Just as I was gearing myself up to be a better blogger and post more frequently my harddrive crashed. I have spent the entire month of November computer-less. It has been a complete departure from our normal lives as I have been unable to work and being so far from friends and family the computer really becomes our life line.
Normally a hard drive could be repaired quickly, however my situation is somewhat complicated by my location. Because my computer is still under warranty in the US it seemed logical to send it to the US for repairs rather than pay in the UK....although now that my laptop is stuck in the customs system I am doubting that plan. My computer re-entered the UK on the 15th of Nov but has still not been released by the customs department because they are reviewing the paperwork (all 3 pages of it!!!). Trey has been working diligently which means I have rarely had the opportunity to use his laptop, giving me precious little computer time at all in the last month and have therefore been absent from blogging and facebook.
I am hoping that as we enter December the new month will bring good luck and the customs department will have a wonderful wave of Christmas cheer and send my computer on it's merry way. Here's to hoping!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween
Emerson and Ward loved getting dressed up to go Trick or Treating. Emerson dressed up as Cinderella (what else but a princess??) and Ward was a turtle. Here are some of our best pics from tonight's main event.
Emerson trying to be very still while I fixed her hair.
Emerson loves to dress up.
Ward's not so sure about this.
Ward's face once he realized there were sweets involved.
Emerson checking out her sweeties.
The pile just wouldn't do for this little perfectionist...wonder where she gets that?!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Weekend Away
Well blog readers- hold on to your hats, this is a current post! I have decided to skip over the 400+ backlogged pictures that I just downloaded off of my camera and jump ahead to current life. Maybe along the way I'll try to get back to some of those end of summer/early fall happenings but with the way things have been going on our little blog here, I was likely to never catch up. So here we are, with an update from this very weekend!...
Emerson has been on Autumn Break from school this week, and we had discussed plans to travel from the beginning of the school year. But, with Trey's recent research trip to Washington DC and all the other things we've been juggling lately, we felt like organizing a mini-vacation was too much. After a week of rainy cold days spent indoors, though, we felt the need to get out of the city. So, at the last minute, we rented a car and hit the road for two days . On day 1 of our little adventure, we headed through the country. The forcast called for rain and snow, but we had a clear, crisp autumn day. Our drive in the country was beautiful as we headed south toward the Scottish border. We spent Friday checking out the sites around Dumfries.
We took in Caerverlock Castle. The castle itself is mostly ruins but it has a huge mote which sets it apart. One of the castles we visited over the summer had a mote, but it no longer had water in it, this however, was the real deal.
Our second stop was the New Abbey Corn Mill. Of course we are in Scotland so they are not exactly milling corn. "Corn" just means the primary grain, so here that would be oats. The mill is only operational during the summer months so we did not get to see it in working order. We got to walk through all three levels of the mill and we were the only ones there, so we got the whole mill to ourselves. On the way out of town Emerson and I hit the National Museum of Costumes.
On Day 2 of our little expedition we went to the Almond Valley Heritage Center. It is a farm in Livingston, just 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh. Unfortunately our weather wasn't nearly as cooperative. Thankfully the farm had lots of indoor activities for the kids. We did get a short break in the rain to let them ride the little tractors. Ward has a tractor obsession so we'd like to go back this Spring when the weather is better and ride on the real tractor!
Emerson has been on Autumn Break from school this week, and we had discussed plans to travel from the beginning of the school year. But, with Trey's recent research trip to Washington DC and all the other things we've been juggling lately, we felt like organizing a mini-vacation was too much. After a week of rainy cold days spent indoors, though, we felt the need to get out of the city. So, at the last minute, we rented a car and hit the road for two days . On day 1 of our little adventure, we headed through the country. The forcast called for rain and snow, but we had a clear, crisp autumn day. Our drive in the country was beautiful as we headed south toward the Scottish border. We spent Friday checking out the sites around Dumfries.
We took in Caerverlock Castle. The castle itself is mostly ruins but it has a huge mote which sets it apart. One of the castles we visited over the summer had a mote, but it no longer had water in it, this however, was the real deal.
Our second stop was the New Abbey Corn Mill. Of course we are in Scotland so they are not exactly milling corn. "Corn" just means the primary grain, so here that would be oats. The mill is only operational during the summer months so we did not get to see it in working order. We got to walk through all three levels of the mill and we were the only ones there, so we got the whole mill to ourselves. On the way out of town Emerson and I hit the National Museum of Costumes.
On Day 2 of our little expedition we went to the Almond Valley Heritage Center. It is a farm in Livingston, just 30 minutes outside of Edinburgh. Unfortunately our weather wasn't nearly as cooperative. Thankfully the farm had lots of indoor activities for the kids. We did get a short break in the rain to let them ride the little tractors. Ward has a tractor obsession so we'd like to go back this Spring when the weather is better and ride on the real tractor!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
The City We Love
We have really grown to love this beautiful city. It was a delight to share it with our family in August. We hope to share it with many of you during our time here. For those of you that will not get to come over, I will share a few more of our photos from our vacation. Being on "vacation" here gave me a great excuse to carry a camera around town (which totally embarrasses Trey). Below is an assortment of some of our favorite sites...hiking Arthur's Seat, views from Edinburgh Castle, the great flower clock, flowers on the Mound and carousel in Princes Street Gardens. 
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Military Tattoo
During the month of August, in addition to the Fringe (Arts Festival) Edinburgh also has the Military Tattoo. We have heard of this famous show for many years, but have never had a chance to go. We were hoping to go with our family, but since tickets have been sold out for more than 6 months, it didn't look like it was going to happen. Luckily, a few weeks before my family was arriving, we found out about a last minute way to get tickets. They sell half price tickets for the dress rehearsal night, which just happened to be the day the fam was flying in. So rather than giving anyone time to get over their jet-lag we decided to jump right in a go to a late-night show on day one. Normally, you are not supposed to take pictures during the Tattoo, but on dress rehearsal night, we were allowed...hurrah...another benefit of half price tickets!
Hundreds of Pipers!
Emerson's favorite part of the show- the dancers.
Katie and Daniel, enjoying a rainy welcome to Scotland.
The firework finale...I loved them in person, but can't say that I am too sad that Tattoo month is over since I have been hearing these from my home every night for a month.
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