bothwell castle

I had been looking forward to this day all week.  The weather channel had predicted a 0% chance of rain for today, and I was dreaming of sunny skies, shorts and flip flops.  Silly me, I live in Scotland!  Sure, there was a 0% chance of rain, but that doesn't mean the sun will be out.  GRRRRRRR.......

Anyway, we made the best of it by exploring the ruins of Bothwell Castle, just about a 30 minute drive from our place.

Here we are in the keep, looking up at what used to be the 3 floors of living spaces above.

Jason and Hayden recline in the great hall.

A tower overlooking the front of the castle and the remains of the chapel.

We found a few invaders.

Cupid, isn't he cute?

Run for your life!!!!

Jason tried scaling the walls of the former apartments.

Exploring the outside of the castle.

The kids attempted a siege of the castle.

It was a long way up!

I'm such a lucky girl.

Cameron picked out the girls' outfits today.  They wanted proper explorer's clothing, with the option of stripping down to shorts if the weather permitted.  She's gonna hate the picture someday... I'm gonna love it FOREVER!

We have found that ruins are the best places to take kids.  There's plenty of space for them to run, they're outside so they can yell and the best part is they can't wreck anything.  Plus, it's a Saturday in the summer and we have the place to ourselves.  We ate lunch in the castle courtyard and headed home, very satisfied with our visit to Bothwell.

cruel summer

When we first kicked around the idea of moving to Scotland I had a small idea that perhaps we would be in for a shock in regards to weather.  I was a stupid, naive girl.  I am in a HUGE amount of shock concerning weather.  Take a look at this screen shot from our weather app:

At first I was trying to get used to Celsius but that was really messing with my head.  So that shot is from June and not much has changed in July.  We did get sun this week for a few short hours, so the kids and I did our best to get outside and soak up the vitamin D.

Despite the rain, life must go on.  So I was pretty excited this week when this finally happened:

I hit 100 miles!  I bought this app back in April (I think?)  and since then I've had a love/hate relationship with it.  It's pretty fabulous when I remember to bring it with me, turn it on and the GPS actually works.  All the other times, it's rubbish.  I don't know if I'll continue using it, as I'm pretty set in my routine of running 3-4 times per week, 3 miles per run.  Rain or shine it feels good to hit the pavement and clear my head.

We beat the rainy day blues this week with a trip to the Glasgow Science Centre.  This place is amazing!  The kids and I spent hours checking out all three floors of science experiments, illusions and fun stuff.  Here are a few pictures from our time there:

Today we took a day trip to Inchmahome Priory on an island in Lake Menteith.  The priory was home to Augustine monks in the Middle Ages.  All that remains now are ruins and a beautiful island.  We braved the scattered showers to explore this small beauty.

the kids are sitting in the cannons' stalls

the remains of the chapel

the grounds of the proiry

hiking around the island

climbing the ruins

Despite the weather, we have plenty of things to keep us encouraged.  Our weeks are full with work, friends and our own loud, happy family.  The locals say that this has been the worst summer in recent memory, so I think they're trying to give us hope.  Until it clears up we'll carry on, braving the rain, wearing raincoats and wellies in July!

May and June roundup

Whew!  Time flies when you're having fun... let's take a look at all the happenings of the Rusco 5:

One of the perks of living in Scotland is that Darren gets to visit golf courses he has only seen on TV.  Of course, playing on the courses would be an added bonus, but since that isn't happening anytime soon, we do our best to enjoy the sights.  Here we are at Troon after a golf course drive-by.  The kids are getting better at taking pictures of us, but most times we have to settle for the outstretched arm maneuver as seen here.

This is Cameron, dramatically posing in front of the People's Palace at Glasgow Green.  Inside the palace is a free museum dedicated to the story of the people of Glasgow.  Also on the grounds of the Green is a giant inflatable version of Stonehenge.  I think it was an art exhibit, and I know it was appreciated by my kids.

Once again, we needed to get a piece of furniture.  So once again, the kids took advantage of the free cardboard.  Here they are playing their cardboard instruments for the camera.  They use these to perform along with their favorite music videos and were inspired by this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7dF1P0PHss

In May, Nanny and Pops returned from their time in Serbia and we spent some time touring the country with them.  Here we are at the Falkirk Wheel, a true modern marvel!

A few days after they left we took a day trip to Dumbarton Castle and spent the afternoon climbing the ruins and taking in the sights along the Clyde River.

The beginning of June brought the much anticipated celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  We enjoyed many of the programs, parades, concerts and general coverage of the Jubilee.  We also enjoyed the time with friends as we met up for several get-togethers over the long holiday weekend.

One of the highlights of the month has been the loss of Cameron's tooth.  Despite this amazing smile, the event was traumatic and full of tears.  She currently has two more wobbly teeth and I dread the day the next one falls out!

My birthday was June 15 and since Grammy and Papa had just arrived in town we took the whole gang bowling for the afternoon.  Hayden was able to play with us, which meant there was much celebration and hugging after every turn.  

We also celebrated Father's Day with our favorite dad!

Here we are at a cafe for lunch with Grammy and Papa.  Fortunately for us and everyone else at the cafe it was a nice day and we could eat outside in the garden.  When you combine the slow service of Scottish restaurants with the incredible impatience and mischief of American children you end up with photos like this.

And finally, here is our favorite footballer, Cameron Rusco.  As we were driving to this park, Cameron was sitting in the back seat, saying awesome things like, "I just can't wait to get kickin' ".  Love it.

April part 2

What?  2 blog posts in April!  Its your lucky day!

In April, a very special boy turned 10 years old.  In fact, it was my favorite son's birthday.  Yeah, I totally have a favorite son.

This is Jason, the morning of his birthday, April 25th.  He is anticipating great things.

Boy, was he right.  We didn't put the kids bikes in the shipment, so getting a bike is a top priority.  The tricky part is that here, they have to lug their bikes up to our flat rather than cruise into their parking spot in the garage.

Since it was raining all day and bitterly cold Jason made do and rode around our flat as best he could.  We took the kids out in the afternoon for a round of "crazy golf" (the UK term for miniature golf).  The boy smoked us all and made 4 hole in ones!

Later that evening he dined with the Avengers and was completely embarrassed when the waiter got our section of the restaurant to sing Happy Birthday to him.  Good stuff.

Since his birthday was on a Wednesday we also had a Saturday celebration with his buddies.  What's a party without these crazy friends?

The kids enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Riverside Museum, a museum about the history of transportation in Glasgow.  And if you know anything about Jason, you know that his first love has always been cars!

 After the museum we headed back to our place for dinner.

There was pizza...

and cake...

and ninjas!