Oswalds In Scotland: Julie's Visit

Well, it sort of goes without saying that I have let myself get way too far behind on posting to our blog. Now I am a little overwhelmed at the prospect of getting caught up on posts. We have had so many great adventures and travels this summer, so we are excited to share some of our memories with you. Hopefully one or two of you out there are still reading our updates and checking out our pictures.

In July, our dear friend Julie came over from Atlanta for a visit. Her husband, Marty, wasn't able to join us for this trip (working too hard) so we will look forward to showing him the sights on a future vacation. It was fun getting to show Julie some of our favorite parts of town. Emerson was in absolute heaven to have JuJu here for the week. Not only did Julie take her swimming twice in a week (a rare treat for us), and bring a suitcase full of early birthday gifts for Miss Em, but she was Emerson's personal playmate for the entire week. Julie was so patient to pal around with our dramatic little red-head and played the longest continual game of house that I have ever seen. Emerson amazingly stayed in character for days at a time!

Emerson at Greyfriar's Bobby.

Showing Julie New College (Trey's school). This is inside the courtyard.

JuJu and Emerson posing on the Leith Walk.

Julie chatting with my friend Kath and Emerson during our playdate at the park.

Ward making his way through Princes Street Gardens.

Having fun with Julie at the park.

Julie's travel plans were delayed so we got a bonus couple of days with her. We decided to make the most of our extra weekend by taking a quick train trip to North Berwick with our friends John and Erinn. Some of you may remember that we went to North Berwick in the winter with my parents, so you may recognize a few of the views. It is an adorable coastal town with a beautiful beach and cute shops. We were luck to have good timing and the tide was out so the kiddos got to search in the tidal pools. Then we took a local bus to Direlton Gardens. The Direlton Castle is in ruins, but still well worth seeing but the main attraction here is the Gardens. They are in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest herbaceous border and (if I remember correctly) the oldest continually tended garden. It really was breathtaking...unfortunately my pictures to post are pretty limited. My camera battery died about 5 minutes after we arrived at Direlton. We will have to make another trip out there soon so I can take some pictures...just sad that Julie won't be here to go along this time! We had a great visit.