and read a new book I got for Christmas "Life Artist".

Coming to you live after about 1 hour of sleep... Madison seems to have caught a cold... she was up coughing and vomiting all night... needless to say there was not alot of sleep here. This morning after alittle chicken and rice, and some robutussin she seems to be alittle better. Lots of holiday cooking to do today, and of course last minute wrapping-- but I am thinking a nap is definately in order. ohhh ofcourse after I wash all the bedding and clean all the carpets... aren't pets fun???

The question of the day however is will our London side of the family ever name lil Sara/jane/cloe ?????

Surprises, birthdays and bling

What a crazy whirlwind of happenings in the last few days. Christopher turned 25 yesterday-- but before that there was a BIG secret. Thursday night Corey and Cooper stopped by, rather Cooper bounded into the house and Corey followed carrying car parts... What I didn't know at the time was that in his pocket was something much "specialer". He went down and talked to Mike-- with car parts in hand and asked Mike if he could marry his daughter. How very sweet of him. Once that was taken care of he came up to the kitchen and showed me the box! I was sworn to secretcy-- Let me tell you that was hard. I purposely did not call her even though I knew she was driving home the next morning... I didn't even email her at work. I figured no contact was better then letting it slip. Can I tell you how long Friday was????

We called Christopher at the crack of dawn yesterday to wish him a happy birthday-- and later that afternoon he called to say we were doing a joint birthday dinner with Natalie at Joes Pizza. I still said nothing... my kids can not keep secrets from one another. Fast forward a few long hours and Amanda and Corey show up at the house... She was beaming and giddy and had yes! With ring the ring on her finger!

Corey had set up a treasure hunt with clues for her to follow-- She thought she was looking for Roses or treats for the dogs (one of the clues was to go to the closet where the dog food was kept) in the end he was waiting... apparently there were tears and hugs and an affirmative yes! Its a very funny story that is soo Amanda... but I will let her tell it some other day.

For Christophers Birthday, a few of his friends and Davids parents all met at Joes Pizza-- Lots of food and laughs . Of course the birthday boy didn't want to go home so instead we went Cosmic bowling. It took us two alleys before we could find a lane. It was girls against boys-- Brian, David, Corey and Christopher stood no chance against us girls..... Lets just say I hurt all over today-- but I beat the birthday boy in the final game.... by one point I beleive. It took three games but my league bowling skills finally kicked in! So much for 8 months of healing for my elbow-- I am probably back at square one... but it was worth it.

We did realize at some point in the evening that only a girl from Nokesville could spend the night she got engaged having pizza and bowling-- but hey it was her brothers birthday!

We got home too late for Cake and presents so we all had to wait for Christopher to get up at noon (his whole body clock is doing something that the rest of us can't) We never did eat cake... maybe tonight! But he did open presents...

My birthday boy

25 years ago today was probably the most important day of my life. THIS DAY 25 years ago my Christopher was born. It was icy, it was cold, it was 4AM and we had to drive to DC. That day changed everything— At 8AM we became parents, we had to be something we weren’t trained to be, we had someone other than ourselves relying on us. And it was wonderful. I wouldn't trade that day for anything.
25 is old-- 25 is grown up-- 25 is a lot of memories.... Happy Happy Birthday!

Today I get to be the lucky mom, Christopher took the day off so he'll be home tonight to celebrate his big day, and Amanda is driving down from Jersey to begin her Christmas holiday. And tonight begins the offical holiday weekend-- no work for 4 days.. lots of sleep in days, lots of naps on the couch and lots of holiday eggnog...

Happy Birthday

Today is exactly one week from Christmas, but more importantly its my DAD's Birthday!!!

Enjoy your day and know we are thinking of you!

Birthdays!

Its Birthday time again! Despite threats of snow ice and rain we headed down to Brians for his open house. I believe Mike was surprised that not only did we get to see family and Brians new house but that we celebrated his birthday. Complete with an ice cream cake that Brian got him. Lots of fun and thier new home is lovely. Then it was off to Warrenton for a company Christmas party at the Main Street Grill. Lots of fun, good food and a chance to socialize.

Today Manda heads off to New Jersey --to the land of Snow storms and freezing rain where she gets to be a big girl and work. I'm happy that they asked her to come up but nervous about her ride up there- wish the weather would cooperate alittle more. She'll be staying with Heather and the boys for the week which I know will be fun. Nothing better then spending time with little people waiting on Santa!

And for those of you following the incredible growth of Cooper.... Look at him now!

Sometimes nine months isn't enough time

The biggest news of the week has been the lack of news. As we lay our heads down each night we are not dreaming of sugerplums or elves or even the north pole no, we are ticking down a list of names suitable for a little girl. You see little girls are a short commodity in our family. The last one was 21 years ago... unless you count the Chicago relatives-- Miss Jena arrived about 18 years ago-- still it was eons ago- and finding a name, a perfect name is serious business.
Lest you think I am joking.. think about it.
The name must match the child, must work with the last name, be sweet enough for a little girl, but serious enough for a fortune 500 owner (we can dream right)-- The name must last a lifetime, must be able to be quickly strung into the ever popular "XXX do not touch" "XXX put that down now" "XXX turn of the TV and do your homework" And the name must have some sort of approval by your family or they will just resort into nicknames.
Yes a name is a very important thing--
Elizabeth, Emily, Abby, Hannah, Rebecca, Abigal, Madison, Gabrielle, Dannielle, Sydney, Madeline, Sara, Cloe, Carson, Kathrine, Melissa, Nicole, Keri, Maggie, Laurel....

Blooms in December

Gotta love a christmas catus that blooms at the right time. I have had this one for many years and it took me awhile to figure out the ins and outs of it, but I think we have it down. Sits in the window all summer, gets moved to the other side of the room for alittle shade in fall and water water water and WALA! Blooms for Christmas!

I got a vist from a little friend yesterday. Cooper is growing by the minute but just as sweet as can be. Has alittle fetish with my slippers but we can excuse that if thats going to be his only fault. Corey brought him over yesterday, I got to babysit as he and Mike played in the garage.

I finally got ahead of the Christmas shopping-- I took most of the day on Saturday armed with a list and headed out. I started in Gainsville and worked my toward Manassas. It was exhausting but I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The down side-- I think one of those shopper had a cold--and wanted to share.... cuz guess whose sick again? UGHH--

Ruffles and Lace

After waiting impatiently-- its official! BABY GIRL JACKSON has arrived in jolly old London!

Its not so jolly

I’m not stressing yet but this holiday stuff is definitely weighing heavily on me. Christmas is becoming a chore and depression is sneaking in. If one more person asks if I have my holiday shopping done I might just scream. No I do not – there I said it. I do not have presents for Christmas. And furthermore I don’t even have a clue what I am shopping for. The few items I thought I would buy—hmmm not available.
The house is decorated. The stockings are hung. But the tree its looking mighty lonely. My recipe for Christmas this year has one big old flaw—the shopping part….

snow

Got our first snow of the season. It started out as flurries that you could barely see... but by the time I got to rt 605 it had turned into an icy mess. Both lanes came to a stand still on one of the big hills. But this time it wasn't me causing the jam. I felt sorry for the little lady in the caddy that just gave up- been there done that way too many times. But because of her there was a long line of people waiting to slide down the hill... and more people who really wanted to try and climb it. I smugly passed her-- this time it wasn't me-- but I did understand.

Orange never looked so good

I think the picture says it all..... but if you don't get it maybe this will help..
LETS GO HOKIES!!!!!

The holiday season can begin now.

Just a drive by-- got some exciting news from amanda today... Shes going to Loreal for a week to work on a project during her christmas break. How exciting is that? Yup apparently her boss from the summer still likes her. And her accomodations will be a hotel. So grown up.

My mom celebrated her Birthday yesterday-- from what I gather shes 50 this year.... ofcourse last year she was 28... I can only hope that I remember these little tricks when I reach her age.

And I got the christmas list that I have been waiting for. Yes the one from Amanda. I have to say that it truely marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. And at 21 its just as creative as it was at 4. She is a needy little girl... has always had alot of wants. For the past two years she has also included Madisons list. And the pony that has been on her list her ENTIRE life.. its no longer there.... but now the pony shows up on Madisons list. I was alittle surprised this year while she included pictures, was only a page long. (We've had some years where it could be a bound novel) I must say I do miss the handwritten chicken scratch --in pencil-- but the new list certainly is special too..... no "see page 300 in the sears catalog" or "its on the top shelf to the left in Toys R US" this year didn't even have links embedded... just the picture, the store and the price. Gotta love a girl who can shop without leaving her house-- Santa would be proud of her, and so would my mother.... who I blame this entire shopping gene on.

After the turkey comes football.... lots of football

Somehow Christopher sucked us all into watching football... ALL DAY--not exactly my first choice on how to spend a holiday weekend. But there was that VA TECH vs VA game that couldn't be missed. HOKIES HOKIES HOKIES... yep another win and its off to play BC again next weekend.

And then there was the UT game... we all learned some new football rules watching that 4 1/2 hour marathon game with 4 Overtimes... And then it was FLA vs FLA.... I could go on but it was a blur after that....

There were also some new rules on the pool table.. Exactly how do you loose money on a break? Ask David and Josh?

Campfires outside, games inside.... yup Christopher was home for the weekend.

And little miss wore reindeer antlers to kick off the Christmas season--ummm only one antler as some things don't stand the test of time.

Boys can wear pink right?

Hand me downs are nice....................

Thanksgiving

The day started out at 73 degrees and by the time we had dinner its hoovering around the 40's - But at Jackies we were warm and toasty-- A big ol bird and more food then we needed made for a great afternoon.

This was our official photo-- after food-- obviously somone forgot to say cheese-- not a smile in the group! Taking that Puritan Thanksgiving to heart I guess.

But this was what the day was really about- lots of laughs, lots of food, and family.

So nice to see everyone. Got updates on John and Debbies wedding, Brian's new house and there was talk of Marion stripping... but we won't got into all the family secrets here.... hahaha. We all missed our Florida families.. So far away but always in our hearts.

Thankful

The boss was in town. It was a long day-- but now its time to be thankful.... Tonight I cook-- tommorrow I eat.. I am thankful--

Thankful for family
Thankful for puppies
Thankful for a few days off of work
Thankful for alot of little things that make the day worth getting up for
Thankful for 3 day work weeks (are you seeing a pattern yet?)

Happy thanksgiving--gobble gobble gobble

Not a geek-- but loving technology

Came home to a nice surprise- a HUGE monitor that Mike got from one of his customers. It was broken and they were tossing it. $14.00 later and a new plug and I have Gargantua for a monitor. The coolest part? No mouse required. Its touch screen. Yup gotta love technology-- and there is lots of it out there right now that just amazes me.

Cell phones- how did we live without being able to always get in touch with people?
GPS- who needs a map when a voice can tell you where to go and what turn to take?
Copy/Scanner machines- A godsend a work that you can scan 50 pages and pop it into an email
Digital Cameras- no more worries that you got the shot-- you can keep on shooting
DVR- No more rushing to catch that favorite show.

I am sure theres more. Seems everyday I find something else that I just didn't know how I survived without it.

Counting it down

Down to two dogs and one cat... the zoo is offically more manageable. Got some yard work done. Trimmed the rose bushes, trimmed the azealas, raked out the back garden and dug up the canna lilys in hope that they will survive the winter in the shed.

Amanda and Corey got home safely from NJ and we got to spend alittle time with Cooper. So much fun to watch a puppy romp.

A quick 3 day work week -- and its "weekend" again. The count down starts now. Love short weeks. Love sleep in days. Love having Madison here to keep my feet warm at night.

BOO

Some things just keep coming back to haunt you. I can’t believe that anyone would want to read Beowulf let alone spend money to watch it in a movie theater. Beowulf- a bad poem that did not rhyme about dragons,kings, violence and such. Definitely a negative memory—the drivel –reading it over and over because it made no sense. Best of luck at the box office on that one.

On a happier note- we survived our first day at the zoo—the creatures actually got along-- well except for the wanna-be queen be whose daily routine was thrown out of wack when everyone was given a greenie after dinner. She regained her composure when she peered down at Zoe from the couch and with a snort let her know that her place was on the floor. And I believe that I saw a smirk at bedtime when she once again looked down at Zoe, this time sleeping on the floor.

Mr. Wiggles seems intrigued by a new dog, and not at all scared. He keeps following Zoe, and Zoe not being used to cats hasn’t figured out if he is friend or foe. I have reminded her that Mr. Wiggles may be smaller but is not one to be reckoned with.
Not sure if everyone will keep to their manners today… familiarity breeds the need for dominance….

Morning routine...gone to the dogs...

I went to bed last night with one dog lazily sleeping (probably on a couch where she shouldn't be) and woke up to 4 dogs romping through the house! Crazy Crazy morning.

Amanda and Corey on their way up to New Jersey stopped in at 7:15AM to drop off Madison and Zoie (who we agreed to dog sit for the weekend for Coreys parents) Yes if you are counting thats only three dogs--- the surprise was the furball that was literally dropped on my bed.... Meet Cooper! Isn't he just the cutest??? Yup Corey got himself a puppy last night... oh and this one is so darn cute --but at 8 weeks is already larger than Madison (who by the way is trying her best to not care that there is a new puppy in the house)



Bonnie was showing her bestest manners, trying to remember (or listen as we reminded her) her friends. She showed great restraint as Zoie wandered up and down the hall, as Cooper wanted to play with "her" cat and as Madison was stealing treats. (seems she didn't need to go outside to get a treat)



Things settled down to a dull roar-- did I mention it was pouring down rain??? so no there is no hope of sending them outside-- anyway I was able to get a family portrait before the kids head of to NJ (with Cooper) ( I think I should have kept Cooper and they took the other 3)

Summers over

The weekend is over and so is the summer. A trip down to the lake to pull the boats out the water, add fuel stabilizer and ensure the batteries are ready for the winter ahead marked the end of another summer season. And learning from past mistakes we emptied the freezer and refrigerator of anything that will be iffy by spring.

Since we are going without TV now down at the lake we had ample time to pull out YAHTZEE-- how quickly we forget what fun that is! Me? I got beat by everyone --pretty much every round but thats ok-- Nick turned out to be a whiz at it and Mike and Toni jeez can you yell Yahtzee one more time??? Competition is good for the soul.

fall

Its defiantly feeling like fall, and so for dinner what better than alittle casserole to warm things up? Ummm Curried chicken and broccoli. The time change was a good thing this weekend. Seemed to add more than a hour to our days. Both kids were in town this weekend for Coreys Birthday. Had lunch with Amanda and Corey on Saturday and Christopher breezed through for alittle dinner. We all went to Coreys house for his Birthday Party. Good time had by all.

Sunday, despite the fall temp's was a day for outside yard clean up. I probably should have done more with the plants as I just know as the weeks wear on I will resist the urge to be outside at all. But I was able to get the planters and garden "stuff" into the shed and Mike and I put the net on my water garden. We have waited, as the frogs just had another batch of babies and I didn't want them trapped with no way to hibernate.

As I puttered around this weekend a mental list was made of projects that I have been putting off. I think its time to recover two chairs and catch up on a back log of sewing projects. And someone explain what the hecks happening in the basement. Looks like a bomb went off in there (again). We definitely need to add that to the list to do's.

Boo

Before we move on to thanksgiving... we did attempt to celebrate halloween. yes we carved a pumpkin... used some fancy stencil.. personally I think good old triangle toothy grin pumpkins make me happier... but Mike needed to show off his pumkin skills... so there you go!

We did do alittle costume dress up too last weekend at a halloween party- yes I was dancing and yes I was an angel.... poetic huh?

For my parents

This week has been painfully slow.
Started the week out dealing with sinus issues..
Feeling better now.
Weather changing--not to my liking.
Had three trick or treaters this year.
The grocery store has christmas decorations up in the parking lot
I just put my fall decorations up.
Still haven't found the time to print out my scotland pictures.
Still playing with Alaska pictures.

Our Final day--

Our last day to tour Scotland... there was still so much country to see and so little time. There were places I would have liked to have gone back to... alittle more time in Saint Andrews... another day in Edinburgh... and then there were places we had yet to explore... the little town around the corner Elie or the Isles or what about the Border country? There just wasn't enough time, but with map in hand we headed out back toward the highlands to explore what there wasn't time for on the bus tour... We set the navigation up to take us to Pitlochory-- we had stopped for gas there and Alen had told us about Edradour Distillery-- It is the smallest legal distillery in Scotland. It came into being in 1825, and is run by 3 men on the production side-- it still uses many of the old techniques.... and smells wonderful as the casks once held sherry. We enjoyed the tour and the tasting.. and the town was delightful. Pitlochory is also home to Heather Gems-- This little companys jewelry was in all the little shops we went to whereever we were in scotland. They make jewelry that looks like stone out of heather sticks and resin. Very pretty and unique-- we stumbled upon their studio by accident. And they had free tours to see how it made. After leaving Pitlochory we headed to Dunkeld -- just over the Tay river bridge-- to see a cathedral from the 14th century-- We parked near the bridge and walked the town... coming upon the church was a sight--- the grounds right on the Tay --it couldn't have been more beautiful. The church itself was amazing-- surrounded by headstones, the roof was gone on the nave but the interior walls still held shrines and more headstones. Connected to it was the Choir which is still being used as a church today-- amazing stained glass and a marble tomb of Alexander Stewart. They were locking up as we meandered through and we were quickly ushered out to wait by the 1730 iron gate so they could unlock the gate to let us out.... As we walked through I couldn't help but wonder how it stood the test of time..

Despite the lateness of the day with guidebook in hand I convinced Mike we were only a mile away from a "quick" stop... I had seen on the Map that Beatrix Potter had a little muesum/exhibit area one town over....apparently this was where she "holiday'd" as a child and created Peter Rabbit-- WHO KNEW??? I'm not sure what I was expecting but I can tell you I was alittle let down when we got there... it was in an art gallery-- tucked in a corner was a gift shop with Beatrix Potter stuff and behind alittle picket fence was an interactive story area for children..... for a pound they could go in and draw, see some exhibit pictures of hand drawings done by Ms. Potter etc... We looked in the gift shop and I told Mike we could go...but secretly I think I needed to go into the childrens area... and Mike knew it... so he gave me the pound and went to the coffee shop to wait.... sadly Peter Rabbit or Jerimima Puddle-duck were no where to be found. Again I am not sure what I was expecting-- but I can tell you it wasn't there... I read all the plaquards and touched the books... but somehow the magic of her tales just wasn't captured in that little building.. but I'm glad we stopped... I was there.

Driving back home we ran out of time-- once 5:00 hits they close up Scotland... so we made it home in time to pack-- eat as much food as we could from the refrigerator...(story of my life--Mike overshopping) and get a good nights sleep before our lonnnnng trip home.

Scotland-- The highlands

So lets go back to Scotland shall we? I think we left off somewhere around Wednesday-- This was our only Scheduled day. I signed up for a Van tour to take us up to Loch Ness-- which is way north from our place. WAYYYYYY north, and I figured we would never make it up and back and still be alive to tell the story-- We cover alot of ground in one day.

The van was nice and there was a couple from Australia and a family from South Carolina (husband wife sister and friend to be exact) and us and our driver Alen. Alen was a pleasant young guy-- 25 years old who put up with all our questions... and even repeated things so that I could laugh-- There are coo's off to the left.... (yes coo's) (translation cows) (how I love the accent!)

Anyway we were picked up at 8am-- and off we went! I don't actually remember where our first stop was but it was a potty break-- and a chance to get souveniers (haha) I chose to meander over to the Garden Center that shared the parking lot with our stop-- pretty much had the same stuff as ours does here at home... but I wondered if their grass seed would work better than ours.. needless to say my suitcase wouldn't hold grass seed so I left it on the shelf. Then I spyed some hairy coo's on the other side of the parking lot... they facinate me. How often do you see hairy cows??? hmmm? here we have the normal kind all over... but ones with hair and horns just not popular. Alen told us the Queen had actually decided that the black and white cows didn't look right on the hill side and had some farmers experiment with getting the lovely shade of brown that is so popular with the cows--- (just alittle factoid)What was also amazing about these little buggers is how fast they run... I saw it first hand --Yes I called them and they actually came--

After that little stop we were off to the highlands... the scenery changed immensly-- very rugged and rocky-- but beautiful just the same. We made a stop in Glencoe to admire the view and get some great pictures. ( I think Alen knew we were all antsy in the van too)

And then it was off to Ben Nevis and Fort William. Where we stopped again for lunch, Mike and I had packed a picnic lunch so we took off into town-- there was a monument and a cemetary that looked interesting so we headed that way. After reading a few headstones we sat for lunch on a bench with a lovely view of a garden.

Next stop Loch Ness-- this is where disappointment comes in... I can say I was there but due to time constraints it was alittle like the Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation movies where he is standing looking over a landmark for two seconds before jumping back in the car..... We got out of the van... made a few Loch Ness Monster jokes and then wandered down the canal where we Alen picked us back up to head back south.... No we didn't see the Monster-- but we did see a lighthouse!

Our Group!Lighthouse

Our way home included a few scenic stops-- a great waterfall where we got a chance to do alittle hiking. Great photos and lots of fun to climb around the rocks. And then Alen put on a tape of old scottish tales and tunes... I think we were suppose to quiet down for the long ride home.. but we were full of questions and kept him on his toes for the remainder of the trip. Glad we did it... but sure would like to go back and do it on our own......