Picnic with Friends

We don't get to see blue sky very often around here but when we do, we take full advantage of it. While the kids were out of school on Spring holiday, we had a remarkably sunny (and slightly warm) day. At 8:30 a.m. when I saw the sun, I immediately sent an email to all of my Tea Group friends and invited them and their families to join us for a picnic. Miraculously, by the time we headed out for Arthur's Seat at lunch time the sun was still shining!

For those of you who haven't yet been to Scotland, there is this little mountain (or maybe it's just a hill...not sure) called Arthur's Seat which is in a very central part of the city. It is great for a short day hike and boasts beautiful views of the city and the sea. One day soon we hope to walk Arthur's Seat with Emerson (we've been trying to build up her stamina so she can make it on her own) so we'll have some pictures from the top. In the meantime, we are very blessed to enjoy views of Arthur's Seat from our flat. The grassy spot surrounding Arthur's Seat and the Crags was our picnic spot on this fine day since it is such a short walk from Blacket Avenue.

Adrian & Colleen with their children and those familiar red heads.

The perfect picnic spot! Again, there is Adrian & Colleen and also my friend Bev...too many kids in this crowd to name them all.

Emerson and Ward picnicing with Edinburgh city center in the background.

Emerson going for a little run.

Emerson and her friend Hannah.

A great view of the Crags. Andrej and Sarah playing frisbee.

Ward with his "American" football.

Ward walking with Mommy.

Easter in York

After a month of ear aches, sinus infections, and general illness, we decided it would do us all good to get out of the flat and take in some fresh air. So, we took advantage of the long Easter weekend and headed south...well, a little bit south...to York, England.


Emerson has been asking for a train trip ever since our arrival in Scotland last fall. This was a great opportunity since York is only about 2.5 hours by train. When Trey and I said we were going to York for the weekend, Emerson squealed with delight..."OH! New York!...I have been wanting to go there!" (I used to be a frequent Today show watcher when we lived in Atlanta) Trey told her it wasn't New York, it was just York. She paused with that typical Emerson expression that includes serious thought. She then perked up and said "So we are going to OLD York! That's good too." So Good Friday morning we loaded up and headed to Waverly Station.



When we left Edinburgh, the sky was blue and the air was crisp and comfortable... several hours later, when we settled into The Limes, our B&B, and were about to head out for a little site-seeing, we noticed that it had started to snow. And, this was just a precurser... It snowed the entire weekend, which is why we don't have too many photos of this lovely little town. The other little dissappointing fact was that our train ride and fresh air weren't quite as effective as antibiotics when it came to curing our ailments. So, we spent a little more time at the B&B, something I' m sure delighted our host family!!!

Saturday Sightseeing:

York's narrow streets.

Emerson our little traveler.

Inside the Minster.

Enthusiastic Ward


The high points of our journey were that York is lovely (even when cold). The entire city is surrounded by a grassy embankment topped by stone walls. At this time of year they are set of beautifully by thousands of daffodils all around the city. I hope you can manage to make this out in some of our pictures. We also enjoyed the York Minster which is one of the highlights of the city's architecture. We went to Easter services here, again following in the path of our general weekend, not quite as glorious and worshipful as we had anticipated since Emerson fell off of her chair and busted her lip on the stone floor and Ward cried through much of the service..aah! We had a great time at the Castle Museum, which has an entire city street built inside and gives children the opportunity to "experience" history by trying on and touching things rather than just looking at them behind glass. And on a personal note, Ward's 2-3 steps turned into real walking which is really fun.

Easter Sunday:

Ward walking...if only he would walk toward the camera!

Cutie Easter clothes, compliments of MyLu and PopO. You can't really get the full effect in the picture, but they were really cute and even coordinated (which we never do around here).

Such sweet kisses.

York Minster in the snow.

This is Emerson huddled on Trey's shoulders crying "I'm really freezin" all the way from the Minster to the Castle Museum.

Peek A Boo

I have decided that Ward thinks life is a constant game of Peek A Boo. He seems to be playing all of the time. He will peek around doors, from behind his plate at dinner, over the rails of his crib. It is great! It means he is constantly giggling because he just finds it endlessly facinating. When I was washing dishes the other day, I noticed him playing peek a boo with the curtains and was able to grab the camera fast enough to get a couple of shots. So here they are...enjoy!

Emerson is Going Green

I know that most of you think of Emerson's color as red...but she is in fact going green. Our little Miss is becoming very eco friendly! Her art is the most obvious contribution to "earth-friendliness". She used to go through several pieces of paper, barely making a mark on most of them. Now when she wants to paint or make something, I find her digging through our recycling bin looking for materials. Often when I am about to throw something away she'll say, "No Mom, I can use that!". She loves arts and crafts. Her school is often recycling and reusing materials. We have also been doing a lot of recycling at home and she loves to help with this.

This pair of glasses that Emerson and Trey made together using flexi straws and papertowel rolls are my favorite so far. She has also been busily working on Easter egg holders. These are basically egg cartons that Emerson has been decorating to hold her Easter eggs once she dyes them.

The other area that Emerson has shown a green streak is her increased willingness to walk around town. For those of you who know Emerson, nothing escapes her notice. Top of that list is the fact that we no longer have a car so therefore we walk or ride a bus and Trey has a bike. We have spent many of these walks talking about why we now walk. A few days ago she informed me that when she grows up and is a "nurse-mommy" (her chosen profession) she is going to ride a bike to the "hos-a-pital". We are still working on the distance that she is able to go before her little legs give out, but we are proud of her recent efforts to stretch those legs. Here are a couple of fun pics of our walk home from ballet this week. These were taken on Blacket Avenue (our road).

8 Month Old Ward

Every mom knows that once you have children everything seems to move at warp speed. I can hardly believe that Ward is already 8 months old. Of course the fact that he moves around all the time is helping to convince me! Ward is like one constant ball of activity...the minute we put him down, he is making tracks. He crawls faster and faster by the day. He pulls up on anything that he can get his hands on and cruises successfully all over the flat.

Our family room has had to be baracaded...the footstools are in front of the dvd player, exersaucer is in front of the bookcases and a chair in front of the printer. He heads straight for outlets, paper, remotes, etc....you know, anything he probably shouldn't have and our bathroom door stays closed at all times. He is so much fun. Ward smiles and laughs most of the time- especially when his big sister or Daddy are nearby. Emerson has managed really well with his new found freedom and has been really good about sharing her toys.

On the rare occasion that Ward does sit down, he usually sits like this- on his knees.

Crawling...his knees are literally red from all the crawling.

Pulling up.

Showing off...only one hand!

All smiles.

Caught in the act- trying to get to the computer.

Taking all of the books off of the shelf- a daily activity.

He loves taking things out of the cupboards. In this picture he was playing Peek-A-Boo with the parchment paper.

Emerson at School

In January Emerson began school at St. Leonard's Nursery. We visited several schools after our arrival in the fall and St Leonard's was our first choice. We feel very blessed that she was given a place in the afternoon class. The city of Edinburgh has several "public" nursery schools (which are like American preschools) and children who are 3 and 4 years old can apply for a half day program. She started on January 15th and absolutely LOVES it!

A very excited Emerson on her first day of school. This is in front of the door to our flat.

Inside St. Leonard's on her first day...we are working on the picture face:)

St. Leonard's is a great little school near downtown, close to the main University. They have big open classrooms with beautiful windows looking out onto the garden. I have taken some pictures of the garden, but I will take some more once everything starts blooming this spring. St. Leonard's is an Eco school so the children learn a lot about conserving, recycling, and being healthy. They do lots of planting and spend a good bit of time outdoors.

This is the way we go into school each day- through the garden gate. You can see all of the classroom windows. Emerson's class is the green door on the left in this photo.

Another picture of the garden, I think it is more interesting in person...we'll work on some better pics this spring.

In her first few weeks of school Emerson got to celebrate Burns Day (Robert Burns's Birthday) by tasting haggis and learning several Scottish nursery rhymes. Trey and I got quite a kick out of listening to Emerson say her poems at the dinner table....she is becoming aware of the Scottish accent now that she is around locals for a good bit of the day. For example her poem that begins "round about" she says roon aboot, because that is how her teacher taught it to her. Her class also celebrated Pancake Day. Who knew pancakes had their own holiday?! I had to do a little online research for this one because I couldn't believe there really is a Pancake day. The technical holiday is Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, but the common name is Pancake Day. I guess as the story goes, on Shrove Tuesday you are supposed to use up all of the sweet ingredients in your pantry by making a big batch of pancakes before the start of Lent.

This is how we walk to school...Ward in his stroller, rainshield down on most days and Emerson on her buggy board. This is the corner of our street Blacket Avenue.

Emerson's starting school has been good for Ward and I too. It gives us a great excuse to get out of the flat for a little bit each day when we walk Emerson to school after lunch. Trey picks her up and walks her home (most days she ends up riding on his shoulders). We have walked her to school in all kinds of weather...rain (of course), wind that practically blows the stroller off of the sidewalk, snow, sleet, fog, and sunshine. The best was the day that we had ALL of these in one walk!

North Berwick

Since it is February I thought I better get crackin on finishing up my Christmas photos...that's right, I said Christmas. This is the last set that I will publish from 2007...I'm thinking it is about time to jump into the new year.

North Berwick is a small town about 30 minutes east of Edinburgh. We intended to have a quiet, low-key Saturday at home, but on a whim we decided to take a day trip. For those of you who know my parents this is not shocking, since they find it nearly impossible to sit still. It resulted in a great day walking the Scottish coast line, scouting golf courses for our summer vacation, and taking in Tantallon Castle.

Emerson with North Berwick in the background.

Beautiful girl...with a real smile- unlike the silly "picture"smile in the next pic.Emerson and her Papa.One of the few beaches in Scotland with sand.

Papa looking for shells.

This bluff is actually the edge of a golf course... I'd hate to lose my golf ball on this hole!

Tantallon Castle with 2 very tired children. Check out that lighthouse in the background.

A super cute tea room where we stopped for a snack. Emerson was delighted when her hot chocolate came and it was larger than a soup bowl.