a wee taste of scotland

I'm back in a bad blogger phase - I hope no one has been holding their breath in anticipation of a sneak peek at our second week overseas.  As in Ireland, we spent half our time in Scotland in the city and half in the highlands.

I'm going to save the intro blah blah and keep it to the captions. I need to get this blog done. I've been delaying recording the really great moments in my kids' life while I procrastinate this big blog.

 The streets overfloweth with character.

 A panoramic taken from the Edinburgh castle.

 On guard for thee.

 Another panoramic of the charming Edinburgh.

Who knew? Warps and wefts.

 A favourite stop the Queen's decommissioned Yacht Britannia.

Oh boats - so enchanting.

 A peak at the Queen's bedroom - tiny bed and very reserved decor. My Kate was a little disappointed.

Throughout the boat, the family photos all had the subjects' signatures below their shots. Love that!

Drinking in the royals - via our phone tour guide.

 Our first stop in the highlands.

The intimidating entrance of one of the many castles we visited.

 My favourite spot - a Ferry Glen.

Sheep, sheep and more sheep.

Can you spot Cody on top of that hill?

Endless picturesque sights on the Isle of Skye.

 Now that was chowder.

 Portree - our home for a couple nights while on the Isle.

 Our group exploring the remains of a century(ies) old settlement.

Sheep, sheep and more sheep means poop, poop and even more poop.

 Another of our highland hikes.

 Finally a hairy coo. They are darling.

 The lochs of Loch Ness.

We finally bit the bullet and partook in a whiskey tasting.  I'd put it this way - the chocolates were delicious!

So that is it. It was an awesome trip. It was amazing to just have that much time alone with my husband. It's staggering to me to think of how much our life together has changed over the last year. Thank you to Cody for being such a great, willing, energetic, open-minded travel partner. We had amazing experiences and would love the chat endlessly about them to anyone who listen. Please let us know if you are one of those people.

Cheerio - Aimee

you are very welcome here

The airline captain, bartenders, tour operators and hotel staff all greeted us the same - "you are very welcome here." It struck me as a very formal yet charmingly irish welcome. 

Other than the fact that my luggage didn't catch the same plane from London as we did, we had an long, uneventful yet relaxing trip over the pond. Although we missed the kids dreadfully I think I speak for the both of us in saying that our first trip together to Europe was wonderful.  We got a great feel for the two cities that we stayed in and were so fortunate to also get a good sense of Ireland's and Scotland's famous countrysides. Breathtaking. 

For the most part the Irish were friendly and hospitable. We were both struck by how many Eastern Europeans were in Dublin. The EU's open borders have resulted in "foreign" ownership of a pile of Irish pubs and hotels.

Our first selfie on Irish soil awaiting an airport bus to take us into Dublin.

One of Dublin's endless charming streets.

Among our first stops was the classic Guinness storefront. It's impeccably done - truly a marketers dream. 

Watching my pint and Cody's baby pint settle while enjoying the 360 degree views from the top of the Guinness "tower".

Malty goodness.

A happy man - enjoying our walk in the sun.

One of the stops we enjoyed - the Dublin Archaeological Museum. Ireland has such a rich and violent history. Here's a Viking that didn't fair too well.

One of the infamous Bog People. And in keeping with the violent history of most of the discovered Bog People, this guy was decapitated and had his entrails pulled out which you can see were preserved.

Happily walking through the streets in search of our next adventure.

A classic scene in a big, old city.

A famous destination - The Temple Bar. A beautiful place located in the heart of a whole area of vibrant pubs. If I remember correctly, we enjoyed a couple pints and some grand Irish music there.

One of our first views of Ireland's green countryside seen from the breakfast table of our train. Bliss.

Our train's destination. I forget what it was called but it's cup of charm overfloweth'd.

A peak at the Blarney castle and it's pristine gardens. 

One of the views from the top of Blarney Castle. My knees were a little wobbly up there. It's old, slick and steep.

Kissing the Blarney Stone - here's hoping it was cold sore free.

Cody's turn - now where's the antiseptic.

Some of the cattle held in pasture at the Blarney grounds.

A magical street scape.

Almost makes me wish I was Catholic. No offence at all intended.

Can you spot the Border Collie laying in wait in the background?

The Shepard named Brendan that we had the pleasure to watch as he demonstrated his dogs collecting his sheep from up the hill.

Hard to capture the beauty of the Irish countryside. It truly is a million shades of green.

I cannot end this post without a huge shout out to our team of child minders. My sister, my mom and Cody's mom. They tag-teamed taking care of and absolutely spoiling Kate and Elliott. We're still hearing of adventures that you took them on.  You made our time apart so much easier for us and memories were certainly made for the two teams of Jorgensens. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next post - Scotland.

XO Aimee

a happy retirement

Last weekend we officially celebrated an end of an era for Paul and Janice at Paul's retirement party. It was a fun filled night complete with live music and a comedian from the island.  And as with most retirements it was bitter sweet remembering the old in order to ring in the new. Unlike most retirments I'm a little skeptical that this one is going to stick for long. But for now we toast you both and wish you some awesome trips and hope you find some new hobbies.

The guests of honour - Janice and Paul.

 A proud Mama.

 A bird's eye view of the rowdy table.

The setting.

Our comedian - Patrick Ledwell.

In other news, my sister arrived last night. She has generously agreed to take care of our babies for the first week of Cody and my trip to Ireland/Scotland. My Mom has generously agreed to fly in for week two and then Grammie Donna will be with them for the last couple of days. Feuwf. Kids are a lot of work. We thank you three ladies and hope you will ease any pains the kids may have for us. We love you all so much. Talk to you in a couple weeks upon our return.

Aimee

a sweet Easter at home

A belated happy Easter to all. We nearly rang in Easter five hours early after Kate came in to ask if it was morning. In his delirious state Cody said she could go play. When I came to, hearing the kids with explore their Easter baskets, I asked Cody what time it was, "Oh, 1:45," was his response. What a cruel world. And a cruel Mother. It fell on me to go break the news to two very excited children that they had to put down the baskets, the eggs, the clues and crawl back into bed for a few more hours. They weren't overly receptive. Skeptical though I was, they did listen and were able to get back to sleep until just shy of seven.

As always, it is so sweet to watch them hunt together, their level of compassion and cooperation is almost unbelievable. They are genuinely supportive and excited for one and other when they discover and share each others' treasures. 

 

Our 2015 collection of eggs. It's not just the photo, these eggs are beautiful.

 A pre-Easter paint.

Elliott though a little less dedicated to the craft, genuinely loves picking up a brush. Instead of painting he mainly focused on mixing paint - creating new colours.

The fruits of Kate's Easter weekend.

And the downside to our Easter. Snow, snow, snow. The temperature remained low enough that very little melted and in actuality we had quite a bit more come down.

Lots of "Spring" love. CAKE

oh they really do grow up so fast

Sunday morning Kate asked to borrow my phone as she needed the camera for a photo shoot she had dreamt up and styled. A half hour or so later she reappeared proud as a peacock to show us her work.

"You know Mommy Aubrey has grown up so fast."

"This is Aubrey when she was one - just a baby."

"Here is Aubrey at two years old. "

"This is Aubrey when she was three."

 "And this is Aubrey now - she's four."

In my past career I was a part of a team working to set up time lapse sequences and Kate I think you have done very well given your seemingly non existent budget and limited resources. My favourite aspect is the diaper you fashioned out of painter's tape and kleenex.  Please also note she took each of the above as single shots. This shows great reserve on her part. Typically when she borrows the camera she takes literally hundreds of photos of an object - which in most cases is her face.

Baby girl, the world is your oyster, what's on your horizon: stylist, art director, photographer or just plain great mom?

A couple more Kate shots from the morning...

In other news, we've got a Spring luncheon at the kids' school this afternoon. I'm looking forward to sitting down with them in their spaces and watching them in their worlds for a bit. 

Much love - Aimee